The Conciege
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ROTLE- Chapter 55- Mage Radiant
🕑 Added 2024-10-01 11:32:30 +0000 UTCElaswit had the most politically correct smile on her face as they walked into the ball. It would’ve been hilarious to look at if it didn’t fit her expression quite perfectly.
“Why exactly are you here?” she muttered under her breath in an attempt to not make her words too obvious for anyone watching from afar.
“It’s kind of my party,” Nella answered, walking with a smile beside her.
“I mean here, beside me.” Elaswit did her best impression of having a pleasing conversation.
Nella feigned ignorance. “Because you’re my friend.”
On the other side of Nella, Aiden did his best to hold his laughter behind a simple smile. Valdan, however, wasn’t very poised in the art of pretense. He looked as uncomfortable and tired as he was.
“Remind me why I’m here again, Lord Lacheart,” he said in complaint.
“I told you already,” Aiden answered. “We needed to pick up the princess.”
Around them the entire hall was filled with people in attires so varying that Aiden could’ve worn a peacock’s tail for a collar and still wouldn’t be out of place. In fact, there was a lady who wore exactly that at one of the tables where the food was placed. She had a bottle of some fizzy drink and was talking to an actual child who was dressed in a suit.
As for the rest of the room, it was loud with people moving about doing one thing or the other.
Aiden counted at least six full noble houses, and too many emblems representing other noble houses. A quick perusal told him that there was no noble house of Bandiv that was not either here or being represented by someone that was here.
Valdan was caught looking around as if he was a prey in a predator’s den. Uncomfortable was a word that hardly did justice to how he looked.
“Am I the one that’s going to have to tell you to loosen up?” Aiden whispered to him.
Barely five minutes ago, the man at the entrance had announced their arrival, placing a lot of emphasis on Elaswit’s title. It was almost as if making sure everyone knew she was the one entering would somehow give him a raise.
“I hate politic,” Valdan frowned.
“Everybody hates politics, Valdan,” Aiden pointed out. “Those that like it usually have some kind of screw loose in their head. No offense, Nella.”
She stood beside him, placing herself between Aiden and the princess in a way that seemed strategic. Whether it was or not, Aiden was grateful for it.
“None taken,” she said. “After all, I don’t like politics.”
She raised her hand almost regally and returned the wave of a man off to the side. Aiden didn’t recollect the man’s face but he knew the emblem that was emblazoned on the breast of his shirt.
“House Ermillion,” Nella said in way of explanation. “The first son. I’m sure his father’s too busy gallivanting around in search of his next mistress so he sent his son for the sake of appearances.”
Aiden knew house Vilion. He couldn’t say they were the best of houses but they weren’t necessarily the worst. In two years the first son. Nayrat Ermilion would die to some drug overdose and his younger brother would eventually rise to become the lord of the house when their father passes in the next five years or so.
Useless pieces of information, Aiden thought.
All the information he had about his earlier years on Nastild were pieces of information you gained when you had plans of involving yourself in the politics of the kingdom. It had been a requirement that he learn all of them when he’d met the head of the Order in his previous life.
The head of the Order had been so appalled by his lack of general knowledge involving anything in that life that he’d forced him to learn everything that there was to learn. In hindsight, Aiden could comfortably say that he knew too much about the politics of too many kingdoms on Nastild in the earlier years.
A lot of macrocosms but not enough microcosm, he thought.
Valdan slowly started branching away from the group as they walked further in and Aiden reached out to grab him by the arm discreetly.
“What are you trying to do, sir knight?” he asked with a false smile placed for the sake of the audience.
Nella and Elaswit gave them a look.
Valdan looked down at Aiden’s hand and smiled easily. Gone was the worry on the man’s face. “I’m just getting a drink, Lord Lacheart. Would you like one?”
Valdan’s false smile was so perfectly placed that Aiden was almost proud of the man. Almost.
Aiden kept his own smile in place. “How about we go get that drink together?”
Nella reached out and grabbed Aiden by the arm.
Aiden turned, a little surprised by her action.
“Lady Naranoff,” he said politely.
“You two should stop making excuses to leave the ladies you came with,” she said then waved at someone. “The drinks will come to us quite easily.”
Valdan made a displeased sound. Aiden was more discreet about his displeasure. He hid it behind a smile as he was taught to.
Nella leaned closer to him and raised a hand to cover her mouth. “Are you sure you’re a bastard who just found out you’re a Lord’s child?”
Her action drew a lot more eyes than Aiden would’ve liked.
“Certain,” he answered.
“Well, you don’t act like it.” Nella dropped her hand. “You act like you’ve been to balls all your life.”
“One thing you may not know about commoner children, Lady Naranoff, is that some of us liked to dress up and pretend we were at balls full of political intrigues and daring.” Aiden nodded in greeting to a young man that had nodded to him. “It might not be the best, but I’ve had a lot of practice over the years.”
One of the guests, a huge man with heavy beards that grew so long they covered his neck made a straight line for them. They were brown like the hair on his head that was full and practically a mane. A few strands were braided, bearing small beads in them. To his side, just a step behind was a young man that could have easily passed for a beardless version of him.
“Lord Jaga of House Vilion,” Nella muttered quickly.
“And his annoying third son, Jen,” Elaswit added.
“Annoying how?” Aiden asked, but he never got his answer.
Both men were already in front of them, Jaga smiling so widely that it was obvious even beneath all that beard.
“Princess!” he called in a loud and deep voice, coming to a stop in front of them. He gave a gracious bow, but not at the waist. “It has been far too many years.”
Elaswit returned the bow, so did the others. Valdan did not. Existing outside the hierarchy by his title as [Knight of the Crown] he was not obligated to be involved in politeness of any kind, not necessarily.
However, the reason he didn’t return the bow was because his eyes were trained on a man in the corner.
“I was at the ball a few weeks ago when the Envoys from Nel Quan visited,” Elaswit pointed out.
“And I was not,” Jaga replied.
Elaswit put up a surprised look. “You were not?”
Jaga shook his head solemnly. “Sadly not. My first represented the family. I was away, bringing control to the nomadic tribes just east of the kingdom. There were rumors of an uprising that the kingdom could not have.”
“And were the rumors true?” Elaswit asked.
Jaga shook his head, his entire hair moving with the motion, the beads in the small braids in his beards making a soft rattling sound. “Not at all. They were merely squabbling amongst each other.”
“Yet you brought control to them,” Nella said politely but pointedly. “How so?”
Jaga gave her a wider grin but didn’t answer. His son, Jen, however, did.
“My father chose to take the side of the weaker group,” he said. His voice carried slight touches of a baritone but was too light for it. The baritone almost sounded forced.
“It is my principle,” Jaga said to the princess, “to always take the side of the weak in such a situation.”
Nella’s jaw tightened but her smile never left. Jaga’s action had not gone unnoticed. By speaking directly to the princess but leaving his son to speak to Nella, he had proudly pointed out that she was beneath his attention.
Naturally, it was true that she was. But he had made a show of it, speaking so loudly to the princess that was known to be her friend, drawing a crowd to their conversation so that there was no one that did not see his treatment of Nella.
Aiden knew the man. He had been a prominent figure in the Demon wars. He was known for his prowess in combat and his love for taking to battle any chance he got. Political intrigue was not his forte and he wasn’t good with manners of court. However, anytime he did play political games, it was always on the boorish side of things.
Jaga took a moment to turn his attention to Aiden and Valdan. His eyes settled momentarily on Aiden before moving to Valdan.
“Sir Knight,” he greeted casually.
Valdan spared him nothing but an assessing look. Jaga was clearly stronger than Valdan, but there was no noble present that was not aware of the difference in their authority. An unprovoked show of disrespect to a [Knight of the Crown] was disrespect to the crown. There was none that didn’t know this.
Unwilling to get caught up in what was happening, Aiden turned and offered Elaswit and Nella a gracious bow.
“Princess. Lady Naranoff,” he said kindly. “If you do not mind, Sir Valdan and I would be in the corner if you need us.”
He paused for a bit long enough to seem like he might await a reply before turning away.
“Sir Valdan,” he said as he passed the knight. “If you would be so kind.”
Valdan nodded and turned with him. “Gladly, Lord Lacheart.”
“Lacheart,” he heard Jaga say behind him. “The one that put on a show at the party I missed. To see your skill would be of interest to me.”
“Faster,” Aiden muttered to Valdan as he increased his pace.
With their backs turned on the bear of a man, Jaga clearly didn’t see the amused smile that crossed Valdan’s face.
“Are you sure you would not like to take your time, Lord Lacheart,” Valdan said, amused. “The wine, I’m sure, will be more than happy to wait for us.”
Ah, a wise guy.
“If we are to find ourselves being challenged by house Vilion,” Aiden said simply. “It would be me by his son. Who do you think will challenge you?”
Valdan shook his head with a smile. “Lord Jaga would not challenge me.”
“Because of your title?”
“Nope. Because he should at least be over level 100 by now,” Valdan said as they approached an empty table. “No one’s going to allow someone of my level duel against a level hundred. From the last update the palace got of him, he was a level ninety-nine. So, unless that level 100 threshold eludes him, he should be above it.”
Aiden almost looked back at the man. That’s odd. He was level 150 at the start of the Demon wars.
That was at least five years in the future.
“When was that update?” he asked.
Valdan took a quick moment to think about it. “Maybe five months ago.”
Aiden was fairly certain the man was still not at level hundred, unless the man knew some secret method to reaching the level. Then again, there were those who were just like that, breezing through the fifty level walls as if they were born for it.
He’d known of a few people like that in the Order.
Curious, he asked, “Would they allow the both of us face him?”
Valdan gave him an equally curious look. “If he isn’t at level hundred yet, then yes. But don’t let all that power get to your head, Lord Lacheart. There is power, and there is power with experience. Even if Lord Vilion and I were of the same level, I would not be in a hurry to face him. He has enough experience under his belt to make me lose.”
Aiden nodded to that. It only made sense.
Before they got to the empty table, a waitress walked past them. She carried a tray in her hand, balanced atop it were different glasses, half-filled with effervescent liquid, slightly golden in color.
Aiden snatched up two as she passed and handed one over to Valdan.
The knight gave him a look as they took a seat. “How is it that you always have eyes for the drinks in these occasions?”
“I’m a drinker,” Aiden said simply. “It’s how I get through the headaches of the crowd.”
Valdan took a sip of his wine and frowned at it. “Its like drinking sweetened juice.”
Aiden took a sip of his own. “But not as thick.”
“You’d think they’d serve better wine at events like this,” Valdan grumbled but took another sip, a longer one this time.
“I think they normally would,” Aiden agreed. “But they have to be careful. It wouldn’t be nice to accidentally offend their guest with alcohol that’s heavy enough to notice. You wouldn’t want drunken men hobbling around when the priests show up.”
“That’s true.” Valdan adjusted on his seat. He moved to drop his drink on the table, paused, took a full swallow that emptied the glass, then dropped the glass. “I heard that—” He paused. “What?”
Aiden was giving him a look. “For someone that complained about the drink you sure finished it quickly.”
“I just wanted to get it out of the way.”
“Of course you did. You certainly didn’t enjoy it.” Aiden smiled impishly. “Don’t worry. I won’t get you another glass.”
“Oh, shut up, Lord Lacheart.” Valdan’s eye moved very briefly, picking out another waiter before returning to Aiden. “On a more important note, I heard rumors of this party being hosted for the priests of the church. Why is that? Everyone knows that you cannot gain favor from the church. At least not in so obvious a manner.”
Aiden furrowed his brows intentionally. “I’m sorry, am I expected to be privy to the inner working’s of the Lord’s decisions?”
“No, but Nella seems to take some level of interest in you so I’m sure you’ve heard something.”
“Touche.”
Valdan blinked. “What’s that?”
“Just something we say where I come from.” Aiden waved the question aside. “But you’re right. I did hear something about the party.”
Valdan leaned in, like a teenage girl anticipating the latest gossip. “What did you hear?”
It was so uncharacteristic of the man that Aiden almost laughed.
“You seem… invested,” he said.
“Because I am,” Valdan admitted, unashamed. “I know someone who is quite religious and expects any and every gossip regarding the church from me.”
That piqued Aiden’s interest. “You have friends?” he asked, surprised.
Valdan reeled back as if physically struck. “Of course I have friends. What kind of person doesn’t have friends?”
“Well… I just thought that you had colleagues, not friends.” Aiden folded his arms. “And what do you mean by what kind of person doesn’t have friends?”
“Oh, come off it,” Valdan chided him. “Your lack of friends is intentional. I have it on good authority that those your colleagues… what are their names?” he snapped his finger in thought, trying to recollect the information he was looking for. He continued only when he had it. “Letto and Drax. I have it on good authority that they are trying to be your friend. You’re the one pretending you don’t want their friendship.”
Aiden cocked a brow. “Pretending?”
“I said what I said, Lord Lacheart. Now let’s move on to more important matters. This thing you heard…” Valdan allowed his words trail off, waiting for Aiden to offer more information.
Aiden raised a cautionary finger. “Before we continue,” he said. “I have a question.”
Valdan frowned. “You’re stalling, but go for it.”
“This friend,” he said. “How religious is she?”
Valdan blanked. “Who said they were a she?”
Aiden sighed. “Alright, let me teach you something my fine combat instructor.”
A frown touched Valdan’s lips but Aiden continued.
“First of all, you told me everything I needed to know the gender of your friend,” he said. “First, you leaned in, too interested in what was ultimately gossip. And you and I know you have no interest in gossip. Which means that you want this information, not for yourself but for someone else. Which means you are either a spy or a someone gathering gossip. And you, Sir Valdan, are not a spy.”
Valdan pursed his lips. “Alright. You said first, so what else has given you this impression.”
“The second one is more of a guess,” Aiden answered. “Girls are mostly the ones interested in gossip. And when a man such as yourself shows this much interest in gossip he wishes to share with someone, its most usually a girl. And finally,” he raised his hand to stall Valdan’s words. “There’s the fact that you went the extra mile to say ‘who said they were a she?’”
“Now you’re just reaching,” Valdan said with a chuckle.
“Maybe,” Aiden conceded. “But if it was one of my friends or even my brother whose identity I was hiding, I would’ve said ‘who said it was a she?’ your specific choice of they not it implies that you are completely unwilling to demean them to a pronoun that possibly objectifies them. That shows care. So I’d say either a very close relative or a romantic interest. Now tell me, Sir Valdan,” Aiden sat forward, placed his elbows on his knees and leaned in, glass of wine still in hand, “who is this beautiful young lady that has you so enamored and when do I get to see her?”
There was a moment of silence that stretched between them. Even in the chaos of the party and its loud noises, Aiden could hear the silence between them. It was like a physical thing, as if he could just reach out and grab it.
Valdan broke it not long after.
“Have I told you how much I hate you, Lord Lacheart?”
Aiden laughed. “And there in lies my personal opinion that it is a romantic interest.”
Valdan shook his head in surrender. He was smiling.
“Alright, alright,” he said in defeat. “She is a romantic interest.”
“Had no idea you had it in you, Valdan,” Aiden smiled. “I always thought the only interest you had was in the sword and getting to level fifty.”
“Well, jokes on you. I have other interests. For now, she holds the fort at my estate until when I return.”
“Are you both wedded?” Aiden asked, genuinely interested. “Married under a system binding oath or just a kingdom and church certificate?”
Valdan’s brows furrowed in surprise. “How do you know about system binding Oaths?”
“You honestly don’t think all I do in the library is study beasts and classes, do you?” Aiden asked. “I read up on everything. I know the king has vowed to get us home but I’m not naturally an optimistic person. In the event that he cannot, I’ve more than accepted the fact that this is where I end.”
It wasn’t far from the truth. In his past life, Aiden had learnt of the rules governing marriages from the palace library. A king or an appointed delegate could legalize a couple’s marriage under the kingdom laws with a marriage certificate and so could a priest of the church. Most people settled for that. But system binding Oaths worked differently and weren’t just marriages.
For one, they were almost impossible to break. Two people could not so simply annul it just because they were no longer interested. Secondly, its major benefit was the fact that each party could always find each other through the binding as long as there was no interference. Each party could also have access to the other’s personal details whenever and wherever, going as far as real time information of their life stats and more.
In Aiden’s past life it was rumored that it allowed parties share pain, and sometimes even skills as long as they were close enough. The benefits were vast, but so were the drawbacks.
However, as a random man in a random tavern had once said in Aiden’s previous life, the drawbacks only existed if you planned on being anything but a good spouse.
Valdan’s eyes lowered slightly, and Aiden took it as a cue that the knight was not willing to share that specific piece of information.
“You don’t have to share,” he said. “It’s your personal life, and far be it from me to pry.”
“Thank you,” Valdan said, a deep gratitude in his voice.
“However,” Aiden added quickly. “What I do need to know is what precedence religion takes in your relationship with her. The truth, please. It is the only thing that would help me judge how best to give you this piece of information.”
Valdan gave it a moment of thought before he answered. When he did, he spoke slowly, choosing his words carefully.
“The church was once her number one priority,” he said slowly, after making sure no one was clearly eavesdropping. “Then we met. Now, in her words, I am her number one priority, our relationship is her number two priority, and the church is her number three priority. And I am inclined to believe her.”
“And what about you?” Aiden asked. “What’s your take on the church?”
Valdan’s eyes narrowed. “If I didn’t know you better, I’d say that you are beginning to sound like a heretic trying to convert me to his ways. Should I be worried, Lord Lacheart?”
There was a note of warning in his voice, a warning to Aiden in his relationship with others moving forward.
Aiden waved him aside. “Not a heretic. But I see your point.”
“So, are you giving me the gist or not?”
It was really weird to hear Valdan so comfortably use the word ‘gist.’
“Fair enough. The gist is that there may or may not be a [Saint] coming to the banquet.”
Valdan frowned immediately. “A [Saint],” he said, voice dropped to a whisper. “But those are rare, almost mythical. What are there? Only thirty known in the entire world?”
Twenty-nine, Aiden corrected in his head. At least at this point.
By the time the Demon wars started, they had increased to near fifty. And that was only on the human side of Nastild.
“Well,” Aiden said. “I heard one of them might be coming here. Them and members from the Mage Radiant.”
Valdan scoffed hearing of the Mage Radiant. “They are nothing but second fiddle to the [Saint] at this point.”
“Well,” Aiden leaned back on his seat and took a sip of his wine. “That what I heard.”
“Did you learn the [Saint]’s name?” Valdan asked.
Aiden shook his head. “No idea.”
Valdan nodded. “I wouldn’t be surprised. That’s something only the lord would know at best.”
“Uhuh.” Aiden crossed his leg, rested one ankle over the lap of the other.
They remained there, quietly enjoying their company and disapproving of the noise of the party with nothing but their expressions.
Lord Jaga Vilion had moved on from Elaswit and was currently talking to some other man. The man was smaller and wore the emblem of some unknown house. It wasn’t necessarily unknown, but it was unimportant.
Aiden doubted there was a house on Nastild that he didn’t know.
“Don’t look now,” Valdan said. “But the young Vilion is heading our way.”
Aiden didn’t look. “Are we giving him his father’s hospitality?”
“And by that which one of us will talk to him?” Valdan asked, pointedly keeping his eyes on Aiden’s.
He was clearly keeping tabs on the boy, Jen, in his periphery.
Aiden smiled in response to his question. “Ever played rock, paper, scissors?”
Valdan blanked. “What’s that?”
Aiden couldn’t lie, he was having so much fun using terms Valdan didn’t understand. There was just something about that innocent confusion.
Nastild had its own version of the game but where was the fun in that.
Aiden opened his mouth to reply when the announcer at the door spoke. His voice was so loud that it overshadowed even the noise of the room.
“Introducing Lady Estabel, [Mage] and Magus of the Mage Radiant!” the man’s voice boomed, declaring her presence. “And her entourage, consisting of three [Mages], four [Enchanters] and one servant.”
Aiden’s head moved instinctually. There was always something alluring about the Mage Radiant. Those who had gained the title of Magus within the organization were basically like anime characters.
The moment his eyes settled on Lady Estabel, he knew his eyes were not the only ones on the lady.
She had hair of the brightest pink. Bright grey eyes glowed subtly behind round glasses with wooden frames of the sharpest brown. She wore a bright yellow cloak, equally as bright as her hair. Aiden knew that if it was before his death, he would’ve been able to sense at least eight enchantments on the cloak. There were probably a series of spells on it, too.
Another enthralling aspect of the lady was her staff. She walked with it, stamping it on the ground with each step as if she needed it, despite how young she looked. It was a straight staff, made of what Aiden believed the Mage Radiant would call an elder tree. At its peak it spread out into a weaving of roots with a deep blue orb at its center. Staring at the orb was like staring at the constellations if they moved.
With a staff like that, she had a mana storage that could be arguably up to that of two men. The problem was that it was only used to cast really powerful spells.
If he was to face Estabel right now, he doubted she would need to use the staff.
“Always showing off,” Valdan grumbled.
Aiden almost laughed. The Mage Radiants, especially those that had risen to the title of Magus were rarely ever known for their humility. At this point, it had taken Aiden a moment to take in the other members of her entourage.
They were, in the simplest sense of the word—next to Estabel—boring.
The entire room still had its attention focused on Estabel. One of the lords, a man in his fifties walked up to her. Before he got to her, she turned, and her eyes met Aiden’s.
The orb of her staff glowed very faintly, and her mouth moved.
“Found you.”
Aiden heard the words as if she had whispered it into his ears.
Comments
The Conciege
Thanks for catching that. Had a bit of a name editing issue that replaced all the Ermillions with Vilions. My fault, actually. the guy who dies in five years is Ermillion. the bearded guy is Vilion.
Simon Hoerder
Just to clarify: Lord Jaga of House Vilion is the same who goes gallivanting after mistresses and, in the original timeline, dies within 5 years? Or am I misreading and those are two different Houses Vilion?
