Kings On The Horizon (Vol. 1-3) ✓

84 | The Declaration

♞

MOST OF THE GUESTS finally arrived at the venue, and Max walks back inside the hall with Cindy holding her arm.

     "I forgot to open this up earlier, but it seems like you had a very serious conversation with your father before I called you out. Did he say something to you?" Cindy asks Max since she, and everyone else who was there saw how Max and Denzel faced each other after the controversy regarding Max's inheritance.

     "My father is too old and too tired to be fighting with his seventeen-year-old son," Max says, making Cindy chuckle. "But he's smart, and he knows better when to just give up. He knows I wouldn't stop chasing after him even if he marries Edith, so for him, the smart thing to do is just to let me do whatever I please. If I fail then it benefits him, and if I don't then there's nothing much that he can do."

     "You always make me realize why you're rank 1," Cindy tells him. "When we were younger, there was a point that I was jealous that I ranked below you, but I guess when we're kids we do and think of useless things."

     Max smiles at the comment, and he almost wanted to talk about how Viktor was supposed to be ranked 1 among them, but he remembered that not everyone knows that he's alive. He doesn't want to slip up, especially in a room with CEOs and presidents.

     "Max," someone then calls out, making Max and Cindy turn their heads toward the owner of the voice.

     Hans, who's walking beside Marcus, immediately approaches Cindy and grabs her hand to greet her.

     "We've been wanting to greet you since you've arrived, but it seems like my friend here is a bit shy," Hans says, immediately making Marcus step on his feet. But Hans doesn't even react as he leans lower to give Cindy's hand a kiss.

     "I'm honored that the dukes are giving me such special attention," Cindy tells them before looking back at Marcus. "But aren't we already past the relationship where we should be shy around each other?"

     Marcus practically chokes on air, but he immediately defends himself and says, "Please, don't believe in anything that this man says. He might look like a gentleman, but he's a conman. He'll say anything to get a girl."

     "What? Don't be ridiculous."

     The four laugh and start having normal conversations with each other. And as the live band plays in the background, the bassoons and saxophones jazz up the place, and the people finally start loosening up. Waiters arrive with more drinks, and some went to take their seats at their designated tables.

     "What table are you on Max?" Hans then asks.

     "I'm at table twelve," Max answers. And while the others continue talking, Max suddenly spots someone amongst the crowd. He must have been so busy that he wasn't even able to hear his name being announced earlier.

     "Excuse me for a second," Max suddenly tells them.

     Without waiting for their response, Max walks away from them. He avoids everyone who was on the way until he reaches a small boy who was talking with three different CEOs. If it wasn't for his demeanor, you'd think he's not a teenager because he didn't look out of place at all. 

     "Mr. Campbell," Max greets, and Felix immediately turns around to see Max standing behind him.

     Felix's serious expression instantly changes as he smiles widely and says back, "Max! You're here!"

     Max chuckles and quickly pats Felix's head before looking at Felix from head to toe. "Look at you. You look wonderful."

     "So do you."