“Are you sure you want to do this?”

Belle turned at the sound of Alev’s voice. She was currently standing guard at one of the back entrances into the building. It wasn’t popular to anyone, but guard duty was never to be taken for granted.

There was also the fact that if for some reason something went wrong, dereliction of duty by leaving her post could get her in trouble.

However, there were some things that had to be done. Honor could not be allowed to be left behind just because of duty. After all, of what purpose was duty without honor?

“Some things have to be done, Alev,” she said, imbuing her words with as much determination as she could muster without moving her voice from cold and determined to loud and ambitious. “This is one of them.”

Alev gave her a look that she knew. It was the look he often gave her when he came to the realization that there would be no talking her out of whatever it was that she wanted to do.

They’d both been friends since joining the Naranoff family as soldiers and had worked their way up to the position of squire. It was her dream to hold the title of [Knight]. In that dream, she was closer to achieving it than Alev was. Sometimes the man made it seem like she was closer than he would ever be.

“Honor,” Alev muttered. “I’m just trying to keep my job.”

“And you have my word that this will not affect you,” she assured him. “Just a gentle switch in rotation.”

Despite her assurances, worry still colored Alev’s face. “And how will they explain the axe?”

She gave him her trademark smile. “I’m a resourceful squire capable of sneaking things in and out of wherever I want.”

With that said, she turned and left him at the door, relieved of her position. Now she would take his position inside the building, right at the banquet.

Before she went far, Alev turned and grabbed her hand. She looked up at him, met his eyes. He was taller than her by a few inches.

“Think this over,” he implored.

Belle shook her head. “There’s really nothing to think. This has to be done.”

“He won the last time,” Alev pointed out, his worry growing. “What if he wins this time?”

“He won’t.”

“How can you be so sure?”

“Because last time he took the cowards way,” she said, knowing it to be true. “You do not ask a group of soldiers to fight without their skills. It gives them a handicap, an unfair one.”

Alev shook his head. “That doesn’t make sense.”

“Not if you don’t think about it. So think about it.” She tapped a finger against her temple. “Why didn’t he face me?”

“Because you refused to fight without a skill,” Alev answered.

“And he was adamant about it, insistent.” Belle met his eyes, hoped he saw the truth in hers. “You only stand so strongly on such a handicap if it brings you down to the same level with your opponents. Better if it gives you an edge.”

“He was a better fighter with the weapon,” Alev pointed out. “We’ve seen him train with the knight ever since. He’s good, Belle.”

Belle snorted in derision. “He’s passable.”

“He beat Narteng.”

“Narteng couldn’t boil a pot of water if you asked him to do it without a skill. That fool uses [Dash] for every step he takes. Always told him it would get him in trouble one day.”

“Didn’t think it was going to be against some scrub,” Alev muttered solemnly.

Belle smacked him on the arm and he released her, shooting her a confused look.

“What was that for?” he frowned.

“Even now you underestimate him,” she told him, disappointed. “He trains with a knight, Alev. He might not be strong, but he trains with a knight. That’s why they lost. They underestimated him along with the handicap.”

Alev looked down and away, chastised. “But why do you have to do this?”

“Sir Derendoff wanted him dead.” She looked him in the eye. “We all know that Derendoff does not do anything without reason.”

Alev looked away. Like every other person under Derendoff’s command, they had slowly begun to doubt Derendoff’s dedication after his imprisonment. They were weak. She knew this as surely as she knew that she was doing the right thing.

Belle let out a tired sigh. “I know Derendoff’s not perfect, Alev. I’ve seen it. Sometimes he gets out of hand. But you heard the rumors. You heard the message he passed. The boy is a threat to the kingdom. Derendoff didn’t want him punished, he wants him dead.”

“Why?” Alev asked sharply. “Why does he need a boy dead?”

It was Belle’s turn to look away. She was twenty-six, to her the young lord was truly nothing but a boy. She didn’t know why he had to die, and she didn’t like having to be the one to kill him.

But some things were necessary.

“I don’t know,” she said in the end. “I don’t know. But I believe it has to be done, Alev. Derendoff would not go through all that stress to get that information to us if it wasn’t important.”

Alev wasn’t convinced. She could see it in his eyes. But he didn’t have to be. What mattered was that she got back into the building.

“The only way to do this honorably is with a duel,” she told him. “It will prove us to be in the right.”

Alev’s eyes widened in understanding. “You’re going to challenge him to the death.”

“I am.”

“That is madness.”

“It is the only way,” Belle insisted. “You know this.”

“And what if he refuses?” Alev frowned. “Or worse, what if he doesn’t? You’ve heard the rumors about him and the poachers, Belle.”

“They were just poachers, and he had adventurers with him.” Belle knew it was a stretch, but she used it as an excuse to appease Alev. She didn’t want him to worry. “He’s strong, but I have no plans of underestimating him.”

“What if he refuses?”

“In the company of all those people?” Belle scoffed. “He will not. I am yet to meet a man with so little pride.”

“What if he offers the same request as last time?”

“No skills?” Belle asked and Alev nodded. “Then I’ll plead my case, render it in front of the audience. This duel is happening, Alev. And you can’t stop it. Come morning, Aiden Lacheart will be a name of the past. And the best I can afford him is an honorable end.”

…

Aiden jerked at the sudden sound in his ear and Valdan gave him a skeptical look.

“Are you good?” Valdan asked, eyes moving between him and the [Mage], Estabel. “She’s pretty for her age, but I don’t think she’s that pretty.”

Aiden shook his head. “Not her looks.”

He’d almost bitten out the words in annoyance.

“Then what?” Valdan asked.

“Magic,” Aiden answered. It was one word, but he had a feeling that his tone carried how he felt about it.

“Did she detect something?” Valdan asked, tone growing cold, serious. “Does she know what you are?”

From Aiden’s experience and what he knew, there was no way of knowing for certain that he and the others had been summoned from another world, not even with magic. At least there was no way to know for certain.

“No. I doubt it.” In an attempt to ease out some of Valdan’s sudden seriousness, he put a finger in his ear and shook it a little to make it obvious that it was the sound that annoyed him. “I heard her voice in my ear.”

Valdan cocked a brow. “Through all this? Must’ve been a spell if I didn’t hear it. Sounds like a useless use of a spell?”

“No idea,” Valdan answered.

It was, however, a very useless use of a spell. But he wasn’t supposed to know enough about spells. And the fact that the orb of the staff had glowed slightly, it was safe to say she had channeled the spell through the staff.

It made her seem arrogant. Then again, she could just be testing him in some way. Even now, she kept her eyes focused on him.

A small smile touched her lips. Certain that he also saw the smile, she turned her attention to the man who’d walked up to welcome her and shook his hand.

Aiden had had a few run ins with the [Mage] classes in the past. He’d had a few run ins with the Mage Radiants, too. Even killed some. One thing he could say for certain was that a fight with a [Mage] from the Mage Radiants was an annoying one, victory or defeat aside.

“Good day, Lord Lacheart.”

Aiden straightened slightly at the sound of the voice, remembering that Valdan had pointed out the young Vilion earlier on.

He also remembered his suggestion of giving the boy the same treatment that he and his father had given Nella. So he gestured Valdan to silence with a discreet move of his hand and rose to meet the boy.

“Lord… Vilion?” he said with a touch of feigned forgetfulness, even though he knew the boy’s name.

Jen, the young lord, chuckled lightly. “Lord Vilion is my father,” he said. “Please call me Jen.”

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He held his hand out for a handshake and Aiden paused before he took it. The young lord was probably twenty-two, certainly in his early twenties, and he held his hand out like a lady who wished for you to shake it then plant a kiss on the back of it.

Aiden did his best not to narrow his eyes at the man, remembering what the gesture meant. A young lady from the Contrell family had made the same gesture to Jang Su at the party held to host the envoys of Nel Quan.

Aiden dropped his hand without taking Jen’s.

“Apologies if I do not wish to conclude this handshake,” he said simply, keeping insinuations from his tone.

Jen’s face rumpled in confusion. When he looked down at his hand, however, his eyes widened in understanding.

“My deepest apologies, Lord Lacheart,” he said quickly before dropping the hand. He gave Aiden a silent pause, enough time for Aiden to correct him and offer his name. Aiden did not, so he continued, raising his other hand for a proper handshake. “I must apologize for the awkward position I had almost put us in. “I had an injury a few years back that rendered my hand a little worse for wear. Please accept my apology.”

Aiden eyed the boy but couldn’t come to a conclusion on if he was lying or saying the truth. Regardless, he shook the outstretched hand.

“All is fine, Lord Vilion.” He gave the man’s hand a firm shake before releasing it. “So, how are you finding the party?”

He turned to look in the general direction of the Mage Radiant., glass of wine still in hand.

“I’ve never been a fan of these events, so I can’t really say.” Jen turned to look at the slow gathering that was beginning to grow around the Mage Radiant. “She is pretty, though.”

Perhaps.

To Aiden she was just young. She was also a [Mage] with a mage-staff. A difficult opponent in a fight.

He watched Estabel, with her hair of the brightest pink, make a few gestures, exchanging words with some members of her entourage. As she did, the lords that had gathered to her slowly dropped into different looks of confusion.

From this far out, Aiden couldn’t make out what had happened, and she was turned away from him so he could not read her lips.

“That can be quite displeasing,” Jen said. “I’ve run into those from her organization a handful of times while traveling with my father, and they have a habit of making Lords feel lesser than they are. It is why my father does not waste his time going to them in an occasion.”

True to Jen’s words, Estabel was already turning away from the lords, her cloak swishes around in a flurry as she did. One of the Lords stepped to her when she turned only to have his path blocked by another [Mage]. This one was a man with hair tied back in a perfect bun. He engaged the Lord quickly and respectfully, cutting of his path to Estabel.

Estabel was suddenly moving through the crowd with a single man at her side. The man kept a pace behind him, two steps behind and to the side. It placed his station as the servant in the entourage.

“Uh…” Jen stuttered. “Is she heading towards us?”

She was making a straight path towards them, staff clacking away at the ground as she walked. Aiden could hear the sound even through the rondo of conversations that filled the air like ten thousand fireflies.

“She’s not coming to us,” he said, voice flat. “She’s merely trying to get a better vantage point so she can take to the skies and fly.”

Jen turned to give him a flat look. “Lord Lacheart, sarcasm is not a skill befitting of a noble.”

“Then you haven’t been around interesting nobles,” Aiden returned not taking his eyes off the approaching Magus of the Mage Radiant. “You should probably observe Lady Naranoff more, you’ll learn a fun thing or two from her.”

Jen frowned. “Did my father’s treatment of her offend you? Do you intend to ridicule me for it?”

Aiden gave it a thought and realized that the boy wasn’t truly at fault. He didn’t deserve to be punished simply because he had played a part in his father’s game. At his age and position amongst his siblings, he was in no position to oppose his father over something as petty as a slight against the child of his father’s equal.

“Perhaps that was heavy handed of me,” Aiden replied. “But no, I do not wish to ridicule you. You are not your father.”

“And I am—”

Estabel got to them before Jen could finish his statement, interrupting him with a greeting directed at Aiden.

“Lord Lacheart,” she said amiably. “It has been a long while.”

She did not make a move to shake his hand or make physical contact in anyway. She simply came to a stop an arm’s length away from him and gave him a smile. Her teeth were a bright white, unnaturally so.

“Lady Estabel,” Aiden returned, his attention flickering to her servant only momentarily.

Unlike Aiden, Jen nodded in acknowledgement of Estabel’s presence. “Lady Estabel.”

She spared him only a cursory glance before returning her attention to Aiden. “Oh, Lord Lacheart, don’t be so formal. May I call you Aiden?”

“It would be against all forms of decorum, Lady Estabel,” Aiden said with a pleasing smile.

That took Estabel by surprise, a surprise that showed on her face. She schooled it quickly. Once she regained her composure, she turned and gave Valdan who had remained seated a proper bow.

“Knight Dirtwater,” she greeted.

Valdan raised his empty wine glass to her. “Lady Estabel.”

“It is good to see you again.”

Valdan nodded. “Likewise.”

While they exchanged that quick greeting. Estabel’s servant gave Aiden and Jen a respectful bow each. It was a bow that bent at the waist.

“When we last met, Lord Lacheart, you were in a bit of a bind,” Estabel said, turning to Aiden, pointedly uncaring of Jen’s presence. “It’s good to see that you survived your condition and are out and about.”

Movement caught Aiden’s eye in the corner. He catalogued it momentarily. Someone had entered the room with a demeanor that made it seem as if the person’s intention had been to slink into the room unnoticed. He had a knack for noticing those who wished not to be noticed.

It was one of two reasons he’d noticed the person. The second reason was because he knew the person.

“Lord Lacheart,” Estabel said, attempting to regain his attention. “If you don’t mind, could I hazard a moment of your time?”

Jen looked between them, hiding his confusion and irritation at being ignored behind a polite smile. He had been so abruptly relegated to the position of a spectator, kindly informed to take his leave in the most politically correct way a Magus of the Mage Radiant could pass the information.

But he did not leave. He merely stood there, likely interested in whatever conversation that had a Magus asking for Aiden’s time.

Aiden was beginning to garner the limelight everywhere he went. It was a worrying feeling when he still felt weak. Too many eyes on him was always the same as too many threats being aware of him.

“Lord Lacheart?”

Aiden forced himself to return his attention to Estabel. The person he had seen moving about had also been on the training ground the day he’d taken all the challenges. He had refused hers, though.

She can’t be, he thought. Right?

“What would you like to know?” he asked Estabel, his mind still fleeting around.

He was arguably certain that the lady was going to try something. She had been, after all, quite adamant on fighting him with her skills. But she wouldn’t be stupid enough to challenge him at a gathering such as this, right?

He was a guest of her Lord, one that had come in at the side of the princess. It was one thing to challenge him on the training grounds, away from prying eyes. It was another to challenge him in public, in front of the Mage Radiants and other nobles.

It would be a slander on the name of her Lord. Naranoff would not be able to live it down. She would be punished as well. Severely.

“It is said that you were the one that solved the mystery of the cave in this region,” Estabel said. “And from what I learned, you came down so high a level of enchantment poisoning that, dare I say, there is no recorded history of anyone coming down that badly from enchantments instead of potion toxification.”

“You were there when I was unconscious?”

“I was.” Estabel’s staff remained firmly in one hand. “In fact, I even offered my services to aid you. I am a [Mage] after all, I possess a vast array of healing spells at my disposal. However, Sir Valdan over here was quite adamant on me staying away.”

Aiden’s brows furrowed. “On you staying away?”

“Well,” she made a vague gesture with her hand, “he was actually quite adamant on everyone staying away. But I’m a [Mage]. I had a spell or two up that let me know your underlying condition.”

“Questions,” Aiden said casually, eyes narrowing as the lady he’d been keeping track off had disappeared from his periphery. “You have a question, Lady Estabel. I would be glad to give an answer to it if you ask it.”

Maybe if I can sneak away, Aiden thought.

The last thing he wanted was to get into any form of official altercation at a party such as this. His spar with Jang Su and Haruto had been just that, a spar, a friendly display of abilities.

This would not be the same. It would also be uncalled for and draw the wrong kind of attention to him.

Why does there always have to be a fool when things like this are involved?

If she challenged him to the death in public, then they would have to fight to the death. He could always turn her down, but people like her would make a scene. With all the people present, refusing would not be impossible but it would be an issue.

“I am merely asking what exactly happened in the cave, Lord Lacheart,” Estabel said.

“A lot of things happened, Magus Estabel.” Aiden’s eye darted to the nearest exit but it was too far. His eyes were pulling back when he paused. He’d caught movement there too, just beyond the ajar door.

A frown touched his face. Was that Vanisi?

Why the hell was she outside, and why had she moved just before he’d seen her?

“Anyone with two functioning eyes can tell that a lot happened, Lord Lacheart,” Estabel said, and Aiden thought he’d heard a note of irritation in her voice. “I am simply asking for the specifics. What kinds of enchantments did you run into to lead you into such a dire state of enchantment toxicity? By their very nature, enchantments are subject to items. The human body does not experience the magic going through them but the side effects of being around them. The levels of toxicity you went through imply high levels of exposure to enchantments going through you.”

“I’m listening,” Aiden said.

Estabel’s lips pressed into a firm thin line. “Which implies that a lot of enchantments were applied upon you.”

“And?”

This time it was very obvious that the woman was gritting her teeth. “Which means that either you and the princess had a very unhealthy fight, or you were separated at some point and you ran into enchantments of varying kinds or very powerful kinds. In normal situations, one can only expect such levels of toxicity from enchantments if the victim had been experimented on or has died from whatever enchantments were inflicted upon them.

“Furthermore, investigations into the cave following your time out of it revealed too many chunks of dead stones and not enough information. There were stories of strange monsters not native to Bandiv that turned into these dead stones when they were slain. And a pocket area with strong ties to—” her voice dropped to a whisper “—a strange kind of mana.”

“What do you mean a strange kind of mana?”

Estabel’s eyes narrowed on him, and she frowned. “Don’t play games with me, Lord Lacheart. I have afforded you the decorum and understanding required for someone such as yourself after going through whatever you went through. But any smooth brained child can see that you are clearly not paying me any attention.” Her hand tightened around her staff. Aiden’s eyes went to the orb, but it wasn’t glowing. “If you do not wish to speak of your experiences within the cave, simply say so. It is a better option than debasing me to such levels of disrespect.”

“I do not wish to speak of my experiences.”

Aiden turned his head so that he could look for the lady he’d seen more appropriately, widening the scope of his vision.

Where the hell is she? Is she just out on her duty and I’m just being paranoid?

It was always a possibility.

A tug on the hem of his jacket pulled his attention to the side and Aiden found Valdan giving him a worried look.

“You look flustered,” Valdan said.

“One of the trainees is here,” Aiden said simply, ignoring the fuming Magus in front of him.

Valdan’s look turned worried even though Aiden was certain he didn’t know what exactly he was talking about. “What trainee?”

“The one who would not face me without a skill.”

“The one you turned down?”

Aiden nodded. The moment Valdan’s worry deepened, he knew the man understood his worry and his mind had gone in the same direction Aiden’s had.

Valdan was already on his feet. “How was she dressed?”

Aiden knew why the knight was asking. Her attire could infer her purpose. “As if she’s on duty. Clad in the family’s colors and her soldier’s armor. Just like the rest that are present.”

There was a soldier at every door, and not just the simple soldiers, the trainees who worked their way on the path of being squires. The lady had been dressed just like them.

“Is there a problem, Lord Lacheart?” Estabel asked. “Something I can assist you with, perhaps? I would be remiss to—”

“ANNOUNCING!” the announcer’s voice cut through the din of the conversations. “From the Saint Aelti parish, High priest Binti and his entourage, comprising of four priests, two deacons, and one seminarian.”

Eyes turned at the announcement. But while everyone blessed themselves with the holy sign, another highlight of their day coming in the form of someone bearing the title of [High Priest], Aiden’s highlight came in another form.

A massive axe slammed into the table behind him and Valdan. It embedded itself firmly in the wood with a loud enough thud to draw not just Aiden and Valdan’s attention, but that of Jen, Estabel and a few other eyes.

The lady he’d seen stood on the other side of the table, a firm hand on the haft of the double headed axe. Determination flared in her eyes with righteous fury.

Valdan leaned towards her, placed a hand on the blade of the second head of the axe.

“You do not want to do this, child,” he told her in a calm voice. “Not here. Not now. Wait until this is over.”

She afforded him a respectful look, but her eyes said that she was not dissuaded. “I have waited too long, Sir Knight.”

A small smile touched Jen’s lip just as a simple figure walked in behind the entourage of priests. Aiden saw the figure out of the corner of his eye. It was only a brief note, but he’d lived long enough and seen enough to not mistake the blonde, white hair and the bright skin that marked a man with the power of divinity.

The [Saint] was here. Unannounced by the announcer.

And as enamored as people were by the man’s arrival, their enamor did not last.

“I,” the lady with the axe’s voice boomed over the entire room, “BELLE OF SINORA, BEFORE ALL NOTABLE FIGURES PRESENT AND THE GODS, CHALLENGE YOUNG LORD, AIDEN LACHEART, TO A DUEL OF HONOR! A DUEL TO THE DEATH!”

A sharp scowl passed Aiden’s lips as all eyes settled on their table, pulled away from the [Saint].

She had done it. She had invoked the gods as well, dragging the priests into this in the presence of a [Saint]. A fucking [Saint].

Aiden’s jaw tightened.

You dumb child.