alright guys forget about the banners 😭🙏 i forgot to put one last ch and i just remembered for this ch so i might as well abolish it
long chapter to treat u guys from the long absence
-
Palace of Excultation. The palace where banquets were held, and the palace that was dedicated to the crown prince's birth, was the palace where Neo had arrived. He looked outside of the carriage windows at the glamorous shining gold building and did a mindless estimate of how much that would have cost.
"My Lord," Dante said, opening the carriage doors and reaching out a hand. "Please be careful as you get out."
"...You're treating me like an infant now. Is this really necessary?"
"We've had this conversation recently, haven't we? I am merely performing the duties of your butler and bodyguard. If you take any action to obstruct my work, I will take it to the extreme. Are there any objections?" Dante smiled brightly as he took Neo's hand.
"..."
"Very well."
"You're becoming scary."
"That's a compliment to hear from you, Lord Neo."
"..."
Neo ignored Dante and instead, walked towards the front gate of the palace. Coincidentally, he met a familiar redhead who was also admiring the extravagant building, all the while waiting for some people. The person in question turned his attention to him, the gaze carrying somewhat a meaningful feel from their last talk.
Rather than a talk, it was a diplomatic battle to see who could get the better end of the stick.
-
He sat in front of the infamous lout of Henituse, being served a cup of lemon tea by his butler. They had arranged this meeting through Dal Yun, who only accepted sending the letter if he had Neo to himself for a day (Neo changed the condition to half a day, but Dal Yun was still happy with that much).
"What did you want to discuss?" Cale asked, pressing his lips against the porcelain teacup. "I'm a busy man, you know."
"Then I'll forget about the pleasantries. Please help us." Neo placed down his cup, staring at Cale's beige-coloured eyes. "Not me, but the Tolls territory. I recently received a letter from my brother that also contained blackmail from Venion; one backhandedly threatening to poison my family if I do not give him what he wants." He took out a letter from his coat and slid it on the table, leaning back and sighing.
Cale skimmed over the contents, eyebrows furrowing as he read the last few lines.
"I'm sure you know what he's talking about, right? What I want is protection; we can't compete if it is the Sten Family. If you're able to lend some people to me to keep an eye on my territory, I'll able to tell this to Prince Alberu and throw Venion into prison. After all, I already have enough evidence. If we just have the Henituse backing us..."
"I don't have a say on these matters. Furthermore, don't you remember we are a neutral faction?"
"...Then, an alliance. We'll have a friendly relationship."
"Hm. What will you do in return?"
"If you invest in us, then we can trade you with the ores we excavate from our territory. I've got a sample right here; you can check the quality."
Cale picked up the gemstone, quietly observing the polished sides. After a moment, he placed it down and hummed. "But, you know. That sounds like a losing deal. Don't you think trade is the wrong word? For instance, 'compensate'." Suddenly, it was like sparks flew between the two as Cale leaned forward, a menacing smile on his face. Neo refused to back down either.
He crossed his arms and shared the same menacing smile, leaning forward. "Well, I didn't want you to pay for it, so I settled on trading. I'm not asking for something equal in value for the ores. Just what we need. Getting rid of a troublesome person is also very beneficial to you too, isn't it?"
"Haha." Cale eased out before going back to lean against the couch, swigging his wine. "What is the use of telling this to me, a lout? Shouldn't you be asking my father instead?"
"Well, I heard you're a superb messenger."
Cale smiled and placed his cup down. "That is correct. Alright. I will talk about this with my father."
Neo silently cheered in his heart.
Neo persuading someone was like seeing the far side of the moon from Earth; impossible. He had horrible conversational skills — lacking eloquence and elegance in his speech, straightforward without etiquette, he was often labelled harsh or curt. Flattery and flowery words were not his forte. Yet, his rational thinking and bluntness may be the attributes some find interesting.
"Then we're done here, right?" Cale stood up readjusted his clothes and began walking towards the door.
"Ah, wait one second." Cale stopped in his tracks, waiting for his next sentence. "What do you want to do with Venion?" Neo said, looking forward.
Cale responded, confused. "What?"
"Not you."
"..."
At this moment, a dragon revealed itself.
[I want to torture him until not even ashes are left. I'll mutilate him just like how he did to me, tenfold... no, a thousandfold!]
Neo chuckled. "Is that so? Well, go ahead. I'm sure not even the merciful crown prince would mind."
-
Present time, as the exchange of looks continued, there was a teeming silence between Cale and Neo before the latter nodded and smiled. Cale did the same in return, remaining in place as he watched the two walk in.
Dante sighed. "I'll escort you in, but I'll have to wait in the carriage for you after..."
"It'll be fine. It's a place guarded by royal guards, what could go wrong? Rest assured, I won't pull any stunts. Just please take care of Dal Yun." He was telling the truth; the partial truth. Neo considers that 'leaving out information' does not equate to 'lying', per se. It was true nothing would happen today. Today, that is. Neo stepped into the palace after receiving his permit to enter, waving to Dante. He lingered at the entrance, but not because he was waiting for someone, no.
'Which table am I supposed to sit at...?'
He was somewhat sure of the fact that each of the five tables was allocated to individual groups of nobles from the northeast, northwest, southeast, southwest, and central. He just wasn't sure which table was northeastern. To not seem like a total idiot, he didn't want to ask the staff or others attending the banquet.
'Why didn't I go with Cale?' He rubbed his nose bridge, exhaling in regret. 'I shouldn't have tried to act cool...'
A little moment later, like the saviour he is, Cale appeared, along with other minor nobles from the northeast. Neo couldn't remember their names, but what does that matter? He'll just figure it out later.
After a brief greeting, they all sat at the table closest to the entrance. Following their example, Neo too, sat along with them. As the other nobles chatted amongst themselves, He stared at the ceiling, trying to decide what to say when Venion arrived. He was never the one with social interaction; he somewhat hoped that Cale could cover him on his behalf, but mildly remembering what went down in the manhwa, he wasn't sure anymore. Their contracts stated no more than an exchange.
The long-awaited interaction came by, not that Neo wanted anything to do with this man anymore. He wanted to wipe his hand off the dirt as soon as possible.
"Lord Cale," Venion began, his voice directed at Cale yet stared maliciously towards Neo. "It's been a while."
Cale's face instantly changed from aloof to a mischievous grin befitting of the title 'lout', turning around to greet him. "Yes, Lord Venion. This must be the first time we've seen each other since we met at the Tolls estate."
"That's right. I was on my way back from visiting a close friend, Lord Neo," Venion's attention moved towards Neo, whose back was completely faced against his. "But I'm quite hurt by the fact he wasn't able to greet me by the entrance."
'Okay, sly fox. I'm going to burn down your entire lineage. Save for your older brother who you messed up.' Neo mentally eye-rolled but posed a smile and bowed. "My apologies. I'll take care next time."
Thankfully, Cale interjected before the air got too awkward. "Oh, yeah. The day after we'd met, a knight from a Viscount estate visited me. He told me that the summer house was completely robbed of everything! My, how tragic. You have no idea how surprised I was to hear it during my hangover drink in the morning."
"...I did hear about that. Indeed it was tragic," Venion replied.
"Everything was robbed—there was nothing left! Nothing! I heard you lost something very precious, is that right?" Cale patted the shoulder of Neo.
Playing along, Neo sighed. "Yes... I don't know what I should do. Alas, I'm sure this is just another hurdle in my life that I must leap over."
"That's a good mindset to have. Hang in there, Lord Neo. I'm sure something as inexplicable as this happens to everyone at least once in a lifetime. You should just drink away those bad news. Lord Neo, tonight, we should drink the night away." Cale patted his back, before smiling towards Venion. "Would you like to join us as well, Lord Venion? All your bad memories disappear once you drink away your hangovers too."
The blond's expression turned grim, pondering a possibility, before reverting to his typical service smile. "Lord Cale, thanks for the offer, but perhaps next time."
"Oh, that's too bad but sure," He shrugged as the other began walking to his respective seat. Even if he was leaving, Cale continued rambling to Neo, his voice just loud enough for Venion to overhear. "Also, that knight that came to me was pale as a ghost! Lord Neo, you should have been more thoroughly prepared. How could you just lose everything in one night?"
"Yes, I must admit it was my negligence that allowed such a thing to happen. I'm sure that I won't get back what's been stolen, but it can't be helped. That's life, you know. Oh, but even so." Neo clutched his forehead and sighed in distress. "It's just such a shame. I had something really precious stored there. It renders me in tears thinking about that."
"Let's just treat something like this a natural disaster. Hang in there Lord Neo, I'm sure all the good deeds you've done will return to you."
As Venion slowly left earshot, the two, especially Neo, cracked up in laughter. Neo reached out a fist and Cale returned the gesture.
"When did you two get along so well...?" The one named Eric glanced at the two with uncertainty. All the nobles knew that the Henituse and the Tolls did not get along well in present times, yet what was this?
"As they say, the enemy of your enemy is your friend." Neo took a sip of his wine with a mysterious smile.
Cale chuckled and was about to pour himself a cup, but stopped when he noticed everyone staring at him.
"..."
"I'll have it later."