Path to Transcendence

Chapter 216: Marquis Easten

“This is quite the place,” he commented to nobody in particular. More just appreciating the beauty of the estate.

“How are you able to be distracted by the architecture at a time like this?” Reinera asked. She was calmly following Lady Rebecca, it was like she knew that they didn’t have a choice and was just going along with it.

In fact, Julius suspected that she was feeling pretty comfortable considering that she had always been around high-ranking nobles her entire life. She didn’t look uneasy at all.

“What? Would you rather me spend time planning how to escape?”

“No, thatʼs silly. We wouldn’t even make it out of the front door,” she said absolutely. “Lady Rebecca is a well-known fighter. We will probably get about two feet before she stops us.”

“Want to bet that I can make it to three?” Julius asked.

He did see Lady Rebecca give him a glance. There was no way she didn’t hear him and he gave her a smile in return.

Instead of replying to him, she ignored it and continued on walking.

Julius looked at the noble lady who was escorting them inside the mansion. She certainly didn’t look like a fighter. She was wearing a very elegant and beautiful dress along with high heels that accentuated her already long legs. Her hair was all done up and was the picture-perfect example of a noblewoman.

He mentally chuckled as he thought about what kind of surprise these people got when they realized how strong this woman really was.

Frank who was still alongside them, interjected as well. “You shouldn’t have to worry about anything. Lady Rebecca is an honorable woman, she won’t harm you guys or anything. She is just a bit overprotective of her family.”

Julius wasn’t that worried. He didn’t think she was going to hurt them. If Cory felt as comfortable around her as he displayed, then it was safe to say that she was at least a pretty good mother. That was a green flag in Julius’s books.

Eventually, they arrived at a room. This room was a bit different as it had several retainers all standing outside. They weren’t exactly guards, but Julius noted that every one of them could have been easily mistaken for one. They were all stern and serious people. Even the lone woman who was standing beside them was scary-looking with her black hair and blood-red eyes.

When they approached, all of their eyes focused on the three newcomers. However, when they noticed who Lady Rebecca was carrying in her arms, they all noticeably reacted. The scary woman even gasped in surprise and headed straight for Cory.

“Young master is safe?” She asked as if she couldn’t believe her eyes.

Lady Rebecca smiled widely. “Yes, it would appear so. Is my father inside?”

The woman nodded. “He is, there is a small meeting going on, though,” she warned.

“Do you know who?”

“Just a couple of elders, your husband, as well as a man from the Adventurer’s Guild. They are trying to find out more about the group that took young Cory and organized a mission. Should I let them know you are here, my lady?”

“No need, Astrid, I will let myself in.”

She then turned to look at Julius and Reinera. “You two come with me. Frank, you can show Mr. Hollins out.”

“You’re letting him go?” Julius asked genuinely confused.

“I know Mr. Hollins’s deal, he is just a middle man, I am not in the mood to try and pry answers from what is most likely protected by his oath skill. And if I decide I need to, then I know where to find him and his family. There are more pressing matters right now.”

Oath skill? What is that? Is is some kind of skill that acted like a contractual vow did?

Julius noted to himself that he should ask Danny what she meant the next he saw him. If they ever did.

Julius observed as Lady Rebecca pushed open the doors to the room, looking back to ensure that the two of them followed her into the room.

The room in question was a large gorgeous room. Tall glass windows inlaid with gold finishings that spanned from the floor to the massive white stone ceilings. There was a large rectangular table where half a dozen people were sitting, stacks of paper and other items sprawled across it.

They were all deep in conversation but stopped when the door opened.

One man, who looked like he was the same age as Rebecca, around his early twenties spoke up first. “Darling, perfect timing. We need to ask you something…” he paused as he finally noted who was with her. “I see you brought guests,” he finished, his face questioning but his eyes panned over to his wife and realized who she was carrying in her arms.

He quickly got up out of his chair, the chair tumbling down and onto its side from his sudden action. He then moved to Rebecca who offered Cory to him and reunited with his son with a tearful hug.

“What is this?” Another older man called out.

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The man at the head of the table spoke up. “I would like to know that too. Becca, please explain to me what is going on.”

Julius watched as Rebecca turned to the older man sitting with his hands folded under his chin. This man himself was quite distinguished. He had sharp and strong facial features. Julius would approximate his age to be around thirty years old, but considering that this man was putting off quite a dangerous aura, he knew that was unlikely.

This is most likely Marquis Easten in the flesh, Julius quickly realized.

Lady Rebecca gave a brief but thorough report of what had happened.

“Daniel was with them?” The older man asked with a furrowed brow.

“Yeah, I told him we would talk with him later, but I wish I could say I am surprised.”

“What is that supposed to mean, Becca?”

“You know I trust your opinion, Father, but as you are well aware, Mr. Hollins works for a lot of other parties, not just House Easten. I have never been shy about my opinion about continuing to employ him,” she said.

Her father sighed. “We talked about this before Becca, just because he works for a lot of others but doesn’t share their secrets with us is a sign of integrity, not distrust.”

“Well, he just invaded the estate,” she pointed out bluntly.

“Yes, and it seems like it was for good reason too,” Marquis Easten said calmly. When Julius noticed that this didn’t appease his daughter, her father shook his head. “Okay, I will personally have a talk with him later.” It was only after that did Julius saw her nod and relax.

Why does it sound like Danny has some sort of relationship with Marquis Easten? He didn’t mention it to us on our way. Then again, he also has some sort of connection to Elder Han, so I shouldn’t be that shocked.

Finally, the older man’s attention focused on Julius and Reinera. “And who might you two be?” His voice was deep and calming, but there was an undertone of firm authority behind it. It was no question, it was a command dressed up as politeness.

He waved his hand at him. “I’m Julius,” he said with a friendly smile.

Reinera was far less casual and graced the man with a perfect curtsy. “My name is Grace, Lord Marquis.”

Julius watched as the man gave her a quick glance before turning his attention back to him. The man had similar eyes to Cory and Rebecca, which wasn’t that surprising considering they were related, but it was the power he felt in those eyes.

He felt like those blue eyes were able to see his deepest secrets with a single glance.

Soon after, he felt the man’s domain reach out and encapsulate them. As he had learned from Alice and Dante, expanding one’s domain into another’s personal space was extremely rude. However, Alice also mentioned that using one’s domain was necessary for one to get a detailed sense of what was going on.

Not everyone was like her and could use spatial awareness that came with their domain without it being active. That was another reason why Julius’s [Spatial Perception] was such an amazing skill. It was something that many people would love to have. It would allow Tier 5s and above to extend their spatial perception without alerting their opponents of their perception.

Of course, they still had other ways to perceive, but there wasn’t any comparison to sensing with a domain. Thus, in a situation where two people who had his grandson in their possession intruded on the estate, Julius found it hard to criticize the man for using his domain against them.

It was uncomfortable, but truthfully, Julius didn’t find it that bad. In fact, he was glad for it. He did his best to commit every detail of what he was feeling to his memory and think of ways to replicate it at a later date.

The way the mana and aura mingled together with Concepts was far beyond him, but he had a feeling that if he was able to take away something from this, it would be important for his advancement.

Although, he felt kind of bad for Reinera. She was doing her best, but the oppressive nature of the domain was far more powerful than Dustin’s authority.

Eventually, the domain was released after what seemed like minutes of being under its influence but what was really only a few seconds at most.

He must have been satisfied with whatever he found out because he didn’t make any moves against them.

“Why were you two in possession of my grandson?” He asked them.

“We came across the group that kidnapped him and ended up freeing him,” Julius explained simply.

“Where was this?”

Julius gave a careful look around at the four other people at the table. He had no idea who they were and was already worried about them knowing it was them who had saved Cory. This was what he wanted to avoid in the first place, but he would have to adapt now.

Marquis Easten saw his glance at the other parties in the room. “You can speak freely, boy. These are trusted members of my house, they won’t speak of anything we say to anyone outside of the room.”

Julius gave the man a smile. “While you may trust these people, it doesn’t mean I can.”

He felt someone’s aura ripple and turned to look at who it was. It was an older man with silverish hair. “You will speak to the Marquis with respect commoner. If you can’t use your tongue properly, then I will remove it for you,” he said with a calm tone even though his aura was saying something else.

“Calm down, Arthur. If you remove his tongue, he won’t be able to tell us what we need to know,” an older lady said with a shake of her head.

“We can reattach it after he has learned his lesson,” the man, Arthur said easily.

Julius felt a vein pulse angrily but contained his anger. These two were obviously at a high tier, probably Tier 5, but honestly, they didn’t even give him the same feeling of danger that Rebecca or her father did.

The Marquis on the other hand, just sat there with his hands still folded underneath his chin, but there was a glint of something in his eyes as if he was waiting to see how Julius would react.

Is he testing me?

If he was, then what was he testing him for? What was he looking to see? Was it for Julius to reign in his anger or was it for Julius to stand up for himself?

Normally he would have an idea and trust his gut, but this time he didn’t get a good sense of what to do. This man was completely unreadable to him.

On the other hand, the older man named Arthur had gotten up from his seat and walked over to Julius. He towered over Julius with his aura pressing against Julius’s in a very rude manner.

“Why did you have the young master and where did you find him?” He asked, in the same calm manner that contradicted his aura.

Julius finally turned to look up at the man’s eyes. He had a smirk on his face. He knew it probably wasn’t a good idea, but he wasn’t going to lie down and let this man just bully him, not after he had just saved their family member. If the Marquis was testing him, then that was alright. He was in the lion’s den already and he wasn’t about to show weakness when in front of a predator.

“I told you that we saved him from the group that kidnapped him. And I can’t tell you more because I don’t know you,” Julius said while staring directly into the man’s eyes.

Let’s see what you do now Marquis Easten. He was willing to play this man’s game, he just hoped it didn’t get Reinera in trouble with him if it went south.