~clop~

~clop~

~clop~

The hooves of the horses hit against the cobblestone paved road. 

"There he is," Lucius suddenly said upon spotting Paul from the window of the carriage.

The carriage driver slowed down before coming to a halt near the entrance of a large manor. Outside the manor, one could see a name plate hung, that read 'Faulkner'. This was none other than the house of Paul Faulkner, Asher's friend.

A young man walked out along with a couple of guards.

"There you are. I thought you were not gonna come today." Paul said.

"Of course I was going to come. I did reply to you, didn't I before." Lucius replied.

"Yeah you did, I know. But still…" Paul spoke.

"Let it be, for now, we got more important things to do for now." Another young man who approached from the side spoke.

"Ah, you're here too Andrew." Lucius said. "But yeah, we should leave now." He added.

The two friends nodded their heads before getting into their respective carriages and continuing on the journey. It was going to take them around four to five hours to reach their destination, which was the territory of baron Harrels.

Thankfully, the road was quite good compared to most, and they were able to reach there safely with no delays. Lucius could already see the mansion of the baron far in the distance. It was the biggest building in the town, and was surrounded by an open garden.

Beyond that garden was a wall and the rest of the houses of townsmen were present there. Lucius could also see some crop fields on the other side of the town, along with a lot of sheep and goats.

This allowed Lucius to get an idea of how the baron ran his territory. So far he did not see anything exceptional and made Lucius think that Barron Harrels was a mediocre lord. 

'If he's really as I think, then his daughter shouldn't be much, either. Dealing with them should be easy…' Lucius thought to himself.

Right now it was a little past noon, but the sun could not be seen anywhere. Clouds covered the sky, causing the weather to become overcast. The townspeople going about their daily duties watched the carriages that approached the towns.

The carriages were much more luxurious than what they were used to seeing and the one Lucius was traveling in was even more eye catching due to the three tailed dragon crest of the Inanis family that was inscribed on its sides.

"I can't believe it, someone from the Count's family came." 

"Who could it be? Is it perhaps the Count himself?" 

"You buffoon, if it was the Count do you really think the Baron would be so calm."

Various conversations could be heard on the street as the commoners gazed upon the passing carriages. The guards of the town also didn't bother to stop them as they already understood that they were Noble guests of the Baron.

Plus, it was not like they would dare to stop a carriage that bore the Crest of the Inanis family. Doing so would only mean their doom, and they would get punished for it.

Lucius also peered out from the window and took in the surroundings. He was memorizing the path and the routes that they took, just in case of an emergency. If something happened, it would only do him well to be cautious and be ready.

It took them nearly twenty minutes to reach the mansion of the Baron due to the narrow roads and people there. But once they did, they could see the various other carriages of the nobles that were parked at the sides.

The carriage came to a halt at the entrant, and Lucius alighted from it. Kiana followed behind him, and Donald also climbed down from his horse. He had been following them from the side, along with a couple more guards.

One of the guards took the horses to the stable while the rest of them entered the mansion.

"Welcome! Welcome!" The one who greeted them was a middle aged man.

"I am the steward of Baron Harrels. I am honored to see the young lord of Inanis family." The Steward said with a bow.

Lucius simply hummed in response and let Kiana do the talking, as was the etiquette. 

"Where is Miss Bethany? Young Lord Asher would like to pay his respects to the hostess." Kiana stated.

"Young Lady is in the main hall, talking with other guests. Please… I'll guide you to them." The steward replied.

Lucius and the others followed the steward into the mansion and saw the various decorations that had been put up for the event. 

A group of young men and women stood around while talking in a large hall. Some of them had glasses filled with various drinks in their hand as they sipped from it. Some chuckled, some laughed as they conversed among themselves.

A few people spotted the appearance of Lucius and the others.

"Young Lord Asher of the Inanis family has arrived." The Stewards announced. After Asher, he also announced the names of Paul and Andrew.

"He's… Asher?" Some of the young women spoke with interest.

"Young Lord Asher was invited too?" Another man spoke.

"Bethany, did you invite him?" One of the younger girls, that seemed to be of sixteen years age, asked.

"No, I didn't… how would I? I would never expect for the Count's son to come." Another girl with reddish brown hair replied. Her hair was tied into a long braid and a few ornaments could be seen gracing it.

A pair of small earrings hung from her ears, that shimmered upon her movement. She wore a long red dress, along with matching shoes that peeked from beneath it. Lucius's eyes scanned the crowd before settling on her as a charming smile appeared on his face.

He walked towards her confidently as everyone took in Asher's appearance. The dress that Kiana had prepared for this occasion did its work and garnered a lot of surprised looks. The women looked on, feeling impressed, while the men seemed envious.