A ballroom lit brilliantly by crystal chandeliers. Men in tuxedos dancing with women wearing fine silk dresses and glittering pearls. A band playing a soft orchestral score in the background as people danced refinedly on the ballroom floor. Surrounded by the trappings of high society, Darien du Corteaux suppressed an exasperated sigh as his face maintained a facade of shallow enjoyment. Damn, I could have sworn my parents promised not to do anything over the top! 'A party for relatives?' Half the bloody upper crust of Vale is here! Fuming silently, he grabbed a nearby glass of champagne and sipped it in a controlled manner, careful not to let his internal frustration leak out. He couldn't really fault his parents for wanting to do this, though. After all, he had just been accepted to the prestigious Beacon Academy, one of the leading schools on the continent for training hunters and huntresses to fight the Grimm that continued to plague humans on the frontier. His parents looked overjoyed, though one could see the clouds hanging over them if one looked closely enough.
"Honestly, it's not your fault I'm like this," Darien muttered under his breath as he took another sip, careful to make sure he was taking a supplemental pill that allowed him to retain clear thought under the influence of alcohol. Glancing around the ballroom, he spotted his parents merrily chatting away with his grandparents, the esteemed former Count and Countess du Corteaux. At a hearty age of 65, grandfather Jebraham still laughed as raucously as he did during his time in the service thirty years prior, although grandmother generally reminded him of his station from time to time. Of course, they were all happy that he could make it into Beacon - especially after an experimental operation gone awry had taken away his ability to ever become athletically durable. Even till today, it was reflected in every action his father and mother took that they blamed themselves for him not being able to enjoy a normal life. And Darien took it upon himself to prove that he could still be who he wanted to be and that he appreciated what they had done for him despite how the operation had turned out.
Of course, those feelings of appreciation weren't quite able to match his irritation at the moment. Even now, he was referred to as the young Count, under the control of his own sizeable plot of land located elsewhere in Vale. Being that he had a strong aversion to being recognized by his social station, a fancy ball like this which had most of the nobility in Vale in attendance put his nerves on end. I can only take so much sycophancy. Replacing his now empty champagne glass with another, Darien quietly slipped onto the balcony without anyone noticing and heaved a sigh of relief. "Thank the gods, I couldn't take much of that any longer."
"Who are you?"
Spinning around, Darien let slip a small look of alarm. Damn it, I let my guard down a little!
"My apologies, madam. I am Darien du Corteaux." Darien bowed, only raising his head at the sound of giggling in the background.
"Hey, Kaede, this guy's a real piece of work, isn't he?" a voice said mischievously. Looking up, Darien was confronted by two girls wearing dresses of the same style, one colored a light forest green while the other was a pure white with accoutrements of sky blue.
"Raena, that is the son of nobility you are referring to as 'a piece of work.'" The girl named Kaede replied calmly, her white dress shimmering slightly in the moonlight. "It's only common courtesy amongst those who are high born to bow in greeting." In return the girl did a small curtsy, bowing her head towards Darien. "I am Kaede Engel. A pleasure to make your acquaintance."
"Yeah, but the way he did it was just so stiff! I felt like I was looking at a robot or something," said Raena, clearly enjoying poking fun at Darien's expense. "It doesn't feel natural at all!"
Despite himself, Darien could feel a small surge of anger at the insult. "And you, madam? I don't believe I caught your name." He said this almost robotically, detaching himself from his emotions so that he would not accidentally cause insult. After all, the daughters of his parents esteemed guests would consider any slight against them as paramount to insults towards their parents.
The girl only smirked, mockingly copying Kaede's curtsy. "My name is Raena Argyros," she said, moving her emerald green hair back so that Darien could see her face properly. "I'm not a part of you upper-crusters, so don't mind me~"
"I see. Well, if you would excuse me." Bowing his head slightly, Darien curtly turned to return to the ballroom when Kaede called out from behind him.
"Pardon me, but you are the grandson of the Count du Corteaux, are you not?" Kaede addressed him politely, though her eyes were icily devoid of emotion. Darien could almost feel his person being chilled to the bone, but he maintained eye contact before answering.
"Yes. This ball was mainly thrown in my honor, although I don't really think the occasion calls for it." Darien allowed himself to rub at his forehead in vexation.
"Ah, I take it you don't enjoy this type of thing?" Kaede walked closer to him until they were standing face to face, her expression still carefully meticulous to betray nothing but politeness.
"No. To be honest, I wish I weren't of the nobility at all. It only seems to make things more difficult for me when everyone avoids me because of my high station."
At this Kaede's expression warmed somewhat. "See, Raena? He isn't the sort of character you took him for. At the very least, he's not a 'prick' as you referred to him earlier."
At this, Raena only gave a small harrumph. "He's still a bit uptight, and he gives off this aura like he's better than you, but I guess he's not that bad." Appraising him with new eyes, Raena made no attempt to hide the look of disappointment on her face. "Still, he doesn't look like he's cut out for Beacon. He's a scrawny twig!"
Does this girl know no end to her rudeness? Darien wondered curiously to himself while swallowing down the sudden urge to return the insult in kind. "I take it you two are also attending Beacon?"
"Yes. Raena and I are to be incoming freshmen at Beacon this year, the same as you. It's only by coincidence that I happened to meet you tonight, since my father was in Vale on some passing business."
"Your father wouldn't happen to be Roger Engel, would it?" Darien asked, his eyebrows raised in surprise.
"Ah, so I see you're familiar with my father."
"Less familiar with the man than with the company. His domination of the Dust economy in Mistral is comparable to that of the Schnee corporation here in Vale. It must be impressive seeing a man like him in action on a day to day basis." Darien said respectfully. While not well known in Vale, the Engel Dust Conglomerate was known in Mistral as a highly-successful Dust operation that controlled it's production from mining to refining and selling commercially. Environmentalists decried their methods of landstripping as detestable, but Darien admired Roger Engel for his innovative business strategy and soft arm tactics in regards to continuously improving and refining Dust minerals.
"Yes, indeed," Kaede said happily enough, though her eyes betrayed a slight glint of sadness. "I'm glad that you hold my father in such high regard."
While Darien pondered over why the daughter of Robert Engel should have such a sad expression while talking about her father, Raena rudely grabbed him by the shoulder. "Hey, you. Just where do you think you're looking at, hmmm?"
"I - wha?" Disturbed from his thoughts, Darien suddenly realized that his gaze had been directed towards Kaede's chest, which was rather sensuously outlined by the cut of her dress. At the implication, he began to blush violently and averted his gaze, opting to reaffix the position of his glasses instead. "What do you take me for, a pervert?" he said, unable to hide his embarrassment.
"Not like I can't understand you, of course~" Raena replied in a sing-songy voice. "Kaede does have a rather nice body, after all. All the boys over at Sanctum were heads over heels for her in their final year."
"Raena!" Kaede said, seemingly at a loss for words as she blushed slightly. "I- I!"
"Right, right. Sorry, Kaede, got a little carried away," replied Raena while teasingly propping up her own chest. "After all, my breasts look like tiny mounds compared to yours. I'm jealous, really!"
Unable to hold back her mortification, Kaede quickly moved to stifle Raena before she said anything else only to miss and have Raena escape back into the ballroom. "Catch me if you can, Kaede!" she yelled back, her face the very picture of devilish amusement.
"My apologies, Darien." Kaede sighed softly as she watched the retreating figure of her friend become lost in a crowd of respectable gentlemen. "Raena is a bit...wild."
"Is that so? I thought she was a rather pleasant young lady," Darien muttered, unable to keep his emotions in check from the absurdity of it all.
Kaede looked at him in amusement, though her eyes remained steadfast. "Perhaps we could meet again? I'd love to talk now, but if I leave Raena alone for more than a couple of minutes she might set fire to the ballroom."
"Of course." Thanking the powers that be that it was dark enough on the balcony to hide the rose tinge of his face, Darien held the door open as Kaede re-entered the ballroom. "Feel free to call on me at any time. I'm sure there is much we could discuss in regards to ours studies."
"I'll take you up on that," she replied, smiling gently as she re-entered the ballroom. As soon as she left, Darien retook his place at the balcony rail and sighed.
"What… was that, exactly?" Darien muttered to himself, his face still somewhat hot with his blush. "I'm guess I'm not really good with handling women...right?" Staring at the star-filled twilight sky, Darien abandoned all decorum and tossed back the rest of his champagne down his throat before returning to the ballroom on his own. It seems like it's going to be an interesting school year. And now that I think about it, would that technically classify as a date? At the very least, it's a future engagement that I must be careful to keep in mind.
Upon re-entering the ballroom, he was immediately gestured to by his parents. "Yes, father?" Darien asked with perfect poise, well aware of the attention he was receiving from the dignitaries in his father's presence.
"Darien, my son, there is no need to stand on ceremony with me," Jarvus du Corteaux replied warmly, a smile dominating his craggy face. "You are now a man in your own right," he said as he gently thumped his son's shoulders with both of his hands.
"I am a man now, yes, but you are still my father and the Count du Corteaux. That is enough cause for me to show my respect," Darien said smoothly, bowing as he did so much to the pleasure of those around him.
"My, you certainly have raised a good man. The very model of a polite son, and able too to get into Beacon!" tittered a baroness, flapping her fan vigorously to ward off the ballroom's stifling heat.
Darien smiled with as much charm as he could muster. "Hardly, my lady. My entrance to Beacon was only made possible through the efforts of my parents, for which I love them dearly. It is not only my achievement, but theirs as well."
"Oh, and such humility! Count Jarvus, do send your son to our manse one of these days! I am sure the elder madame would enjoy such an outstanding youth for company!" At that, the baroness returned to the dance floor while Jarvus motioned for some privacy between himself and Darien. "Darien, my boy, are you alright?" Although his voice did not express it, Jarvus' eyes were filled with worry. "I know that your condition is harsh, and I… I wouldn't want to see you collapse."
"I'm fine, father." Darien stated in what he thought was an assuring tone. "There's nothing to be done about it now. The paperwork is all filled out, afterall."
"Yes, but we could always withdraw you, if you wished to?" his father asked in an uncharacteristically feebly voice, sounding very much like the defeated man who learned for the first time about Darien's permanent disability.
"Now dear, I thought we agreed we would allow Darien to follow his own path," chided Josephine du Corteaux as she took her husband's arm.
"I know, I know…" Jarvus let loose a sigh before returning his gaze to his son. "It's just that it's still shocking. To think that you applied and were accepted without my knowledge…"
"Is it that surprising that I would want to follow in your footsteps, father?" Darien asked, his eyebrows raised in curiosity.
"No! But there are so many easier things that you could do. Things that your blasted lungs wouldn't get in the way of. That can't get you killed. Could you not be satisfied with being my heir?"
"Father, I respect you, but that comment is an insult to all the training I have done over the past ten years." Darien replied coldly, though the expression on his face remained civil so as not to attract the attention of the guests around them. "I want to be my own man, father. To make something of myself. I don't want to be like the rest of the nobility that just inherit into their position and do nothing worthwhile. Just because my lungs are slightly disabled doesn't mean that I can't be a hunter."
"Blast, Darien, I just-"
"Please, father, just stop." Darien said, a hand raised as if to ward off what he knew his father was about to say. "I am not going to change my mind."
Jarvus looked as if he were about to say something more, but changed his mind and donned an outward facade of joviality. "Very good then, son. I beg you, please do look after yourself." Still holding his wife by the arm, Jarvus walked out onto the ballroom floor and started to waltz to the music, though there was no energy in his movements anymore.
As Darien looked on, he spotted Raena from the corner of his eye at the refreshment table stuffing her mouth with h'orderves while evading capture from an increasingly frustrated Kaede. It appears that tomorrow will be a very interesting day, he thought to himself as he prepared to re-enter the ballroom floor himself to dance the night away. After all, I doubt life will be the same for me again after I finally enter that place where my father and grandfather entered before me.
Tomorrow would mark his first day at Beacon.