Chapter 176: Masquerade

For the evening festivities, Max was given a black pinstripe suit with a light gray vest and tie and a black shirt. Paired with a golden metallic mask that covered his upper face, he was ready to go.

When he finished dressing, Max heard a laugh from the washroom where Nico was doing her makeup and getting ready. While Max expected it to be a short burst of amusement, the laughing just continued, making him more and more curious about what they might have assigned Nico as an outfit that would bring this level of amusement.

She came out a few minutes later in a light blue princess dress, with a matching feathered mask and a white gossamer shawl. Without the mask, it was an exact replica of the dress worn by a famous children's movie character.

Nico gave him a twirl as she entered the room and giggled. "I think they made a mistake, but I am totally wearing this outfit."

Max smiled at her enthusiasm, watching her twirl around the room. "Given who it is in honor of, the theme might be Prince and Princess."

"Well then, we should get going. I'm sure that a certain little Princess is eagerly waiting for her guests to come and tell her war stories."

The hotel's halls were filled with men in matching suits and a wide variety of Princesses as Max made his way to the patio where the ball was being held. Fairy lights were hung in every hallway on the main floor, and the walls had holograms of a stone castle activated over them to add to the ambiance.

The whole patio has been transformed into a replica of the Kepler Imperial Palace, a grand stone edifice said to have been carved from an entire mountain thousands of years ago.

It had been rebuilt and renovated numerous times since then, and the true origins were lost to time, but the annual address from the railing of the patio overlooking the gardens, the patio that this event was designed to mimic, was a well-known sight to all Kepler citizens.

A rather stiff and uncomfortable-looking muscular Prince caught Nico's attention and she began to drag Max across the courtyard to where Catan was standing by the wall, overwhelmed by the opulence of his surroundings.

He had been able to deal with his nerves around such luxury when it was just a grand place full of wealthy people, but the Royal theme was too much for him to take in all at once.

A waltz was playing from hidden speakers while the crowd mingled and laughed, so Max danced his way to the infantry officer with Nico in his arms, making the best of the situation to have a bit of fun.

Catan recognized them in an instant, being such a distinctive pair, and the sight brought Breckenridge back with a small plate of snacks in her hand.

"If you're feeling overwhelmed, just remember that on a normal day, half these guests look up to you as a hero of the Kepler Empire," Max whispered to Catan, who gave him a wry smile.

"I don't feel much like a hero." He answered, shaking his head.

"That's how you know it's true." Max shrugged, thinking of everything they had been through together.

Cameras were strictly forbidden at this event so that everyone could just unwind and relax without fear of ending up on a video stream or in the news, and the crowd was taking full advantage of that fact.

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By the time it got dark and the fireworks that were to be a highlight of the evening began, most of the crowd was plenty drunk, the dancing had become much more lively and the young couple was clearly exhausted.

But the fireworks were amazing. Though this was only one of a half dozen events and it was organized for a lesser member of the Royal Family, this was a Cygnus Royal Wedding celebration after all, and no expense was spared.

The entire region of the planet was closed to air traffic for the show, which was sent in multiple layers, both close to the ground for the sound effects and high into the atmosphere to be seen from hundreds of kilometers away.

The spectacular show would take over most of the local news cycle the next day, while the broadcasters wished the daughter of the Chen Family a happy future in Cygnus.

Max was just about to head to his room and order a late meal to help absorb some of the wine he had gone through tonight when a familiar head of disheveled gray hair came jogging his way.

"Good evening Uncle Lu. Sorry that I didn't get a chance to speak to you tonight, your family seemed a bit protective." Max greeted the old scientist.

"You would think I planned to abduct my own great niece the way they kept her guarded. I only managed to sneak her my parting gift ten minutes ago. But I actually came over looking for you today. I have a document to give you and Major Nico, eyes only sort of thing." Uncle Lu informed him.

"I thought this might be coming. The rest of my unit got their orders this afternoon." Max told him, gesturing inside the hotel.

"Shall we?"

Uncle Lu shook his head. "Not yet. I ordered meat pies for the alcohol, and we're not done dancing yet. You can take the business messages in the morning."

The old man took Nico's hand and placed Max's in the hand of an unfamiliar young woman in a pink princess dress. Definitely not a noble, going by the way she blushed as Max held her hand to lead her to the dance floor, so either a random guest or one of Uncle Lu's researchers.

Once he reached the floor, Max found it nearly impossible to leave. Every Auntie wanted a dance, and there were drinks and meat pies, and some sort of samosa with a vegetable filling and a surprisingly mild spice.

Too much spice or sugar was hard on drunken stomachs, so the evening selections were toned down to keep the guests partying until dawn, despite the fact the guests of honor fell asleep before midnight and were carried away by the Nannies.

The next morning Max woke up wrapped around the cool shell of Nico, with a pounding headache and a wrist device beeping with constant messages from the unit as they departed for their new deployments.

It was a touching gesture, and he would have appreciated it much more if he had turned the notification volume down in advance.

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