"Fenrix..."
Justinian coldly addressed, arms crossed.
He had helped mastermind Rhyne’s rebellion in the past, an act that wasn’t so easily forgivable.
But Justinian also hadn’t known about Fenrix and Matthias’ conversation; to him, Fenrix was still a dangerous threat to his capital if he chose to return to Rhyne’s side.
The Northern Shadow, Fenrix.
"Relax, Lord Justinian."
Justinian raised a brow at his reply; he expected a more formal name like Duke Thirell, mostly his own servants or high-ranking nobles addressed him as such.
"What is it you want of me?"
Fenrix smirked, bowing.
"The king has appointed me to be your spymaster. Matthias should already be expecting me."
"Why would the king hand me a skilled spymaster such as yourself?"
"You can ask Matthias for the details, Lord Justinian. I’m merely here to introduce myself."
Fenrix was an intriguing character; while he was definitely after money, he also had unquestionable loyalty to those who proved competent in his eyes, the exact reason why he chose to serve Rhyne in the first place.
Justinian knew that, but now that things had come to this, Justinian had an inkling of a guess on why he was here.
’...I’m guessing he wishes to join me after I defeated his liege...’
"I’m guessing you already have a guess."
Fenrix bowed again. "I’ll see you back at your palace, your majesty."
Fenrix left the manor without a fuss. Justinian didn’t care to interrogate him even further; he knew the kind of man he was. A sudden betrayal wasn’t possible at that time.
"As for you...?"
Justinian looked at Elira, a confused look on his face. He knew she was skilled and cunning, but just not the type to get involved in a scheme like this.
Either way, it was still kind of in character; she did help the kingdom be rid of scheming predators.
"Just doing my job as a marquess, Duke Thirell."
"Do you also have business with me?"
"Originally no, but after the scene you just caused, how about we become allies?"
Elira spoke casually, offering her hand to start an informal alliance.
"Oh, and Duke Valen is also part of this."
Elira slyly added, winking, she knew it was near impossible to refuse if she mentioned that another powerful frontier duke was part of the alliance.
"I expected that."
Justinian shook her hand, and with that, she left as well. For the other one, he just left without a fuss, not even giving him a simple glance.
One that definitely felt strange, but it wasn’t too strange. Justinian may be popular, but not popular enough for everyone to just stop and talk to him.
"I have to say, this was quite a disappointing event...."
Justinian wasn’t afraid to share his opinion; he was with people he could trust, or at least talk casually to.
"I agree, I expected to earn more support, not to be involved in some elaborate schemes."
Augustus sighed, giving Justinian a pat on his back, his actions continuing to be strange for a vassal and liege relationship.
It seems like their small interactions together were enough for him to at least treat Justinian like an equal, a friendly equal.
"I’ll need to be going, I still have more paperwork to do due to the vassal agreement."
And now that leaves Justinian and Maria alone in the manor, at least if you didn’t count the dozens of servants who were cleaning the premises.
Unlike the two princes, Maria wasn’t that involved. Sure, she could make reforms, but unlike the main heirs of the kingdom, she had mostly free rein and could do anything she wanted.
One of the biggest reasons why the romance between Julius and her bloomed in the first place.
A princess with as much free time in the world and a nobleman with enough power in the world, truly a match made in heaven for a novel couple.
’But if I remember... it should still be a few weeks after until they meet, when Maria will first visit Julius’ new land in the south.’
"So..."
"So..."
The two of them awkwardly spoke; Justinian didn’t really have anything to talk to her about, nor did she.
A princess and a frontier duke, neither of them had anything in common, and Justinian would rather not mess with the romance between the main couple too much.
"I guess I’ll be heading off as well."
Justinian cleared his throat, clearing the awkwardness around them as he gave a curt bow to Maria, ending their interaction cleanly.
"O-okay, have a safe trip home!"
Maria waved her off, her personality still fitting that of a novel’s main heroine; even Justinian couldn’t help but be affected.
’You already have Cassia... get your mind out of the gutter!’
Justinian thought as he marched out, his mantle flowing in the night air as he exited the manor and took a walk to where his carriage and company were waiting.
"My lord!"
One of his personal guards spoke.
"Were you okay? We heard shouting, and the king’s guards didn’t let us in."
"Everything is under control, for now. Let’s head back home."
Justinian hopped onto his carriage, leaving his guards confused. The grand ball was supposed to go on for another few hours.
But now they were departing earlier than expected, and even crazier, they had just heard shouting and chaos from the inside.
"Let’s just leave it at that, I guess..."
One of the guards sighed.
"It’s Lord Justinian after all, an arcanist mind is really an enigma..."
Another guard laughed, shrugging.
As the carriage began its departure, Maria was just by the sidelines, accidentally overhearing the guard’s random remark.
To the entirety of Justinian’s duchy, his arcanist nature was quite common due to the mass announcement, but to the rest of the kingdom, it was still unknown.
Even the king himself only heard rumours about it, but most didn’t believe it and thought of it as something strange.
"...Duke Thirell is an arcanist!?"
Maria covered her mouth in shock, then shook her head right after.
’I’ll keep this a secret for now...’