A/n: Some of this is copy paste from the novel, but it's edited and important for story flow. Credit to Yoo Ryeo Han for those parts.
"COUGH! COUGH!~"
"...Basen is sick?"
"Yes, Cale."
Cale internally groaned. This was just perfect.
Standing next to him was the count, and laying down on his lavish bed beside Cale was his brother, Basen.
'Fuck! Fuck, fuck, fuck!'
Cale's poker face twitched in agony. Basen was scheduled to attend the kingdom's grand noble meeting which was hosted by the crown prince. Not only that, but the invitation explicitly stated that only the representative of the family should attend.
Basen was unanimously known as the heir. But he was out of commission.
Now that Basen had come down with an extreme cold, with a temperature 4° above what's considered average for a fever, Someone would have to go in his place.
Lily was too young, and would get trampled over and manipulated too easily. They also couldn't ignore a royal invitation for obvious reasons.
That left him, Cale Henituse. The one person in the entire community of nobles to ever feel the extreme desire of avoiding any good natured attention. He really, truly, did not want to eat lunch with a hundred snotty nobles looking down their noses at him.
Plus, rumors would spread that Cale showed up instead of Basen the one time an invitation asked for the heir. Even if he explained that Basen was unable to attend due to health reasons, it wouldn't help with the rumors at all.
In short, he was screwed.
Not only was he barely able to walk thanks to that bastard, but he also would be put in a dangerous situation among the extended family who favored him as the heir. Basen needed to attend. Basen had to attend.
"CoUGH~COUGH~COUgh! Huuu...ugh."
But Basen couldn't attend. Cale wasn't about to force his sick brother whom he was not close with at all, to go to a royal gathering for his own benefit.
He was a trash, not a bastard.
"Haaa, Alright. You can't get the crown prince sick anyway. Ron!—"
'Ah, right, he isn't here anymore...'
"Nevermind, I'll just pack my own bags."
"Hyung?—COUgh— What do you mean...?"
"I'm going to the fucking meet and greet, so you better be grateful."
Deruth and Basen both stared at him with widened eyes. Cale had never volunteered to go to a noble meeting before, and they were positive he never would. That was why this situation was a strange one.
Cale turned around, satisfied that he had reached the best possible conclusion despite the fact that he would be going in his brother's stead.
He walked straight out the double doors of the medic room, completely unaware of what would happen in the near future.
...
"Cale. You at least still listened to this hyung. Right?"
Cale had a confused look on his face. Eric Wheelsman pushed up his glasses after seeing Cale's expression. Right now, Cale was seated at the table with the three nobles surrounding him like he was in an interview.
'This is odd.'
But the atmosphere was more of them consoling him rather than interviewing him. Eric Wheelsman started to speak.
"Won't it be annoying for you as well?"
Viscount Ubarr's daughter Amiru and Baron Chetter's son Gilbert chimed in.
"He's right. Young master Cale, I heard you don't like annoying formalities."
"Young master Cale, it is not wrong to find something to be annoying."
It felt like they were trying to console a child. Cale first responded to their statements. His use of language made Amiru and Gilbert subtly flinch.
"...Yeah, it is pretty fucking annoying."
"See! That is why!"
Eric wasn't as fazed however, since he had prior experience dealing with Cale.
Tap.
Eric lightly tapped the table. It did not seem like it was because he was angry, but more like a subconscious movement.
He looked toward Cale, who used to be a cute little kid until he grew up to be trash, and quietly continued.
"That is why you don't need to say anything or do anything. Just be still! Be still and we will take care of everything for you. You hate annoying things and formalities anyway."
Cale responded back with a bored expression.
"I'm good at staying still, though?"
"Huh? You are? Ah, yes. You are like that. You are very good at that."
Eric was known for being uptight, but he was also the type to worry about everything. But that was only because he liked to think about everything before they actually happened.
He started to speak to Cale, who became the biggest concern of his since yesterday, when he found out that Cale really was the one to come to the capital in place of Basen.
The other two looked toward Eric as if they were cheering him on.
"Some of the other Northeastern nobles may try to annoy you. The ones who aligned themselves with Marquis Stan or some other duke will definitely try. But all you have to do is be still and we will take care of everything for you. What do you think?"
Since these four families had not submitted to any faction, their table would be a target. The nobles would want to sweep in and snatch the Northeastern nobles up as quickly and easily as possible.
They needed to be cautious, cautious, and even more cautious. This group of four families had to be in the center. That was their way of being the strongest faction in the Northeast, and, in order to do that, the wealthy Henituse family could not cause an accident at the capital.
Eric, as well as the other two, quietly waited for Cale's response.
"Mmm, I guess I'll try, since those shitty nobles would want me to get riled up for their own benefit anyway."
Cale had a sly smile on his face to go with his response. Eric quickly started to speak, fearing that Cale would change his mind.
"I plan on showing our respect to the crown prince together as well. I'm sure you find this to be annoying and want to get right to drinking, but that will be difficult. As long as you do that initial greeting, we will take care of EVERYTHING ELSE!"
'Oh?'
Cale started to smirk. He found this atmosphere quite interesting. He picked up the wineglass in front of him. Cale could see Gilbert flinch as he did that.
Cale found this amusing. He may be a troublesome trash, but since they were on the same side, their only possible course of action was to protect him. He wet his mouth with the wine, before starting to speak.
"It's great."
"Isn't it?"
Eric had a bright smile on his face as his glasses reflected the light from the chandelier.
Cale decided to take the three nobles' offer of doing nothing and getting their protection. He liked this plan very much.
"All you have to do is show up, sit there, and relax."
"Great. It sounds perfect."
It was a very good offer, just the type Cale liked. He calmly ate the meal in front of him, as he started to think that it was a good idea to come here today.
They were all decently satisfied with this meeting.
...
Cale grabbed the crown prince's invitation and got off the carriage. The gathering was to start at 5 pm. Cale looked at the palace, which was incomparable to both the Henituse estate and their residence in the capital combined.
The Palace of Joy. It was built by the king to share his joy of the birth of the crown prince. Of course, the king now favored the third prince.
Cale was planning to meet up with Eric, Gilbert, and Amiru outside the palace and enter together. He looked toward the palace and started to think.
'Ugh, what are the chances?'
It just so happened that someone else arrived at the palace right when Cale arrived.
"Wow, who is this? Isn't this our famous young master Cale?"
'Haaa.'
Cale held back his sigh. He could feel the distaste from the person before him just from their tone. The person approaching him was Neo, the successor to Viscount Tolz.
'Why do I have to run into one of Venion's minions now?'
Neo Tolz was one of the bastards who liked to pester Cale. He went around doing Venion's biddings.
Viscount Tolz's people never liked the Henituse family. It was probably because the Count was way better at making money, even if they previously were on friendly terms. Not that their history mattered much to Cale, it was just annoying.
Anyway, that all changed once they went under Marquis Stan's faction 5 years ago. Of course, they wouldn't say it out loud, but they would stealthily try to take control of the Northeastern nobles meeting.
Neo Tolz smiled brightly as he stood in front of Cale.
"You are alone?"
They were still a bit away from the palace entrance, and the Vice Captain Hilsman was speaking with the guard to get permission to enter. Cale, who brought only the minimum amount of people with him, looked down to Neo.
Neo saw that Cale was alone, and thus pushed his subordinates back.
"I am going to chat with young master Cale for a bit. Go get permission for us to enter."
Neo sent his subordinates to the guard, and took one step closer to Cale. Once the two of them were standing very close, Neo started to speak.
"Young master Cale."
Neo had a warm and friendly smile on his face, as he spoke in a quiet voice that only Cale could hear.
"What is a terrible trash like you doing coming to the palace?"
'Sigh, such a childish bastard. I guess I should keep my promise with hyung. Since he's provoking me like this, I hope someone intervenes.'
The son of a viscount dares to speak like this to the son of a count? Cale hoped it was only happening because he was there instead of Basen. If Neo spewed bullshit like this to his brother as well, then there would be a problem.
Whatever the case, dealing with this made Cale extremely annoyed.
'Well, there's other ways to respond to provocations without using words.'
Cale just continued to look down at Neo. Neo's expression brightened even more. To Neo, Cale was a trash who just looked calm on the outside. For someone like Neo, who had to suck up to Venion the entire time he was at the capital, Cale was a good prey to bother.
"What? Do you want to throw a bottle at me? Or do you want to hit me? Go ahead and try."
'He's just outright provoking me now. He can't take any magic items into the palace, so he won't be able to take a magic recording device inside. That is why he's trying to rile me up out here.'
If Cale caused a ruckus here, it would be seen as a fight between a trash and a dignified noble. It would only be to Neo's advantage, that was why he was trying to provoke Cale to bring down the Henituse family name.
'Hmph, doing nothing is easier than I thought it would be.'
Cale's special skill set included feeling the urge to do everything in his power to defy expectations. If Neo wanted a reaction out of him, he sure as hell wasn't going to get one.
All of his previous tantrums at noble gatherings were for his act, but if he was forbidden from doing that here, then he would leave everybody on the edge of their seat instead. They were expecting a tantrum? Guess he won't have one then.
Cale just stood there, thinking these things.
Seeing Cale shake his head made Neo provoke Cale once again, as it did not look like Cale was going to bite.
At that moment, Cale's gaze turned to a new carriage that just arrived.
Bang! The carriage door burst open as soon as the carriage stopped, and Eric Wheelsman got out of the carriage. Gilbert and Amiru were inside the carriage as well.
Cale signaled Eric, who was rushing over with his eyes wide open, with his eyes while pointing to Neo with his index finger.
"Hyung-nim."
Cale's sincere voice that called out to him, as well as the cold gaze in Cale's eyes, told Eric everything he needed to know.
'Get rid of him.'
The eyes of the calmly standing Cale were giving that message to Eric.
A/n: Sadly Taylor won't be making an appearance. Gotta take your daily dose of angst, right?
Thx for reading.