Chapter 250: The Earl’s Orders

Ravian extended his hand and shook Layla Augus’s, returning her greeting.

"The greater honor is mine, Miss Augus."

Layla nodded calmly, but her gaze soon returned to the box in his other hand.

"But I still want to buy that rock from you, whatever the price," she said, staring at the box with undisguised greed.

Ravian calmly took a few steps back, putting some distance between himself and her guards. After all, he stood little chance against them. Then he addressed her with a courteous smile.

"Unfortunately, as I mentioned, Miss Augus, I have no intention of selling this rock before I’ve done some research on it."

Layla frowned slightly, clearly displeased with his answer.

"What could you possibly do with something so dangerous? Even I wouldn’t handle it myself, considering the risk. Besides... do you even know where the rock in that box came from?"

Ravian caught the implication in her words, and his eyes widened slightly.

"Do you know exactly where it came from?" he asked at once.

Layla remained silent.

"Ten thousand gold coins," she said suddenly, shocking almost everyone present.

’What?’

Even Ravian could hardly believe the sum she was offering.

He had bought the rock, along with the box containing it, for only two thousand five hundred gold coins, yet she was offering ten thousand with such ease.

That was no small sum for an ordinary noble. Few families possessed enough liquid wealth for one of their heirs to spend that much on a single transaction, and House Augus was among the handful that could afford it.

But why hadn’t she offered that amount during the auction?

Ravian could think of only one explanation.

"Did someone else of considerable noble standing come from the capital to attend this auction, as you did, Miss Layla?"

Just as Layla was about to answer, two claps sounded behind them.

Ravian and the others turned toward the newcomer. A young man with blond hair and dark blue eyes was approaching, followed by a man and a woman.

The man was tall and wore a hooded robe, with the hood drawn over his head and a black mask covering his mouth and nose. Only his aged eyes, full of experience and wisdom, remained visible.

The woman beside him, who appeared to be the young nobleman’s second guard, wore a beautiful purple robe that unmistakably belonged to a mage.

The young man between them was the very picture of a handsome, spoiled young nobleman. He wore a broad smile as he cast repeated glances at the women present, particularly Layla and Lysandra, before stopping in front of the group and looking at Ravian with a cheerful expression.

"You guessed correctly, my young friend. Miss Augus wasn’t the only one who came from the capital to attend this auction," the blond young man said.

Ravian tilted his head in slight confusion.

"And who exactly are you?"

The young man’s cheerful expression faded a little at Ravian’s cold response, but he brushed it aside and extended his hand.

"I’m Lloyd Viola, the eldest son of Earl Patrick Viola, one of the wealthiest nobles in the capital," he said with a proud smile. "A pleasure to meet you."

Ravian’s gaze froze for a moment when he heard the name.

’Viola?’ he repeated inwardly, looking at the spoiled young man’s outstretched hand.

’What the hell?! This is supposed to be Larette’s older brother?!’

Ravian stared at the frivolous young man in utter disbelief. He was so different from the cunning Earl with whom Ravian had held several discussions in the capital.

Then he recalled a particular moment in Earl Patrick’s office.

’What do you think of becoming my adopted son?’

That was the offer Earl Patrick had made him, yet it now turned out that the man already had an heir.

’Then why did he want to adopt me if he already—’

As he considered the question and looked at the young man before him, Ravian understood why the Earl had made that offer.

’He knows this son of his won’t preserve the family’s power.’

That was the conclusion Ravian reached.

The young man cared far more about women and satisfying his lust than his family’s ambitions. That much was obvious from the looks he had been giving the women since his arrival.

’This is going to be a little troublesome,’ Ravian thought, looking at the hand still extended toward him.

Nevertheless, he shook it.

"A pleasure to meet you, Young Master Lloyd," Ravian said. "My meeting with your father was certainly memorable. You seem very much like him."

"My father?!" Lloyd was immediately startled by the mention of his father. "You know him?"

Ravian smiled.

"Of course I do. In fact, we’re business partners," he replied, ignoring the looks from his squadmates and Layla Augus.

Although the decision revealed a little about him, it was necessary—even more necessary than his earlier disclosure to Layla that he was Karius’s disciple. He had his reasons for that as well.

"P-partners?" Lloyd asked in disbelief.

"Of course," Ravian replied with the same calm smile. "You can ask him about Rayan. That’s the name I’m widely known by in the capital, away from the border."

At those words, the eyes of both guards behind Lloyd widened sharply as they fixed their gazes on Ravian in utter shock.

Then they both stepped forward, bowed, and dropped to their knees before him with the utmost respect.

"We greet Young Master Rayan Veyr," they said in unison.

Ravian looked at them calmly while everyone around him stared in disbelief at the scene.

"What’s happening here?" Miss Augus’s other guard asked the old man with the eyepatch.

"I don’t know either. Aren’t a family’s guards supposed to kneel only before its head?" the one-eyed old man replied, watching two people roughly as powerful as himself kneel respectfully before a young man his grandson’s age.

"That can only mean one thing," Layla said suddenly, drawing the attention of her guards and even some of the Death Squad members.

Everyone listened.

"The head of the family has directly ordered them to treat Ravian—or Rayan, as he says he’s known—as though he were the head of the family whenever they meet him."

Her two guards almost forgot to breathe for a moment.

Even Lloyd Viola himself had no right to have the family’s guards kneel before him like this. It meant Ravian was valued more highly within House Viola than its direct heir.

Everyone behind Ravian was stunned to see two Sixth-Rank masters kneeling with such respect before someone who was supposed to be Tenth Rank, but Ravian’s own expression had darkened.

Ravian looked from the kneeling guards to Lloyd, who seemed no better prepared for this than anyone else. Apparently, Patrick had issued these orders without considering how awkward their execution might be. Now everyone was staring at Ravian, waiting for him to explain an arrangement he had only just discovered himself. ’You could at least have told me about this beforehand, old man.’ He had enough questions to answer already, and judging by the faces around him, simply asking the guards to stand would do little to satisfy anyone’s curiosity.

"Stand up," he told the kneeling man and woman.

"Yes, sir!"

Both guards rose immediately at his command, then noticed his displeased expression.

"Is something troubling you, sir?" they asked in unison.

Hearing their question, Ravian realized he was frowning more deeply than he had intended and quickly relaxed his expression.

"First," he said, "how did you confirm that I am who I claim to be?"

The guards exchanged a glance before the woman answered.

"We received orders that included a description of your appearance, young master. We already suspected who you were when we saw you, but you confirmed our suspicions when you mentioned your name just now."

She kept her eyes lowered out of respect for the standing of the person she was addressing.

"Ugh." Ravian sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose between two fingers.

"First of all, lift your heads, and don’t lower them again while speaking to me."

"But, sir—"

"No buts," Ravian interrupted before they could object. "No more lowering your heads or kneeling when you recognize me. Please pass that instruction on to your colleagues who received the same orders from Earl Patrick."

The guards’ confusion was plain on their faces.

Weren’t young men his age supposed to enjoy things like this, things that fed their pride?

What they did not know, however, was that Ravian saw nothing in such gestures that could elevate his standing or status. If they did, their absence would have to diminish it, and he knew his standing was unaffected by such nonsense and would remain so, whether for better or worse.

At the same time, he did not feel he deserved such regard from people he was meeting for the first time.

Ultimately, however, the guards had to obey his orders.

Their answer was therefore:

"As you command, young master."