Heat led Alice briskly through the hallways. "Which way?"

"Mistress Mels should be at the social gathering in the main lobby right now. It's just straight ahead." Alice was nervous, Heat was holding her hand firmly and it was causing her heart to skip a beat.

But before she could even think about the intimacy, she was concerned about what would happen if a peasant dressed in rags were to crash the Mel family's social gathering. The punishment would not be light.

"Maybe you should stay here, I can go speak to the mistress alone. It might not be a good idea for you to barge into the lobby when there are many nobles present..." Alice could not help but feel worried for Heat.

"It's fine, Chi Mels invited me here yesterday."

That greatly shocked Alice. No wonder he's wandering the halls of the mansion, so he was invited here to the social gathering.

Even though she now knew that Heat was here on her mistress' invitation, it still baffled her when she looked at the way Heat was dressed. Even most peasants were dressed in better clothing than the rags that Heat wore.

When they reached the main lobby, Heat could hear the soft music being much more audible. There were finely dressed men all around wearing an assortment of formal attire. The women were all wearing different length dresses with a multitude of varying colors.

Scanning the room, Heat searched for Chi Mels so that they wouldn't be caught in an awkward position if anyone were to suspect right to be at this grand event.

Heat spotted Chi Mels chatting with a group of people. She was easy to find since she was the only person in a bright pink dress.

Before Heat could even reach Chi Mels, two men came to purposely block his way.

"Guards, take this peasant away before he sullies Sir Ry An's mood!" Spoke one of them with disgust written on his face. His loud volume attracted the attention of many other nobles in the lobby.

"Now, now. Shouldn't we inquire about what he's even doing here?" The other one said with an evil grin.

"That's Earl Iy and Earl Kyger's sons" Alice timidly whispered while hiding behind Heat.

Alice was familiar with the two men, they were Ry An and Al Van, both with fathers that have the status of an Earl. She's heard many rumors that they were close friends that loved to cause trouble.

Ry An was a sadistic bully. He loves to show his power torturing peasants if they even so much as glance at him. He's infamous throughout the city for having an innocent farmer dismembered for an incident that had nothing to do with the farmer.

The event was never brought up publicly but was always discussed in gossip. While Ry An was eating dinner with a girl he fancied, he choked on a piece of steak due to not properly chewing it while he spoke. This caused him to embarrass himself in front of his date as he disgustingly tried to dislodge the food stuck in his throat.

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Enraged, Ry An had the chef hanged, the butcher burned alive and the farmer, who raised the cow, dismembered by having each of his limbs tied to a horse. When each horse that was tied to his limbs ran in four different directions, it gruesomely pulled the farmer apart.

Al Van, on the other hand, was not as dangerous but he was a widely known pervert. Abusing his nobility he would often harass and coerce peasant girls. If they wouldn't get in bed with him, he would have their families pressured to the brink of extinction until they agreed.

Alice announced who they were, hoping that Heat would not provoke them. She truly didn't think that anyone would be able to get out of their evil grasps if they were not a noble themselves.

Everyone watching thought that Heat would beg for their forgiveness when facing the huge pressure from their status difference but contrary to their belief, Heat completely ignored them as he walked past leading Alice toward Chi Mels.

Of course, the moment Al Van spoke, even Chi Mels turned around to see why a ruckus was being caused in her mansion. To her surprise, she recognized the young man dressed in rags.

Witnessing the course of events, Chi Mels stepped forward. "This is a guest of my party that I've invited, is there a problem with that?"

If Heat was just anyone, Chi Mels would not bother stepping forward. Why should she bother helping someone else if it doesn't benefit her in any way? However, this was the mysterious master that she met in the restaurant.

She experienced close up exactly how powerful he was, he was able to casually block everything Jac Ob, a level 3 Mortal Warrior, was able to throw at him. Jac Ob even used an energy equipment and yet, he was still able to win barehanded.

Even though Chi Mels was only a level 1 Mortal Warrior, she has seen many level 6 and level 7 Mortal Warriors, none of them would be able to even dare think about doing what Heat did. Thus she was sure that he must be an Earth Knight, if not, at least a level 9 Mortal Warrior.

With such a powerful expert present, how could she not befriend him? Having an Earth Knight as a friend gave the Mels family more influence and gave herself more support.

"Well?" Chi Mels said sternly, clearly stating that she would take Heat's side if a confrontation were to arise.

"No Miss Mels, I have some business to take care of, I'll take my leave first. We'll meet again during the D Rank test." Ry An bowed and took his leave with Al Van quickly following behind.

Withdrawing her stern expression and putting on a warm smile, Chi Mels turned around and wanted to greet Heat but saw that he was holding the hand of her personal maid Alice. This caused some slight confusion in her heart but she didn't show it on her face.

"Good evening, how may Chi address you, sire?"

"Quanye Lest. I'm here without an invitation and accidentally broke a jade dragon that Alice said was Marquess Mel's gift? I'd like to apologize and hope that it was nothing of importance." Heat was initially nervous about breaking the jade dragon but after seeing how Chi Mels was treating him, he knew that she clearly wanted to befriend him.

With that in mind, he figured that the worst case scenario would be that he would have to compensate for the damage. Even though he couldn't pay immediately since he has no money, he could give them an IOU. So without hesitation, he took the entire blame for the accident.

When Alice heard what Heat said, she squeezed Heat's hand tightly. How could she not tell that Heat was clearly trying to take all the blame? Even though it was an accident, she was also partly to blame for dropping the jade dragon.

"Oh it's quite alright, that was probably just something that one of the guests gifted my father. It's nothing of much importance. Come, you should meet my father Sir Lest."

Even though Chi Mels was still wondering why Heat was holding Alice's hand, she knew it would be better not to ask. She's often heard that powerful experts were usually eccentric; perhaps he took a fancy to her maid, perhaps he prefers to wear rags rather than more elegant clothing. The things she should know, he would speak of, the things she shouldn't know, it would be better not to ask.