"My lord." a butler, bowed and said quietly, "The First Lady is not available at the moment."
James raised an eyebrow at that statement.
The servant continued respectfully" Lord Armsworth. I was told to relay to you that she is in the middle of handling a delicate situation.
Therefore, she couldn't afford to come down on your orders."
"And what might be this so o' important reason?" James rolled his eyes.
As casual as that sounded, there was a dangerous glint in his eyes.
A glint that promised a world of pain should he not like the answer that came from the man's mouth in front of him.
The said man felt like a sheep in front of a lion at that moment. Sweat quickly introduced its way to his forehead; his palms were not spared from the introduction as well, it seems.
It was getting hard for him to breathe under the pressure exhibited on him.
He fixed his collar, and hastily responded, "I was told she was in the middle of a social gathering; acting as the host for the other noble ladies."
It wasn't the answer his lord was looking for.
"And why was I not informed of such an assortment beforehand?" James said calmly.
The sudden calmness to his voice seemed to frighten the butler even more.
"It was under your o-orders, my l-lord." He said, panicking, his voice cracked.
"My orders, you say?" Said a confused James.
"Yes, my lord. The head butler specifically relayed to us that you wouldn't want to hear about the First Lady's social gatherings and spendings."
The butler said, choosing to throw the head butler Alfred, his superior, under the bus.
"That old man." sighed James, and grabbed his nose bridge.
And just like that, the pressure was all but lifted from the poor man.
"You can go now." The lord shooed away the servant with a flick of his wrist.
The man was all too happy to get out of what felt like a lion pit. He practically scurried away, a happy smile on his face.
Eldric watched all of what was happening with interest, even he could feel how James's aura changed completely at a certain point.
Frankly, he didn't know what to make of it. So he decided to just dub it under the 'Magical BS' folder that seemed to be constantly increasing in size ever since he woke up.
As a man from the modern era, he had no other way to make sense of it.
Well, For now at least. It would all change.
And he would make sure of it.
The massive doors opened, and two children, with attitudes that couldn't be any more different from each other, entered the hall.
On the right was an older looking young boy. He had more than a head of height over Eldric. The ear-length red hair he had matched well with his golden eyes.
He was wearing an outfit that you would see old nobles wear in historic plays. A long coat, decorated with gold linings and various jewels embedded into it. It reached his pointy leather shoes.
The red-haired kid wore black leggings and a fine silk loose shirt. On his cape was a large symbol: Two swords crossed opposite sides.
His still childish face, with hints of maturing, was decorated with a classic spoiled kid snark.
The boy looked like a spoiled, red-haired small child version of James.
Eldric looked at his father. James didn't seem to be wearing just ridiculous clothing. Moreover, his military uniform fit him rather well with his robust build.
He had seen multiple kids like that back in the days, and they usually never made it out in life.
On the left, a young girl was standing at attention. Her beautiful red hair was cut short, barely reaching her shoulders.
It was drenched in sweat.
Extra beads of sweat rolled off her small, pointy nose as she breathed in shallow takes of air. Her bright green eyes never left the figure of her father, like a hawk stalking its prey, she was waiting for his orders.
The light armour she had on was muddy and had some dents on it, the straps were barely holding the front plates together. Her strong-willed green eyes and her ethereal beauty made her look like a war maiden.
A maiden ready to pave her way through as many armies as it took.
"Father." She simply said, bowing slightly to him.
Eldric appeared to be completely invisible to her, not even entering her vision.
James could only sigh at his daughter's behaviour. "Elah, how many times do I have to tell you to replace that armour?" He continued, "And haven't you been training since the morning?"
Although he was chastising her, he couldn't help the proud grin forming on his face when he said the last part.
James looked at the boy left of his daughter Elah and shook his head.
'Where did I wrong in raising this boy?' He thought.
The boy in question was unaware of his father's inner thoughts. He looked at the girl next to him and said haughtily," Why are you even training so hard, sister. You should take a break, listen to your big brother."
The girl puckered her lips, squinted her eyes and looked at him as if looking at scum on the road, "And what, 'Big brother' Cenric? Turn out like you? Some kind of dressing doll." She snorted and looked away, crossing her arms.
A small snicker left Eldric's mouth, and he immediately regretted it the moment after.
All eyes were suddenly on him. Little Eldric was caught like a deer in headlights.
He lightly coughed and scratched his neck embarrassingly.
Again, the two kids had very different reactions to the 'sudden' appearance of a silver-haired child, one that had one too many close features with their father.
Elah's green eyes seemed to widen in recognition, but that was the extent of her reaction to the newcomer.
Cenric on the other hand… His previous haughty expression was no longer on his face, replaced by a look of pure hatred.
'Why is this bastard here?' thought Cenric. He almost tore a hole into Eldric with his stare.
He must have hoped to intimidate little Eldric.
Alas, Eldric was no normal child.
To him, it all appeared to be the outburst of a spoiled child in need of discipline. So he just shrugged off the hate-filled gaze that was sent towards him.
Not at all minding it.
And that made Cenric even madder.