Callisto De'Falco Genitore held a very high rank within the nobility. He was a duke who had swiftly risen through the ranks after the unfortunate death of his parents; may the Spirits bless them. Ever since their deaths, he'd been striving to uplift his own status within the nobility, pushing himself until the low-class noble house of Genitore finally became a house of high-class nobility. He was only the second person to have ever risen from low to high-class, and his house was the only one to have risen in such a short amount of time.

Many people often said that he pushed himself too hard. Most of these individuals ran under the misguided belief that he worked hard because he was trying to cope with the loss of his family. They couldn't have been more wrong―not that he would ever let them know that. Sympathy had its uses, after all.

He sat behind his desk, leafing through the many papers sitting on top of the polished wooden surface. Even though the nobility were nothing more than figureheads these days, no thanks to Sylvia disbanding the monarchy several hundred years ago, there was still a lot of work to be done. Most of the tasks were mundane: Reading through documents, signing those that were unimportant, then delivering those that were important to the Sorceress who oversaw whichever city the noble in question was stationed in. They also occasionally oversaw city affairs if the Sorceress was too busy with other matters, but that was rare these days.

Generally speaking, there were normally anywhere from five to fifteen noble houses in each city, sometimes less or more, depending on the size and population. Each noble had duties that dealt with a specific jurisdiction that kept the city running smoothly.

Callisto lived in Casadina, the capital city of Arcadia, located within the Temarian province. This city, which had a population of over 550,000 people, contained 56 noble houses, each one varying from low to high-class, and each one responsible for a very specific duty.

His house's jurisdiction was the lawful distribution of MagiTech.

Magical technology was a relatively new creation. It had only been two decades since the first piece of magical technology had been created by Karen Hildegarde, one of the more prominent Sorceresses on the Sorceress Council. Since the invention of magical items such as the MAFTs, Arcadia's economy had thrived. Economically speaking, Arcadia was more powerful than Terraria's other four nations combine.

Yet Callisto was still dissatisfied with the way things were. Their nation may have been strong, their people may have been strong, but it was due to the strength of their Sorceresses, not the nobility. He longed for a return to the old ways, where those who had the lineage, the pedigree, and the right to rule, were the ones in charge-not those who'd stolen that right through unnatural powers beyond those of any mortal.

Deciding to take a small break from his work, Callisto spent a moment looking around his office. Like all members of nobility, his office was fit for royalty. The carpet was a dark purple, royal and grand, the white walls were covered in expensive artwork and various pieces of the latest MagiTech. A bookshelf stood off to the side, up against the wall, its shelves lined with scrolls and books, each one ancient and containing much wisdom-as well as costing more than a small manor. Even his desk was an expression of opulence; carved from red-wood with a lacquered finish, intricate motifs colored in silver and gold running along the front and legs.

Being someone who enjoyed the finer things in life―finer things being an euphemism for expensive and exquisite objects be they paintings, artwork or artifacts―Callisto had spent a good deal of time, effort, and money acquiring many different items that interested him. His office, his entire mansion, in fact, reflected this.

The soft beeping of the intercom installed into his desk―one of the newer MagiTech inventions-alerted him to the fact that he was being called. Pressing the red button, Callisto leaned forward and spoke into the device.

"Yes, Alice?"

"Lord Genitore, there is someone here to see you."

"I see, and do you know who they are?"

"No sir, they are wearing a cloak. However, they told me that they have a very important matter they wished to discuss with you. They even brought a letter of authentication with your signature on it."

Ah. So, it was one of his contacts, then. But which one? He supposed he would just have to invite them in if he wanted to discover who they were and why they were meeting him in person.

"Very well. Send them in."

Callisto looked up as the door to his office opened. A man walked in, his bulk and gait giving him away. The cloak they wore, black silk that shimmered in the light, was removed to reveal the man's identity.

The buttons of his glimmering purple shirt looked ready to pop off his front, while the seams of his long-sleeved shirt appeared ready to tear. His corpulent gut hung over black pants. Several chins wobbled as he moved, jiggling and wiggling as if they were alive.

Giovanni Gorossolaine, a rather disgusting man that few could put up with. It wasn't just his rotund frame that caused others to turn away in disgust. The look in his hazel eyes, which spoke of lust and greed, shown through so powerfully that everyone who made eye contact with him became uncomfortable.

Callisto was not everyone. While put off by the man's unsightly appearance, he was more than capable of dealing with this decadent slob. All he had to do was remember why he'd partnered with Giovanni in the first place and everything else became a secondary concern.

As long as it brought him closer to his goals, he didn't care who he dealt with.

Of course, calling them partners was a complete misnomer. It was an outright lie, even. They were not partners. Callisto was Giovanni's superior in every way.

"I take it you have a report to deliver?" Callisto made it sound like a question, but it really wasn't. "One that was important enough to come all the way here, rather than simply send it to me via carrier pigeon."

While the newly developed delivery system was only installed to work on the scale of a single city, making city-to-city delivery impossible, it would have still taken much less time to deliver something via messenger bird than it did to come in person.

Giovanni shifted uncomfortably. His hands wrung themselves together in a manner that suggested nervousness. How odd. Giovanni rarely became nervous. One of the reasons Callisto had partnered with him despite his grotesque appearance was because of how hard it was to unsettle him.

"It's about the assassination of Erica Angelo."

Ah.

The hands that had been idly moving about their assigned tasks stopped. Callisto, now with his full attention focused on Giovanni, frowned. "Explain."

And Giovanni did explain. He spoke of the first failed attempt, along with the second, and how they had lost both elves in the ensuing battle at Dorehan Tower. The disgustingly large man also gave some interesting information about a swordsman, a young man in his teens who'd been running interference. Apparently, this swordsmen was the reason their assassination attempt had ended in failure.

"Interesting."

Callisto narrowed his eyes. As Giovanni shifted again, sharp irises landed on him, causing him to freeze. Setting his elbows on the desk, hands linked together, and his chin resting on his hands, Callisto gave the man a smile that belied his cunning disposition.

"Tell me about this 'red-haired academy student' who managed to foil our plans."

Callisto's smile was like that of a predator who'd just found his prey. Giovanni shivered.

"I wish to learn more."