After patting Red’s head, Ragnar carefully got off his mount. He had barely managed to maintain his face without falling off this mount the whole day, only because of his mastery over his centre of balance. And that could only be accredited to his training as an assassin. Ragnar wasn’t one to shy away from giving credit where its due. But fuck that bastard nonetheless.

Ragnar had been observing this structure from quite a distance, but getting a look from this close by at it in all its glory was really something else. It forced him to pause and just appreciate the oddity that stood before him.

It had a shining silvery-grey bark, as tall as a 10-story building, and the girth of an acre. With all the flowing branches and oval shaped pointy leaves that were half the size of Ragnar, it was probably spread over a distance of around 3 acres. Yes, it was a tree, although not as large as the trees near the Quaraxi nest, it was still fairly big. And considering that it spans this much area in Riftdale, the literal centre of HCR, not much else needs to be said about its value.

But just calling it a tree wouldn’t do it justice, since the bark was riddled with windows of different sizes, and several structures were also nestled in the branches, with pathways in the form of hanging bridges connecting all of it together. It was literally the fantasy tree house of every child, just substantially larger, and also a hotel instead of a house.

Ragnar wasn’t the only one influenced by the majesty of the tree hotel. Aura was much the same, but unlike Ragnar her emotions involved a lot more than just appreciation for the architecture.

Having appreciated it enough, Ragnar was eager to explore the insides. But he still had Red’s reins and the butler people near the gate who were supposed to take it away seemed to be observing Aura with a respectful look in their eyes, waiting for her instructions. But Aura didn’t seem like she will be coming out of her reverie anytime soon.

Ragnar had enough of it though, so he just walked past her while gesturing to Red and speaking. “I am going in, take care of him.”

The butlers gave him unkind looks, talking to their lady like that, but Ragnar didn’t mind them and just entered the tall wooden doors that were already open quite wide.

Aura took a few seconds to return to her senses, as she did, she secretly wiped the tear that was about to leak from her eye. Instructing the butlers who seemed to be taking her each word as gold about the mounts, she hurried to catch up to Ragnar.

Ragnar stood at the entrance into the lobby cum restaurant waiting for Aura. He had taken the liberty to check the place out before her but he couldn’t be bothered to deal with another receptionist, he had had enough of them for a day. So since he had the option, he will of course let her take care of these things. And this hotel apparently belonged to her family, so they probably won’t have to pay for it either.

The lobby had an ancient feel, floor made out of marble with decorated wooden pillars holding the ceiling that had a massive chandelier sprucing up the place. The reception was to the immediate left of the entrance while the huge hall was actually a fancy restaurant brimming with people.

Despite the turmoil going through her head, Aura had a small smile since she had already guessed that he would be waiting for her and there he was. Without sharing any words, she simply walked over to the reception while observing everything with curious eyes. This was her first time here as well. After reaching the reception, she couldn’t help but smile at the wide-eyed woman gawking at her from the other side of the desk.

“L-Lady Aura!!” she said as she stood up in hurry to greet her.

“Ms. Sierra, long time no see.”

Sierra’s face showed that she had a million words to say in this moment, but she opened her mouth and closed it multiple times without leaking a single word. And each time she did, her excitement diminished little by little eventually disappearing completely, leaving her with a sad smile. Despite everything she had to say, she could only repeat what she says to every customer who comes to their establishment.

“How can I help you today, My lady?”

Aura knew exactly what was going through Sierra’s head, she had known her ever since she was a child. Sierra used to work for her mother, so Aura had multiple exchanges with her over time. She wasn’t about to make things difficult for her, so she simply replied. “Give us two rooms, just the standard ones.”

Sierra’s face turned for the worse. She looked really conflicted. Aura thought she was helping her out but she couldn’t have asked for anything worse. How could Sierra allow the daughter of her former Lady to have anything but the best in this establishment. But she couldn’t really force Aura to take a better room since she didn’t have that authority. So she could only urge Aura to ask for a better one with her pitiful gaze as she slowly moved to hand over the keys for the room.

The ever so smart and observant Aura seemed none the wiser in this situation. But just as Sierra was about to fall into this deep abyss of endless guilt, a voice came, like the hand of God pulling her right out.

“Aura?! You finally came?” It was accompanied by a jolly laughter as a young man came up behind Aura.

Hearing the voice Aura lowered her gaze to the floor, closed her eyes and let out a deep sigh that she had been holding in for quite a while. ‘Here it comes. Is it necessary to act surprised though?’ She thought. Like he wasn’t keeping tabs on her ever since she had entered HCR.

Taking a long breath, she turned around, her head held high and the calm serenity that Ragnar had seen when he first saw her returning to her eyes.

“Lucian.” She said as she nodded to the person who had arrived.

The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.

Lucian’s excitement significantly waned seeing her cold demeanour. Although it wouldn’t appear cold to anyone else, he knew her quite well by now. But he didn’t let it show as he followed up. “I have been inviting you to Riftdale for over a month, but you only found time after all this while.”

Aura furrowed her brows hearing his words, so her reply came out quite snappily. “I happen to have a lot on my plate, as you might know, can’t really go around sightseeing.”

Lucian sighed, his face losing its glow at a steady pace. “It’s fine. Now that you are here, go out with me tomorrow. There’s this new shop o-“

“I don’t think you heard me clearly, Lucian. I am only passing through Riftdale, I will be back out drifting tomorrow.” Aura brutally cut him off, her mood turning for the worse.

Lucian finally lost any semblance of excitement he might have had seeing his fiancé after such a long time. His look turning helpless, he said with an imploring tone. “Do you really have to be so difficult? Just give me a day… please, and then you can go anywhere you want.”

But Aura lacked any mercy whatsoever. ”I will go wherever I want. I don’t need your permission for that.”

Lucian simply sighed once more. How was he supposed to reply to that? “I didn’t mean it like that.” He sighed once more and continued. ”Alright, you don’t have to come then. We can have dinner together at the very least? You won’t deny me that as well, will you?”

Finally, after all that was said, Aura showed a small smile. “Oh but I will. We will just have dinner in our room.” She said as she turned to the scatter-brained Sierra who had been unlucky enough to witness this whole conversation.

Hearing such heartless words, Lucian finally broke. His voice raising slightly in octaves. “How many times do I need to repeat it Aura. I already feel enough guilty for everything that happened. Can you just try and look at things from my perspective?” He realised he was losing control halfway through his words, so he quietened down by the time his statement was over.

Aura scoffed hearing his words, the small smile vanishing just as fast as it had arrived. “Do you? And where was this guilt when you were accepting everything that had belonged to me?”

The hard-fought control was about to be lost once again but he managed to keep it calm, replying with emphasis on each word. “Like I keep telling you, it was the council’s decision. I had NOTHING to do with it.”

“Yea, keep telling yourself that.” She turned around once again with those words, giving Sierra a stern look. Aura knew that she was delaying handing over the keys to her on purpose. And her trick had just garnered results. Though not the ones she was hoping for.

Noticing the two keys, Lucian furrowed his brows and suddenly remembered. He had completely forgotten about the elephant in the room that had become a viral figure in the city within just a single appearance. He turned to the entrance, looking for the face that had been circulating around the city since this afternoon.

Locating him standing close by, he walked up to him and raised his hand for a handshake. “‘Lord’ Ragnar huh?” Although he said the ‘Lord’ sarcastically, he wasn’t really trying to be rude, instead simply trying to start the conversation on a lighter note. Well, his fate was already clear for everyone including Aura, who couldn’t help but finally show a genuine smile. Like she had thought, having a constant was always welcomed, no matter the situation.

By this time, Ragnar was of course not standing at the entrance. He wasn’t that helpless. Instead, he was drinking water at the water dispenser on the side of the reception. So he had clearly heard every word that had been spoken until now. Though he would have heard it just the same even if he was in the opposite corner of the hall, still the proximity helped, slightly, not really. Anyways, not that any of that really mattered to him, it would seem that they were still going to leave HCR tomorrow which was cool, as for the rest, that had nothing to do with him. They were Aura’s matters and she would deal with it however she deems fit.

However, at this point, the handsome human suddenly decided to involve him into the fray. Yes, Ragnar’s acknowledgement in this matter would be hard to come by, but in this case, he had to agree that this man was quite good looking. Of course, no where near Ragnar, but within the common humans, he was definitely among the cream of the crop.

With green hair much darker than Aura’s jade green, he had similarly green eyes and a chiselled face. He wore their family’s outfit that was white with green outlines. But his was much fancier than Aura’s. Or rather, it would be more right to say that Aura preferred more simplistic style while he was adorned with several accessories other than the base outfit, including wrist and arm bands, locket, belt and a few more.

As Ragnar took his time observing him, he still had the cup he had drank water from in his right hand. So Lucian was still holding out his hand in hopes of something that was out of his reach.

Ragnar casually kept the cup to the side, and put his hands behind his back, not even acknowledging Lucian’s words.

Seeing his attitude, Lucian still somehow managed to keep his calm and simply withdrew his hand. But that was the case for Lucian. But he hadn’t come alone to approach Aura. He had arrived with one of his lackeys. His presence had been completely glossed over by both parties involved.

Grim had been simply observing this whole time. Although he had a lot of things to say to lady Aura who simply refused to give his boss a chance, he knew that boss wouldn’t like him meddling in this matter. So, he intelligently kept his mouth shut.

But now, even this flash in the pan was showing attitude to his boss. How could Grim allow this. “Oi Ragnar. Has the win over Vale gotten into your head? Let me tell you in the language you will understand. The person in front of you is Lucian Sylvancrest, 8th in the rankings. There is a long way between 20 and 8. Oh… and he is also the next head of the Sylvancrests. So, it would be wise of you to show respect where its due.”

Grim was angry, sure, but he was also well aware of the things Ragnar had achieved today. Hence, he had no intention of burning all bridges between him and his boss, so he simply asked him to act like he is supposed to.

But hearing his words, Aura’s face slightly paled. She knew what was coming. She knew that she had to do something to diffuse the situation but her frame of mind was not in a good place right now, so she had taken the bold decision of letting things play out. She wanted to see what would Ragnar actually do in this situation.

Lucian on the other hand had failed to get any words out of Ragnar, although he wouldn’t fall low enough to go after Ragnar for this small matter, he also wasn’t about to rebuke his subordinate for explaining the difference in their statuses to this random guy.

Ragnar on the other hand, didn’t have much thoughts after hearing Grim’s words. He was just going to follow the protocol. “It’s Lord Ragnar for you. I won’t say it again.”

Grim’s face darkened hearing Ragnar’s reply. He had completely discarded his words about his boss, and was instead fixated on his name being said right? “Yea ‘RAGNAR’… What are you gonna do about it.”

Suddenly Aura thought that her decision was too rash. She felt that she was better off not knowing what Ragnar would do. She wanted to settle this matter before it could escalate any further, but before she could speak up, she noticed the lack of any action in Ragnar’s movement and gaze. He simply looked away from Grim, as if completely disregarding his words.

And with that, a sense of relief washed over Aura. She felt grateful, that Ragnar actually knew when not to create a scene. However, it was also accompanied by a very slight hint of disappointment that was instantly buried by her other thoughts.

Grim spoke up a few more times to Ragnar, but his words fell on deaf ear, as if his words held no value. Like the words of a dead man.