Nozel Silva hurried through the Silva estate, as the Head Butler Jeeves followed after him. Without bothering to pay the trembling servants who parted ways for him any attention, he slammed the ornate dining hall's door open.
He entered the room to welcome himself to the scene of his father sitting on the other end of the elongated table, directly across from the head seat, his seat, because, for quite a few years now, he'd been Lord Silva, not his father.
Nozel narrowed his eyes at his father who didn't so much as acknowledge him, continuing to slice and savor his steak, eyes closed, and felt his fury rising as he snapped his face to the trembling servants standing by the walls.
"Do you lot need an invitation?" Nozel coldly began, "Begone from here!"
The servants felt like they had been pardoned from an ensuing disaster and didn't need to be told twice, scurrying out of there.
Jeeves quietly stood on the other side of the door, closing it behind him, and standing guard to ensure no one tried to enter and disturbed the pending conversation.
After the doors shut, Nozel took his place, in the patriarch's seat, sitting regally across from Sebastian Silva. Setting his plate aside, he felt his patience thinning, as his father had yet to show even a sign of acknowledging his presence.
Biting his lip in frustration and grinding his teeth, Nozel spoke with undisguised sarcasm, "Always a pleasure to make your acquaintance, Father."
Sebastian opened his ocean blue eyes and locked his gaze with his son's, before nodding and wiping the corner of his mouth with a napkin.
He nodded after a moment, and spoke indifferently, "The pleasure is mutual Nozel. Have you come to join me at the dining table? Better hurry, your food is getting cold, it'd be a shame to let that steak go to waste.."
"Heh." Nozel sneered, since when did you care about wasting food? Nozel shook his head, and returned with a jab of his own, "I seem to recall it being proper decorum for all members of House Silva to rise in their master's presence."
Sebastian was unbothered, and sliced another bit of the meat, chewing on the tasteless thing, as he soon spoke with his gaze trained on his plate. "Correct, but I also seem to recall the fact that previous lords were exempt from said rule."
Nozel rested his cheek on his right fist, and shot his father an eerie smile. "Also correct, but with the exception being when said previous lords' actions had bordered on treason and insubordination."
Sebastian narrowed his eyes at Nozel, "I don't recall doing such things."
Nozel cracked a knuckle, as his smile thinned before he clamped his hands together, and rested them in his lap, sitting upright in his chair. "Not even so much as acknowledging my presence as I enter the room, can be interpreted as so."
Sebastian rapped his knuckles against the table, "You seemed to be in a foul mood, I didn't want to take it upon myself to become the target of your fury."
"Oh?" Nozel sneered, "So you let the servants do it in your place, how benevolent of you."
Sebastian shrugged, "That is their role as servants of House Silva, to endure and tolerate all pain and burden for the sake of their masters. If they can't even handle a scolding, their presence is unneeded."
Pausing for a moment, Sebastian mirrored his son's posture, before smiling broadly, eyes closed, "I'll admit that was pathetic of me, but I'd say the one who lashed out at them in the first place is equally as pathetic."
Nozel's mana began to flare as he clenched the other end of the table, drowning the room in a suffocating pressure.
He expected to relish in the scene of his good for nothing father frothing and panting under the weight of his aura, but all he saw was his father remaining in his position, with the same mocking smile on his face.
Nozel narrowed his eyes. A bluff, he sneered and retracted his mana.
As the father-and-son pair locked gazes at one another, the former rapping his knuckles against the table while the latter was tapping his finger, Nozel sighed and spoke first.
"Enough games, Father," He emphasized "Father" with a sharp edge, gesturing to him, "I trust you know why I'm here."
Sebastian didn't hesitate to shake his head.
A vein bulged in Nozel's temple, as he spat, "Are you truly going to play dumb?!"
Sebastian sighed, and opened his weathered blue, and tired gaze, looking at Nozel in undisguised exasperation.
"Trust me Nozel, I want to be done with this uncomfortable conversation as quickly as you, so if you have something to say, or a point to make, do so. Stop speaking in riddles."
Nozel's gaze widened, This man actually has the gall to lecture me?! Nozel took a moment to breathe deeply, letting the tension flow out of him, as he resumed his calm poise. I won't sink to his level.
"It's about Noelle."
Sebastian raised a brow, "What about her?"
Nozel scoffed and crossed his arms, "What do you mean, "What about her?" You've never taken any interest in the youngest, nor any of us for that matter, in your life. So, color me surprised when I get a report on my desk, saying you supposedly paid her a visit today. Twice!"
"A report from whom?" Sebastian began to rap his knuckles against the table once more.
"That does not concern you." Nozel spat out, as he pointed to him. "Not only that, I was told that you gave her something, something that made her cry. What was it?!"
Sebastian's smile returned, as he repeated Nozel's words back to him. "That does not concern you."
Nozel slammed the table in fury, causing the plates and cutlery to fly from his indignation. "As the master of House Silva, I have the right to know every single thing that goes on within our walls, especially those concerning the main line. So it does concern me, in fact. Now tell me what you were doing!"
Sebastian studied Nozel for a moment, before nodding. "Believe it or not, I was simply seeing her off."
"Hah!" Nozel laughed in mocking amusement. "You're right. I don't believe it! Am I supposed to accept the fact that our dear old emotionless Sebastian Silva is suddenly becoming a doting father? Should I come to you in the future for life advice?!"
Sebastian nodded seriously, "If you need it, I won't turn you down."
Nozel blinked, thinking he heard wrong, as he watched Sebastian continue indifferently.
"Besides, I think the notion of Sebastian Silva being a secretly loving father isn't any more ludicrous than the idea of Nozel Silva secretly adoring the failure of House Silva."
"What do you mean?" Nozel narrowed his eyes.
"Exactly what I said." Sebastian locked their gazes once more, "What could you call your current actions, except as overly protective."
"That's also why you sent Noelle away to the Black Bulls, right? That squad receives the least missions, and if someone who can't control her magic like Noelle Silva insists on being a Magic Knight, the Black Bulls are the only option that can practically ensure her safety." Well that would be the case, if we weren't at the time of canon.
"However, proclaiming such a reason would shame House Silva, so you took it upon yourself to play the bad guy, ignoring Solid's and Nebra's abuse of Noelle, occasionally throwing in some words of your own, so that no one in the world could grasp the truth that the Nozel Silva, is a sucker and weak for his siblings, especially the youngest."
Sebastian's smile returned, as he pointed to Nozel. "How am I doing so far, Son?"
Nozel blinked, as his pupils dilated. No one in his life had seen right through the torture he had put Noelle through since he was cursed, except her. The one other person in the Clover Kingdom who knew the truth of his mother's death and his plight.
Before Nozel could mouth a response, Sebastian continued. "Don't think too much Nozel, you may get your looks from your Mother, but your personality and mannerisms are all me. Whether you accept it or not, that's the truth."
Nozel watched as his father stood up from his chair and walked to his side, with his arms tied behind his back, speaking as he walked.
"You don't believe you're worthy to call yourself her brother, and I'm aware I'm far from deserving of acting like her father." Sebastian was now standing over Nozel, looking over him.
Nozel watched in shock, as his father's visage softened. "So let's just put aside our differences, at least when it comes to her, and try to heal her life of abuse and trauma we were both complicit in, okay?"
Nozel didn't respond, as his father then bent his back till they were face to face, and brought his hand to his throat.
All of Nozel's survival instincts told him not to let him, but for some inexplicable reason, he didn't stop his father as he narrowed his gaze and poked his throat.
The last thing Nozel heard as his father straightened up and walked away out of the dining hall were words that made him stiffen in his seat.
"There's a certain family of hex users in the common realm that could help with that."
You knew?! Nozel turned around in his seat, but all he saw was his father's disappearing back, as he exited through the twin doors.
Taking a moment to calm himself, and wipe his sweat, Nozel walked out of the room indifferently, stopping as the Head Butler greeted him.
"Jeeves."
"Yes Master?"
"Has my father been up to any strange things these past few days?"
The butler paused in thought, before shaking his head. "Besides a visit to the Royal Grimoire Tower, nothing comes to mind."
The Grimoire Tower? Nozel narrowed his eyes as he spoke aloud, "What was he doing there?"
Jeeves shook his head, "Apologies Master, I'm unaware. The Tower was supposedly deserted when the Old Master visited it; our network only recorded him entering and leaving. With no witnesses, his objective was unknown."
Nozel bit his lip, before sighing.
"Jeeves."
"Yes Master?"
"Make this clear to Nebra and Solid. Should they meet Noelle in the future, make sure they leave her be. I will not tolerate anything else."
"Of course, Master."