"Do I seriously have to wear something this frilly?", Milo asked with a click of his tongue, watching maids scurry around him, tightly fitting a bright blue vest and trousers that each had ruffles lining the cuffs, making it appear as if he was wearing a dress.
Renny stifled a laugh watching him, "Yes, it's what all the noble children wear these days".
One of the maids shot up in front of Milo, pushing his shoulders inward and tying yet another frilly bow around his neck. As soon as she turned, he scratched at his neck to loosen it, before promptly tossing it to the floor.
It was an uneventful ride to get to the central capital, something Milo wasn't expecting considering he had been constantly bombarded with attacks since he revealed himself. But it made for a nice change of pace, he was finally able to settle down and see the landscape of this new world.
There wasn't much to see as they travelled towards the central capital. In fact, the closer they got to the coveted city that was surrounded by white marble walls that housed countless old-fashioned slingshots, that were lined with silver and refined to the point of near perfection, Milo noticed that the quality of life in every regard, seemed to somehow worsen.
The land surrounding the central capital was barren and lifeless with only a few, sparse blades of grass growing. The ground was filled with animal dung and the forest that was supposed to be offering protection had been felled, leaving ugly stumps surrounding the walls.
Although, this wasn't the worst of it.
The quality of living for those in the closer town was so poor it made Milo want to vomit. The houses were made of rotten wood that could barely stand, their water was contaminated with a disgusting amount of piss and shit and their food that was offered to them due to their status was riddled with mould and other parasites.
Even the people were sickly pale and so thin you could see their ribs. The clothes they wore were tattered and barely thick enough to keep out a light breeze … and the smell, oh the smell. Milo was forced to plug his nostrils each time they passed through a town to keep the rotten stench from invading his nostrils.
Even now, whilst he was spinning around looking as feminine as ever, Milo struggled to understand how a capital city that appeared so rich could just let the surrounding area wane to such a drastic extent.
The central capital itself was clearly lavishly decorated for his royal majesty and his court. The streets were lined with all sorts of shops selling expensive meat and bread, the people were dressed incredibly well, the men in custom tailored suits and the woman in dresses that could sweep a man off his feet.
And that wasn't even the start of it, the massive castle resting at the apex of the city, the kings residence. Clearly, he had invested into it, it was a work of art, perfectly mirrored and made entirely of white marble lined with golden strips. Each of the four towers stretched into the sky, getting masked behind the clouds when they passed over.
Surrounding the main castle, more walls were constructed. Of course, they too were made from white marble and gold, but these ones had modern cannons every 6 feet peering down at the city below. Behind these cannons, armed soldiers dressed in full silver suits of armour watched on carefully and patrolled the town.
The door swung open and Pavlor strode inside, dressed in a bright purple outfit similar to Milo's, he smiled at Renny, "This is quite nice father, do you believe we will be able to keep these?".
'HE'S JOKING RIGHT!?'.
As if Renny knew what Milo was thinking he waved away the claim, "No, this is just for the opening ceremony. Afterwards you will change into your combat uniforms and the tournament shall begin".
"Then what's the point?", Milo snarled sitting down on a chair. He ripped one of the frills off when it started rubbing on his back, "Fucking thing!".
Renny shrugged his shoulders but failed to hide the smirk on his face, "No idea".
Milo rolled his eyes, "Anyway, is there any update from Enalise?".
This was a growing concern for Milo. After arriving the first thing he did was instruct Marcos to scan the perimeter and ensure they wouldn't be attacked. He was confident nobody would have the gall to try right on the kings doorstep, but he wasn't willing to take that chance.
Enalise still hadn't returned from her own families estate either, essentially stranding Renny and Pavlor. It hadn't occurred to Milo until now, but this situation would reflect poorly on Renny. They all knew it, Milo was from a branch family and Pavlor was Renny's son, however to the public eye it appeared as if Milo was an illegitimate child and Renny had been abandoned by his wife.
'That's not fun for us at all'.
That kind of misunderstanding could knock their reputation and make forging friendships much harder. Especially when it came to young and adolescent children. Being different at that age was a curse more than anything, you were ostracised because of something so minor.
Of course, Milo had no intention of mingling with any of the kids, the reason being was that he didn't want to, and it just felt plain weird for him. But Pavlor was another story, keeping him comfortable was Milo's main priority and that meant creating a circle of nobility in which Pavlor could thrive.
Being cast out on day 1 would be a terrible start.
That being said, Milo's main concern still remained how to get out of the outfit he found himself wearing. Not only was it stupidly bright like a tropical bird, it was also extremely stuffy. As luck would have it, the world chose today of all days to be the hottest it had been since his reincarnation.
Hell, his sweat marks were already seeping through the armpits.
"Milo", Marcos said, leaping through the back window dressed in a pitch-black outfit with a mask covering his face.
"Who told you to play dress up as well?", Milo asked, looking him over.
Marcos froze seeing Milo, then promptly turned away before bursting out in laughter.
Milo let out a huff, "Yes, yes, laugh it up".
"No, sorry", Marcos composed himself, "It just really brings out your eyes".
Milo tossed a lamp towards him, "Bastard!".
Marcos dodged whilst laughing and pulled out a chair next to Milo. He took a seat before beginning his long-winded explanation, "I couldn't find anything that really stood out in terms of an assassination attempt. However, there was something rather peculiar about this town".
Milo ran his knuckles across the table, gritting his teeth still pissed off about before, "Yeah, go on".
Marcos raised his finger, "It's the people. They seem to have a distinct uncaring air about them. As I was going about my scouting, I ran down an alleyway and accidently bumped into a small child on my way out".
"Not a very good scout", Milo smirked back.
"Whatever", Marcos replied, "Anyway, when I helped him back to his feet, everyone looked at me as if I was extremely strange".
"That would be your clothing", Milo hit back again.
"No", Marcos snapped back, annoyed by Milo's constant interruptions, "You see, I continued and saw yet another man accidentally knocked over a small child. However, this time rather than help the child up the crowd surrounding them simply stared at the small boy with scorn as if he was the one at fault. Even the knights who showed up only aided the man".
Milo fell into thought after hearing those words, but it was Renny who proposed the most logical solution.
"Status", he said, "Don't forget where we are you lot".
It was something that Milo had glossed over but now it had hit him, they weren't just in the kings domain but all of the higher-ranking nobles as well. The royal capital was large, far too large to be compared to anything else Milo had seen in his past life.
It was a fact that one or two Dukes and plenty of Marquess ranked nobles would be either passing through or residing in the city. Not only was this a nightmare for courtesy reasons, it also heavily restricted their range of movement and activity should they find someone suspicious.
"Sirs?", a woman's muffled voice called out from behind the door.
Renny opened the door and she stepped inside before dropping into a deep bow, "Lady Enalise has arrived and is requesting your presence".
Renny and Pavlor immediately stood and bolted for the door.
"STOP!", Milo called out, halting the two of them in their tracks.
"If she wants us, she comes to us", he said, resting his chin on his knuckles and crossing his legs.
'Especially after all the hell she put me through, I'll be damned if I'm going to dance to her tune anymore'.
The maid looked from Renny, then to Milo with concern on her face.
"Um", she stammered out, "What do I …".
"Bring her", Renny said with an annoyed grunt, slumping back into his chair with a frown on his face.
Pavlor followed his father's actions and the maid quickly scampered out of the room, slamming the door shut behind her.
"Milo …", Renny said softly.
"I know how desperate you are, believe me I really do. But after disappearing for so long we can't just let her leisurely stroll back in, it'll give her an overinflated sense of importance and lead her to do it again and think that's it ok. Is that really what you want?", Milo said, annoyed at Renny's childish antics.
The whole reverse Renny's thinking by making it seem as if he was in the wrong wasn't a pleasant tactic that Milo enjoyed using, however he felt that it was the best way to make Renny, and particularly Enalise understand that he wasn't just going to be messed and dragged around whenever they felt like it.
They may be related by blood, but he and Pavlor were their own people, and they were to be treated as such.
The door slowly crept open, followed by the ominous sounds of light footsteps. Enalise strolled leisurely into the room, dressed in a lavish red dress and heels that accentuated her breasts. She showed a warm smile towards Pavlor and Renny before taking a seat uninvited.
'So she's just acting as if nothing happened?'.
Milo looked from the corner of his eye, noticing Marcos itching to conjure his sword and take a swung at her. To ensure that he didn't, Milo shuffled his chair in front of him ever so slightly, before turning his focus back to Enalise who continued to act as if he wasn't even there.
"Hello", Renny said, sounding like a shy schoolboy with a crush.
Enalise went straight faced and responded with a small nod, "My love".
'What are they? Robots?'.
Milo watched on with countless questions continuing to plague his mind. First and foremost, he wanted to understand exactly why she had chosen him, but that was a question for another time. To the best of Milo's knowledge, Pavlor wasn't actually aware of what was happening with his mother and father, so outwardly saying it just felt plain wrong even to Milo.
'He's the real issue'.
Milo thought, again looking over his shoulder towards Marcos.
'I can practically feel his bloodlust'.
It was taking all Milo had not to snap at Marcos, but he was keenly aware in doing so he would alert Pavlor somehow. Clearly Enalise thought the same as she stole a quick glance at Milo when he was looking, before a wry smile was plastered on her face.
"So …", Milo began, "Feel like telling us why you ran away for all that time?".
Enalise paled but kept her composure, "I went back to my families residence".
Renny's gaze was flickering between the two, as if he was begging them not to start doing this now.
Milo's eyes narrowed, "Ava …", he said calmly.
"Such a wonderful girl and playmate, a shame I couldn't see her one last time before arriving here".
Enalise paled even more, "Yes I agree, she is a lovely girl and spoke very highly of you".
This was at least able to confirm that Ava had followed Milo's plan and suggested he lost to her. If she hadn't, Milo may have been placed in a precarious situation where even he would struggle to find a way out.
After all, he didn't want to be responsible for starting a fight in the central capital.
He let out another sigh, "Lets leave it here for now".
Enalise regained her colour and stood from her chair, "Yes, lets. The carriage is awaiting us outside, we are to leave and make our way to the royal residence where we shall meet with his highness".
"Alright", Milo stood and brushed past her, nudging her as he did so.