After Alice was handed her rewards, some of the knights that had taken part in the battle against the sealed claw were also given rewards. Naturally, their rewards were relatively minor compared to what Gabriel and Alice received, but it was still enough to make them jump in joy.

The party didn’t end after the last of the knights received their reward. Some people had received new noble titles, be they minor or great, so this was an opportune time for the new and old nobles to mingle. Well, calling it mingling wasn’t entirely right, it was basically the old nobles doing their best to poach the fresh blood into their faction.

And perhaps as one would expect, Gabriel and Alice were at the top of everyone’s list. Alice may currently be tied to house Vritara, but she could just as easily split from the house and rely on her own title. It wasn’t uncommon amongst nobles who failed to inherit their family name. And Gabriel, well Gabriel was an entirely new noble with no affiliations, one that could technically grow his territory without end. He was definitely an enticing target.

"Are the festivities to your liking, Count Indra? This wine is one of those we brew within our borders so I must admit that I am rather fond of bringing it out whenever we should have the pleasure of being invited, or hosting, a soarè such as this."

Elias Rutherford was holding a glass of sparkling wine identical to the one Gabriel was holding, his blue eyes narrowed pleasantly as he clinked their glasses together. The wine was sweet, at least the first sip Gabriel had taken earlier had been. But now, now he found that he couldn’t even taste it, it almost felt like ash on his tongue.

"If they are to your liking, what do you say about visiting our territory in the future? I personally find it comforting to see how my beverages are made, from the growth of the grapes to the brewing of the wine, every step must be done to perfection. Little Juliet also just received a commendation from the professors in the Academy so we were looking for an opportune time to celebrate her achievements with a little get-together where we can try some of our older vintages. Since you’d already be there to see how the wines are made, would it not be a shame to leave without tasting them?"

Marquess Rutherford kept talking, his wife and daughter off somewhere else to mingle with the other nobles. Gabriel responded, mindless chatter spilling from his mouth. Phrases prepared in advance, standard responses, safe answers that made no promises.

Quite frankly, he was barely paying attention to his answers. His gaze didn’t focus on Rutherford, it subtly slid past him and lingered on the familiar back that stole his attention.

Alice was chatting with the Third Prince at the moment, some minor nobles tied to Duke Sorin’s faction also joining their conversation. There was a bit of laughter, bright expression, an almost warm atmosphere.

Gabriel wanted to tilt his head. What was this? The original plan was for both of them to reject the offered marriages and get on with the rest of the party. Eventually, Alice would send him a signal and he would propose as originally planned, making it nice and public so that no one else would think of proposing in the future.

So why was it like this? She didn’t reject the marriage, she didn’t even properly put it off for later. No she chained herself down with a pitifully short deadline, she had given the emperor every right to make her choose someone at the end of the investiture. Why was it like this?

"…Don’t wish to brag too much about things that aren’t my own achievement, but my ancestor had the great honour of training under Marquess Syvailtros in the past. She detailed her experiences in her journal, which we have kept safe over the years. As you too are someone versed in Karas magic, the soarè would be an opportune time to pour over the lessons of the past, you may perhaps yet learn something new about your magic."

Rutherford kept talking. He was starting to become annoying, chattering away about this ashen wine and other things about his family. The hand of the emperor dangling above him was painfully apparent, tugging his strings so that he danced like a proper puppet.

"…Well if… Learn more… To come…"

Gabriel could catch a few snippets of the conversation between Alice and the Third Prince, but most of it was broken up by the surrounding noise and their groups own laughter. But they were clearly getting on rather well, the Third Prince placing his hand on her shoulder while using his other arm to gesture at the nobles around them.

"Oh! Are you doing fine, Count Indra?"

The startled voice of Marquess Rutherford tugged at Gabriel’s attention. His eyes moved for a moment, following Rutherford’s gaze. There was no longer a glass of wine in Gabriel’s hand. The delicate thing had been shattered by a clench of his hand, the fragments caught within his palm.

None of the shards had pierced through his skin so he wasn’t bleeding, but the remaining wine had spilled onto both his pants and the carpet. Hmm, that wasn’t supposed to happen. While his brows furrowed for a moment, someone else took this chance to cut in.

"He is a knight, Marquess Rutherford, something as minute as a broken glass is naturally not enough to harm him."

The one who spoke was naturally approaching them as he did so, he had probably been lingering in the surroundings and just waited for a chance to make his move.

The man in question had a rather robust figure, his black suit rather tight, so he clearly engaged in his fair share of training. He had chiselled features and tanned skin adorned by a few scars, a pair of eyes dyed a cold blue greeting them both.

"That may be so, Marquess Giradin, but is that to say one should not ask for the well-being of others simply because you believe them to be strong? Is that not a sad life for all strong men?"

Sawyer Giradin, current ruler of one of the two Marquess houses in the Vritara Duchy. That was his official status at least, but he had another one that Gabriel was more familiar with. Or, at least he used to.

"Ah, Marquess Rutherford, always so quick to twist words to make others look bad. Count Indra, you must be terribly uncomfortable standing here sharing pleasantries with us older nobles. My son should be closer to your age, I’m sure he can bring you to a room where you can dry yourself in peace."

Sawyer neatly ignored Elias Rutherford, pushing forward his son while gesturing towards Gabriel’s pants. His son, Solomon Giradin, was indeed closer to Gabriel’s age, being in his twenties. He was clad in a neat blue suit, his black hair slicked back while his cold blue eyes greeted Gabriel wordlessly.

"Thank you for the offer, Marquess Giradin, I believe I shall take you up on it. Marquess Rutherford, please forgive me for stepping away, let us continue our conversation at another, slightly more opportune, time."

Gabriel naturally didn’t reject this chance, politely bidding the two farewell before Solomon guided him away from the main hall. As they walked, Gabriel’s eyes slid towards Alice again. The Fourth Prince had replaced the Third Prince, a new conversation starting up.

——

"Here, this restroom should be an excellent place to dry your pants. Do you perhaps need a spare pair to change into?"

Solomon brought Gabriel to one of the large restrooms that stood not too far from the hall, remaining outside the door in case Gabriel wanted his privacy. Gabriel looked at him, the two locking eyes in silence for a few moments. Solomon maintained his expression to begin with, but after a few moments he stepped forward and entered the restroom, closing the door behind him.

"Couldn’t you just have pretended not to notice, Boss?"

Solomon sighed, scratching the back of his head as he spoke. This was the first time Solomon Giradin and Gabriel Sakra Indra met, but they had actually met using different identities before. Solomon Giradin, the Black Fox of the Night Pack, direct subordinate of Gabriel.

Naturally, Solomon did not know Gabriel’s true identity in the past, nor had he shared his own identity with Gabriel. But when he saw that pair of violet eyes, how could he not understand the situation? And judging by the intent way Gabriel had been staring at him, it was clear that Gabriel too had figured it out.

But what was the point in acknowledging it like this, why not just ignore each other while using these identities? Well, if he knew his boss then it could only mean that he had something planned.

"We’re going to get busy soon."

Gabriel walked over to the sink as he spoke, removing his gloves before pooling some water in his palms to splash his face. The water was cold, his gaze examining his own reflection as the drops ran down his face. He saw red pour out from his eyes, pooling beneath him as it spread throughout the room. A beautiful crimson, a confident red, a breathtaking scarlet he could never forget.

"Are we kicking up a fuss again?"

The Night Pack was an underground information agency, if they were going to get busy then it meant that something big was going to happen in the empire. They luckily managed to avoid the fuss around The Eye of Rostam since someone else acquired it, but it seemed as if that would be short-lived.

"We aren’t, the imperial family and the Sorin family will."

Gabriel wasn’t planning on doing much. He would just light the match, the Earhart Family and the Sorin Family would be the ones that had to make all the noise. It’d be a great big noisy mess, enough to force the Imperial Family to forget about just about everything else.

"…Ah, that’s what it was for. Alright, I’ll be on standby."

Solomon seemed to understand something from Gabriel’s words. Well, it wasn’t really that hard to figure out. Taking into account what Gabriel had gathered as the boss of the Night Pack, and the two families he was targeting here, you’d have to be a fool to not understand it.

He scratched his head one last time before turning and leaving the restroom, putting on the airs of a proper noble before he even opened the doors. Once he was alone, Gabriel wiped his face and changed into a fresh pair of pants he had prepared, storing them in his shadow. He then poured a bit of mana into the stud earring fastened to his right ear.

"If you finish fast enough, come directly to the ceremony. If not, make a lot of noise before leaving."

He spoke the order, or rather a request since this earring wasn’t tied to one of his subordinates. No, this earring was connected to Teresa, who was absent from this investiture. The reason was quite simple, she was taking advantage of all the nobles gathering here to go take care of the second deal that Alice had struck with Arioch, dealing with the bandits that were harassing the fringes of his territory.

Those bandits were tied to the Sorin family, and the Vritara family for that matter, so using them as a starting point was rather appropriate. But naturally, something as minor as that wasn’t everything Gabriel had prepared for them. When he struck, he made sure that the blow sank deep.

———

"… Served with your brother before. Yes, I fear that I may not have lived to see today were it not for Francis back then. Funny how bonds can form like that."

Gabriel heard a bit of the conversation Alice was taking part in when he returned to the hall. The Fourth Prince had been replaced by the youngest son of Duke Sorin, Marais Gaun Sorin. Neatly combed orange hair and a pair of sharp yellow eyes, the Sorin family looked as if they were smoldering flames.

Gabriel looked at the two of them from the distance, chatting happily as he pondered his next move. Waiting until Teresa got here or made a mess of the bandits would be optimal, but his insides scratched when he looked at Alice. She was surrounded by nobles from the various factions, each one casting out their lures as they tried to drag her over. Naturally, the one from the Sorin family was the worst offender currently.

As he was pondering, Alice turned her head slightly. It wasn’t to look at him, she just turned her head to listen a bit better. Thanks to that, he saw it, the smile on her face.

It was… familiar. It was one the young Alice wore often when they first met. Back in the frozen northern lands, when he first got in contact with the myriad of souls inside him, that was where he had seen this smile most recently.

The visions they showed him, the possible futures as they called it. She had smiled like that in some of those visions despite being an adult at the time. When he convinced her to marry someone else to further her position, when he had her marry other nobles so that she could take over the duchy. In those visions, she wore a smile similar to that one.

His feet moved. He didn’t even really think about it. The smile that hung on her lips, he couldn’t bear to look at it. When she was a child, he had comforted her when she smiled like that. When he saw her like that in the visions, he wanted to comfort her.

The him in the visions hadn’t moved. The him in the visions wasn’t dyed by crimson. The him in the visions was still just a tool. But Gabriel, thanks to Alice, was no longer a tool.

The Second Tenet. If you have something you treasure, never let anyone else take it from you, no matter who they are.

The Third Tenet. If there is something you want, make sure you acquire it no matter what you have to do.

Such simple tenets, such simple ideals used to become a good person. Gabriel taught them to Alice and she lived by them. Thus, he would naturally do the same.

He didn’t want Alice to smile like that, so he would stop her from smiling like that. He wanted her to smile properly, the bright and brilliant crimson she had used to dye his world. So he would make her smile like that.

And… Gabriel treasured Alice, so he would not let anyone else take her from him.

The Imperial Family or the Sorin Family wanted to tie her to them? Fine, let’s see if any of you have even the slightest thought to spare on anything else after this investiture. Let’s see if you’ll even survive to see the next year.

"Now, it was a pleasure to meet you, La…"

Marais’ stretched out his hand to grab hold of Alice’s hand, it was only customary to place a kiss on a lady’s hand as you bid her farewell. But his words were cut off before he could finish them.

"…Excuse me?"

He tilted his head slightly as he looked up, finding a pair of violet eyes seemingly drilling into his soul. Gabriel had walked up behind Alice and pulled her back before Marais could even get close to her hand. She had already been quietly pulling back, but with Gabriel interfering, Marais never even got to get close.

Alice turned her head slightly, locking eyes with Gabriel.

He could feel her breath hit him because of how close they were. He held her wrist so he could feel her pulse. A steady beat, a violent rhythm that pounded in her veins. She was looking directly at him, a brilliant crimson sweeping across the surroundings until it became the only colour Gabriel could see.

But there was a twinkle there, a gleam of colour even in this red world. Violet. Within this world of his that Alice had dyed crimson, the eyes she used to look at him were violet, reflecting only his own colour.

Gabriel’s grip changed, moving from Alice’s wrist to her slender fingers. He could feel the gazes. Marais Gaun Sorin, the other nobles around them. He could feel them gather on them, one pair of eyes after another.

Screw it. Forget the signal, he couldn’t wait any longer.

He raised her hand and gave her a light kiss just beneath the knuckles, making him the first person in attendance that actually got to touch her hand, much less kiss it.

"Forgive me, Alice, but I can stand it no more. I am yours, so no one else can have me. But in turn, you will be mine, so I won’t let anyone else have you."