Happy 26th birthday, mr. Seymour!

When she had received the invitation to the 26th birthday of some Cassius Perseus Seymour, she had not given it much thought. She did not know the man, but when she had called her brother and told him about the invitation, he had seemed excited for her and spoke kind words about the father, Alaric Seymour. He had met the son at a few unimportant instances, and couldn’t really elaborate on whether the young man was kind or not. But knowing the Seymours, her brother had said that he could not imagine a birthday party being something you should intentionally miss.

So she wouldn’t.

It had actually been exciting to have an occasion to dress up again. She had chosen a lovely deep green gown with a plunging neckline. The material of the dress caught the light and shimmered by her every movement.

The party had started almost an hour ago, as she sat in the car on her way to the Seymour residence. There was nothing wrong with a late arrival. It should honestly be expected. The weather was surprisingly warm, so the AC was churning, a rhythmic mechanic beat that filled the silence of the car. She looked out of the window, the beautiful homes of Haling Dove towering on each side of the road. This was actually quite a nice area, she thought. It was quiet. Or maybe it was just her own mind that was quiet for once.



20 minutes had passed since she arrived at the party. She had been greeted with a tray of champagne glasses, one of which she was sipping on now. She had quickly been caught up in conversation with another guest at the party, Jonathan Vermeer, a man from an elite family who also normally resides in the south near Mermont. ”I’m afraid I havn’t said hello to the man of the hour, could you please point me in the direction of Mr. Seymour?” She asked, looking over her shoulder to the rest of the attendees in the great hall. Now which one of them would be Cassius Seymour?

“He’s right over there.” Jonathan said, discreetly pointing the young man out for her.

She said her thanks to Jonathan, a squeeze on his forearm showing her gratitude, and moved her way over to the young man who Jonathan claimed to be Cassius Seymour.

”Cassius Seymour? Many wishes on your birthday - I’m Constance Beaumont.” She looked at the sharp featured face of the young man, who, despite her own impressive height, still towered over her. Her lips tugged into a smile. ”Thank you very much for inviting me.”

Cassius wasn’t the type to want to celebrate his birthday, he much preferred to spend it either alone or with friends. He did not like making a big deal out of it. However, his family made big deals out of things like this. To them it wasn’t very much to celebrate Cassius, but more of an opportunity to show off without being arrogant, to uphold the carefully crafted image and reputation the family has spent generations building. His birthday had never been about him in this house.

Cassius was dressed in an elegant suit, everything black except the deep red tie. The dark colors of the outfit made his already pale skin paler or maybe that was his condition worsening, when was the last time he had properly fed? The zeals Idés had made for him last time had stopped working already, he had to arrange to get new ones as soon as possible.

As Cassius walked from his bedroom to the grand hall where the party was being thrown, he had to stop due to the sudden dizziness. It might have been because of his condition worsening, and it might also be the memory that resurfaced from the last time he wore a suit a week ago. He was never going to touch champagne ever again, that was for sure. Especially if Robert Jenkinson was present. Speaking of Jenkinson, they must have been invited to this right? Their families were friends after all. He felt a mix of emotions at the thought of the chance of seeing him again, both wanting to and not wanting to.

"Cassius? What took you so long? You almost missed your own party,” he heard the voice of his sister speak. She too was dressed up, she was wearing a dark red dress, her hair in a fancy updo that Cassius could not remember the name of and she was wearing makeup. The color palette of her outfit and accessories as well as the make up mixed seamlessly together and Cassius just thought it would make a nice portrait of her. “I just simply forgot something” He said with a small smile, he couldn’t worry Artemia, he couldn’t make anyone worry. “Shall we go in?” He asked before they entered the grand hall together.


The party was filled with his family from both his parents' sides, friends of the family and other influential people in high society. Most had wished him a happy birthday before going on to mingle with others. It was tiring. He never liked being the center of attention. Servers carrying trays of champagne glasses, as well as other alcoholic beverages, walked amidst the guest, offering guests a glass. Cassius made sure to avoid taking any glass that contained alcohol.  When the opportunity presented itself, Cassus moved to the back of the room, towards the wall where large grand windows faced the garden outside, the evening sun shining warmly over it as it slowly set. The sunbeams painting everything over with its own warm glow. From this little corner of the room, he could see almost everyone in the room. He saw his siblings mingling with people their age, some of them he guessed were their friends from other elite families. His parents were together talking to some of his extended family, his mother nursing a glass of champagne. He had a feeling the only reason his parents kept together was because his father was going to make sure that his mother didn’t do anything akin to what she had done at Robert’s birthday party.

Of course, yet again the memory of that night, specifically of that kiss, came to mind. Cassius had yet to see the man at the party, and the mix of relief and slight disappointment was what he could feel from that fact.

Though, before his mind could spiral some more about things he should not be thinking about, Cassius heard his name being spoken. He turned around to see a blonde woman dressed in a green dress. The dress was a nice way to contrast her pale skin and light hair, if she were a painting the color of the dress would really bring out her features. Constance Beaumont, she was royalty, perhaps the only reason she was invited to the party. As far as Cassius knew, his family didn’t have much to do with the Beaumont family.


“Thank you for the wishes, and I hope you enjoy the party,” Cassius said as politely as the small smile on his face was.