The Rumins Estate.

The Southern Marquessate was warm, but the residence of the Marquess was even warmer. The Marquess, Pat Rumins, was walking through the hallway- neither too fast, nor too slow. He was a man in his late forties with a strong and tall build, and a moustache. He emitted a solemn aura, prompting the people to distance themselves from him.

A young lady joined him, her feet always fell half a step behind those of his.

“I got an invitation.” The marquess brought out an envelope from his pocket and gave it to her. There were no seals on it. The only thing that made it stand out from the hundreds of letters he got everyday was it’s smell.

*Sniff. Sniff*

A sweet aroma entered the lady’s nostrils, causing her to squint. “Edgarwood? The Royal Family? They could’ve just sent an official invitation with the Royal seal upon it.” She looked at the man. “Why did they have to waste their precious Edgarwood?”

“Don’t you get it?” The man looked at her and smiled. “There’s only one person in the Royal Family who would want to meet me secretly.”

The young lady looked down and thought for a second before turning back to him with a gasp. “Why did you accept then? We have-“

“Already joined a faction?” He smirked at her before looking ahead again. “We are nobles, my dear- not saints. We have no eternal enemies, nor eternal allies. And allies and enemies are just means anyway. What we really want are benefits- eternal benefits.” An evil smile crept out on his face.

The young lady got back into thinking again.

Pegasus’s Den- a high class place for the nobles to gather. It served top notch food, music and women to their patrons. But these are not what made the Den popular among the nobles. What made it stand out from all its counterparts was- privacy.

Adrian and Vanessa were sitting inside a small but lavish room. The red Sofas they were sitting on were cozy. A light magic circle was drawn on the ceiling. Not only did it lit up the entire room, the design of the rare magic circle added to the beauty of the room. There was a rectangular table between the sofas made from the wood of the rare iron banyan trees.

*Click*

The lavishly decorated gold plated doors slowly, but smoothly, opened. Two figures, one large and one petite, entered the room wearing black robes and hoods. Once the door behind them closed down, both of them removed their hoods and robes before hanging them on the hanger beside the door.

The one with the big body was marquess Pat Rumins and the other on was his daughter- Lily Rumins.

“Greetings, Sir Rumins and miss Lily Rumins.” Adrian did not bother to stand up. He did not need to. He belonged to another Kingdom, he was the son of a Duke, and he was also acting as the representative of a Royal. And even if he did not meet any of these criteria, he still would not have stood. He was Adrian after all.

Vanessa stayed silent. Her duty was to ‘protect’ him, or at least that was what she thought. But after staying with him for one night, she knew he was right. He brought her along for ‘one sole reason’- to literally be his body pillow.

The duo did not mind their attitudes at all.

“Greetings, Sir…” The marquess squinted.

“Adrian Darkheart.” Adrian said.

“Adrian Darkheart? Miss Emilia Darkheart’s son?” He asked while his daughter gasped.

“Indeed.” Adrian smiled.

“I see.” He says down opposite him on the Sofa and bowed a bit towards Vanessa. The young lady, Lily followed and sat beside her father.

“I don’t like beating around the bush.” He said with a cold voice. “Do you have any guarantee, that you will win?”

“Of course.” Adrian smiled. “The princess has me on her side after all.” He raised his chin up.

His reply surprised not only the father-daughter duo, but also his ‘guardian’. It rendered them speechless.

After a few moments, sounds of laughter filled the air. The marquess uncontrollably laughed; tears almost escaped his eyes. After almost a minute, he finally composed himself before looking at Adrian whose chin was still up.

“Do you think this meeting is a joke?” His voice grew even colder than before. “What can a student like you do?”

Both Vanessa and Lily stayed silent.

“Just be thankful that I chose you.” Adrian’s voice grew cold as well. “Did you think the North is in turmoil for no reason?”

His statement caused the Marquess to squint. “What do you mean?”

Adrian looked into his brown eyes. “Just what you are thinking.”

The marquess gasped, prompting his daughter to squint. What did he mean?

“You are lying.” The marquess shook his head. “How can a-“

“Student like me do it?” A smile formed on Adrian’s face. “Do you know of this year’s Hunt’s results?”

“Sure. How can I not?” He got excited. “The Empire faced a decisive defeat! All of the Institute’s students were-” He suddenly stopped. His eyes widened as he looked at the young man before him, whose smile seemed to get wider and wider every moment.

He gulped. “You… you… don’t tell me-“

“Indeed. It was my handiwork.”

Once again, all the other three in the room were surprised, but this time- even more so.

“Impossible!” The marquess’s daughter slammed her palms on the table. “I was also a participant four years ago. Do you think-“

“Yes.” He looked at her. “It’s that easy.”

His abyssal eyes made her gulp and meekly sit down back again.

“Any proof?” The marquess asked.

“Do you think the High King allowed a Royal Guardian to accompany an outsider for no reason?”

Both of the Rumins looked at Vanessa. Her response was nonchalance.

“You… you have the High King’s grace?” The marquess gulped.

“Yes. Evelyn will be the Queen.” Confidence oozed from his carefree tone.

The marquess sighed. “I see. But what will you give us is return if I join you.”

“Oh. You will get more fiefdom and more magic crystal allocation.” Adrian said.

“That’s only natural for being on the winning side.” The middle aged man shook his head. “What do I get in return for ‘switching’ sides?” He looked at Adrian in the eyes.

“Come here.” Adrian beckoned him.

He understood and stood up from his seat. He approached Adrian and brought his ear close to the young man’s mouth.

Adrian whispered something. Suddenly, the marquess gasped; his eyes almost popped out. Both of the women in the room noticed a small bulge grow on the Marquess’s pants.

Lily looked away with a reddened face. She cursed her perverted father in her mind.

Vanessa’s reaction was indifferent. These noble politics were a level below the royal ones.

Once it was over, the marquess stood straight and reached out his hand- fast, fearing Adrian might go back on his word. “It’s a deal then.”

Adrian stood up as well. His reason? Shaking hands from a lower position would make him seem the one who is ‘asking’.

“A deal it is.” He ended the deal with a handshake.

The marquess took back his hand. “Please give our estate a visit.”

“I’ll pass.” Adrian shook his head. “We don’t even know each other.” He gave the marquess a smile.

“I understand.” The middle aged man smiled back.

The father daughter duo wore their robes and hoods again. The man left first. Lily took one last glance at the devilishly handsome young man before following him out.

Adrian turned back to Vanessa. “Let’s go.”

“Where?” She asked.

“Isn’t that obvious? We’re in Ris. And the night is approaching.” The smile on his face grew wider.