Phineas swallowed and staring wide eyed at renjiro his fear evident on his face, renjiro had to tap him on the shoulder to shake him out of his agitated state, he regained his composure, nodded his head and shuffled away.
Renjiro looked at him with displeasure, everyone knew that bullies were cowards but that didn't change renjiro's perception of him, he felt that if people could bully others, they should also be more confident in the presence of a more powerful foe.
"I always knew he was a coward" lyra said taking his mind off his previous thought.
"yeah!" renjiro said offering her his arm once again.
"you said you wanted to have a conversation but you are looking awfully serious, I think you were just jealous seeing me get attention from phinny" she teased
"well I was getting kind of bored and you know I really don't talk to anyone here asides you, and for the record you always get attention from Phineas so I am not really bothered by whatever he does" renjiro retorted while waving back at the guests who waved at him.
Renjiro saw Phineas cowering in front of a muscular and domineering man with bushy eyebrows who looked like an older version of himself.
"that is valerian winterbourne, he is phinny's father and the blond beautiful woman beside him is valery his wife" lyra whispered to him since the winterbourne's were always scarce in events like this she knew it was highly unlikely for him to have seen them.
"oh! I see why Phineas acts the way he does" renjiro replied, he lead lyra by the arm towards the couple to exchange pleasantries since it was expected of him as part of the host family.
Valerian noticed that two people were watching him but ignored them since he didn't feel anything threatening from either of them, he was more concerned on educating his good for nothing son on the qualities of a man, he was aware of his son being intimidated by renjiro and was very disappointed in his son since he could sense any energy from renjiro.
"your lordship" renjiro said bowing to pay his respect.
Valerian didn't bother to reply but offered his hand to renjiro instead, renjiro didn't hesitate and took his hand.
"you are the son of lady caelia?" he asked.
"yes my lord!" renjiro replied
"that means you are the young man who sent my son to the infirmary?" valerian asked with a growing smile, at that point renjiro began to feel a growing pressure on his hand, he didn't fret and began adding pressure to valerian's hand because he was confident in the strength he had compared to other florist since florists were not particularly known for their strength.
Valerian was impressed since the young man in front of him didn't have any channels open but was capable of such strength, only citizens of the continent of vervos could exert this amount of strength at such a level.
Renjiro was confident in his abilities but that confidence began to wane when the pressure on his hand intensified and he began to feel pain, lord valerian let out a chuckle, he was curious as to why the young man in front of him had such strength but refrained from asking since he knew every noble family had their own secret which they wouldn't be comfortable with other's knowing.
"Nice grip you have there" valerian said, at this point renjiro's face had grown red with pain and he felt like his bones were on the verge of being fractured. Lyra and valery watched on with amusement, they were quite aware of what was going on.
"I know that you might have your issues with my son but I would like you to be friends, I believe that you are a man of great potential" valerian said while patting renjiro on the shoulder heavily. He was a man that respected power and determination, from the moment he crossed eyes with renjiro he knew that this was someone who could do anything for power, even in the face of intimidation renjiro maintained eye contact with him, which was something he greatly admired and was saddened by the fact that his son lacked it, while they were still engaged in a discussion the blond beauty that renjiro had an unfortunate encounter with on the first day of he reincarnated into this new world walked past him towards valery and lyra.
"mother, lyra" she said with a huge grin. Renjiro swallowed down the wrong whole which triggered a fit of coughing, the whole scenario caught him by surprise. He cursed lyra silently for not giving him enough information about the winterbournes.
The blonde girl turned towards him and as soon as their eyes came in contact she narrowed her eyes at him, renjiro cringed in fear after a few minutes with lord valerian he already grasped how volatile he could be and how unfortunate it would be to be on the receiving end of his wrath. So he was hoping her father had no idea of what transpired between them.
"father!" she said happily, ignoring renjiro
"phoebe! you left us as soon as we got here, I am surprised you changed your mind and decided to join us" her father joked
"I just wanted to stay in the gardens but I figured that a little bit of partying wouldn't hurt" she replied with a smile
"where is phinny" she asked
"he must have run off somewhere after your father threatened him" her mother chipped in.
"have you met lady caelia's son, I didn't get your name, what is it?" valerian asked trying to shift the attention away from himself
"such a strange man, he asked me to befriend his son without even knowing my name, and her name is phoebe, a name befitting for a beauty" renjiro thought to himself.
"the name is zephyrus sir" he replied
"zephyrus this is my daughter phoebe, I am sure you must have seen her around since you both attend the same school" valerian said proudly
"hello zephyrus" phoebe said with a fake smile but didn't offer him her hand
"let me go look around, lyra if you wouldn't mind" phoebe said taking lyra along with her
"it seems like she doesn't like you, but that's strange considering the fact that she's such a nice girl and likes virtually everyone. It was nice meeting you" valerian said and led his wife away