Aile wanted to ask who the maid was, as she was able to accompany them into such a meeting. But this was not the time, so he kept the question on the back of his head. They entered the room to see an old man with two middle-aged men sitting there calmly.

This surprised Aile, their attitude and smiling faces did not shout nobles here to demand their heir back. After all, he humiliated their heir. Not to mention in such situations, the families turn a blind eye on their fault and act for compensation. But it was more along the lines of friendly merchants negotiating the price of a unique object. This was a clear sign of their experience. They were not even bothered by the wait. Aile was a bit disappointed he was here to act overbearing. His goal was to gain a lot from them as he had lost a significant source of income in Port Kiar. However, it seemed that this noble family was smarter. Now the plan had changed, it does not seem like it will be possible to make a quick buck using the previous method. Since that was the case, there was no reason to make the relationship worst. But Aile would not act meekly either, they were at the wrong, and Aile would make sure to claim compensation. Aile gestured to Emily and Fiona sneakily, telling them that they would not act overbearing alongside him.

Aile was first to walk to the sofa that was placed in the opposite of the group. He animately sat in the corner without greeting them. Next to him sat the maid, and she had been taken back by his behaviour. If she had not, she would have known that that was not her place. Fiona and Emily sat next to her.

Aile started the discussion with a question, "Who are you? And what do you want?"

Aile was going to play an emotional young master. While Fiona and Emily would maintain their previous graceful behaviour, soothing the situation.

Fiona replied respectfully and introduced them to Aile, and her tone was not courteous, but it was not rude either.

"So these are the kidnaper and rapist's elders."

Seeing their mouths twitch, Aile smirked internally.

"Who might this be?" One of the middle-aged men asked. He was trying to find Aile's standing in the Merchant Union so that he can treat him appropriately after he was aware of his position.

"He... is..." Fiona was going to introduce him but was unaware if Aile wanted to reveal his identity as Shadow. So she could only slowly speak so that he could take over from her. If they sat next to each other or Emily, they would be able to contact with the technique that required touch to send messages to each other. However, that was not possible now.

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"There is no need to tell them who I am?"

Fiona nodded but then acted to plead with him that the noble family is influential and always provides appropriate responses and compensations. So there was no reason for him to sentence the heir to harsh punishment that he had thought out before.

Aile asked, "Let me think about it?... What kind of compensation?"

From Fiona's tone to him, they knew that he was someone influential. So they no longer needed to know his exact identity. Although they were unhappy with such a result, they could not do anything. They had influence in the city, but in this situation, nor the town's magistrate or their allies would help them. After all, the public knew the truth, and no one wanted to be on the side of the aggressors and lose the public's support for another clan's problem.

"Hmmm, I want Tantai's rock, so that the princesses are not emotionally scarred by the rapist's attempts."

Tantai's rock was a storey circulated around the world about a young man who faces many hardships and losses. His saving grace comes in the form of a rock that allows him to travel back in time and solves the problem so that he could have a happy life. Aile wanted them to gave him such a rock. Everyone knew that it was just an item from a fairy tale.

The nobles mouth twitch and they were thinking if they had such a mythical item, why would they not go to the past and fix this themselves.

His request shocked everyone. While it was amusing to Fiona and Emily, they did not want to interrupt whatever plan he had. So they tried to reason with him and find his next move so that they could be of help. To make things simple, he placed his hand on the maid's back, to transmit his ideas to her. The guessing game of Emily and Fiona finding out what he wants would be too time-consuming.

He avoided placing his hand too low to not make it seem like he was trying to take advantage of her. He also avoided putting it too high, as it would be visible to the others. Her somewhat unknown background was another deterrence, and his action could be perceived as intimate. So his hand was placed on her upper back.

Aile then had both sides of the conversation with himself.

"If the punishment is too light, just anyone could attack our people and think it is ok."

The nobles thought who would want to be beaten then dragged in front of the town like a dog. But did not say anything, after all, Aile did not harm their heir physically. No matter how unreasonable he was, it did not seem like he wanted this conflict to turn irreversible.

"Young man, we know it was our fault, but you should also know that he was manipulated by someone else to act like that. Their goal is probably to create a rift between us. You should take that into consideration."

Humph, "It would be ok to let him go then? So that the next person who is also influenced by them will attack not worrying about consequences?"