The Demon Lord's Bride (BL)
Chapter 559: No one said to me this is a premiere viewing for a movie

Chapter 559: No one said to me this is a premiere viewing for a movie

I had never attended a party outside of the Castle. Whether it was the Autumn banquet or the wedding, it was always in the Castle’s Great Hall.

So, my concept of ’big’ was limited to the Great Hall. But, damn...I was ignorant. The metropolis city of L’Anaak Eed had a lot of big utility buildings, including those used for seminars, business conventions, and parties.

Well...naturally, they couldn’t do any of that in the Castle like us.

The Hall itself was located in the middle of a vast garden with several bungalows and rotundas, which was a tourist attraction in itself during the day. A whole yard as big as a football stadium was dedicated to a parking lot, and there was a beautiful-looking tall spire on the corner of the estate that functioned as a public watch tower.

Still, those were just accessories compared to the main Hall.

Since it was a place meant to look as grandiose as possible, it was huge and beautiful, looking like it could be one of the historically preserved sites on Earth. Grand pillars with intricate carvings, huge double doors spanning from floors to the roof, chandeliers that might kill a lot of guests if they crashed down, and eternally fresh flower decorations in the middle of winter.

It was made in such a way by brilliant architects and magic engineers so the Hall’s function could be shifted based on the client’s purposes. It could be made a vast, empty room with nothing but pillars and a flat floor for a ball; it could be made into a conference room by opening the floor and revealing a podium at the center and tiered seating; or it could be made into an open space by refracting the roof and the wall. It was even rumored that the Hall could be elevated if the client forked enough wealth to provide the mana stones needed for the device’s operation.

Magic, eh?

Ah, as expected of the main grand hall in L’Anaak Eed--it screamed money.

"I think...I might get lost if you leave me alone in this place..." I muttered as our carriage entered the Grand Hall’s complex. See...we couldn’t even walk from the gate to the main hall because of the distance. Also, Jade was staying at home with D’Ara because children weren’t supposed to attend a night banquet.

"You can follow the bright light, Young Master," Arta pointed at a section of the sky, which looked slightly brighter than the rest. "The light magic of the Hall could be seen even from afar."

Oh!

"Still, it would be better if you’re never separated from any of us," Natha said.

"I know, I know," I patted him assuringly. "I’m just going to stay put and enjoy the show, okay?"

"It won’t be too nice," he muttered, looking slightly grim. But he smirked in the next second, with a chilling gaze that would freeze his opponent no matter who.

But since I wasn’t his opponent...who cares?

As the host of the party, naturally, we went through a different path that led to the back door of the Hall. Because of that, I couldn’t see how many guests or carriages had arrived, but I could hear them.

It was loud, even though no one was screaming or talking loudly. But it was loud. It showed how many invitees had come from the whole realm. I heard the hotels in L’Anaak Eed were almost full despite it being a low season--even more than our wedding!

"Wow..." I couldn’t hold back a soft exclaim at the sound I heard when we walked through the corridor leading to the main hall, and I repeated it when I saw the main hall. "Wow..."

I didn’t think I needed to explain again and again how grandiose and luxurious this place was--just imagined the most expensive-looking party hall in your mind, which looked as if it was decorated with real gold and jewels. Of course, the spread of food was excellent, and of course, the entertainment provided was top-notch.

But that wasn’t what wowed me.

What wowed me--and also the other guests, I felt--was the multiple white screens with real gold ornate frames mounted on the wall surrounding the hall. Of course, that in itself just caused confusion. What spurred their curiosity was the tall pillar with some sort of apparatus on top of it. The guests stared at it with curiosity, wondering what that thing was.

But I knew what it was. The viewing crystal of the recording device. There were several of them, and I realized each one pointed toward the screens.

Huh...what were you trying to show, my Lord? Some kind of movie? Hmm...probably a play as a part of entertainment?

Gasp! Could it be he was trying to introduce the concept of movie theater?!

I was so excited about the screens and my own thoughts that I didn’t even realize Natha had finished his greeting speech. I only realized it when the loud sound of applause and cheers blew inside the hall. Oops--I must have looked so silly just staring at the venue with sparkling eyes.

"Uhh...I didn’t gape or something, right?" I whispered to Arta as we sat at our designated table while Natha continued talking with the enthusiastic guests. She giggled but told me I did no such thing. Phew.

"Don’t worry, Young Master. You just look really pretty."

"You made it sound like all I need to do is stand still and look pretty," I pursed my lips.

"N-no! Of course, not! Why would you think that?!"

I covered my giggle and winked--it had been a while since I could tease someone. She blinked a few times before laughing and proceeded to tell me about some of the guests I didn’t know--which was almost all of them--especially the one from the other realms.

I didn’t think I would be able to remember all of them, but I listened anyway. From this, I knew there were a lot of scholars and aspiring businessmen who had come bearing proposals for Natha to peruse. I heard Natha provided the merchant union and the academy with a few invitations and they had a whole competition to fight for those invitations.

Wow.

But even those with an already established business came with proposals too, and the nobles came with some checks ready to be invested.

Hmm...wasn’t this becoming more like an expo?

"But, umm...when are we going to start?" I whispered curiously. After stuffing myself with snacks, the night was getting deeper and I wondered where the show was.

Arta winked and replied with a soft laugh. "The main show should start at the peak of excitement, shouldn’t it?"

True, but...it was almost my sleep time already.

As I was wondering how much longer I could stand this party before feeling sleepy, Natha clapped his hands and walked toward a stage that was used by the entertainer earlier. I straightened my back immediately, and so did the guests who turned and shifted their attention to Natha at once.

With a smile on his face, Natha swept his gaze across the room, and smiled slightly when he met my eyes. "Now, I know some of you have been curious about something."

"You know it, my Lord," one of them--the head of a merchant union operating in the realm of envy, if I recall correctly--responded with a lighthearted whiny tone. "Isn’t it time you tell us about those screens and that pillar?"

"No, no--not the pillar, but the device attached to it," a scholar from the realm of pride interjected.

Well, whatever the term was, everyone exclaimed in agreement. They moved to the center, not just so they could see and hear Natha better, but also in order to see the ’screen’ and ’device’ in action.

"Of course," Natha generously smiled and nodded, spreading his arm to the side as a signal for Neel who was staying inside a hidden booth on the second floor. "Do not worry; I will show you in a little bit."

Oh, oh--my toes wiggled in excitement.

Suddenly, Natha whistled, and a flock of little mechanical birds flew inside the Hall. The guests were startled as the bird hovered above them and moved strangely, but it did not beat their astonishment when their faces appeared on the white screens.

Oh, my...we were making CCTV now?

"Oh!"

"Oh, what is this?"

Confused voices filled the hall, but once someone realized what happened, it turned into a shocked exclaim. The scholars were the first to react, parting their lips as their heads swayed from side to side, lips parted in gasp.

"This is a motion recording device," Natha spoke after the commotion calmed down a little bit, spreading his hand as a bird landed on his palm.

Huh? H was promoting our products here?

Wait...this party was initially used for that, anyway. Once I realized that, I nodded proudly even though it wasn’t my work at all. Whatever--I was the one who commissioned the stuff anyway. It felt like cheating, but my name was on the patent too, so I couldn’t help but feel happy about it.

"This is..."

"This is the new product we are going to launch this year," Natha continued with a calm smile and smooth mercantile voice. "A device capable of recording scenes in motion, saving the images, and projecting the recording image to a screen."

Hmm...I wondered how people on Earth back then reacted to the first video camera. Would it be the same as what I witnessed here?

"Oh!" this time, instead of the scholars, the merchants stirred. "This is..."

"We will be able to record conventions, events, even...even plays!"

"And if we put a huge screen in a big room or the street..."

"Oh!"

Discussions about the use of the recording device unraveled on their own by enthusiastic professionals. A lot of them still had yet to present their business plan to Natha, but I was sure they forgot about them already.

"It seems like some of you can already see the huge potential that this device has," Natha raised his hand slightly and the mechanical bird flew away. "Then, shall I show you an example?"

He snapped his fingers, and the screens turned black for a second before flashing, and a new scene could be seen; a black stone wall that felt...familiar? The ’camera’ moved slowly as if mimicking normal walking speed.

"This is something we have recorded before to show you," Natha smiled as he watched the guests’ eyes focused on the moving recording.

"Oh!"

"Please enjoy."

At that moment, the guests were so captivated by the motion image that they didn’t even see Natha. But I did. I saw his curled lips and cold gaze toward some of the guests. I saw the sinister flash in his silver eyes.

And on the screen, blood was splattering.

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