Noth slowly closed his eyes and let out a short sigh. If he hadn’t been careful and looked away from the bishop in time, then the man would have already been infected by his angel’s madness by now. He had to try his best to calm down and put the power away so that he didn’t accidentally inflict anything on anyone, but it was harder to do than he'd thought it would be. So far, every time that this power had flared its ugly head, his angel had always been the one to cover his eyes and put a stop to it. But now that she was missing…
Perhaps he’d just have to keep his eyes closed until the bishop finally left.
“Jean, come over here. Bishop Dellan, the decree.”
He could hear the huffs of the still flustered young Jean, but he could also hear her obediently coming over to the side of the couch he was seated on. After a moment of silence, Noth peeked his eyes open and swept his vision towards the feet of the bishop, wondering what was taking so long, only to see the sweaty man suddenly jump as if he’d seen a ghost. The teen couldn’t help but smirk at how easy the man was to scare. Clearly the foolish bishop was all bark and no bite, and yet he still paraded around as if everyone should respect him. How stupid.
“Ah… Ahem… Um…”
The bishop fiddled around through the folds of his robe, desperately searching for the decree that had been demanded of him. The collar of his robes grew more and more obviously caked in his sweat. Even when he finally grabbed hold of the paper with his wet hands, he still couldn’t help the tremble in his voice as he began to read. He didn’t dare let his eyes stray from the paper, as if the pope’s words might protect him from whatever horrors the boy’s eyes might bring.
“Th-the p-pope decrees! I-In-In reward… reward for the great achievement of count Noct of Sleekka… Hic… U-um, it says, that, um, the pope will be giving you a m-medal at the next gathering of the nobles. Y-you have to be there.”
Noth could hear Jean scoff in disgust next to him. Clearly she wasn’t impressed by how the coward couldn’t even manage to finish reading the decree. Perhaps it was actually written quite long, so Dellan seemed to have decided to speed things up, unbefitting of his role as the pope’s messenger.
It would be a lie to say that Noth wasn’t pleased to have scared such a man as this. In a way, this man reminded him quite a bit of Jeck, from all those years ago. He could only wonder how many such overambitious men that the pope had working for him. How many ‘Jecks’ would Noth end up meeting at this silly little ‘gathering of the nobles’?
“...And did it say when this gathering will be?”
“Yes! Y-yes, lord, yes… It- It will be held 8 months from now, on the last day of the month.”
Noth didn’t know whether to feel lucky or annoyed. Surely by then he would have a better grasp on the strange powers he’d acquired, and maybe he would be able to use Serris’s powers once more. At the very least he hoped that she would have returned to him by then so that he wouldn’t have to go into the den of snakes alone. However, the thought of having this gathering looming off in the distance for 8 months… It felt like an added lump of stress that he didn’t want hanging over him.
The teen drummed his fingers against the arm of the couch in both thought and annoyance.
“And that’s all the decree says?”
Dellan’s hands clenched on the paper, wrinkling it. He was afraid to have to put his shield away now that it was finished, but he also wanted to be freed from this place as soon as possible.
“...Yes, that’s all.”
It was baffling to Noth that the pope had even bothered to send someone to read such a thing off to him. What a waste of manpower; Wouldn’t a simple letter have sufficed? Ah, but if the pope had only sent a letter then it would have been easy for Noth to pretend that he’d never gotten the thing in the first place. So that meant that the sweaty bishop was only sent as a confirmation? Well, if the silly man’s job was all done, then there was no longer any kind of reason to keep such unwanted company around.
“Fine, then. You can tell the pope that I’ll be coming.”
Noth’s eyes began to sweep towards Jean, but he suddenly clapped his hand over them when he remembered how dangerous they currently were.
“...Jean, escort him out.”
Jean’s face lightly scrunched up, partly from the odd action that Noth had just performed, but mostly from the idea of being alone with the hated bishop.
“Ghk… Fine.”
***
A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.
Dellan chased after the lovely little maid who was walking at a pace much too fast for him. His breath came out in pants, and his back felt thoroughly soaked in sweat. He hated the rude girl, but he could do nothing but call out for her to wait for him as he stumbled through the halls. He desperately wanted to get out, and in such an unfamiliar and large building, he was worried that he might just get lost and be stuck in here for even longer than he already had been.
After a few minutes Dellan finally made his way out of the front door. The small maid leaned against the wall with her arms crossed, looking thoroughly put out, and his guards still stood in the exact same place that they’d been left in, although their swords were all now properly sheathed. The gorgeous yet pouty girl shot the bishop one last glare, making sure that he saw full well the contempt she held for him in her eyes, and then turned an impassive look towards the guards.
“Take this man out of my sight. Bring him back roughly.”
The guards all shouted in unison and then turned towards Dellan, taking turns pushing him meanly forward. The bishop yelped and complained, but not a single person there listened to him. It wasn’t until hours later, when they’d made it out of the Sleekka territory and the bishop was covered in bruises that the guards came back to their right minds and realized what they’d been doing.
***
Jean stomped back into the room, giving Noth a slightly pouty look before she grabbed a handcloth off of the table and began to pick up all the small shattered pieces of teacup from earlier.
“I really hate that man.”
When the bishop had left, Noth’s eyes had finally decided to cool down. Now he could look over the small form of the girl angrily picking up the pieces of teacup without having to worry, although it was quite worrisome how long the power had kept up before stopping.
“I don’t blame you, he’s easy to dislike.”
Noth got up and picked Jean from the floor, bringing her away from the dangerous shards of porcelain.
“Leave that for the shadows to take care of, I don’t want you hurting yourself.”
Jean wiggled her arms in frustration towards the mess she was being taken away from for a moment, but eventually she only crossed them and let herself be taken away.
“But they shouldn’t have to clean it up. I’m the one who made the stupid bishop angry.”
“Yes, but you shouldn’t have to be the one to clean up after a childish adult, either.”
Noth placed Jean down on the couch and took her hands, checking them over to make sure she hadn’t cut herself. Jean pouted and let him look her over for a little while, but eventually she withdrew her hands and returned to crossing her arms.
“Hmph… I can’t believe he came into someone else’s home and acted like that. Is that supposed to be what a ‘bishop’ is?”
Noth sat down next to her and chuckled at the sour Jean, giving her head a tiny pat.
“Well… I can’t promise that they’re all like that, but the church is… very important in this country. We’re a theocracy after all, and he was here on official business from the pope who rules over all of us.”
“That doesn’t mean that he gets to just run around and be a jerk, though.”
“You’re right, he really shouldn’t just get to be a jerk, but… I guess that’s just not how people with ‘power’ think.”
“But that’s just stupid!”
“Yes yes, you’re right, it’s stupid.”
Jean glanced at Noth. When she saw his slowly faltering smile, her face turned awkward. She loosened her crossed arms and gently grabbed the sleeve of Noth’s shirt.
“...Do you really have to go to that ‘gathering of the nobles’ thing?”
“Well, I am a noble, and the pope decreed that I have to go.”
“And there’ll be more people like that bishop there?”
Noth’s gaze turned away, and his hand that had been gently resting on top of Jean’s head slowly slid down onto the couch. His eyes seemed to hold an unhappy glint to them.
“There’ll probably be people much worse than him there.”
The teen knew about the other nobles and aristocrats who had systematically bullied his father with Jeck all those years. He’d learned about how cruel high society could be, and he’d even seen dreams of what horrible lengths the pope was willing to go to to remove a thorn from his side. Noth was fairly sure that no amount of petty and snide word-play would be able to affect him after the childhood that he’d had to endure, but then again he’d never experienced the level of snideness that he’d be encountering at the gathering. The teen knew better than to think he knew everything about something, and he also knew he had no choice but to jump into the den of snakes unprepared. Perhaps there were only two things that could offer him any kind of protection in this situation: His angel and his father. However, his angel was missing, and who knew when she would return. And his father… His father had already been defeated by such things for many many years. At this point it would just feel cruel to force him to experience any more of it.
“...I don’t like that. Can’t we go with you, Noth? At the very least we could try and help you against them a little like today.”
Noth offered the kind girl a brief, sweet smile, but then he quickly turned away, not wanting her to see the weak face he was sure he was about to make. It was one of the rare moments where Jean willingly stopped trying to act mature and was showing her childish side, and yet he wasn’t going to be able to give his beloved sibling what she wanted this time. Noth hated how weak he was, worrying his family like this.
“Thank you Jean, but… I think I might have to do this one all alone.”