A simple blue coach arrived at the front of Hughesin’s estate. The doors opened, revealing a boulder-like figure inside. There wasn’t a single servant in Hughesin’s employ that didn’t know who this person was. Kebrilio the Archmagister.

A butler came rushing over immediately. When a man powerful in both influence and magus was here, there was no time to waste. The magus was his master’s greatest political rival and a terrifying man to hold up. But the butler wasn’t personally afraid of the man. No, he was afraid of his master more. Failure to satisfy the magus meant his master would take it out on his hide.

So the butler tried his best to bring the guest into a lounge. The finest cup of tea was produced and then a call to the cooks for the finest of cuisine to be prepared.

Both of which were happily accepted by Kebrilio. Breakfast was only a moment ago, but the dishes being brought up were already divine in aroma! The smell of it enticed and emptied his stomach at once. Ah, the sight of it all brought a silent sigh to his lips. Hughesin was indeed the very same man as his rumors made him out to be. A grand estate, delicious cuisine, fine wine, and beautiful women. He had it all. 

Just a single taste was enough to convince Kebrilio that the cook was truly a master, maybe even a renowned chef. If only he had known about this! Kebrilio sighed. Had he learned about this before, he would’ve made excuses to come sooner.

Should he pay more visits to Elric, then? Maybe he could take advantage of this to eat more of what Hughesin had to offer. And if he could have all three meals here? That’d be splendid. 

Five days, Kebrilio calculated. Five days would be plenty for him to experience all Hughesin’s chefs had to offer.

He felt his stomach grumble in impatience. 

Beside him, the head butler was feeling anxious. He had heard of Kebrilio’s gluttony, but the truth was certainly still mind-boggling to see, especially for what was meant to be a breakfast! The earlier dishes were specially made to commemorate Kebrilio’s coming, but the butler realized now he should’ve gone for the quantity of the meal rather than the quality. He hurriedly sent word for the kitchens to prepare more.

Kebrilio’s fork stabbed into a scrumptious-looking dish when the eastern door clattered open. Two maids followed behind a richly-dressed older woman into the room. He assumed right away that this had to be Hughesin’s mother, Saludy.

Kebrilio straightened up at the waist. She was an aristocrat that didn’t need to demand respect. Only the unworthy demanded respect. She already earned hers as the most influential woman amongst the married women of the aristocracy. 

There was one thing in particular that made Kebrilio respect Saludy even more. The woman, for as influential as she was, never stepped foot into politics. She never tried to push her son’s agendas to the others, and that much was a blessing for him. He knew quite a few henpecked colleagues that’d surely swap camps if their wives instructed them to. 

Saludy was fully capable of bringing about the majority of the court, if not all of it, against him if she was willing. The woman’s influence was beyond the scope of factions or political lines. She was, in essence, power without distinction. 

The two greeted each other warmly before deciding to move to the main topic at hand.

“Ser Archmagister, my heartfelt apologies if you were worried for your niece last night. It was my mistake on not promptly notifying your estate.”

Kebrilio blinked, but he waited for the woman to explain. And explain she did. She spoke about how her son came to meet Fantasia, how the two came to come home together, how a misunderstanding happened, how Fantasia came to be injured, and how she came to recuperate for the night in the estate.

He listened to it all with a surprised expression on his face. He never expected for any of the events to be possible.

It was his and Charle’s assumption that Elric had simply been kidnapped. The game of politics was something Somiret and Hughesin were both experts in. Every member of the Sovereignian envoys would’ve been meticulously investigated by the two; if there was anyone they wanted to kidnap and extract information from, kidnapping Elric or Kebrilio’s supposed niece would’ve been ideal. 

The Sovereignians figured the second case was more likely. They didn’t actually think Hughesin favored Fantasia, but that he was actually using her as an opportunity to perhaps create a bridge to Kebrilio. It just simply felt unbelievable that a huge flirt like Hughesin would actually come to like ‘Fantasia’ of all people.

Kebrilio had to admit their assumptions up to this point were simply just that now, assumptions. The truth of the matter was that Elric was just simply unlucky. The boy somehow managed to swim into the net himself.

Was there anyone else in the world as unlucky as Elric, Kebrilio wondered. He had never heard of such unluckiness before! 

Waldsk wasn’t a tiny village or anything. It was a tremendous city with plenty of places to go, but Elric somehow managed to make his way over to Somiret’s estate? Kebrilio heard of the chancellor’s estate looking deceptively normal, but it was also rumored to be exceptionally dangerous due to his paranoia. The average person would never dare to intrude on such a place due to the amount of protections Somiret had. Even the gates to his estate had multiple locks and mechanisms in place to prevent intruders, but apparently Elric climbed over the entire thing? Kebrilio clicked his tongue, it was Elric’s own fault for his misfortunes.

But there was one thing that bothered him. According to Saludy, Elric was said to have been injured when he slipped during the misunderstanding. Kebrilio didn’t believe such a story even for a second. He knew what Elric was and wasn’t capable of, and Myron himself had said twice that Elric’s mysterious powers were of the same level as his own. How could Elric possibly harm himself by slipping?

Elric wasn’t even built like the average magus. His time spent training under Charle gave him a well-toned and muscular body most magi lacked. Not only was he physically fit, but his hand-eye coordination was on par with the Paladins. If Kebrilio had to place Elric on a list, then he’d have him pegged as being somewhere in the middle. He’d believe it if Saludy said Fantasia was hurt fighting Hughesin given that the latter was one of the strongest paladins, but by being tripped? No way.

He wasn’t about to say otherwise to Saludy, however. This was a delicate situation to navigate through. “Your aid to my niece is greatly appreciated, madame. I apologize for the disturbance, but I hope to take my niece away at once.”

She knew Kebrilio would say such a thing, it’d be stranger if he didn’t. But it couldn’t be allowed. Saludy had plenty planned for Fantasia; those plans would be ruined if the main star was taken away from the stage so soon. 

“Ser Archmagister, it may come as a surprise to you…” Hesitated Saludy, “but my son has fallen deeply in love with lady Fantasia the moment he laid eyes on her. I understand the differences in view between my son and yourself, but it would warm my heart greatly if you would grant my son his happiness.”

A smile nearly slipped out from Kebrilio’s lips. Luckily he went to Myron on his way here for a soothing concoction to calm his mind. At least this way he’d be able to properly think without being swayed by his emotions. Earlier when he was with the Sovereignians, they came to an agreement that Kebrilio should try to lead the two by the nose just a little longer. 

“Pardon my impertinence, madame, but according to my knowledge, Duke Hughesin has no shortage of beautiful companions. His reputation precedes himself. My niece is a mischievous and boorish one. We are but from a commoner’s background, high society has no place for my poor niece. I wish to send her back home.”