Morning arrived as a mother's gentle hand, inviting the dreams of the night to enter the day. The sun painted the horizon with golden light. The songs of the early birds sounded better than any music. It could calm anyone's soul. Waking up to the view of the sun rising on the horizon and the calm sea always soothed Caius's mind. Today was different, today he was looking at hundreds of nobles gathered around him. Instead of hearing the chirping of the early birds, he heard only the cheers of people who were excited to witness the wedding ceremony of Fabia, the only daughter of Senator Viridius.
The arena could simply hold 45,000 people. Because the ceremony was meant for only the richest and the powerful, out of 45,000 seats, only 350 were filled including the senators. Many nobles from the nearby kingdoms attended the ceremony with their relatives. They were more interested in watching gladiators fight to the death rather than Fabia's wedding.
On the elevated stage built for the senators, eight lavish chairs were arranged in the front line while numerous less fancy chairs occupied the space behind the first line. Among the seven chairs in the front, six were for the senators, one for the bride, and one for the groom. The rest of the chairs were for the Senators' family members. Caius was the first senator to come as he wanted to seat himself on the chair where Lucifer told him to. If everything went according to the plan, this day would change his life forever.
Caius walked towards the fourth chair from the right. Standing in front of the seat, he ran his finger on the top rail until he felt a bump in the cushion covering the rail.
"Don't worry Senator, Lord Lucifer, and the Dark Queen will protect you" Maxine entered through the doorway carrying a silver tray with wine cups on top of it. She was assigned as a personal maid so she had to do these chores to make it look real. The worst part of the job was not serving Caius but having to wear the ridiculous maid uniform. At Least she got permission for Lord Lucifer to wear a large hat that helped her hide her embarrassment.
"The others are on their way. So look normal"
Caius drew a long breath preparing himself for the big day. As she said, he needed to look normal or the other senators might get suspicious. Although the senators would look friendly to the public, they all hated each other due to the power struggle between them. They wouldn't raise a finger if there isn't a political benefit for them. The mere thought of getting rid of all of the senators made Caius's blood boil in excitement. Following Lucifer seemed a very good move at this moment.
"Senator Caius" Caius was just about to reach his hand out to pick a wine glass from Maxine's tray when he heard a familiar voice calling out his name.
Maxine turned her head to see a tall man with long brown hair walking towards them with two spartan soldiers. He was thin as a stick. With his wide grin and bony face, he really looked creepy in her eyes.
"Senator Quintis" Caius smiled but anyone could tell the smile was fake as a unicorn.
"Looks like you two has beaten me to it"
Maxine saw another man walking behind Quintis. Unlike Quintis, he was rather short and chubby.No spartan soldiers or relatives could be seen accompanying this man. He came walking alone.
"Senator Kaeso" Yet again the three senators exchanged fake smiles.
"Where is that Giant of yours Senator?" Quintis asked Caius. He completely ignored Maxine. She could see the contempt in his eyes when he looked at her.
"Won't he obstruct the view of the wonderful fights?" Caius said with a small grin on his face,
"He certainly will," Senator Kaeso said letting out a short burst of laughter
"What did I miss?" The three senators saw senator Sellic approaching them with his two wives, three children, and two fully armor-plated soldiers. He was neither too short nor too tall. His golden hair was short just like one of his wives. The second wife was a redhead with a beautiful hourglass structure. The senator and the golden-haired woman seemed like they were in their late forties but the red-haired woman looked much younger. One would guess that she was in her late twenties.
The three children stayed beside the golden-haired woman. Two of them were young boys in their late teens while the girl seemed a couple of years younger than them.
"Look who's here, Senator Arruns' ' Senator Kaeso welcomed the senator's family with a grin. Maxine noticed the genuine smile on Kaeso's face. His smile seemed genuine because Senator Arruns and Kaeso were planning to tie the two families with a marriage between Kaeso's daughters and Arruns's sons.
Just like any other continent in this world, marriages were proposed with ulterior motives. They were kind of deals and cared less about the groom and bride's feelings. Even the Winston family arranged a marriage between Noah and Alicia to strengthen their family. Plus, in this world, a man was allowed to marry as many times as he wants. Hence, most of the cultivators and noblemen had a harem of wives. It was extremely rare to see someone like Michael who hated the idea of having a harem of wives. With his reputation and talent, he could have as many beautiful wives as he wants. In addition to his hate towards the harem, Gaya would murder anyone if one wanted to share him with her.
"So I see I'm the only one who brought the family," Senator Arruns laughed. The red-haired woman remained expressionless while the others shook hands with the senators before taking their seats.
"Where is Senator Viridius? He can't be late to his own daughter's wedding" Senator Quintis looked at the doorway expecting Viridius.
"Speaking of weddings, where are the bride and groom? And is Senator Marcus coming to the ceremony?" Senator Kaeso asked the senators,
"I won't be surprised if he didn't show up considering what happened at the gala," Senator Arruns said as the senators except Caius nodded their heads. What Senator Arruns said would have been true if Caius didn't receive any orders from Lucifer. It was Caius's responsibility to bring all the senators to the stage. Senator Caius had to owe Senator Marcus a favor to get him to the marriage. Since these Senators wouldn't survive to see the next day, Caius was happy to oblige to Marcus's demands.
"What the hell are you waiting for? Move your flabby ass and go bring refreshments for everyone" Senator Quintis raised his voice at Maxine.
"Yes my lord, forgive me" Maxine quickly lowered her head hiding her anger from showing on her face. She didn't want to disappoint Lord Lucifer because of Quintis's remarks.
"Take a seat gentleman" Caius gestured at the senators to sit. He didn't budge an inch away from the chair he was supposed to sit on.
"Are you alright Senator Caius?" The golden-haired woman noticed the few sweat drops appearing on Caius's forehead. Caius knew she is more observant than the rest of them. Still, he was surprised by her question.
"Why wouldn't I be? It's not like my daughter's wedding" Caius brushed off her question with a joke.
"Quickly fix your daughter's marriage, Senator Caius. I have some excellent matches for your daughter"
"I bet you do"
The woman chuckled as Maxine returned carrying two silver trays with several wine glasses on top of them. While she was serving them, everyone in the arena heard a loud rumbling noise. They looked up to see the airship slowly floating towards them in the sky.
This wasn't the first time Maxine saw an airship. The design of the ship was very similar to the blimps on earth. Instead of helium, the scholars used Odril gas. It was produced by heating Odril ore in extreme heat.
The blimp cast a huge shadow on the arena as it was almost 150 feet long, 60 feet high, and 50 feet wide. Despite its enormous size, the blimp could only hold 20 people including two pilots and three crew members. However, there were airships in the Southern continent that could hold more people and fit with weapons for air combat.
"Senator Viridius is really showing off" Senator Kaeso snickered. The blimp continued to move at a snail pace before coming to a halt at the top of the arena.
Ding!
Ding!
Ding!
Right at this moment, loud bell sounds could be heard. Realizing the wedding ceremony had begun, the nobles became silent. On the fighting ground, a woman wearing a red dress walked towards the center. Her dress was extremely revealing, everyone could see her plump rosy thighs as well as her navel and cleavage. The fighting ground wasn't paved with stone but filled with sand so the gladiators also had to fight the scorching hot sand on their feet. The woman however wore a heel to prevent the hot sand from hurting her feet. She fiddled with her brown hair while waving her hand at the nobles around her. Her smooth silky skin, oval face, and hourglass structure made the youngsters stare at her without taking their eyes away. She certainly enjoyed this attention, that was why she chose to host gladiator fights despite the blood and gore the fights accompanied.
"Let's give a loud applause for the bride and our senator of defense, Senator Viridius" the nobles cheered, clapping as loud as they could.
Soon, the senators sitting on the stage turned their heads back to see Senator Viridus walking towards them with his daughter by his side. Several spartan soldiers walked behind them as protection yet all the senators' focus was on the beautiful bride. Her white dress sparkled with gems and gold dust, making the bride look like an angel.
"Lord Lucifer, everyone's here" behind the spartan soldiers, Maxine noticed a tanned skin man with no hair on his head walking towards them. He was the last Senator they were looking for, Senator Marcus. With his arrival, the first phase of Lucifer's plan was over successfully.
"Lord Lucifer, they are all here"