Annette glanced back at Noah and felt better about her chances.
In contrast, Noah's face was comical at best and stiff at the worst. Mentally, it was like he'd been fighting a tug of war that culminated in an expression similar to one made if forced to eat shit. Even worse, when it was clearly voluntary.
Annette had made the offer pertaining to Leah on a whim. She'd always been observant. In the time spent watching Noah interact with John and Leah, the noticeable twitch at Leah's beggar-like tendencies in comparison to Noah and John were all too apparent.
If Noah was the walking contradiction between a pauper carrying the air, appearance, and dignity of a noble, Leah was the opposite. A noble appearance, but the air, rancor, and cluelessness of a beggar.
Annette figured she'd give the bait a shot, and sure enough, Noah bit on it.
Sometimes the opportunistic tendencies of the upper class ingrained in Annette were useful.
The grudging respect in Noah's blue eyes made it certain that he too was aware and had played the game of snakes and jackals among nobles.
Raelyn was sent to let John and Leah know that Noah would be out for a while.
The group then broke off from there, and Noah had been making that face ever since.
It was interesting, and his moping helped lift Annette's mood.
Was it a bad thing that she thought it was funny?
Carefully, Annette maintained her stoicism.
She found her curiosity growing, but was too focused on what was to come. Mary was shooting her uncertain looks, but Annette knew her mother best.
There was no way her mom would be able to ignore Noah in the current setting, and that was what Annette was banking on.
The reception hall was just through the large oaken doors the three were approaching.
Without hesitation, Annette took the lead in knocking, and then opening the doors. Mary and Noah stood on either side of her as light spilled out from the room.
Inside, Sophia and Henri were seated in front of a young man in a dress shirt and tie. The coat tails the man wore were long enough to drag behind him, flaunting wealth and capability.
Natalie stood behind Sophia, head politely lowered in waiting.
All eyes turned on Annette and the others when they entered the room.
Fortunately, Noah did not look like a beggar.
Annette had no choice but to admit that Noah was a spectacle after Noah had been properly cleaned. Not groomed, but clean. His hair was still messy, but one could imagine its luster after a bath.
He was properly clothed, and his fair features were more on the handsome side than anything else. He was eye-candy that most would be unable to extricate themselves from, but everyone here was raised noble and could look past such baser views on the surface.
The misunderstanding glare her mother sent her upon taking note of Noah's appearance caused Annette's lips to thin. She had not been swindled because she swooned at a pretty face!
In fact, Noah's first impression as a pauper was a far cry from his current bearings.
Annette cooled her frustration and sat next to her brother Henri. Mary and Noah adhered to etiquette and stood a respectful distance behind her. Mary showed surprise at Noah's seamless action, but Noah shrugged it off and said nothing.
"Now then," Sophia Everbright coughed, holding her opinion about Annette's antics in order to focus on the meeting. "What brings the young heir of the Dale family to Everbright?"
Martin Dale steepled his fingers, and leaned forward. His brown hair was tied into a warrior's braid, and his piercing black eyes gave a decadent feel.
"Surely, you are already aware?" Martin said.
The formalities were all a charade. Everyone knew what he was here for.
"Then I'll cut straight to the point and remove the pleasantries since I dislike pointless banter." Martin ignored etiquette and met eyes with Sophia without permission, someone of higher station than his own. "Will you really not step down? More can be done in stronger hands."
The disrespect was blatant, but Sophia had gone into this meeting with the insight not to fall for such base provocations.
"Tch. Stronger hands?" Sophia brushed off cooley, her features frigid as she swiftly countered. "Where were the other families when Duke Everbright led the defense of Amaranth?"
"Are you saying our confidence in Duke Everbright was unfounded?" Martin redirected while maintaining composure.
Like a snake, he slithered around, and like a jackal, he bit down on weakness.
"The question now is different." Martin shrugged. "The Duke was a paragon of Amaranth, but are you? Are any of you in Everbright, capable of succeeding him?"
Sophia clenched her jaw at the reminder. The vicious barb in the words was pushing her to her tipping point. Insults to herself and the territory were tolerable, but it was different for her family, and especially pertaining to her husband.
"It is of no concern to you or the coalition, but a suitable heir is being raised." Sophia forced out through her teeth.
"And how long will that take?" Martin did not realize how thin the ice he was treading on truly was. "How many lives of the strong must you waste for the sake of the feeble who are unready to fill in the Duke's shoes?"
"You're touting a dangerous line, Martin Dale." Sophia's eyes began to narrow, muscles growing taut. "The duty of a Noble is to safeguard mankind. It's even in the oaths to become a Knight."
"Yes indeed." Martin shook his head. A cub ignorant of fear against the tigress before it. "For mankind; I know it all too well, but it's also up to interpretation. With Everbright's declining strength, you cannot hope to maintain Amaranth's defense. My father can-"
"You are not your father." Sophia cut Martin off. "You may have the talent, but you are not yet at that level."
A vein popped over Martin's temples, a hand impulsively unsheathing a sword hung over his waist. "How dare you judge my-"
"You best watch yourself." The air was suddenly chilled by several degrees. "Or have I been quiet for too long?"
Martin looked towards the sword Sophia had knocked out of his hands, and then back to Sophia who hardly batted an eye.
It was too quick. Martin hadn't been able to react.
Madwoman Sophia Newmoon.
T-This middle aged witch.
If anyone would move outside of expectation, it would be her.
"How unpleasant. This trip seems like a wasted effort then."
Martin opened and closed his dry mouth.
He'd considered making a fuss to create a justification to depose Everbright, but the reminder of Sophia's former reputation had him reconsidering.
"And to think that I even had to rush here after some beggar delayed my carriage." Martin sat up, no longer intent on provoking a reaction. Rather, he was venting. "The ignorance to not clear the road at the sound of clopping hooves is lost on the feeble paupers."
"You couldn't have stopped?" Sophia murmured in disgust, weighing the notion of punishment, but realizing the futility.
There was no point in standing up for someone who was already dead. Mankind needed all the strength it could get. Even if the strength itself was of a twisted sort against the encroaching fog.
Still, necessity had no bearings on likability.
"You ruin the image and reputation of the nobles," Sophia sneered derisively.
Martin wasn't phased.
"Ruin, hahaha? Are you joking?" Martin's lips curled as if he'd heard the funniest thing. "Should I have stopped for a parasite?"
The air reverberated with an unseen force, catching everyone off guard despite a lack of magic or mana weighing down on anyone.
Hairs inexplicably stood up on end, and a sense of unease permeated from an onset of cold wind.
The source…
"Say that again."
Noah stared at Martin with a deceptively blank expression.
Annette and Mary were the only ones in the room to understand the implications, while Henri and Sophia were unaware.
Martin eased the momentary trembling of his fingers by clenching his hand into a fist and shaking his head. The notion that he'd even been intimidated by someone roughly his age for even a moment infuriated him.
"Do the vassals of Everbright lack even a semblance of coherence?" Martin wet his lips, trying to reassert a level of composure. "How the mighty have fallen-"
"Say it again."
Noah looked squarely at Martin in the same way Martin had done to Sophia, disrespect be damned.
"Hmph. Persistent. I'll acknowledge it." Martin's veins popped over his skin. He thought this all a mere play to provoke him into acting first. He wouldn't be fooled so easily, so he'd play along with this charade of honor and Noblesse Oblige. "Are you angered on behalf of a child with nothing to contribute but to leech off the pity of others? Feeble vermin. His blood now dirties the frame of my carriage, but it's a better outcome than pig feed for the blighted in the dark fog."
"I thought so…"
Everyone focused on Noah as he slowly bent down and picked up the sword Sophia had knocked out of Martin's own hands. That unseen force prior returned in full as the sigils of the cross on the back of Noah's hands began to thrum and flare.
Soft radiance shone to judge the worthy and the damned.
'...I did not come to bring peace, but a sword.' (Matthew 10:34-36)
An aura of light traveled down the sword's hilt and then illuminated the entire blade to create an aura sword, a basic Knight skill that imbues a sword with the user's magic.
"A vassal of Everbright dares to point his sword at a guest?" For a second, Martin's eyes lit up. Justification for action was at hand by the mistake of Everbright's own personnel! "I'll be sure to report this erroneous case of misconduct and have Everbright-"
"I am no vassal." Noah's voice was even and subdued, but it hid a deeper sentiment.
"Do you think such blatant lies would-" Martin's expression finally hardened as he felt the intensity of Noah's mana continue to heighten to a level that couldn't be ignored.
He was really going to attack him? It wasn't just a bluff prepared by Everbright?
"...Are you sane?" The words escaped Martin's mouth as he placed a hand on the hilt of his secondary weapon.
"That beggar you called a parasite…That was my brother." Noah's blank expression began to steadily break.
He shut his eyes amid the shock of the statement and the ensuing silence that followed.
Quietly he offered a prayer.
'Lord give me strength…'
Noah's eyes opened, revealing a cold glint as muscle memory shifted him into stance.
'For I have no mercy to give.'