Let's start over, Your Majesty.

Chapter 215 The Ball Competition

The ball was about to begin, and the guests walked from the outer area to the inner area, gathering in the hall, all facing the central platform of the double-curved staircase.

At this moment, Sia had not yet appeared. The band was playing slightly hurried music to create an atmosphere for her upcoming appearance.

Caesar soon saw the Enrid couple appear in the crowd, greeting the guests.

“Caesar, should we go up and say hello?” Yumilia asked, a few crumbs of nuts still clinging to her lips.

"We'll just eat and drink well ourselves, don't worry about so much, it would be pointless for us to go." Caesar raised a handkerchief and wiped her mouth.

“Hmm, I wonder when Ita will arrive,” Yumilia said.

“She should be a while away; she’s probably dealing with work right now,” Caesar said.

Now he was somewhat hoping Ita would arrive later, at least long enough to make it through the opening dance.

Just as I was thinking this, the lights in the venue suddenly dimmed, and then the voice of the banquet emcee came through the electronic microphone.

"Welcome, distinguished guests. Today is a great day. It is the twelfth birthday of our beautiful, intelligent princess, the representative of the Kingdom of Fein, and the symbol of the spirit of the ancient great empire! Twelve years ago today, a baby who would change the world was born!"

The master of ceremonies recited in an extremely exaggerated tone, and as soon as he finished speaking, the whole audience burst into enthusiastic applause.

"Next, please let Princess Xiya's parents, our Prime Minister, speak!"

Enlid and Manslivie walked onto the stage amidst applause. Manslivie was dressed very brightly today, with her arms wrapped in fluffy genuine leather satin, exuding an air of nobility.

She stood gracefully beside Enlid with a faint smile, without saying a word.

Enred raised one hand, the applause stopped, and he said calmly:

"It is an honor that you all have taken time out of your busy schedules to attend my daughter's birthday party. You are all guests today, so please don't be shy. If there is anything that is not well received, please forgive me."

It was a very simple, polite remark, but it received a great deal of enthusiastic applause.

"Now, let's move on to our main event. Please welcome our star of the day, Princess Sia!"

The lights dimmed, then focused on the curved staircase on the left, where a petite girl appeared, dressed in an incredibly gorgeous gown, her long hair styled in an updo, her makeup exquisite, her beauty like that of a goddess descended to earth.

Several maids behind her lifted her long, trailing skirt as she gracefully and slowly descended the stairs.

The lights focused on her, making her dress sparkle and shine brilliantly.

“It’s so beautiful,” Yumilia said, her eyes sparkling.

All eyes were on her. No one paid attention to the music. Everyone held their breath and watched her walk down the steps, stand on the central platform, place her hands in front of her, and bow slightly to the guests below.

"Thank you all for coming and making this place so lively," Xia said calmly.

A round of enthusiastic applause erupted, and amidst the applause, the dim lights came back on, and the music became exceptionally relaxing and soothing.

"Bless our Princess!" the master of ceremonies announced in a loud voice.

"Next, it's time for our ball tonight, and our beautiful princess will dance the first opening dance for us,"

"However, before we begin, let's have a little activity. Since our beautiful princess doesn't have a dance partner yet, tonight we will have a competition to choose the best dance partner for her. So, any young men who don't have a dance partner yet and want to dance with Princess Sia, come forward!"

As soon as he finished speaking, a number of lone boys straightened their clothes, walked forward, and stood at the very front.

Among the group of teenagers, a beautiful flower stepped forward. Tess, holding up her skirt and chin with great pride, walked up, which made many people around her laugh.

Although it is common sense for dance partners to be of the opposite sex, there is no rule that they must be male. So although her appearance was surprising, no one stopped her. In fact, her mother was below, clasping her hands together to cheer her on.

“I’ll go up and give it a try too,” Caesar said to Yumilia.

“Huh? But didn’t you invite Ita to dance the first dance? Ita will be here soon,” Yumilia said.

"Well... so don't talk to her about this later. I... I'll just go through the motions, it'll be quick," Caesar said.

"What if Caesar really wins?" Yumilia asked worriedly. "Caesar, your dancing isn't very polished yet, is it? What if you really dance with Miss Sia?"

"Don't worry, I know what I'm doing," Caesar said.
"This is also to make up for what happened last time."

"Oh, okay then. Good luck, Caesar!" Yumilia then encouraged him.

Caesar stepped forward and stood among them.

He glanced around and realized that not many people dared to come up; including himself, there were only nine people in total.

Two of them were Tess and Leon.

"Caesar? What are you doing up here?" Tiss asked in surprise when she saw him. "You're not trying to curry favor with Nasia too, are you?"

“Don’t talk to me about it, are you really going to do it?” Caesar said.

“Of course.” Tess raised her chin, looking at the dazzling young woman on the stage.

"This is a plan I've been preparing for a long time, with the aim of pulling that guy down from his arrogant position!"

She said with high spirits.

“How terrible,” Caesar sighed.

"Heh, the heiress of Giant Rock Industries? You actually have the nerve to get involved, that's interesting. Too bad you've run into me."

At that moment, a disdainful chuckle rang out.
They looked up and saw it was the same brown-haired boy Caesar had seen on the lawn earlier.

“And who are you?” Tess rolled her eyes at him.

“I am Wei Liding, the second son of Changquan Industrial Chain Group. You may not know me, but that’s okay, because I’ve been studying abroad and only recently returned to China. But you must have heard of the title ‘the new generation of math Olympiad prince,’ right?” the other person said proudly. “Never heard of it.”

"Tess said bluntly."

Veridin showed a hint of embarrassment, then snorted coldly:
"Tch, you're so ignorant. All you need to know is that I'll be the only winner in a little while, and I'll be dancing with Princess Xiya."

"Heh, come on, let me tell you, with me here, you can forget about ever running into Xia." Tess said without backing down.

"That's really intense," Caesar thought to himself.

Once everyone who wanted to participate had come forward, the master of ceremonies announced loudly:

"Now, the topic of the competition will be announced next, and that is..."

“Cooking!”

As soon as the question was announced, several of the participants below quickly changed their expressions.

I had thought about comparing intelligence, physical strength, and endurance, but I never expected it to be a cooking competition.

Especially since he had just been clamoring to defeat all of Weridin's, his expression immediately turned sour.

Caesar also sighed with a sense of helplessness.

Although Xia had already revealed the questions she had secretly obtained to him the day before, how could he improve his cooking skills in just one day?
Are we going to search for the legendary premium kitchen utensils?

So all we can do is leave it to fate.

"Today, we have specially invited Mr. Lérado, the royal culinary master, and his two assistants to serve as judges. They will give each contestant a fair and reasonable score, and the one with the highest score will be the winner!"

"We have prepared the tools and materials. The dessert we will be making for this competition is a very simple one, which is our well-known fruit puree square! The time limit is twenty minutes. If you exceed the time limit, you will be eliminated."

Fruit puree squares are a traditional dessert in Fenn, consisting of a soft cake filled with fruit puree. Almost every Fenn resident has tried them, but the difference lies in the fact that they are exquisite handmade desserts versus industrially packaged foods sold on the street for five card packs.

But eating and cooking are two different things. Even Tess looked troubled at this moment. Caesar heard her complain in a low voice, "What are we going to do? Who would learn to cook this kind of thing?"

But they couldn't complain any longer. With the start date set, the nine participants had no choice but to come to the bar and, using the fresh ingredients they had prepared in advance, begin without any clue what to do.

Sia sat on the high-backed bench, looking down at the scene below, watching Caesar on the edge of the platform, absentmindedly holding a tomato.

"Please, you have to win," Xia prayed silently.

Time passed by, and cheers rang out from time to time. Caesar noticed that Yumilia was also cheering him on not far away, and couldn't help but smile.

Soon, some mishaps occurred. One participant accidentally cut his finger while cutting fruit and started crying from the pain. His parents rushed over and embarrassingly took him away.

The other contestants were fiercely competing, baking their pastries against the clock. Caesar quickly reached the final step: spreading icing on the baked bread dough, decorating it with a cherry, and then ringing the bell.

He was the first to finish, with two minutes remaining.

He first carried his small square of fruit puree to the chef judge and opened the lid.

"Hmm, a very ordinary baking result. While not outstanding, it's acceptable," Chef Lerado nodded and said.

Then pick up the utensils, cut off a small piece, and put it in your mouth.

"The taste is also very ordinary. The baking time and the standard flour ratio are all very rough, which is a common problem for beginners."

He wiped his mouth with a handkerchief and waved his hand: "Five points, next one."

It was a rather mediocre assessment, but that was all Caesar could do. He looked at Sia on the stage, shrugged slightly, and indicated that he had done his best.

Next came Tess, her face still covered in flour, who confidently placed the plate in front of Lerado and lifted the lid.

A stack of banknotes was neatly arranged on the plate.

Lerado stared at it for a while, then looked at Tess: "What is this?"

“This is my dish, please give it a score, judges.” Tess winked at him meaningfully.

"Zero points, get off." Lerado said crisply.

Tess went down, unwilling to accept defeat, and then Leon came up.

He cheerfully placed the plate in front of the judges and lifted it.

Inside was a small bag of fruit puree cubes, but it was the kind of industrial food sold on the street for five tadalafils a bag, and the packaging wasn't even torn open.

"Is this the food you made?" Lerado said, her eyes twitching.

"Oh, sorry, there's one more step."

Leon quickly stepped forward, tore open the packaging bag, took out the pastries, and put them back on the plate.
"Please enjoy."

"Zero points, get off the plane."

Next up was Weridin, who, with a rather confident expression, placed the plate on the table and lifted the lid.

This time, Lerado was so angry that his beard was trembling. The plate was neatly arranged with flour, fruit, and eggs. Weiridin had actually brought him the raw materials!

"This is my special culinary art, allowing diners to taste the original flavor of the ingredients," Veeridin explained earnestly.

"Please enjoy your meal, sir."

"Get out! Zero points!" Lerado roared in exasperation.

(End of this chapter)