It occurred to Alice a second after she swung her arm that maybe this wasn’t the best idea. Hitting a noble without actual provocation and justification was a surefire way to get arrested and sentenced. No one in their right mind—especially not the nobles who controlled the judicial system—would be willing to take a commoner's side over a noble, especially when the commoner had attacked without a good reason.
Whatever her fate would have been if she landed the blow, she’d never figure out because the noble backed away with casual ease. Alice stumbled forward from the force of her attack and looked up. He’s staring down at her, contempt and scorn written all over his face. It was clear that he had a very low opinion of her from the beginning. And, of course, he just had to be one of the most handsomest men she ever met.
With broad shoulders and a sharp jawline, his face looked like it wouldn’t be out of place among statues. Piercing yellow eyes stood out against his pale skin and his cheek muscle twitched like he was laughing at an absolutely hilarious joke only he was privy to. His blond hair was perfectly slicked back, glinting the sunlight off. His outfit was the definition of ‘extravagant’, screaming someone who was filled with money.
“Good day, darling. It seems like I gave you a little fright. My deepest apologies about that.” He inclined his head, dipping his upper body into a half bow with his right arm crossed over his chest and his left folded behind his back. It should have been a sign of respect, that he viewed them as equals. The devious shine in his eyes covered by the shadow of his brows said otherwise: this was merely a facade, a show to throw Alice off guard. It infuriated her beyond belief and she’d love nothing more than to slam her fist into his smug face and see how he’d like it.
Several things kept her in check, most prominently the fact that Lily was by her side and she’d rather suffer humiliation than let the poor elf get hurt again. It didn’t escape her notice the goons before approaching her on either side. They probably wouldn’t intervene unless the noble requested it, but she was still effectively outnumbered. Not to mention, she didn’t know where the strange boy’s allegiance lay. At the moment, she was leaning more towards the noble side. He wasn’t running away and more surprisingly, he seemed to be carrying some familiarity with the noble. Did they have past business together?
“What do you want?” Alice asked. Behind her, she heard the boy inhale sharply at the disrespectful tone but she could care less. The noble appeared positively delighted at the disdain evident in her voice.
“I can’t help but notice the cute, little girl you have over there. May I take a closer look?” he asked. Upon hearing his oily words, Lily clenched Alice’s sleeve and ducked behind her. She gnashed her teeth; if even Lily, who hesitated to move without being promoted first, was this perturbed by him, he was nothing but bad news.
“No.” Alice cut any further negotiations off before he could get any idea.
If she thought that the boy was shocked before, it was nothing compared to the choking fit he underwent. She barely paid him any attention though, deciding to focus wholly on the noble. On the surface, he looked as composed as ever but the tension definitely ratcheted up several notches. His smile changed into a leer, stretched gruesomely over his face.
This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.
“Fine,” he said stiffly. Alice tilted her head, surprised by the turn of events. She thought he’d push until he got what he came here for. She didn’t put it beside him to break their agreement and try to snatch Lily when she lowered her guard, so she resolved to keep a steady eye on him. Nevertheless, it looked like the immediate danger was over as he strode to the boy.
The boy instantly froze up, his joints stilling and his appendages smacking to his torso as the noble drew near. There was no sign of a smile, fake or otherwise, on the noble’s face as he said, “I have another dive for you. I have a lot of money invested in this one, so do your best. I expect you don’t need another remainder of what’ll happen if you disobey?”
The boy blanched and robotically moved his head up and down. Alice eyed him cautiously. It was clear from this exchange there was even more of a connection between the two then she’d thought at first. If she expected for them to interact more, she was sadly disappointed because the noble turned on his heels. As he passed her, he inclined his head once more and shot a greedy sneer at Lily.
The elf yelped and hid her head behind Alice. The noble rolled his eyes and walked away. Within seconds, he’d been submerged into the sea of people and a further check confirmed that his goons had vanished as well.
The sound of metal clanging against the ground caught her attention and she turned to find the boy sprawled on the ground, sweating profusely. “I can’t believe you talked to him like that! He’s going to come after you and make you regret that!”
Alice raised an eyebrow. “I can take care of myself.”
He shook his head. “What about the people you care about?!”
Alice snorted. Going all the way to the capital to attack Charlotte, who was now a member of the most prestigious academy in the world, was probably not in the cards for a noble like him who was mingling in a village like this. She doubted he’d go to the extent of discovering her own village, and she’d pay good money to see him try to capture Blanche. The only weak link was Lily, and Alice was here to ensure she didn’t hinder them.
The boy got even more frustrated at her callous nature. “You don’t get it! He goes after your family! He takes away what you want, dangles it in front of you, and laughs at your struggles!”
“Is that what happened to you?” Alice prodded.
He fell silent for a bit and Alice wondered if she’d stepped over the line. She was about to apologize when he opened his mouth. “I….needed money. My younger brother was sick and all the medicine was way out of our league….stealing it would lead to my entire family getting flogged. So I became a diver. That man is my dealer. He makes bets on me with other nobles to see how far my group can make it into the dungeon before we die. If we exceed his expectations, we get a portion of the money he earns. If we don’t…well, that means we died in the dungeon.”
Alice was frozen as she inputted this data. So the nobles here treated commoners as nothing more than entertainment to bet on like animals? She wished she could say she was surprised but that’ll be a lie. Still, to hear of this lack of humanity so blatantly…it made her blood boil.
She knew she might seriously regret doing this. If there was one thing she learned from her endeavors in the village, it was that she should stick her nose out of other people’s businesses. But how was she supposed to go around changing the world if she didn’t start off small? Besides, as far as she was concerned, this situation was connected to her and Lily as well. Who knows what the noble might do with the extra money? As a benefit, she might even be able to deal some damage to that fancy outfit of his.
“You mind some help?”