21 Hiding Spot

"Ladies and Gentlemen, may I have your attention?" 

Standing at the bottom of the glamorous stairs, Derek Roderick announced his presence, dressed in all black with a matching shiny black mask with golden lines around it. 

Every guest halted all their activities and placed their attention solely on him. The whole place went silent. 

"Dear Ladies and Gentlemen, Citizens of Zariya! Thank you for coming to this celebration! I am glad that I could see so many familiar faces joining us on this special occasion," Derek spoke, his baritone voice carried easily in the silent ballroom. 

"Today is our founding day where we all join together and celebrate the prosperity of the years!" He hollered and the guests joined the cheers, clapping and laughing. 

"I've been very proud and happy that I was born here, and I'm sure everyone of you felt the same way. So," Derek paused and raised the glass of red wine in his hands. "I will cut short to prevent creating a boring speech and raise my cup to toast to you all! Let's start this celebration with happiness in our hearts and the promise of prosperity of our town. Cheers to Zariya!"

"Cheers to Zariya!" All the guests gave a round of applause and cheered, toasting. 

Satisfied with his own speech, Derek gestured to the guests to continue enjoying the party and a sweet melody played out, drifting through the room. 

"Ah~ I really hate parties like this," Derek grumbled under his breath, tipping his head back to take a sip from the glass of wine and Lynn felt a tick in his head. 

"My Lord…" 

"Look, look," Derek signaled Lynn with his eyes. Lynn glanced with the corner of his eyes and saw who Derek had placed his target on. 

The family of Lloyd. 

The whole family moved like a horde of ants with one tiny brain. They moved from one to another, said a few greetings, and moved on. 

"Bunch of hypocrites…" Derek uttered before panicking in the next moment. "Shit, shit! Cover me!" 

The horde of ants were moving in his direction. Derek hunched his shoulders in and hid behind Lynn, all the while dragging Lynn by his arm towards a dessert table. 

Lynn could only roll his eyes at his master's childish antics. Derek's golden eyes flicked through the busy room for any incoming attacks. 

These greetings and small chit chats were what his beloved used to face, and now he had to do it all alone. Crying internally, his golden eyes scanned the area wildly, looking for an escape route. 

"My Lord, you are the host, escaping isn't allowed, but greetings are," Lynn whispered lowly, exclusively only for Derek to hear. 

He had predicted what Derek wanted to do. When the Lady was alive, Derek always used this opportunity to escape and let the Lady handle all of the greetings alone. 

Now, since the Lady wasn't here, the job fell onto Derek's shoulder. 

"Shut up, Lynn. You know how much I hate these arrogant bastards-- Shit!" 

Derek ducked his head under Lynn's shoulder to avoid making eye contact with Malakhi Zero, who looked like he was in search of something, while dragging his daughter all along. 

He pulled Lynn with him until they were under the stairway, hiding underneath. Derek made Lynn stand in the light while he himself under the shadow. 

He took a deep breath. "Finally, I have achieved the highest degree of tranquility."

He glanced lovingly at the glass of red wine in his hand and swirled it, watching the ruby red liquid sloshed according to his movements. 

He brought it close to his nose and inhaled the strong aromas. "Raspberry and cherry, maybe a hint of vanilla in it. Overall, balanced and enjoyable." 

Taking a sip from it, he closed his eyes and moaned at the taste. "My sense of smell is splendid as ever--"

"What are you doing here, Old man?" 

SPLURT! 

Derek covered his mouth to avoid spilling the wine on the ground, however it backfired to him when the wine surged up his nose like the force of a foreign train. The hot burn sent stars behind his eyes and his head felt like it was about to explode. 

"My Lord, young master is here--" 

"Too late, Lynn!" Derek coughed as his eyes watered. He fisted out the handkerchief from his inner suit to wipe off any remnants of the previous inelegant reaction. 

He sent a glare in Lynn's direction who he guessed was snickering underneath that poker face. 

"Father, we need to talk." 

Derek pulled his attention away from Lynn and turned to his son. 

Zeke wore a dark blue vest and high turtleneck white undershirt. Over it was a large navy waistcoat with gold threads that line themselves over the edge of his cuffs. 

A navy cape draped over his left shoulder. It hung from his shoulder down to his thighs, decorated in golden chains that overlapped each other. The black knee high leather boots clicked everytime he walked through the marble tiles of the ballroom. 

What's more? 

That vivid blood red mask he wore, with golden markings running intricately the curve of his cheekbones. 

Derek silently praised himself for being able to bring such a handsome son to this world.

And… 

This brat just called him 'Father' and Derek twitched at that. Snotty kiddo must have wanted something from him. 

"Talk later, my dear son. Can't you see your father is busy?" 

"Busy hiding, you mean?"

"Hush, son. Go dance and leave your old man alone," Derek shooed Zeke away, pushing him out of the shadows. "This is my spot." 

Zeke laughed at his father's antics. It reminded him of how he and his father used to find a spot to hide during parties like this, leaving his mom to clean up their mess. 

Smirking, he roamed his eyes over the guests and stopped at someone in particular. Taking deep breaths, he called out. 

"Lord Zero! Aren't you looking for Father before?" 

His smile widened even more when he saw Malakhi Zero snapped his head in his direction and nodded vigorously. 

"What in the world-- What are you doing, son?!" Derek hissed. "How could you sell out your father like that?!"

Lynn scoffed. 

"Have fun," Snickering, Zeke tipped his head towards Lynn and left his father.