Nadyian made a slight smile, perfectly aware that the other women were listening to them in absolute silence as if they were waiting for her reaction.
By the end of the afternoon, they returned to the Castle, and when the carriage with Alex, Nadyian, Pearl and Wenammy inside stopped in the front yard, Okami jumped from the driver’s seat and opened the door for them. The moment Alex put his foot out, he saw the young Sara Perry smiling at him, from the top of the stairs that led to the main door, side by side with her Magical Teacher, the serious Viscount Tom West.
They both made a deep bow towards Alex, and Nadyian wondered who they were. Sara Perry stood up and spoke:
“Welcome home, Earl Alex! We came as soon as we heard you were back!”
Alex went to Sara and hugged her, surprising everyone. He then crouched to be at her height and asked:
“I am glad to see you, my little security guard. How is your training?”
“I am almost ready to take on Miss Pearl again! A few more days and I will challenge her again, but this time, I am going to win for sure!”
Wenammy approached them and kissed Sara Perry on her left cheek:
“My money will be on you, Sara. If you defeat her, I will mock her for months!”
Sara then noticed the new girl and lowered her voice:
“Earl Alex, is she your new wife? Her hair is so pretty!”
Alex signalled the wondering Nadyian to join them, and he introduced her. Nadyian was visibly surprised for finding out that such a young girl was a parent of the High Fairy Wenammy because she remembered hearing her mother tell stories about ‘Tyly, the Earth Menace’.
Viscount Tom West tilted his head and spoke while staring at Nadyian:
“And what type of Magics can you use? I suppose you are a Mermaid, judging by your hair, and that could mean you use Water Magic, but I once met a Mermaid that could also use Wind Magic.”
Nadyian made a Fire Ball on her left hand and a Water Ball on her right and grinned:
“I can use these, I suppose it’s kind of unusual.”
“Indeed it is, a Mermaid has to practice a lot to be able to use Fire Magic because such type is not very compatible with Water Magic. You may be worthy to stand at Alex’s side, after all.”
Nadyian raised one eyebrow:
“And who might you be, to think that your opinion matters to me? You are just…”
Alex jumped to her and closed her mouth with his hand, and he quickly explained:
“I am sorry, Viscount, she doesn’t know you and she is living far away from here, so your fame and deeds might not have reached her ears. I will properly educate her, don’t worry.”
Viscount Tom West kept on frowning at the muffled Mermaid, that was trying to say something. Alex looked at her and said:
“Are you nuts, answering like that to someone that you don’t know? He could kill you ten times before any of us could do a thing to stop him! He is a fearful Water Mage, almost at the same level as Suijin! A Mermaid would have a lot of trouble to fight him, and one like you that was away for so long, even more! Jeez, sometimes you are too damn stupid to your own good, Nadyian!”
The angry girl tried to bite Alex’s hand and she stopped when she felt Viscount Tom West stare upon her. He spoke with a cold voice, and she felt a shiver along her spine:
“I may need to teach you proper etiquette, girl. I am a Viscount of Belliersia, you are just a common Mermaid, it would be wise for you if you lowered your head and softened the tone of your voice in my presence.”
Alex let her go, and Nadyian frowned at him and she then addressed the angry-looking Rabbit-kind:
“I am not a common Mermaid, I also have a Noble title that I inherited from my mother. I never used it since she died, but if you are pulling ranks on me, I may need to tell you that I am Anika’s cousin, and I am also a Marchioness.”
Viscount Tom made a slight bow with his head and spoke with a grin:
“I am so sorry for confusing Milady for a rude Mermaid. Perhaps if you were more careful with the way you address people you don’t know, people would acknowledge you and your title, instead of thinking that you are just a brat. I am sorry if your mother died, but that doesn’t excuse your rudeness. You were about to insult me if Alex didn’t stop you, and I normally beat the crap out of someone that does that, and I worry about their titles later. Alex, she is a handful, and I would prefer if you never put her in front of me again, or I might forget that I am your friend and remove her head from her body.”
Alex spoke while frowning at the angry Mermaid at his side:
“I am deeply sorry, Viscount, this was all my fault because I failed to explain certain things and to tell her about you and all my keepers. I will correct that flaw as soon as possible, so please be a little understanding and forgive her for her rudeness. At least for now, but if she continues even after I explain everything to her, be free to teach her how to be more humble, because you know I truly despise people too full of themselves without enough reason.”
Nadyian was about to complain, and Alex warned her:
“Don’t say anything more and embarrass me even further, Nadyian. I consider Viscount Tom as if he were my real uncle, and hearing you talking with him like that, shames me. It’s probably better if we go inside and I explain to you how I accomplished everything that you saw today, and how I met the Viscount and my other keepers like Miss Olive, King Otto, Viscount Finley Henderson that is Anika’s father, and the now-deceased Earl Kayden.”
Naydian gulped because of the sad look that Alex was giving her, and she spoke with a knot in her throat:
“I… I am sorry, I just…”
Alex turned around and put one hand over the shoulders of the awkward Sara Perry, and escorted her to the main meeting room. Viscount Tom gave one last stern look towards Nadyian before following them. Anika, Okami, Wenammy and Pearl came to her, and Anika comforted her:
“Don’t worry so much, if you learn how to be cautious and you don’t insult or make everyone you meet angry at you, Alex won’t be resentful. He is far too kind to hold grudges, but he gets annoyed if someone mistreats his friends. Viscount Tom always looks angry, but he is a nice guy and he was also Alex Magic Teacher when his father brought him here for the first time. Alex met that little girl when we went to the Chamber of Lords for him to be recognized as Earls Kayden’s heir, and he got impressed by her kind nature and ability with Magic, and he took her under his wing.”
Nadyian slowly nodded and she tried to speak, but words didn’t come out from her dried mouth. Anika placed one arm over her shoulders and cheered:
“You will understand when you meet more people that Alex helped. Everyone loves him, and he tends to be overprotective. Come, let’s meet them, I also want to hear what he has to say, because he tends to keep to himself too many things about his past, and I also like to hear Viscount Tom mocking him.”
Nadyian slowly nodded and wiped the tears that were forming in her eyes. She walked along the main corridor, looking around at the thick rocky walls that had strange lights every few meters.
In the main meeting room, Viscount Finley Henderson was already seated at the long table, and he got up to greet Alex with a bow and a strong hug.
Alex introduced Nadyian, and she explained to the ones that didn’t know what she was doing for all the past fifteen years, and even the frowning Viscount Tom softened his features and congratulated her for her achievements.
When Alex finished explaining how he meet his keepers and what they were doing to make sure all his money was put to good use, Shinatobe entered the main meeting room, in her little girl form. She sat at the table and made a slight smile towards Alex and she sounded grumpy:
“That stupid Dark Mage Leader recovered from his shock faster than I was expecting. He seemed dead inside, but he was just frightened. I tortured him for a few hours, but then I got bored. I really thought having him in my grasp would ease the pain I suffered for all these years, but I guess I can only rest when all of them are dead. Olive is with him now, and Ghar was healing him when I left. Are you going to take long to bring me the heads of the last Dark Mages, Nadyian? Because my Spirits sent me a few messages these last few days, and they could only catch three of them. I suppose you are doing your mission right because there are no more Magical Voids appearing, only the occasional naturally created ones.”
Nadyian Mithym hesitated:
“I… may need more time. The others that are still alive are in other countries, and I must first find a reason to go there without rising any suspicions, or they might flee. I don’t know when I will be able to get them, you may need to keep an eye out on this side of things, just to make sure none of them sends people here, to rob Magical Orbs.”
Shinatobe crossed her arms over her chest and sighed:
“Yeah, I understand. Well, they took three hundred years to make themselves noted again, I suppose I can wait a few weeks or months for you to do your thing.”
“What if, I take a few years?”
Shinatobe looked to the ceiling and sighed again:
“I suppose that’s alright, as long as you catch them.”
She then faced Alex and advised while putting on top of the table the bag that she was carrying:
“I took the liberty to bring this from your Treasure Room, Alex. It’s better if she takes this so that she can have a good supply of Magic to help on her mission. If she needs more, you can come here and get it, right?”
Shinatobe pushed the bag in Nadyian’s direction, and she opened it, wondering what was inside. She gasped at the sight of an absurd amount of tiny and small Magical Orbs:
“So… so many… How did you manage to get all this, Alex? She said you have a Treasure Room?”
“Yeah, I didn’t take you there because there were a lot more interesting things to see. It’s just a room in the cave of this Castle, fill with coins and Magical Orbs full of Magic. I have another room in my manor with a stack of depleted Magical Orbs that are waiting to be refiled.”
Nadyian closed the bag with a grin:
“This will come in handy for sure. I always had to preserve my Magic, but with this, I don’t need to worry anymore. What about if we get going, Alex? I need to sleep, I am so tired!”
When she noticed the other girls opening their mouths to speak, Nadyian raised her hand:
“No, I won’t sleep here with him or any of you, I just want to have a nice and peaceful night without any worries. This day was too stressful for me, and I need to think about a few things, in peace.”
Alex got up and nodded:
“I understand. I think I will also go with you, because I need to take care of a few things for next week, and I can’t do any of that if I stay here.”