153: Store Front (Start of Book 4)

I had woken up the next morning early, making my way downstairs with Crisplet. I was again surprised at the number of people working in the house now.

“Greetings, Lord Trevor,” a voice called as I turned around to see Tony bowing.

“Oh, it’s not Lord, just Trevor is fine, and you don’t need to bow,” I said with a nervous chuckle.

“Ah, good. I was just coming to wake you up,” Milo’s voice called out.

Waving to Tony, I quickly made my way over to Milo, who had a look of concern on his face.

“Everything okay?” I asked.

Milo let out a sigh. “Nothing we can’t deal with. Come with me, the others are already waiting. It’s not taken long for your surname to spread.”

We entered the dining room, where the entire party, including Micca, was already seated.

“Take a seat, Trev. As I mentioned, word has already spread to everyone who matters that you’ve taken a surname. The King has already acknowledged it and announced your house is to be recognised as a noble house in this kingdom,” Milo began.

I was a little confused about why this was a big deal. I thought this was the plan.

“It’s nothing we didn’t expect, but it has added another social event to your list, as you’ve been invited to another dinner with the King. You also have your meeting with the Fairmonts tomorrow,” Milo continued.

“Tomorrow?!” I blurted out.

I was expecting a few days at least, not tomorrow.

“Yes. Now we need to decide who is going to go with you. I believe Hari will not be an option due to his ties with a house already, so it wi—” He started to say, being interrupted by Liane.

“I’ll go with him. None of you will be blunt enough,” she said.

“I don’t really know if that’s best,” Milo started.

“Truthfully, I think it’s the best choice,” Hari said, earning surprised looks from Liane and Jen. “We already decided we’re not going to hide, so it’s safe to assume you’ll be joined by Crisplet and Lily, right?” he said, looking to me.

I just nodded. I believed Lily would at least be watching, if not directly there.

“And we could wait and send him in with Sylverith, but arriving with a dragon and a shadow cat would likely be too much. So Liane as his voice to put a stop to any backstabbing, and Lily and Crisplet as backup to reinforce it, it’s ideal,” Hari explained.

“Then it’s settled. I’ll go,” Liane said.

“Okay, but please don’t be purely antagonistic. We don’t need everyone as an enemy in the capital,” Milo pleaded.

“I will not turn everyone against Trevor, but they will understand he’s not a pawn for them to manoeuvre in their plans,” Liane said, folding her arms.

Hari laughed, earning another look from Jen.

“How are you okay with all of this? I thought you’d be wanting to play nice,” Jen asked.

Hari shrugged. “Liane’s right. If Trevor wants to stand outside the game, or above it, he needs to assert himself as untouchable. Either that or play the game yourself.”

“So when is the meeting with the King?” I asked.

“In a week,” Hari answered simply.

I sighed. I wanted to leave the capital already; it was too much to deal with.

“Could I possibly do some shopping today? I want to get some supplies, and I really want to check out what is available in the capital,” I said, looking around.

Jen nodded. “Yeah, I’d like that too. We can go past Micca’s store, then make our way to the lower district where we can do some shopping.”

“I’m coming with you this time. If you discover any magical bookshops, I want to be there!” Milo said with a chuckle.

“Seems we have a plan. I’ll take Darren and George to the guild training halls today,” Hari said.

Noticing everyone was about to pack up, I asked the question that had been bugging me the most.

“What did you mean when you said I was recognised as a noble house?” I asked.

Hari let out a chuckle. “It means in the future you’ll likely be granted some land to look over. I doubt you’ll be assigned any responsibilities other than not destroying everyone. Then your children, or anyone you accept into your house, will carry on your name like any other noble house.”

“So I can grant my name to other people? What about Liane?” I said, blurting out the first person who came to mind without a surname.

I heard Liane let out a gasp mixed with a cough, and I knew immediately I had probably stepped into something I didn’t understand and said something stupid, but how was I to know if I didn’t ask?

“Well… that’s complicated. Technically, yes, you can adopt people into your household and grant them your surname. However, I don’t know that I have ever heard of a sixteen-year-old boy doing it to someone older than them,” Hari said with a laugh.

Milo, who seemed to have taken the question seriously, spoke up. “That said, despite it usually being reserved for adopted children or particular staff, it wouldn’t technically be against the law, as far as I’m aware, for him to do so. It would be an interesting turn of events. Liane, a noble… could you imagine?”

This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

“What’s wrong with me being a noble!” Liane called.

“I don’t know… the part where you want to murder them all?” Jen said with a snort.

“Not all of them. Trevor is alright, I guess,” Liane said.

And I was about to ask why it was just alright when Crisplet threw a piece of coal directly at her forehead.

“Hey! Don’t you get upset with me! If you were a noble, you’d be better than alright!” Liane said, rubbing off the dark mark.

When another coal hit her as Crisplet posed, this made me wonder.

Crisplet Ashmoon (Ashborne Elemental)

Level: 24

Experience: 2658/22200

“Wow, Crisplet shares my last name,” I said, shocked.

All eyes turned to Crisplet then, who was still posing.