Torvares was the first to move.
Not quickly. Not stiffly either.
Just enough to acknowledge the approach of the man who, for all practical purposes, stood at the center of the capital’s political web.
He placed a hand over his chest and gave the kind of restrained noble greeting that carried weight precisely because it was not exaggerated. Viola followed a second later with the polished ease expected from someone raised for this kind of stage, her posture straight, chin lifted, dress immaculate beneath the golden light flooding the garden. Luna mirrored the gesture with the same composed precision she seemed capable of applying to almost anything.
Ludger did nothing. He just stood there.
He wasn’t a noble. He didn’t live among them. He had no intention of bending himself into some polished court shape just because the capital liked decorating its poison with silk and gold. If anyone here expected him to act like one of them, that was their mistake, not his.
Regent Alphonse stopped before them with a mild smile on his face. Up close, he looked even more ordinary. That only made Ludger dislike him more.
There was nothing imposing about the man at first glance. No overwhelming aura. No obvious pressure. No unsettling pulse of mana. Just a well-dressed middle-aged man with calm eyes, measured posture, and the kind of face that could disappear in a crowd if not for the fact everyone around him subtly revolved around his existence.
“Lord Torvares,” Alphonse said smoothly, inclining his head just enough to be courteous without lowering himself. “Lady Viola. It is good to see you here tonight.”
His gaze passed over each of them with practiced ease before resting for half a heartbeat on Ludger.
“But of course,” he continued, tone light and refined, “I should first thank you all for making the trip. His Majesty will be arriving soon. I trust the capital has treated you well so far.”
Torvares answered with the same measured calm he always used when speaking to people he did not trust.
“Your Excellency is most gracious. The celebration is... impressive.”
That brief pause before the last word was small. Tiny, really. But Ludger caught it. Viola offered the kind of smile nobles used when saying pleasant things they did not necessarily mean.
“It is beautiful,” she said. “The preparations must have taken a great deal of effort.”
Luna dipped her head slightly. “We are honored to attend.”
Alphonse acknowledged both with an easy nod before turning fully toward Ludger. His expression did not change much. But his eyes did.
They sharpened ever so slightly, as though the real conversation had only begun now.
“To be honest,” the Regent said, his tone still perfectly pleasant, “I did not expect you would truly come.”
The words were mild. The meaning under them was not. Ludger met his gaze without blinking.
“I decided to come,” he said flatly, “and thank you for the generous reward for hunting and killing the fugitives that helped Gustav and Rufas.”
A brief silence followed. Not an awkward one. A deliberate one.
The music in the distance kept playing. Nobles kept laughing. Servants kept moving with trays full of expensive drinks and polished smiles. And yet, for that short moment, Ludger felt the air around their little group tighten just enough for anyone paying attention to notice something was off.
Alphonse’s smile remained.
“Yes...” he said.
The single word came out soft, thoughtful, almost amused. Then his gaze became just a little heavier.
“After going to that extent to get them,” he continued, “and destroy a good chunk of the mountain in the process, I would say such a reward was well deserved.”
Ludger’s face remained blank, but inwardly, his thoughts narrowed. So he brought that up immediately. Not Gustav. Not Rufas. Not the outcome.
The mountain. The damage. The scale. That meant one of two things.
Either Alphonse was probing to see how Ludger would react to being reminded that people were watching him more closely than he liked... or he was subtly making it clear that nothing Ludger did in this country went unnoticed.
Possibly both. Ludger didn’t bother dressing up his answer.
“They were harder to kill than they should have been,” he said. “The mountain happened to be in the way.”
Viola nearly choked on her own composure.
Luna’s expression did not change, but the faintest tension appeared at the edge of her mouth, like she was fighting back the urge to react.
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Torvares, somehow, remained perfectly still. Alphonse, for his part, let out a quiet chuckle.
“A very direct answer.”
“That’s usually enough,” Ludger replied.
The Regent studied him for a moment longer. There it was again. That same strange contradiction. The man still felt ordinary. Completely, absurdly ordinary.
And yet the longer Ludger looked at him, the less he liked what he saw. It was like staring at a calm pond while knowing something enormous was sleeping beneath the surface. No splash. No movement. No visible threat.
Just the certainty that the stillness itself was wrong.
“I have heard much about you, Ludger,” Alphonse said. “More than once, in fact.”
“I’m sure none of it was annoying,” Ludger said dryly.
That drew a soft laugh from Viola this time, though she disguised it behind a graceful smile. The Regent smiled as well.
“On the contrary,” he said. “You are a rather difficult young man to ignore.”
Ludger didn’t answer. Because that one, unlike the others, sounded honest. And for some reason, that bothered him more than the polite lies.
Torvares finally stepped in, his tone smooth and controlled.
“He has a way of leaving an impression.”
“Clearly,” Alphonse said.
His eyes shifted briefly between them all before settling once more on Ludger, calm and unreadable.
“Well then,” the Regent said, “since you have taken the trouble to come all this way, I do hope tonight proves worth your time.”
Ludger looked at the man for a second, then answered in the most honest way possible.
“That makes one of us.”
The air around them went still for a fraction of a second.
Viola closed her eyes.
Luna looked down ever so slightly, as if that somehow helped hide that she had absolutely expected that answer.
Torvares did not move.
And Alphonse… Alphonse simply smiled. Not offended. Not surprised. If anything, he looked faintly entertained.
Interesting, Ludger thought. That either meant the man had absurd patience… or he enjoyed this far more than he should have. And Ludger wasn’t sure which possibility was worse. Alphonse’s smile did not weaken in the slightest. If anything, it grew a little warmer, as though Ludger’s bluntness had only confirmed something he had already suspected.
“Your fame increases by the day, Ludger Graves,” the Regent said, his tone light, almost conversational. “To the point that even His Majesty is looking forward to meeting you.”
Ludger said nothing at first. That alone was annoying.
Not because the Emperor wanted to meet him. That part was expected the moment Torvares had dragged him into this shining nest of peacocks and liars. No, the annoying part was the way Alphonse said it, smooth, harmless, casual.
Like the attention of the ruler of the Empire was some passing social favor rather than the kind of thing that could quietly wrap chains around a person if handled poorly.
Viola’s posture straightened just a fraction. Luna remained still, but Ludger noticed her eyes shift toward him from the corner of his vision. Torvares, meanwhile, wore the same controlled expression as before, though Ludger knew the man well enough by now to recognize when he was paying very close attention.
Alphonse continued, still watching Ludger carefully.
“In fact,” he said, “I would not be surprised if His Majesty wished to hire you personally.”
A small pause followed. Then the Regent added, with that same polished ease,
“To become his magic instructor.”
For a second, Ludger just looked at him. Not because he was stunned. Mostly because he was trying to decide whether this was a joke, a trap, or simply the capital being the capital again.
The worst part was that it was not even a terrible offer on paper.
A teaching request was different from some noble trying to collar him with titles, obligations, and the usual polite shackles the capital loved dressing up as “honor.” A job was a job. A quest was a quest. If the payment was worth it and the conditions were clear, that was another matter entirely.
Of course, with the Regent involved, there was almost no chance it would stay that simple. Still, Ludger answered honestly enough.
“Things are a bit busy at home,” he said. “But I might accept the offer.”
Viola blinked. Torvares’ eyes shifted toward him for just a moment. Luna, somehow, looked less surprised than the other two. Ludger ignored them all and continued in the same flat tone.
“I’m not interested in hindering my freedom with some noble title or court position. But a request like that?” He gave a slight shrug. “That would be fine.”
That, at least, was true. A formal title was just another kind of leash.
A paid task with clear boundaries was different. He could enter, do what was needed, collect his reward, and leave. Clean. Efficient. Preferably with as few nobles speaking to him as possible.
Alphonse slowly lifted a hand to his chin. Then he looked at Ludger for a few quiet seconds, no longer quite as amused as before.
“I see,” he said at last. “So that is how you see things.”
The words were calm, but Ludger still caught the shift underneath them.
Not offense. Not displeasure. Interest. The Regent was learning. That was the problem with sharp people. Every answer you gave them became a tool. Alphonse lowered his hand and the faint smile returned.
“We may have started on the wrong foot,” he said, “but perhaps we can still build a good relationship despite that.”
Ludger did not answer immediately.
Because there were at least five different meanings hidden inside that sentence, and none of them sounded particularly harmless. A good relationship.
From the mouth of an ordinary-looking man with no history, no roots, suspiciously smooth movements, and enough influence to drag foreign monsters like Drarc into the capital without anyone questioning it too loudly.
Yes. Very comforting. Still, this was not the moment to say that out loud. So Ludger simply gave him the kind of answer that revealed nothing.
“We’ll see.”
That made Alphonse smile again. This time, it looked almost genuine.
“Very well,” the Regent said. Then he stepped back half a pace, smoothly reclaiming the social mask expected of him. “Regardless, it is time for me to continue my rounds.”
His gaze swept over the rest of the group.
“Lord Torvares. Lady Viola.” Then back to Ludger. “Ludger.”
He inclined his head lightly.
“Enjoy the party.”
With that, he turned and walked away, golden lights reflecting faintly over the dark fabric of his formal attire as nobles subtly shifted to make room for him. It was seamless. Natural. Practiced. The kind of movement that said the entire room understood where power stood without needing to be reminded.
Ludger watched him go with narrowed eyes. Still nothing. No strange pulse in his aura. No hidden pressure. No obvious crack in the man’s rhythm. Just that same unbearable normality. Which only made him feel worse.
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