Chapter 404: A Lovely Chat

Juliana was late.

To pass the time, Michael and I were talking about dumb things. Which, to be fair, was our natural habitat.

Still, it was a good sign.

Before this, he seemed incapable of talking about anything other than (a) Lily, and (b) the meaninglessness of existence.

Now, he was at least trying to divert his mind.

"Hypothetical question. If you had to fight a goose the size of a horse without any weapons, Cards, or even your Essence, would you win?"

Even if he was using senseless hypotheticals to do so.

I didn’t look up from my phone, continuing to scroll through my social media feed. I was looking at memes to catch up on the world news. "Why would I fight a goose the size of a horse anyway?"

"It’s not about why. It’s about survival."

"That sounds like something a goose would say to lower my guard."

He nodded slowly as if that made perfect sense. "So you admit the goose would win."

I looked up and scrunched my nose. "I admit nothing. In fact, I simply refuse to participate in poultry-based war crimes."

"You’re no help," Michael sighed deeply. Then, he returned to his new default setting, which was soulfully staring into the distance. "Do you believe a person could truly be happy in life?"

I groaned, fisting my hands in the air like I was strangling someone invisible. "Oh, for the love of— Michael, shut the fuck up!"

"Don’t shout at me," he said, his shoulders slumping. "It reminds me of her..."

I looked at the dozen knights and guards standing around us. "Someone kill me!"

The nearest knight immediately pretended he hadn’t heard me. It was honestly impressive. That kind of disciplined ignorance should be studied.

Before I could go back to cursing Michael, or before he could tell me how even my verbal abuse reminded him of Lily, something else pulled our attention.

From the corner of my eye, I noticed a tall figure exiting the east wing of the estate and entering the courtyard, likely crossing through to reach the west wing on the other side.

He was being shadowed by a small entourage of men and women clad in heavy bronze armor. They marched with the sort of heavy-booted rhythm that suggested they were more comfortable on a battlefield than a manicured lawn.

Behind them, I could see six of my clan’s Elders following with varying degrees of formal expressions plastered on their faces.

The Elders were mumbling among themselves, occasionally chipping in a few words to the man at the front, only for him to either nod back or shake his head.

I narrowed my eyes. Those weren’t my father’s men. And they certainly weren’t the Elders’ personal guards.

The man leading them was a head taller than the rest, draped in a cloak the color of dried blood. He had dark orange hair, wavy and neck-length, and gem-like eyes that shone with the same hue.

"So that’s the

’important guest,’

" I muttered.

Michael, temporarily distracted from his philosophical spiral about geese and existential regrets, also narrowed his eyes. "Hey, that guy looks like..."

"A Zynx," I whispered back, completing his sentence for him. "He’s a Zynx."

As they crossed the courtyard, the leader’s gaze shifted and fell on me. It wasn’t a casual glance as much as it was a scan.

He was gauging me.

I held his gaze with a sideways glance. Up close, I could see he was quite young despite his height. My guess was he wasn’t much older than me, maybe by a few years at most.

The corner of his mouth quirked up in a way that wasn’t exactly friendly, but he didn’t stop walking until he had passed me by a few meters. Only then did he come to a slow halt.

Then, he turned around.

Everyone in his entourage stopped, and the Elders followed suit. In the sudden silence, the orange-haired man tilted his head at me, his eyes traveling from my face down to the polished loafers at my feet.

"Samael Theosbane," he said. His voice was irritatingly smooth and effortlessly charming. "I thought that was you. You’ve been the talk of the circle as of late. Congratulations on making it back safely."

He extended his hand, as if offering a handshake, but made no effort to neither bridge the gap between us nor introduce himself.

It was a petty power move.

He wanted

me

to come to

him

.

Naturally, I stayed rooted exactly where I was.

"And you are?" I asked, raising an eyebrow.

Honestly, I knew exactly who he was, but admitting you recognize someone important out loud is a tactical defeat in the social warfare of the Great Houses.

...Hey, I don’t like petty politics and power plays either, but he started it! And my ego was simply too big to let it go.

The orange-haired man didn’t seem offended.

If anything, the quirk of his mouth deepened. "Valerius Zynx. I actually came here to retrieve my sister. You know her. But your family informs me they have already let her go. A shame, really. I was hoping to take her back home and thank you personally for looking after her in the

Wilds

."

I was about to say something to cut the pleasantries short, but he beat me to it.

"It must’ve been tough to look after her. I’m sorry if she was a liability to your group," he let out a short, melodic laugh that made me want to feed him his own teeth. "It’s so embarrassing, really. We try to keep her confined for her own safety, and our reputation, but she’s remarkably persistent for someone who can’t even see the world she’s trying to run into. I hope her presence wasn’t a nuisance."

The Elders shifted uncomfortably. One of them, Elder Hakan, cleared his throat. It was a sound that clearly told me I should hold my tongue.

I didn’t.

Instead, I put on my most amicable smile.

"On the contrary," I said, huffing a laugh that was far too similar to his own, "Alexia was the only thing standing between the rest of the group and a very messy, very permanent end. She carried us hard in so many instances."

I made a show of my eyes wandering over his expensive cloak with a look of mild pity, then brought it back to his plain-featured face, making sure my expression remained as unimpressed as possible.

"If her presence was a

’nuisance,’

it was only because her competence made even me look bad," I shrugged. "But I suppose I shouldn’t expect a Zynx to recognize true talent when it’s staring them in the face. Or, well, not

staring

, in her case. Still... a blind little sister who dominated a Death Zone versus a big brother who likes to play dress-up? I can’t say who’s the real embarrassment."

"Samael!" Elder Hakan’s voice shot up like thunder. The old man was glaring daggers at me. "Lord Valerius is our family’s guest. Do not be uncouth."

"I’m being perfectly couth," I replied, finally pocketing my phone to look him straight at his wrinkly face. "Besides, he’s

your

guest. I am still not

technically

a part of this family, remember?"

Elder Hakan visibly lost his composure as I spat his own words back at him. His face turned a mottled red and nerves popped up along his forehead. "Listen here, you—"

But he didn’t get to finish. Lord Valerius interrupted the old man with a casual wave of his hand, laughing again as he did so.

"It’s fine, Elder Hakan, it’s fine," the Zynx heir said, turning his attention back to me. "I’m glad my helpless sister found someone who appreciates her... quirks..."

His voice suddenly trailed off as his gaze drifted to something at my side. Whatever he saw there froze his smile and darkened his face.

I knew what it was. I had been feeling a murderously cold aura radiating from the person standing next to me.

Michael.

Michael’s upper face was drowned in shadows, his dark eyes curtained by those messy black curls, but the sliver of a stare that did cut through was sharp enough to feel physical — like a knife against skin, ready to draw blood.

The air around us turned so cold it seemed as if someone had replaced the oxygen with liquid nitrogen.

I actually felt a shiver travel down my spine, and I like to think I’m a pretty brave guy.

But the killing intent being released by Michael right now was so thick it was practically tactile, a suffocating pressure focused entirely on Valerius’s throat.

Valerius’s confident smile faltered, then vanished.

He didn’t look scared. Zynxs never do. But he did look profoundly annoyed, the way a nobleman might be if a stray dog suddenly bared its teeth at his polished boots.

I saw his hand twitch toward the hilt of the blade hidden beneath his blood-red cloak. For a couple of heartbeats, the courtyard felt like a powder keg waiting for a spark.

Though I knew he wouldn’t dare.

...And he didn’t.

Of course he didn’t dare to draw a blade in the lion’s den. Michael might be a commoner, but he was still standing next to me.

Valerius finally broke the silence with a quiet

tsk

. He adjusted his cloak, his gem-like eyes returning to mine, though the warmth from earlier was long gone.

He realized he wasn’t going to get the submissive hand-shaking moment he wanted.

"You certainly keep... interesting company, Lord Samael. Well, meeting you was enlightening," Valerius said, his charming voice regaining its smooth, oily texture.

He turned on his heel, his bronze-clad entourage immediately falling into step behind him. "I’ll be seeing you around. Do try to keep your pets on a shorter leash until then. It would be a tragedy to see such potential put down prematurely."

Instead of waiting for a response, he kept walking, his cloak billowing behind him.

"Safe travels, Lord Valerius!" I called out, my voice all friendly and cheerful. "Give my best to the rest of the family! Tell them I’ll be waiting for my thank-you card for saving their

’nuisance’

of a daughter!"

He didn’t look back, but I saw his shoulders stiffen for a fraction of a second before he disappeared into the west wing with the Elders trailing behind him.

Elder Hakan, in particular, looked like he wanted to tackle me to the ground and beat me to a pulp. From the looks of it, I must’ve made whatever discussion they were having earlier even worse.

Well... their problem, not mine.

Once they were gone, the heavy pressure in the air evaporated.

Michael gritted his teeth, clearly frustrated that he hadn’t offered a piece of his mind. It was for the best that he didn’t, though. "That guy... is a massive dick. I mean, I knew Alexia said her family was both protective and a bunch of assholes, but I still expected better."

I couldn’t help but agree. "Don’t let him get to you. Great Noble houses often put a lot of pressure on their scions to be the best. Until a successor’s name is set in stone, there’s always a risk of your own sibling usurping your position. That guy is clearly the type who sees Alexia as a threat after what she’s done."

Michael exhaled, the tension finally leaving his frame, though his eyes remained dark. "I just hate how they talk about her. Like she’s a broken tool they can’t wait to lock in a drawer."

Again, I couldn’t help but agree.

But we didn’t get to delve into the topic further, because a soft echo of heels clicking against the stone pavement reached us. I didn’t have to turn to know who it was.

"You’re late," I said, as Juliana came around to stand before us.

She was dressed in a traveling outfit — a black midi skirt and an off-shoulder real top under a denim jacket, topped off with sunglasses.

Her white hair was tied back in a high bun and her expression was as unreadable as a roadside pebble, but her eyes flickered toward the direction where Valerius had vanished.

"I had matters to attend to," she said. She didn’t look at me directly. Her gaze lingered on a point somewhere over my shoulder. "Sorry to keep you both waiting."

"No worries," I mumbled, feeling that familiar, annoying pang of irritation at her distance. "We were just having a lovely chat with the heir of the Zynx house. You missed the part where I was incredibly heroic and charming."

Juliana narrowed her tantalizing glacial blue eyes as they finally met mine. "I... highly doubt that."