"I'm ready," announced the psychic as he entered the hall where Gold was waiting.

"Me too," she looked down at Sonic who was wearing his better clothes he got from Amy. She tried her best to iron them and get rid of some dust.

"Then let's take a hackney carriage *)" he suggested, hearing Shadow walked down with a coat on himself.

Crestia and Eclipse were watching them. They were supposed to follow their carriage from the roofs and hide in the trees near the mansion, waiting for the signal. The trio walked outside with the psychic locking the door and calling the cab. And they got there in time, having about ten minutes to spare and to check the building a bit.

It was an enormous house, having tall windows and beige, white and pinkish plaster. The entrance gate was wide and two guards were standing at each side. The symbol of the family a stylized rose was engraved at the top of the entrance. Silver handed the guards their invitations and they immediately let them in, having big smiles.

The blue lad almost ripped his head off, as he was looking around seeing such big and glorious garden for the first time. The path was bordered with flower beds of various colors. Shadow stretched his neck, recognizing simple shapes were made with them. His ears twitched as he heard both demons to enter the garden as well.

And not just the beds, but even the trees were full of blossom and the grass was taken care for. This must have been a nice place for relaxation. Taking a book and just read, with the pleasant aroma around. The path, made of fine sand, led them to a big bubbling fountain. It was consisting a few geysers, sending the water thru many bowls, creating a fantastical scenery full of waterfalls with a light shining thru the streams and from the bottom.

Sonic couldn't help himself not to look over the thick edge with wide eyes. He never saw something so beautiful. Gold gladly accompanied him and even the silver hedgehog admitted this wasn't some kitsch**). Tho the modern art wasn't his forte, this was pleasing him as the light was changing a bit like in a silent melody.

They went around it, getting closer to big door, that suddenly opened and a reddish hedgehog walked out. His beige and slight pinkish clothes had a noble feeling, but still kept a certain level of humility. The emblem of Rose family was present on buttons and there was no doubt he was the head of the family.

"Welcome, I'm Reagan Rose," he said when they got closer, shaking hand with Silver who was the first one. "It's an honor to meet you."

"It's my pleasure," the psychic returned the formality. "My name is Silver the Hedgehog."

Mr. Rose then moved to Gold, accepting her hand and touching his forehead against her backhand. "Please, call me Gold. I'm a tenrec."

"It's always a pleasure to meet such dazzling lady," his remark was meant honestly and the tenrec blushed. Tho the exorcist growled a bit in his mind.

His brown eyes fell on Shadow, he stepped forward to have a handshake with him. "You must be the priest. My daughter told me you had saved her life. My words can't express how grateful I'm."

The ebony hedgehog smiled. "My name is Shadow and I wasn't alone helping your daughter." He looked down at the blue boy, who was a bit hiding behind constantly checking the clothes.

Mr. Reagan looked at him, smiling and offering him handshake as well. "I'm always delighted to meet promising young men."

The boy made awkward smile, quickly accepting it. "Hi, name's Sonic," he babbled.

When the man straightened up, he asked: "I believe there should be three more people's coming."

"Yes," answered Silver having a professional feel, "but one unfortunately can't attend because of the job and two have an urgent business to complete first. So they asked us to excuse them for the moment, but they should arrive shortly. However, they don't know how long their delay will be, so they wish for the dinner to be served regardless of their presence, to not cause any more inconvenience." The psychic handled the formalities with such ease he made the blue lad a slightly envious. He felt so nervous in such fancy clothes in this big house.

"I understand, please come this way." He gestured them and assumed leading position. He personally led them to the dining room as he wanted to know her daughter's friends better. He could tell Silver and Gold were from higher society while the rest from middle class at most, judging how they were looking around.

Sonic's ajar mouth made him smile and it made him think. Amy never had a contact with children of her age so he made sure to invite some as soon as possible and bring her more out. She will be inheriting this company after all and by knowing how it works will be a huge advantage for her.

'Maybe I'll take her with me when I'll be doing the next round around the smaller facilities we have in the kingdom.' That sure was a good starting point. As they walked toward the small dining hall, they exchange a small chat about the company and ordinary topics.

This room was relatively small compared to the halls they went thru. There was already Lady Adeline and Mr. Brian Earl awaiting them.

Brian was from rich old family, having more than 60 generations long history. His fur had light blue shade, his eyes had Persian green color and his quills were short, but the three front ones were leaning over his face. At the sides, he had ones sharply turning up forming a side-burns effect.

His clothes screamed noble, noble and double noble. It was obvious he was punctual about his clothing. His posture was as well showing he was from a high-ranking family. It was obvious he was thinking nothing of them, but he still stood up to greet them.

Silver glanced at sokina and it was immediately sparkling between them. But that was something only the tenrec had noticed. There was another wave of greetings. Brian evaluated all the new guests assuming Silver and Gold were from higher society, Shadow from better middle class and Sonic was... plain pain in the neck.

The boy kept frowning at him and even trying to clench his hand during the handshake. Well, he found that adorable at least. During this exchange arrived Amy, as Mr. Brian noticed the boy's jaw dropped.

She was wearing beautiful clothes died in white and light pink colors looking like a fairy and the tiara was giving her even more elegant look. She stopped near them. "I apologize for my delay, father, mother, Mr. Earl, dear guests," she made curtsy.

"There is no need to apologize," said Brian slightly bowing with a hand over his chest. "Every man would gladly wait for such beauty."

"You are flattering me," she slightly bowed.

Since all of them arrived, they assumed their places. Mr. Rose was in the head of the table and on his right was sitting his wife, daughter, and Sonic. On the other side were the light blue hedgehog, Silver, Gold, and Shadow.

And speaking of the tenrec woman, he made sure to look at her a few times. To his surprise, he wasn't aware of such beauty belonging to his family species as both were tenrecs, only he was from greater tenrec family know as well as sokina. He made mental note to get to know her more.

Mr. Rose gave a nod for the dinner to be served. The cat butler went to the kitchen to relay the order. The course had several dishes starting with a small appetizer. The blue lad was nervous and his head was spinning with the amount of cutlery in front of him. Amy gestured him to follow her example, too late realizing what was normal to her was unknown to him.

Shadow felt similarly and that's where Gold stepped in, directing him with telepathy. The same amount of advice was distributed during the soup as well while the conversation was centered around general topics with Brian sometimes asking the tenrec lady a couple of question.

She gladly answered, but provided vague answers. Her partner was getting grumpy because of it, thinking he was flirting with her, despite it not being true. Mr. Earl was simply happy to meet another tenrec hedgehog. The main course was served and it consisted of fried potato balls being called croquettes, accompanied by lamb meat with herbs and vegetable salad.

As was Sonic trying to pierce one, it jumped forward and his next clumsy attempt catapulted it forward once more sending it into a salad bowl. "Stupid slick ball," he silently mumbled with tears in the corner of eyes. He was trying so hard to look cultivated.

"That sometimes happens," quietly noted the cat butler standing nearby ready to serve the next meal or refill drinks.

Amy was snickering into a napkin, pretending she was simply wiping her lips. Her mother was smiling, finding this boy adorable. Her husband just before the dinner whispered to her that this youngster helped to save their daughter as well. The only one not smiling... well, Silver was smirking... was Mr. Brian.

He regarded the lad to be rude, and his table manners were terrible. The only reason he didn't ask for him to leave was the fact he was an official guest and given how he made his future wife smile, he was willing to tolerate him as a comical relief.

There was no other small accident during the dinner and once they were all finished with their meals, Mr. Reagan lead them to a small lounge to have an evening tea. Amy excused herself for a moment and joined them after a couple of minutes, assuming her seat next to her mother on a short partly circular sofa at the head of the coffee table.

The rest sat on long straight sofas around the table similarly to their order during the dinner. Only now Sonic was sitting at the end of the line next to Shadow. The butler than poured them all a tea and left to oversee the cleaning after the evening meal.

They all were sitting in a silence, enjoying the warm drink. It wasn't every day they could taste such high-quality tea. Brian was still a bit puzzled, why there were people from the middle-class present, so he tried to question them a bit: "I had no idea miss Amy is associating herself with the middle class," his voice was a bit arrogant.

"Middle what?" barked Sonic feeling insulted.

"Circumstances around our meeting weren't ordinary," replied the ebony hedgehog calmly.

"I can imagine that." He kept his smile even after seeing the priest's smirk, showing the sokina had no idea, what he was talking about. Well, it wasn't like he particularly cared. Once will Amy be part of his household, she will be only meeting people of a proper status.

To his disdain, the child just made a louder slurping sound. To distract himself from the boy, he directed his attention toward his future wife: "I'm a really happy man, knowing my soon to be spouse is such delicate lady."

Shadow quickly nudged the boy to prevent him from doing anything. His demonic nose came handy in this situation.

"We are still not even engaged," differed Amy calmly picking her teacup.

"That's just a formality. When I first heard about you, I was a bit unsure, but now I'm convinced my fiance is such distinguished lady." He was honest since he thought such young girl would be more childish. She looked at him directly in eyes making him feel a little strange. It was like the lass was trying to see something inside of him.

"Mr. Brian," Reagan addressed him shifting the sokina's attention. "I have talked to your father about a possible union, but I reserved an option to change my mind about this."

"I understand," he answered with a calm voice. "I'm a proper husband for your daughter. I can assure you, she will be in good hands."

"Amy, see?" Her mother leaned toward her a bit. "I told you Mr. Brian is a gentle person. He is the perfect partner for you," she reminded. Since the beginning, this young man was her personal favorite from all ten possible candidates.

Amy put her cup back. "Mother," her voice sounded serious. "Father, I have an important announcement for you." She stood up, capping her hands in front of her. The pressure in the room got thicker.

"Mr. Brian I thank you for your concerns and coming here. However, please, accept my apology, but I'll not take you as my future husband. I still hope that our families will be able to interact in a friendly manner." She slightly bowed.

Brian abruptly stood up. "What do you mean by that?"

*) a cab, four/ two wheels carriage pulled by horses

**) kitsch – also called cheesiness or tackiness, is art or other objects that appeal to popular rather than high art tastes.