In the continent of Caelum, the governing system was monarchy, which led the Royal Family to be the main governing body of the whole continent. But one family cannot manage a whole continent, with its trades and administrative issues, the Royal Family had five dukedoms or basically, five major noble families that reported directly to the Royal Family and helped them in governing the continent of Caelum.
But within these dukedoms or major families, several branch families existed that report directly to the major family. The major families were very large in terms of population and area due to this they had several branch families that managed different aspects for the major families. The branch families were basically in the tree of power, lower nobility. The Glade family was one of the many branch families of the Blades and due to good friendship between Alice and the wife of the Patriarch of Glade family, Kris Glade, the Blades and the Glades knew each other far better than other families knew the Blades.
Right now, three figures stood in front of the beautiful Blade manor after entering through the gates. Out of the three figures, one was a woman and the other two were kids, one boy and one girl to be precise.
"Woah! It's so big!" exclaimed the boy with surprise and excitement causing the girl next to her slap her forehead. The boy had shoulder length silver hair and eyes that were as black as coal which overall made the boy fairly handsome
"Brother, we should behave a little and show some manners don't you think?" the girl inquired the boy who was her brother. The girl was more beautiful than her brother with silver hair just like him that cascaded down her back stopping short of some distance from the waist. She had green meadow eyes that gave her a natural allure.
"Come on. You are no fun Sophia, I just wanted to look a little around me," The boy replied to his sister, Sophia in a gloomy tone.
"Now now Aaron, you should listen to your sister. You'll get to meet Arthur soon but you should behave yourself first," A woman who seemed to be in her late 20's with long silver hair the reached down to her waist and and ocean blue eyes that made her a beauty to be held with care.
"Okay mother. I understand," Aaron apologized to his mother for his behavior.
"Good, now let's go inside shall we?" The woman started walking forward towards the manor with her children in tow,
*******
Arthur was standing in front of a mirror right now, checking his dressing and appearance one last time. He was wearing a formal suit again with black brogues and had neatly combed his pristine snow white hair. His sea blue eyes held an exotic allure to them as they shimmered and glimmered in the reflections of the mirror.
'Everything's good let's go. You there?' Arthur prepared himself to go before asking for a god in his head if he was not dozing off.
A moment later the replay from Hades came clear in his head,
[Yes I'm here.]
After hearing his reply, Arthur opened the door and left but not before hearing soft mumbling in his head which caused him to break into a hearty chuckle,
[If only I was pretty as he is.]
******
Arthur entered the living room where his parents were already waiting for him, sitting at the sofas. As soon as he entered, Alice's expression lit up,
"Look at my boy! He looks so charming~"
His father - who was carrying Amelia - also nodded in approval and also appraised his dressing,
"You look good son."
As if on cue, the door of the living room opened and a maid entered. She bowed deeply and told them that the Glades had arrived. Nolan nodded and told her to bring them in and she left.
"Alright then, let's go meet them," Nolan got up with Amelia in his arms and extended his hand to Alice who took it and got up. Together they left towards the entrance of the manor to greet the guests.
******
Arthur, along with his family arrived at the entrance where the three guests were coming towards them. At a glance, Arthur could tell that they exuded an air of nobility just like themselves and behaved in an elegant and sophisticated manner. Without the boy that is, his face literally like he would blow off with excitement at the things he was seeing and Arthur had to suppress a laugh at the funny sight.
"Natasha!" Alice yelled in joy and forgot all her manners and air of nobility in a second as she ran off to greet her old friend. The same could be said for Natasha Glade as well as she also ran straight towards Alice without any care for her children when she was just telling Aaron a moment ago to behave like a noble.
"Alice! It's been so long, how are you?" Natasha asked with joy and happiness in her voice as she embraced her old friend in a tight hug showing their old bond.
After a few seconds they broke off the hug and seeing their long awaited reunion, Arthur just realized something and a mischievous smile appeared on his face as he turned his face towards Nolan, who gulped after seeing the smirk on his face. He had no doubt that his son was going to tease him and he was right on the spot as Arthur said,
"Hey dad. Why don't you have any friends that come and visit you? Don't tell me you were a loner and an emo kid when you were a loner."
A laugh escaped Arthur's lips and Nolan's face turned a little red but he quickly retorted with embarrassment.
"It's not like that! I had a lot of friends its just that we are too busy with our responsibilities nowadays that we can't meet anymore."
But what Arthur teased him about was actually true, but it was not like it was his fault, it was quite the contrary actually, he had always wanted to make friends with people as a kid but that was not possible. When growing up he had to learn a lot about being a Blade and how to act from his father who was practically a cold and indifferent machine who would only smile once in a blue moon. This caused a little of his personality to rub off him and he also naturally became cold with it making harder for people to approach him as he always gave off a chilly aura.
Breaking them out of their father-son moment was the sound of Alice and Natasha who were walking towards them with Natasha's children behind her. Natasha giggled in delight after seeing Arthur and pinched his chin who looked at her with the stare saying, 'Really?'
"And what do we have here? It's so nice to personally see you Arthur, I've heard so many things about you and I must say, you are a real cutie."
Resisting the urge to cough, Arthur introduced himself as well to show his manners,
"Hello Aunt Natasha, I also have heard many things about you from my mother and it is an honor to finally meet you. As for your remark, you flatter me but may I say that you look gorgeous as well?"
This time it was Natasha's turn to be embarrassed as her cheek turned the faintest hint of pink and she was shocked as she wondered who was this kid actually to be such a well spoken person like a veteran with years of socializing. Actually even before coming here, Arthur had gone on quite a few parties where he had to blend it first and talk with people so he knew the art of flattering very well as a veteran even before coming here.
In a sense, Arthur was not wrong, Natasha was wearing a sleeveless black regal dress and black sling backs which overall accentuated her already voluptuous figure and curves of her body and heavily contrasted with her silver hair.
Then Natasha turned to Nolan and bowed lightly,
"Greetings Lord Nolan, it is an honor to meet you once again. Kris sends his regards and sincerely apologizes for his absence in today's visit. He really wished to congratulate Arthur and you in person but there were important matters that required his attention. He says that he hopes you understand."
Nolan held up his left hand and gestured her that it was alright,
"Please Miss Natasha there's no need for the honorifics. I fully understand Kris's problems and wish for you to convey my regards to him as well and are honored with his congratulations for our son as a sign of his respect."
Natasha nodded with a smile and then turned to Alice once again - who held Amelia now. She started poking and playing with Amelia like a genuine aunt and much to her delight, Amelia squealed with joy at her antics.
Meanwhile, Arthur was approached by the two youths, Aaron and Sophia, the former choosing to introduce himself first as soon they reached him like he was waiting for this chance for eternity,
"Hey Arthur! I'm Aaron and this is my older sister, Sophia. I've been waiting for so long to meet you! I hope we can be good friends."
Even though Aaron had just introduced her, Sophia still chose to introduce herself,
"Hello Arthur. I apologize for my brother's attitude, he has been dying to meet you ever since yesterday after he heard of your talent and rank and I offer my congratulations and also from my brother's side for achieving such a feet and continuing to uphold the Blade's legacy. That said, I really hope we can become good friends."
Arthur nodded with a light smile playing on his lips. The older sister was much more well mannered and carried herself far better than the younger brother. But Arthur was really surprised by Aaron and Sophia's direct approach rather than those noble manipulations tricks they used to make connections with someone higher than them.
Due to this Arthur was actually more than happy to make friends with people like these, because as compared to those people who were bootlickers in front of the person and would badmouth the same person when he was not there and try to play manipulation against him, and those people who were direct with him and straight to the point, even if they were rude, were much preferable than the former and he was more than happy to acquaint with them. Arthur extended his hand and said,
"Hello you both, as you both know I'm Arthur. Contrary to what you think, I'm honored that you wanted to meet me so much and I'm flattered by your congratulations and thank you for showing me such respect. And just like you I would love to be your friend."
Aaron shaking with delight, quickly extended his hand and pulled Arthur into a firm handshake with a big smile on his face which was followed by Sophia, who had a normal handshake and gave him a friendly smile.
To Arthur, this was hopefully the start of a good friendship for him in this new life.
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Hello! Author here. I wanted to thank you for reading this chapter and wanted to thank you for the wait till now, for the novel's very first fight will take place in the next chapter and I hope that it will satisfy your minds. If you are liking this novel, please don't hesitate to support me through a review or power stones. Thank you :) :>