"Quite an attitude for someone that almost got outshined by a filthy traitor and a dirty poor commoner." Libea clicked her tongue in disgust.
"The traitor and the commoner, as you call them, are a thousand times better than you. I wish my friend Lith was here. He is great at dealing with monsters, something I am still lacking at."
Libea was about to reply in kind when suddenly the whole room turned dark and empty. She turned around just in time to see a shadowy figure with eyes blazing with blue mana closing in to her.
"My dear Yurial, I always told you to go big whenever you make a wish. Otherwise if one of them comes true it’s more a pity than a relieve."
"He’s right behind you, of course." Yurial said with a smirk.
"You have quite an attitude for someone that ranked... My bad, I forgot you have no rank. It’s just that my mind refuses the idea that someone without an iota of magical power could be so arrogant."
Normally, Lith would have ignored Libea’s slander. Back at the academy, he heard much crueler words on a daily basis, yet he paid them no heed. Lith just had three months of peace and his renewed bond with Solus made him calmer than ever.
The reason behind his unnatural behavior was the precise instructions Marchioness Distar had given him.
’It’s been a while since I taught a lesson to an arrogant prick. This is going to be fun!’ He thought.
"It’s better for you to watch your tongue, young miss. One day, even a dirty poor commoner could reach a status higher than yours. Without your noble title, you are nothing more than a spoiled parlor dog.
"You should be aware that dumb creatures that keep barking at the wrong tree are... accident prone."
Lith kept his distance, pointing his finger at her while he talked. It was an act incredibly rude towards someone of a higher social class. In any other circumstance, Libea would have lashed out at Lith for his unacceptable behavior.
She wanted to, but was unable to speak. Something prevented her from even moving her eyes away from Lith’s index finger. To her it was like a sword pointed at her throat, exuding a chilling aura that was prickling at her skin like countless needles of ice.
With every step that Lith took forward, Libea’s stomach twisted into one knot after the other. Suddenly she just wanted to hide behind Yurial, but he was nowhere to be seen. The whole world had disappeared, leaving her alone with a crazed beast.
Contrary to Libea’s perception, Yurial was right beside her, the room was perfectly lighted, and Mogar kept spinning on its axis uncaring like always.
’I don’t know why Lith is acting so touchy and honestly, I don’t care.’ Yurial thought. ’Her being forced to shut up for once it’s liberating.’
Being used to Lith’s aura and having an innate powerful mana flow, Yurial was unable to perceive the pressure Lith was exerting, so he was further surprised by Libea’s meek attitude.
At least until he realized she wasn’t meek at all. His fiancée was simply unable to breathe.
Yurial recognized the all too familiar symptoms of mind aggression from a magical aura. Libea’s forehead was beady with sweat, her face was turning from pale white to cyanotic blue from the lack of oxygen.
"Okay, that’s enough." Yurial grabbed Lith’s hand, interposing himself between the two to break the eye contact. Libea was now able to breathe again. She found herself back in the Marchioness’s dining hall, the people around them were watching at the scene with an amused expression.
Realizing what had happened, she felt humiliated like it had never happened her whole life. The Fintyr family had never given birth to a single mage, but they were one of the most ancient noble households of the Griffon Kingdom.
Even Archmages treated them with respect, as long as the Fintyr did the same, of course. Libea wanted to yell and call for her personal guards, to teach the country bumpkin a lesson.
What she did was going to the closest bathroom, moving forward with furious but short strides, instead. The sudden scare had almost made Libea lose control of her bowels, she had only so much time before shaming herself for life.
Also, making a scene in front of so many guests would only make her look like a fool. The only thing she could accuse Lith of was being rude. He had not cast a single spell nor left a single scratch on her.
As soon as she left, Lith returned Yurial’s grab, making it a handshake.
"If that’s the woman you are going to spend the life with, there’s no amount of alcohol that will make her presence bearable. You need to set boundaries, or she’ll drive you insane. That or you can kill her."
Lith’s wolfish smile made Yurial understand he wasn’t joking at all.
"I wish things were that simple." Yurial sighed.
"Killing Libea would only force me to marry one of her sisters and undergo a thorough investigation. Believe it or not, she’s the less annoying of the bunch. Since you already know Lady Ernas, you can imagine what does it mean having a royal constable on your tail.
"No, I only have three roads ahead of me. Accepting my fate, emancipating myself from the Deirus household after the fifth year, or convince my father to cancel the wedding. Emancipation would mean squandering everything I have done so far and probably dooming the Deirus household.
"Without an heir, if something happens to my father, our bloodline is over. Yet, cancelling the wedding is even more unlikely. It would mean making us lose a lot of face, our prestige would be destroyed.
"Between that and antagonizing the Fintyr, it would put an end to all our plans for improvement for at least ten years. As you can see, I’m basically doomed."
A long, awkward moment of silence followed before Yurial decided to move on a less depressing subject.
"The dinner jacket looks good on you." Unlike Yurial, Lith wasn’t wearing his uniform but the new world equivalent of a black tuxedo. The white shirt was apparently made of silk, while the pants and jacket were made of a wool similar to Earth’s vicuna.
What Lith was actually wearing was his Skinwalker armor. He had stored the real suit in the blue gemstone embedded at the base of the neck, allowing the enchanted item to mimic it to perfection. The white griffon pin was shining on the pocket above his heart.
"Aren’t you sick of that uniform at this point? Also, you seem to have lost weight since the last time we met."
"Yes to both. But what can I do about it?" Yurial shrugged.
"Since the rankings came out, my family was awarded with the lands that host the Black Griffon academy. It means a lot more authority and prestige, but also a lot more responsibilities.
"Because of that, my father is forced to spend most his days granting audiences to our new retainers, to sort out those to keep from those to replace. I’m helping him, of course. Being the heir, he is showing me the ropes while at the same time introducing me to my future subjects."