A murmur went through the assembled crowd at Seonghwa's entry. While his eyes adjusted to the shimmering garments of many races and people, they formed a pathway for him to reach the stage at the far end of the ballroom. Elven musicians perched in the corner to string their harps and hum their ethereal song. Upon his entry, their voices got richer, alerting everyone of his arrival.

Seonghwa held his head high as he floated down the aisle by Yongguk's side. His flawless elegance had the audience gawk in awe, and Yongguk sent little grins left and right that warmed up the room.

Behind them, Seonghwa's husbands, suited in their scarlet uniforms, gathered bountiful attention. Wives leaned to whisper to their husbands behind poised hands and a flock of mages elbowed each other as they laid eyes on their delegation.

Yongguk let go of Seonghwa once he climbed the two stairs to stand before the musicians. While he turned with a breathless swish of his garments, his husbands fanned out in a half circle at the bottom of the stairs. Hongjoong sunk to one knee in front of Seonghwa first, and the others hurried to copy him. Yunho tugged Mingi down with one hand and made Buddy sit with the other.

Across their bowed heads, Seonghwa studied the crowd. Everyone had turned to look at him, eager to hear his words. He spotted demons and mages and humans, even a golem youngster who sat bored in a corner.

With a serene smile, Seonghwa lifted his voice to address them.

"Welcome, everyone, in the Moon Castle. My heart warms seeing these halls abound with visitors. We gathered to celebrate the empire and our treaties for peace that have been elongated yet again under the leadership of marriage. I hope strangers can become friends today, and old enemies leave grudges behind. Please relish in music and dance and enjoy the food. If you need anything, my servants are your servants," he spoke. When his crystalline voice faded out, polite applause cheered on him. He bowed his head when the music picked back up and Hongjoong rose to his feet. He offered Seonghwa a hand to guide him from the pedestal, and Seonghwa happily complied.

As soon as he entered the crowd, he got doused by questions.

"Did the demons show any aggression we need to address?"

"Your Highness, when will you claim the throne?"

"Have you picked a king for your side yet?"

"For the sake of your celestial bloodline persisting, may I introduce you to my daughter to become your concubine? She can bear you many chil-" The last one fell abruptly silent when Hongjoong and Wooyoung snapped their heads around to glare at the speaker.

Seonghwa lifted placating hands.

"One after the other please, all your questions will be answered. No, the demons are peaceful and have signed their treaty. You can talk to Mingi about the details. I do not plan to step up to the throne anytime soon. My father is at the best of health. As for a king, until further notice, I will not announce one over the others. They all mean the same to me. Anything else?"

"What about my dau-"

"Shut it," Wooyoung hissed. "Don't pressure him about children." He glowered at the elderly elf who had asked, and the brittle old man stared at him in shock.

"B-but an heir!"

Seonghwa intervened before Wooyoung, and Hongjoong ruined the evening ahead of it starting.

"For now, I am just the crown prince. I won't think about heirs before I haven't received the crown. Please wait until I make a statement and then I would love to meet your charming daughter." He bowed his head before the man and smiled at the wood elf behind him. She blushed, dipping into a courtesy with her emerald green dress.

As they conceded and hurried away from Seonghwa's snappish husbands, Hongjoong grumbled to himself.

"You better not meet her later. We are here for everything you might need," Wooyoung warned him, enchantment with Seonghwa's appearance forgotten.

"Besides, green is a lousy match for red," Hongjoong agreed.

Seonghwa sighed at the two, too fond of their possessiveness to complain.

"Behave, yes?" He ran his clawed fingers over their cheeks, sending them off with a soft plea not to make any trouble. When he left, he felt their watchful eyes on the back of his head.

Now that he wasn't preoccupied, Seonghwa could greet the most relevant figures of tonight's celebrations. He found King Albrecht at the buffet and when he came to bow before him; the king scrambled to do the same without sinking his platter with sausages and egg.

"Your Highness! We haven't seen each other so long ago, but I couldn't resist your invitation. Congratulations on your political success and this ball. You look remarkable."

Seonghwa smiled as he poured himself a glass of wine.

"I'm grateful you honoured us with your presence. Have you greeted my father yet?"

"I have, just earlier. He spoke of you with high praise. I wish both him and you a reign blessed by fortune."

Graceful, Seonghwa accepted the well wishes. King Albrecht excused himself to indulge in food and greet Yunho. In the meantime, Seonghwa slowly worked his way through the crowd, gathering compliments and giving some out in return when his guests donned their most spectacular garments to beg his liking.

He was halfway on his way to the lone golem lounging in the corner when he came near a group of seraphim. Their king was with them and they kept to the sidelines so their wings wouldn't hinder the others.

"Prince Seonghwa, we meet again," the king called with a light tone, though not as casual as the King of Men. When Seonghwa tilted his head and his playful curls, as well as the chains framing his face, dangled along, their eyes glazed over in their trance.

"Your Majesty," Seonghwa bowed. "San and my brother are keen on conferring with you. Have you met?"

"Oh, we haven't. Let me search for them." They took off in their shining glory that had the lower-ranking nobles trip over each other to make space for them.

Seonghwa arrived at the golem's lounging corner. This one was as unperturbed by Seonghwa's appearance as Jongho, and he made no effort to seem less out of place than before.

"Hello. You came to participate as your folk's delegation?"

The golem huffed a bothered nod.

"I'm the youngest now, so they sent me."

Fascinated by how they had some sort of seniority system, but only when it was convenient, Seonghwa chuckled.

"Please relay your people my gratitude. If you so wish, you may spend your time in the gardens; we prepared a lounging area. In case Jongho or I need to discuss something, we will find you."

Though his features didn't shift, the light in his eyes brightened. He was halfway on his way outside when he remembered the myths of manners the other folks told.

"You aren't so bad. Thank you." He slipped outside while Seonghwa felt he had received the largest approval one might achieve.

On his way to his scouts to hear if they had any news on the dryads and if any of them would come tonight, Seonghwa encountered trouble. Thankfully, it wasn't inside the ballroom with its enchanting tunes, but in the foyer joining the dining hall. Nosy guests formed a circle around the owners of the booming voices, both bemused and perturbed by the disruption. As Seonghwa's presence had them huddle to the sides to escape his clicking heels, his heart sank when he identified the three.

The Demon King towered above all others, massive even in Seonghwa's tall halls. Mingi was nowhere in sight, having ducked into a corner at noticing their malevolent grins.

Opposite of him and with her hands stemmed into her hips, stood Hlin. With a twinkle in her eyes, she frowned at the towering king.

Flanking her was no other but Seonghwa's resident troublemaker himself. Clad in red and easy to recognise as one of Seonghwa's entourage, Wooyoung took the side of his chieftain.

They spat curses and insults at each other, seconds away from dragging each other outside onto the sparring dock to bash each other's heads into the ground. When the audience parted around Seonghwa, they halted, glimpsing at him.

Hlin's wings had opened to make her appear bigger and Wooyoung had widened his stance in an offensive position. The Demon King stood with his arms crossed and his horrible horn ready to impale the two if they came at him.

"What is going on here?" Seonghwa demanded to know. He halted between them, shoulders squared in confidence but dignity wafting off his body, for he didn't need to attack or insult anyone to be heard. An appreciative murmur sounded around them.

"This hedge-born cumberground walked his wart-riddled tootsies into your longhouse and then dared to diss you. I suggest you throw him to the pigs before I shove that ugly horn where the sun doesn't shine." Hlin growled. Eldrid stood in the circle near her with her arms crossed, but she didn't hold back her partner. They shared the rage towards the Demon King.

"Looking at you, we all know exactly who of us was born in a hedge. Show some respect, wench. All I did was to point out how different this place is from ours," the towering demon replied. He didn't glance at Seonghwa, fully aware Seonghwa knew who of the two were likelier to cause trouble.

Well, the gryphon-borns were likelier to speak up about it; that much was true.

"I heard you and your sleazy bunch of villains clucking. You said 'look at the effort that whore of an elf made'."

Seonghwa sighed. He had hoped his dispute with the demons wouldn't find its way up to the surface. Now that the crowd gasped about Hlin's boisterous accusation, there was no getting around this.

"How dare you," Wooyoung hissed with blazing eyes. "Insulting him in this place where so many won't hesitate to rip your limbs off."

"I would like to see you try, pigeon."

Wooyoung's talons stretched to lunge, but Seonghwa's hand clamped down on his shoulder. The slight pressure made Wooyoung freeze.

The Demon King guffawed.

"They are like hounds by your side, barking when their master needs them to. Oh, what a marvel you are. Have you reconsidered my offer? With your ability to tame and mine to break, we would make an incredible team. You could prove to everyone you are the sole one to rule over me and I would wreck you into a blissed-out mess. All this unnecessary glamour isn't needed."

Wooyoung's mouth dropped open to match the scandalised crowd. Hlin got as red as Seonghwa's dress.

"What kind of repulsive assh-"

"Hey, goat. Zip it," someone else said and heels clicked to Seonghwa's side. Hongjoong had arrived, accompanied by San, the Heavenly King, and Seonghwa's father.

Everyone collectively held their breaths. The emperor's kind eyes were stormy with displeasure and Hongjoong, the snitch, grinned like a satisfied cat. When the Demon King threw him a glare, Hongjoong flicked invisible fingers to hit him into the crotch. Playing down his flinch, the Demon King reverted to his mocking grin.

"Emperor. I was about to greet you."

"What is the meaning of this commotion? I hope you didn't come to pick a fight during my son's celebrations?" The elven king demanded to know. Seonghwa wanted to bring his husbands away and hide somewhere until the conflict was over, but he had a role to maintain. Hongjoong's heated palm on his back soothed his nerves marginally.

The Demon King sneered down at Hlin and Wooyoung. Then he put on an artificial grin that flashed his fangs.

"Not at all. I was just saying how much I relish in elven architecture."

Seonghwa's father brought the spiteful demon away, and Hlin remained. As the crowd dispersed, she came to rub Seonghwa's shoulder with a ridiculously firm grip.

"What a disgusting creature; my skin is crawling. You poor thing. Shall I provide you with something to drink to loosen you up?" She was about to reach under her vest for a smuggled bottle of alcohol when Seonghwa hastily shook his head.

"No need! Come, let's dance and take our minds off things," he mitigated instead.

He didn't glance over his shoulder when he took his people back inside the ballroom and tried to forget the encounters with the Demon King that made his skin crawl.