"I suddenly feel overdressed," Derbie dryly remarked, seeing all the other men as heavily layered as he was; all but guaranteeing that Lord Daro stood out. 
"Is Lord Adam using our sister's celebration to try and get his little brother a wife?" Gavin sounded as offended by that as Derbie felt. 
"Or is he trying to get our sister to marry his brother?" Hida interjected and they all looked at her in shock.
"Pinky," Edwina admonished before anyone else could.
"What? You're not Debuted yet but they're hosting this for you, and you look like THAT," Hida gestured at Edwina's height and outfit alike. 
"Hida, enough," Alaric was stern, but Derbie and Blair were laughing.
"Shall we make a grand Briggs entrance?" Calvin tried to help corral them all along.
"Yes please, before you can find a way to embarrass me further," Edwina stepped forwards and they all obligingly followed. 
Derbie watched the Estate react to their entrance, seeing the frown mar Lord Adam's face prove Gavin's point. That man did not like seeing Edwina presented and looking so...appealing despite the fact that this was supposed to be FOR her. 
"Let's keep an eye on the Korolenkos, I don't like their anger," Calvin quietly suggested to Derbie, and he nodded his agreement. 
Thankfully, Lor Daro wasn't one of the Korolenkos they had to worry about; his honest pride and joy at Edwina's success all but glowed on her once mentor's face. "My Lords and Ladies Briggs, thank you for allowing me the chance to host this celebration for Lady Edwina on behalf of us all."
And if Derbie hadn't been looking closely at his sister, he would have missed her briefly enamoured expression as she looked at the man who'd been her teacher for years. OH. He looked around at his other siblings and caught Blair's heavily amused gaze as she saw him figure out what was apparently a known fact. 
Ban swiftly came to Derbie's side, and he was glad to introduce his fiancée to the Lady of the hour, Edwina. Both women loved art, though Ban like the hi온라인카지노게임 more than the making, and Derbie expected an easy friendship to form between the two. "Your mentor had placed some of your works in this very hall, Lady Edwina," Ban made a point of informing and Derbie smiled as his sister flushed. 
"Her art work is worth displaying," Lord Daro quickly confirmed, walking them all over to the pieces in question eve as others continued to approach or introduce themselves. 
"I remember you painting this one Winnie," Hida spoke too loudly, pointing at a beautifully romantic scene that made Derbie think of home. "It's my favourite."
"Please call me Edwina, at least in public," Edwina hissed through a forced smile. 
"Sorry," Hida didn't pretend to look contrite despite her apology.
"Your siblings are adorable," Ban whispered for his ear only.
"Don't tell them that, but I agree," Derbie whispered back, knowing she'd never had her own younger siblings to adore. 
Blair had Clayton Wignell at her side, their attire as well matched as their heights were not, and Derbie wasn't surprised to see Danilo already whispering to Calvin, or Gavin holding Eniola's hand. Hida seemed to be staying by Edwina's side, and Alaric was frowning as he looked around for Lady Aayina, so Derbie felt it was safe to trail behind as they were guided around.
"I think my sister Edwina has a crush on her mentor, the man in glasses, but given their respective roles and ages I doubt  she's ever said anything about it," he caught her up, seeing a spark of excitement light up her smile; Ban was as big of a romantic as he was after all. 
"The same mentor who's insisted on hosting this celebration for her?" he could tell her intelligent mind was already putting some plan together. 
"Yes, but its his eldest brother who owns the Estate, thus why you see so many interesting guests," he pointed out the obvious discrepancy. For an Event honouring Edwina, many guests had very little to do with her at all. Yes, the closest to the Briggs had been invited, but even Ban could see the disproportionate number of bachelorettes. 
"How do you feel about this mentor your sister is sweet on?" Ban's question surprised him.
"Lord Daro? He's a lot older than Winnie is, but they seem to understand each other better than most," he frowned as he thought about it.
Lord Daro had been a part of their lives for three years now, working with Edwina every Season while they were in the Capital, but he's never really paid attention to the man beyond his role as a mentor. He'd been too busy with his own life, and then too focused on his Debut to notice anything until today. He tried looking at the pair objectively; although Daro was clearly older, they made a handsome couple. Edwina was statuesque with nearly turquoise blue eyes, and Daro had an almost academic sturdiness to him with glasses and his dark hair. Although the Briggs siblings were all blond, they seemed to each have a thing for brunets. 
"Maybe it'll be a case of absence making the heart grow fonder," of course she'd found a romantic 온라인카지노게임 in it. "She'll go away to learn at the university, and he'll miss her and realize that she's been the one all along."
Derbie smiled and decided to play along, "his home is close enough to the Zappeas Duchy that he could go visit her at the university."
Ban gave a delighted little gasp and Derbie internally cheered, taking a pair of wine glasses from a server walking by. "I can only imagine, your beautiful sister surrounded by all those studious young men, vying for her attention and making her Lord Daro all the more jealous."
"You've never seen Edwina working on a piece," he tried to explain. "Unless you're on fire and screaming, she really won't notice you. It's a level of being ignored I've never seen another human replicate."
"That's even better," Ban insisted. "It'll make the men go to even greater lengths to try and be the one to capture her attention."
"Which will thoroughly annoy her," Derbie had been on the sharp side of Winnie's tongue too many times to provoke her recklessly. 
"So, she'll be relieved when Lord Daro visits her, a familiar respite amongst all the antics of the boys," she was weaving a whole fairytale and Derbie loved her for it. "And he'll want to keep her all to himself."
"This is my little sister we're talking about," he gently reminded before she could get into details that would make him uncomfortable. His fiancée may be shy initially, but once she was comfortable, she could be astonishingly bold.
"I think it'll happen," Ban leaned her head against his shoulder as they walked. 
The Korolenko Estate had a feasting hall with tables covered in a bounty, and work on the walls and waiters walking around with drinks of all concoctions. Once it seemed all the expected guests had arrives, Derbie heard a glass being tapped and saw Lord Daro calling for everyone's attention.
It was time for the speeches then, Derbie was looking forwards to Edwina's accolades.