Chapter 49 — An Afternoon With A Prince (Part III)

Ria had to set aside the desire to further explore her element and the changes from unlocking the new gate. Instead, she needed to make use of this remaining opportunity to focus on practicing her social skills in preparation for her upcoming debut.

And maybe—if her luck wasn’t all terrible—maybe the incident she caused at the beginning of the event would make her smaller mistakes that were sure to happen trivial in comparison rather than piling up to affect the others’ opinions of her… though that was probably an overly optimistic hope.

She tapped Phaelys’ hand to let him know she had recovered and gave him a smile of thanks. For being from such an elite family, he was surprisingly considerate… except for the time he arrogantly and selfishly demanded she publicly declare he hadn’t bullied her. Ria shook off the annoyance that she still felt from that. The result had turned out well enough, and she enjoyed the gifts.

“What was that about?” Keira demanded as they drew near. Aldri seemed concerned as well but also content to let Keira take the lead.

Ria grimaced at Keira’s tone. “Lord Jevaran wanted a demonstration of my aura.”

Keira’s eyes went to Phaelys as if really wanting to say something unacceptably rude like ‘Why didn’t you stop that from happening?’ but not daring and instead grabbed Aldri’s arm with a huff. “Aldri, let’s get some refreshments.”

Ah. That could’ve gone better.

“She’s blaming it on you, Sir Mage Phaelys,” Orlisi chuckled out with a whispering voice from behind, as Keira dragged Aldri away. “Though, it’s hardly fair to expect you to already know that Ria tends to do ridiculous things.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Ria complained at Orlisi with an indignant huff.

“I did encourage Lord Jevaran,” Phaelys calmly admitted. “So, I wouldn’t say I’m entirely without blame. Though it is impressive that Young Lady Keira noticed such through the privacy magic. Also, Young Lady Keira did try to warn me when we exchanged greetings at her estate.”

Before Ria could complain further, Iori’s voice interrupted, “Ria, Sir Mage Phaelys, come this way please,” and the older girl grabbed Ria’s sleeve, pulling her toward where Rienne and the sandy-haired girl were waiting together with their escorts.

Ria glanced over her shoulder to see Iselyn and Faris talking about something with Hulle and Desi and Arthur and Aeri, something amusing judging by the covered-mouth titters. Iselyn was doing well and was properly socializing, to Ria’s surprise, looking like she belonged at Faris’ side. As Ria watched, Hulle and Desi were summoned to join the adults’ conversation. Worrisome.

“Welcome, Sir Mage Phaelys,” Rienne greeted, drawing Ria’s attention back to her own situation. “Seeing you here at Ria’s side is quite the unbelievable surprise, and I know I speak for everyone here that it is an honor to meet like this.”

Five other heads nodded agreement.

“I am surprised as well,” Phaelys agreed with a wry grin. “My parents’ approval was unexpected and welcome.”

The sandy-haired girl squealed a little and breathlessly asked, “You mean you wanted to be Ria's debut escort all along?”

“To say that wouldn’t be accurate,” Phaelys denied. “Before Ria made the escorting a matter of honor, the possibility hadn’t occurred to me. Thankfully, I was able to return with a positive response.”

If not for Ria’s suspicions of Phaelys’ true motivations, his answers might have made her blush, just a little.

“How’d you do it, Ria?!” the sandy-haired girl demanded with a stage-whisper, cupped hand pretending to shield her mouth from Phaelys’ view and getting amused expressions from the others.

“By being naive to how many enemies I’d make and brazen enough to ask?” Ria tried with a self-deprecating smile.

“Ah…”

Her answer received knowing half-smiles from the older girls.

“The honor of being escorted by a Vesali is competitively sought after,” Phaelys acknowledged.

“It was quite the event when Phaelys came to Ria’s classroom to accept,” Orlisi reported, and both Iori and the sandy-haired girl were vibrating in place as they held in squeals of excitement at the thought.

“We are thankful for you watching over and guiding young Ria, Sir Mage Orlisi,” Rienne expressed with a curtsy.

Orlisi waved away the gratitude and gave a winning grin. “Sure thing. It’s fun.”

“Sir Mage Orlisi is my senior in the Sages of the Nine Circles, and a teammate for our Grand Games team. She’s been helping me out every day at the academy and we have a class together with Researcher Vimlov,” Ria volunteered.

“Oh?” The sandy-haired girl’s eyes brightened. “Has your class managed to annoy him enough to use his area silence spell? Our class got to him by the third session!”

“Ria managed it on the first day,” Orlisi admitted with a chuckle.

“No way!”

Ria shot Orlisi a ‘whose fault do you think that was?’-look only to catch sight of an impish tongue that was surely not proper etiquette. She turned her attention back to the sandy-haired girl and admitted, “I wrote him an apology letter afterward. I’m not sure if it helped…”

“That’s not good…” the sandy-haired girl wryly observed with a companionable grimace and awkward laugh.

The boys looked just as eager to make connections with Phaelys, and Rienne’s escort chose that moment of awkwardness to introduce himself, “As Rienne has expressed, it’s our honor to meet you like this, Young Master Phaelys. We met briefly at your debut, but I doubt you remember me. I am Lionel of House Astacio.”

Phaelys considered, then responded, “Master Mage Alcor is your father, if I recall correctly. Your family brought a rare spiritual quicksilver as a gift that day.”

Lionel’s face brightened. “My father told me the gift was important to demonstrate our respect for the proud history of House Vesali. He’ll be elated that it was remembered.”

“Speaking of Rienne and Lionel, their pairing is practically a done deal,” Iori added with a mischievous smirk and playful wink. “Brother Lionel’s already working for mom helping with city planning, and the wedding’s scheduled for after Rienne graduates this year.”

“Congratulations,” Phaelys politely offered, and the couple exchanged a glance, cheeks reddening. Phaelys added, “If you send an invitation, I’ll do what I can to come to the celebration.”

Rienne took hold of Lionel’s hand and pulled the stunned young man into a bow alongside her.

“You have our thanks, Young Master Phaelys.”

“Wow… gratz, Rienne,” the sandy-haired girl muttered, and the two other boys nodded in agreement at the sentiment.

“I’m Calveni of House Bellsfort,” a boy with curly black hair and a punchable face spoke up next. “Unlike ‘Brother’ Lionel here, Theonis and I are just friends from our academy classes that lucked into our roles thanks to Bianca.”

“You do well to recognize my talents,” Bianca—the sandy-haired girl—joked to her escort.

Calveni added, “Bianca’s divinations always lead to something fun or interesting happening.”

“If by fun and interesting, you mean bullyings and spell failures,” Theonis snided.

Calveni shrugged, still grinning.“That’s not entirely so. We’ve also had several fortuitous meetings with famous people and were able to make connections.”

“Oy, you two.” Somehow, Bianca managed to look both smug and annoyed at the two boys. “You two should just be grateful that Iori and I bring you along!”

“We are! We are!” Calveni reassured, making a placating motion with his hands.

“Today’s prediction turned out quite the event after all,” Theonis agreed. “Well met, Sir Mages Phaelys and Orlisi, Ria. To meet the year’s newest Newcomer Champions and two from last year as well is another pleasant surprise.”

Phaelys nodded at the greeting. Ria gave the more serious-seeming Theonis a smile and curtsy. “Nice to meet you.”

Orlisi winked. “You’ve not seen anything yet. We’re each competing in this year’s Grand Games.”

“Wow… the Grand Games. I couldn’t imagine,” Iori breathed out in wonder at the thought. “It’s surprising enough that you're planning to do so as second-years—well, in Young Master Phaelys’ case maybe not so unusual—but for Ria and Iselyn as first-years?"

“Young Lady Zena is as well,” Ria volunteered.

“Ah, but she’s a hero’s daughter; she doesn’t count,” Iori objected waving her hands in denial.

“And Ria is a hero,” Bianca pointed out.

Iori covered her mouth at the oversight. “Oh! You're right!”

Before they could get off to other subjects, there was something Ria was curious about. “Umm, Sir Mage Lionel, are you related to Young Lady Wendra?” Ria asked.

“Lionel is a Master Mage, Ria,” Iori corrected while hiding a smile.

Ah!

“No harm done.” Lionel chuckled and asked with interest, “Young Lady Wendra is my cousin. I’m guessing Young Miss met her through your Order?”

Ria nodded, her cheeks still red with embarrassment. “We also have a class together with Researcher Shadwich and she’s helping me with improving my self-made spells.”

“You’re already taking an advanced class, Ria?” Rienne asked with surprise.

“I am. Everyone is so much older and more experienced than me, so it’s a bit intimidating to be honest,” Ria admitted.

“I would imagine so!” Rienne sypathized and gave her an encouraging smile. “Keep working hard. It’s a rare opportunity.”

“I will.”

“Alright, alright. That’s enough of that,” Iori declared, waving her hands to block further questions and turned almost fevered eyes onto Ria. “Now that the introductions are out of the way… Ria! What was that insane spell you used on the Stormbringer team?!”

“Were all of you at the tournament?” Ria couldn’t help asking.

Six heads all nodded.

“Bianca’s divination told us we’d see something historic…” Calveni revealed.

Ria could only chuckle nervously at her efforts being portrayed in such a manner. “With Researcher Shadwich’s help, I reworked one of my self-made spells to make use of array propagation.”

At the blank gazes she received, Ria quickly added, “It’s shadow magic. It absorbs the enemy’s attack and sends it back at them. I’ve only tested it with lightning though…”

Phaelys, who had already queried her about the spell, clarified, “The spell uses storage constructs normally used for enchanting to hold the energy and forms an emitter construct with a directional constraint to deploy the stored energy.”

The second explanation was better received as each face showed an ‘oh’ of understanding, excepting for Theonis whose brows furrowed. “But if the emitter only uses a directional constraint, you would have to be a wild talent to target each of the opponents the way Ria did.”

Wha-?

Phaelys caught sight of her panicking eyes and a slight smile formed as he came to her rescue, “While inefficient and difficult, a directional constraint could be used to adjust the general direction of smaller tethers. Such an approach would take a fair amount of air or lightning attunement, but it’s doable without being a wild-talent.”

Theonis still wasn’t entirely satisfied but nodded at the explanation.

Iori was eager to get in another question though, “Sir Mage Verdin used his teammates in his formation. Surely, Ria’s spell would need a similar formation to withstand such a spell?”

“Nope, Ria withstood the strike entirely on her own,” Kiera proudly volunteered as she and Aldri joined the gathering. Keira had snacks and tea in hand and seemed to be in a better mood than earlier.

“Wha-? Seriously?” Calveni’s eyebrows rose almost as much as the pitch of his voice.

“That’s not true,” Ria denied, waving her hands in front of her. “Iselyn’s and Zena’s magic absorbed and deflected some of the lightning to the ground. And Kiera’s light shield kept us safe from the lightning that did get through. And if not for storing the overflow in my dragon brush, I would have lost control of the spell!”

Ria summoned the ornate brush to show them.

“Can I hold it?” Calveni asked, and when she handed it over, the others gathered close to also touch the glittering brush.

“But to risk such a nice focus tool…” Rienne worried as they passed the brush around for each to inspect.

Ah-! She hadn’t even thought about that!

“One does have to wonder where a commoner girl gets all these expensive tools,” Aldri chuckled. “I still can’t believe you lugged that lightning mine through the whole tournament only to drop it on Aelyri and Halis at the end like that.”

“Surely, Ria’s proud of her work, and wanted to show it off,” Orlisi suggested with a smirk.

“You mean Ria made this brush?” Rienne asked as she handed the brush back.

“Master Rigure said that one was made here in the capital,” Ria corrected. “And, I did have to get a blacksmith to help me make the devastator, so I didn’t entirely craft it on my own…”

“You’re much too modest, Ria!” Iori chided.

“Indeed,” Phaelys agreed. “Enchanters often pay other artisans to do specialized work so they can focus on the enchanting.”

“Oy. What’s got you staring all dreamily?” Bianca demanded of her partner.

“Iori’s little brother landing himself a beautiful elf girl,” Calveni commented, wistfully looking in the pair’s direction, and recieved eye rolls from everyone around him except Bianca who discreetly elbowed him in the side hard enough to draw an ‘oof!’

“Is Iselyn really an elf?” Ria asked in Keira’s direction. “Are the Jayre’s an elf family?”

Keira gave an exasperated eye roll of her own.

“Poor Faris looks so nervous trying to talk with Young Lady Iselyn. Let’s go help him out, Rienne!” Iori suddenly decided.

“He’s doing fine, Iori,” Rienne objected.

“You know Faris; there’s no way that’s true!“ Iori refuted. “Besides, our chance to get a cute little sister is on the line!”

“Fine, fine. I’ll come,” Rienne relented and turned toward Ria and Phaeylis. “It’s already been a joy having you here, Sir Mage Phaelys, Sir Mage Orlisi. Please avail yourself of some refreshments.”

Iori groaned and palmed her forehead in dismay, muttering under her breath, “Faris… what are you doing?! Come on, Bianca, Rienne! There’s no time to lose!”

Rienne gave an apologetic gesture and hurried after Iori and Bianca. The boys shrugged and followed along at a more sedate pace.

Ria looked over where Faris and Iselyn had claimed a table to sit at together with Aeri and Arthur and didn’t see what the problem was. Was it because Iselyn was reading a book after having already finished socializing?

“Shall we?”

Ria returned her attention to Phaelys, who motioned toward the long refreshment table and the servants keeping everything fresh.

“Yes, please,” Ria agreed. She had been too nervous to eat earlier and was beginning to feel rather hungry. “Keira, can you explain the different foods and the proper way to eat them?”

“Oh, this ought to be amusing,” Aldri commented with a chuckle.

“Shush, you,” Keira told him, drawing a chuckle from Orlisi as well.

The rules for ‘daintily’ consuming the snacks were surprisingly complex and Ria was glad to have two experts with her to help her through the pitfalls (naturally, Aldri and Orlisi who were just there to amuse themselves didn’t count!).

After sampling several of the delicious snacks, Ria could see how Keira was able to improve her mood so easily earlier. They were a treat for the eyes and the tongue! She could spend the rest of the event at the snack table and not regret it!

But… alas, her joy was not to last, and she caught sight of Hulle and Desi approaching, each smiling disturbing smiles with differing but equally sinister purpose.

Well, she should be glad to have avoided them to this point. She half-cringed and expectantly awaited whether Hulle approved of her performance. He didn’t leave her waiting long.

“Don’t worry, you seem to have followed my restrictions for the most part, Ria,” Hulle advised her with a dark chuckle. “But if you’re expecting a high evaluation for just barely surviving against moderately competent second-year students…”

Ugh.

“Sir Mage Hulle of House Novidus,” Phaelys greeted.

Hulle amiably replaced his sinister expression with something more pleasant and bowed to show respect. “Sir Mage Phaelys of House Vesali.”

“Desi of House Endley. It’s a pleasure to meet two of last year’s four-time champions in person.” Desi curtsied to Phaelys and nodded toward Orlisi.

Orlisi chuckled. “I might’ve been a tad too excited at the time… I’d spent so many years doing the same boring training.”

Ria rolled her eyes at the elf. Surely, that was an exaggeration. Wasn’t her friend only fourteen? Ria tilted her head a bit. Or was she? Elves had longer life expectancy, but did they age different as children?

Hulle was talking when Ria returned her attention to the conversation, “…a pleasant surprise to learn of Sir Mage Phaelys’ willingness to accompany the debut of one of the two first-years I am currently sponsoring. This development presents an opportunity for both our houses, an opportunity to make connections that would’ve been troublesome otherwise.”

Phaelys nodded, but Ria couldn’t tell if it was a nod of agreement or just a polite acceptance of the supposition. “I too, find this an opportunity.”

Regardless, Ria wasn’t too thrilled about others talking about how to take advantage of her while she was standing there. “Sir Mage Hulle, what did the lord and lady want to talk about?”

Desi gave her a suspicious grin, and as Hulle opened his mouth to speak, Orlisi interrupted, “Looks like something is happening.”

Ria looked to where the elf girl was discreetly pointing and saw a set of four exquisitely-dressed musicians readying their instruments at Lady Asara’s direction. Soon, stately music with a hint of playfulness filled the garden.

“I trust that the refreshments have been enjoyable,” Lady Asara addressed the socializing youths, and held out a hand for Lord Jevaran to take. “And for your further enjoyment please feel free to join Lord Jevaran and I for a spot of dance.”

Ria was nervous at first, but her nervousness turned to excitement as she recognized the dance steps from Sir Guthrie’s etiquette lessons.

Ignoring Hulle’s chuckling at her expense, she plied Phaelys with her begging eyes until the boy sighed in defeat. “Would the Young Miss like to dance?”

She took hold of the gloved hand offered and grinned ear to ear. “I’ll be in your care!”

“Shall we as well?” Ria heard Aldri ask Keira and missed Keira’s reply, but a glance back showed the pair joining them.

Iselyn had already joined the dance, moving with grace and poise opposite Faris. With their formal wear and elven good looks, the pair outshined everyone else present. Her half-elf(?) friend made beautiful and delicate smiles, practiced smiles that reminded Ria of just how different the worlds were that she and her friend came from.

But Ria was determined not to be outdone. She was quite confident in her physical aptitude, leveraging all her balance and flexibility training as she stepped and twirled and thoroughly enjoyed herself, her dress swishing and flaring counterpoint.

Phaelys, of course, was perfect at the formal dances, even though he didn’t seem to enjoy them. When asked about it, he grimaced. “When dance is part of your daily lessons…”

Oh.

That actually made her feel a little sorry for the boy—to have all the joy of dancing taken away due to forced lessons from his tutors. Maybe it was also because Vesali were expected to be perfect when in public?

At first the thought put a damper on her own enjoyment, but she shook it off. Just because Phaelys wasn’t having fun, that didn’t mean she couldn’t!

She gave him her best smile. Fun was contagious! She’d just have to make dancing fun again for him!

Though, as enthusiastically as she tried, in the end she had to admit defeat.

Exhausted from her efforts, Ria fanned herself with air magic and accepted Phaelys’ offer that they rest and rehydrate.

“Thank the gods your formal dancing isn’t a disaster. You show hints of grace that I could have hardly expected…” Lady Janacythe critiqued as they returned to the refreshments table, the Vesali master mage having resumed her chaperone duties. “Though ‘exuberant enthusiasm’ is not a good look when opposite a Vesali; it is unrefined and gives the impression you feel lucky to have such a partner.”

“I offered to dance with Lady Janacythe and would have joined you, but sadly, I was refused,” Orlisi reported with a mischievous grin.

Wha-? Ria glanced back and forth between their chaperones with her eyebrows raised. Before she could respond, a servant’s voice cut through the gathering.

“Sir Mage Presius of House Novidus, Initiate of the Silver Shield, Captain of the Silver Lions, Champion of the Grand Games, four-time Champion of the Divinesday Newcomers Tournament, accompanied by Sir Mage Vanessa of House Sorrel, Initiate of the Silver Shield, Champion of the Grand Games, four-time Champion of the Divinesday Newcomers Tournament.”

As the late arriving pair were announced, Ria looked to Hulle’s direction and saw his face become devoid of emotion in a way that sent a chill up her spine.

She turned her attention back to Presius as he confidently strode forward into the gathering, a dusky-haired girl in a sleek midnight-blue dress at his side. He was tall with sculptured features, radiant in beauty as if Anasari himself had descended and taken up flesh. The aura around the teen boy was dense, stronger than even Welkin, if she had to guess.

“My dear Uncle Jevaran and Aunt Asara! I do apologize for my late arrival! The courier seemed to have lost my invitation and been too embarrassed to report his failure.”

Ria thought she saw Lady Asara’s eye twitch in annoyance before her expression smoothed out to one of pleasant surprise. “Ah, my nephew, it is a welcome thing that you were still able to find time to attend.”

While Presius and his partner proceeded to privately pay their respects to the hosts as had been done previously by the other arrivals, Ria caught sight of Hulle and Desi drawing near.

Hulle nodded to Phaelys as he approached. “Come, Ria. There is someone you should meet.”

Ria nodded and followed as Hulle led her and Phaelys to the front of where everyone was gathering to greet the Novidus heir.

The couple soon stepped out of the sound muffling magic and their eyes surveyed the gathering as if preparing to hold court.

Presius’ gaze stopped on Hulle with a faint curl to his lips.

“Hulle… to think you already dare to show your face at Novidus events. And with a partner from the Twilight Cloak, no less! A perfect match for your dark and twisted mind, my dear cousin.”

Hulle shrugged pretending as if he couldn’t care less what Presius thought.

Desi stepped forward slightly. “Nice to make your acquaintance, Sir Mage Presius. My name’s Desi of House-”

“I didn’t address you, hireling,” the self-assured boy rudely cut Desi off, and the girl beside him smiled.

Desi bowed her head into a submissive curtsy and stepped back half-a-pace.

“Charming and winning friends and influence as always, Presius,” Hulle praised with icy cynicism.

“Indeed I have,” Presius gloatingly sneered. “Thanks to your vengeful attempt to murder the dear Young Lady Venessa here, my position as the future heir is more secure than ever.”

Murder?

“I’m glad for you,” Hulle snarked.

Had he really…?

Hulle certainly didn’t seem to like the girl, and witnessing the cruel gaze the dusky-haired girl beside Presius leveled on Ria’s third-year mentor, Ria found the assertion disturbingly plausible.

“Jealousy doesn’t become you, little cousin,” Presius mocked in retun with a finger waving ‘tsk, tsk’ that reminded Ria uncomfortably of Duelleres at Amilee’s trial. “You should be glad that grandfather was as lenient as he was. If it was up to me, you would have been fully cast out long ago.”

Hulle brushed off the threat and motioned in Phaelys’ direction, “Don’t you have other guests to greet, dear cousin?”

“Sir Mage Presius, Sir Mage Venessa,” Phaelys greeted neutrally.

“Ah, Sir Mage Phaelys, you’ll hopefully excuse the late greeting—matters of passion and all that. It is quite the surprise to see a Vesali attending one my aunt’s events, and attending together with one of today’s champions, no less.” Presius smiled. “I admit I hadn’t paid much attention to it, but the rumors of a certain pair of conspicuous cousins grumbling about a goldseeker make more sense now.”

“Though partly a matter of honor, I have my own reasons to escort our country’s youngest war hero,” Phaelys calmly responded.

“Oh, yes. Her strength and courage don’t seem to be in question, but as a commoner of unknown parentage, it’s probably not unexpected that today we witnessed her unrefined manner and barbarous nature.” Presius smirked. “What do you think, Vanessa?”

“Poor Klein might never live down the holograms of him being beaten into the ground by a girl younger than him,” Venessa agreed while covering her mouth as she chuckled.

Ria cringed a bit in embarrassment.

A lilting voice came to her rescue from behind as Orlisi cheerfully challenged the tall Novidus boy, “You needn’t worry, Sir Mage Presius, Captain of the Silver Lions. I intend to personally refine young Ria’s training in the ways of elven martial arts.”

Presius’ eyes narrowed. “Last year’s champion of the Newcomers Tournament, Orlisi of House Furren. You assume too much to suggest your ragtag embarrassment of a team will ever be a match for the Silver Lions.”

“Though Sir Mage is likely correct in your assessment of the effort to be fielded by the Sages again this year, the Silver Lions are hardly the behemoth they were last year,” Lady Janacythe interjected.

Presius rolled his eyes. “I’m sure Lady Janacythe is biased toward the Flowing Crystal’s Team, Amethyst Destiny.”

“Indeed.”

Taking in Phaelys’ unflappable confidence, Presius scoffed, “Victory is a prize hardly won by talent and bloodline alone. The Silver Lions will never be satisfied with past accomplishments as long as I am their captain.”

“Cousin Presius,” Keira greeted, taking advantage of the break in conversation. “It’s good to meet you.”

Presius looked at Kiera blankly for several moments. “Ah, right, you must be from the Vorshan side of the family. Though you can rightfully call yourself a champion, you should know your performance at today’s tournament was embarrassingly mediocre.”

Keira looked down, not disagreeing with her cousin’s blunt assessment. Ria chafed and wanted to speak up in Kiera’s defense but, with an exercise of will, held her tongue.

“Red hair makes you likely a Touften,” Presius guessed as he turned his attention to Aldri.

“Indeed. Aldri of House Touften, Sir Champion,” Aldri answered cordially enough.

Presius nodded. “Your house provides a valuable service to the republic. Perhaps you can provide a service to my family by assisting my frontier cousin with enjoying her meals a bit less.”

Shock and dismay showed on Keira’s face, and Ria would have been fuming with anger if she wasn’t completely stunned. The future Novidus heir was an unredeemable self-important ass!

“I’m sure Young Lady Keira will realize her beauty soon,” Aldri agreed, and Keira gave him a surprised look.

“Let us hope so, and speaking of beauty,” the terrible Novidus boy turned his attention to Faris and Iselyn. “Dear Cousin Faris, I would have thought you and Uncle smarter than to fall for beauty and charm. Just in case you are unaware, the young lady at your side is a bastard whose father is rumored to have been a vagabond minstrel and who has already attempted to advance herself by stealing the affection of a regional lord’s son who was promised to another.”

Faris looked to the side and refused to meet his cousin’s judging gaze.

Iselyn placed a hand on Faris’ arm and spoke with a surprisingly pleasant voice, “It’s nice to meet you, Sir Mage. Your reputation for candor precedes you.”

Ria blinked. Had Iselyn just…?

Vanessa ruffled visibly at the veiled insult, but Presius smiled a cold smile and spoke, “Perhaps there is merit to your pairing if you can help dear Faris find his spine. But be warned, there’s a fine line between honor and foolhardy courage. You are not my responsibility yet, but if you are to become part of this family, you would do well to remember your place and the limits of your role.”

Iselyn politely ducked her head and answered with more poise than Ria would’ve thought possible for the shy girl, “I gratefully thank the young master for his advice. I am thankful to House Novidus for Lady Asara’s assistance and have no ambition other than what opportunities House Novidus is willing to provide me.”

It was definitely a good thing that Malleron and Ranger weren’t there to voice their true opinions. But if this nastiness was what the debut ball would be like, could Ria count on either to not cause a scene?

A delicate clinking of a glass stirrer against a teacup interrupted further conversation and drew their attention to Lady Asara.

“Thank you Nephew Presius, Sir Mage Vanessa, for taking the time to come by. Your efforts have helped me greatly with preparing our new Novidus-supported youths for their social debuts and addressed an oversight on my part. You have my appreciation,” Lady Asara said with a pleasant cheer as she returned the teacup to the table, but there was an icy undercurrent in their host’s voice that made Ria shiver.

Lady Asara's sharp eyes focused on her rude nephew. “And now that they’ve each been given a taste of the condescending arrogance to be experienced from the scions of the other Houses, I expect that scions of this House will remember to keep the value of efforts to recruit and nurture new talent in mind at the real event.”

“Take Lady Asara’s advice to heart, Nephew Presius,” Lord Jevaran concurred, adding, “I will be having lunch with your grandfather tomorrow and would be pleased if you and your father attended.”

Presius’ face went blank at the sudden rebuke and implied consequences. Vanessa’s face seemed to drain of color.

“Now, though I must ask indulgence from our guests’ Sir Mage escorts—particularly Sir Mage Phaelys, who has represented House Vesali in exemplar fashion today—I would ask that our young ladies who will be debuting and their escorts come with me to the carriages. An artisan friend of mine has cleared her schedule to accommodate us, and I suspect her identity will be quite the fun surprise when we arrive.”