Chapter 86 No Complaints.

  Isaac and Lenna arrived at an upscale restaurant close to the mages’ college just in time for dinner. Professor Gnosis had been fast but not quite fast enough. The duo had already been intercepted by a messenger from The Queen informing them that they could no longer dodge their visit and that the royals; ‘Humbly request the presence of Lord Darkness and his mate, Lady Lenna V’Nova.’ For dinner that evening. Isaac had to inform the messenger that the duo had plans that evening for dinner that they absolutely could not reschedule or miss and promised that any other time the royals wished to meet would be fine as he would be sure to leave the rest of their schedule open until he heard back from them. The messenger did not look enthused at having to be the one to relay the polite and temporary refusal but took his leave with grace.

  As soon as the messenger had left, Isaac winced at having to refuse the royals simply because that was the only way they could hold up their promise to bring gifts the next time they met. Which brought them back around to the gifts in question.

  The duo easily found the professor and joined him at a table for four with the duo on one side and the professor on the other, alone. “Well met.” The professor greeted the duo. “This is the most popular restaurant for the noble children and staff of the academies.” He informed them. “The food is excellent and the prices are fair.”

  Isaac greeted the professor with a nod and eyes drifting towards the Bottomless Bag but Lenna at least was polite enough to greet him with: “Hello.” Before she sat down. As was usual, Isaac had her chair out before she could even reach for it just from his shadows following his barely conscious will. It was such a habit for him that he hardly realized that he did it. It was the little things like that which helped his power become as natural to him as breathing or moving his own hands and feet. If anything, at a certain point, it became easier to move his magic than it was to move his own limbs.

  “I have it.” The professor told Isaac with a nod. “I still have no idea what it is but it appears that you are more anxious to receive it than I had first expected.”

  Isaac took a deep breath to recenter himself. The rejection of the royals invitation was still fresh in his mind and he had felt like someone was watching him for the past two hours since. “Yes.” Was Isaac’s only reply before he changed topics. “How was the trip?”

  The professor nodded. “Fine. A bit more rushed than most of my long distance trips, but I have no complaints.” He explained. “I do have a comment, however, if you wouldn’t mind?”

  “Sure, go ahead.” Isaac waved him on.

  “Your maid, the one who greeted me, Margaret I believe her name was, she seemed…” The professor’s voice trailed off in thought and Isaac gave him a questioning look with a raised eyebrow. “Maybe it is just her way, or maybe it is a cultural thing from wherever she is from, but she left me with an open invitation to meet with her again and assurance that she would be at your manor, whenever in the future that time would be.”

  Isaac and Lenna caught on instantly and Lenna had to hide her face behind her hand to keep from barking a laugh. There was nothing that could keep Isaac from snorting one however and he had to consciously keep his laughter’s volume suppressed to avoid accidentally making a scene. “Oh that is too good.” Isaac laughed away some of the tension that had knotted itself between his shoulder blades. “Well, professor, I believe that Margaret is, ‘into older men’ as it were.” He chuckled. “I will choose to stay out of her personal life, seeing as you seem like the reliable sort, so if you do choose to visit our manor at any time, know that you are welcome.”

  The professor’s face colored as everything fully set in. It was not that the way Margaret had acted with him was the same as how she acted with everyone. No, she had directly made an advance towards him, romantically, after their first meeting and had left pursuing anything entirely up to him before she sent him on his way.

  You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.

  “She is a widow, with two daughters, one is an early teen and the other isn’t even ten years old yet.” Lenna told the professor. “She is a hard worker and takes the future of her children very seriously. Anything else should be learned from her if you are still interested.”

  The professor gulped down his water and then nearly choked on it from drinking it too fast which only made Isaac laugh again. “Relax, breathe, professor, we might be teasing you but we are still serious.” Isaac told him.

  The rest of their dinner went well and Professor Gnosis was correct when it came to the quality of the food. Everything that Isaac and Lenna had were things that they had eaten before but the quality was definitely on the level of those who were used to catering to nobles. On top of the food, the quality of the conversation was great too. Professor Gnosis did, in fact, have a truth-detecting item with him that Isaac had to remove his mental magic protection in order to use it, and they spoke at length about Isaac and Jallen’s fight. They started from the beginning, when Isaac had revealed his level to the duke and ended when the duo had been told that Jallen’s body had been cremated. By the time they were finished, the sun had set and the duo bid the professor a good night and went their separate way.

  “I like him.” Isaac told Lenna when they were walking home from the restaurant.

  “He seems like a good person, yes.” Lenna agreed. “I don’t think I have ever seen an elderly man blush that hard in my life, elf or otherwise.”

  “Well, Margaret is in her thirties and he is in sixties?” Isaac wasn’t entirely sure about the professor’s age. “That had to be one hell of a confidence boost for a woman half his age to hit on him.” Isaac shook his head. “I don’t know what Margaret is thinking though. She definitely can’t be thinking about having another kid, especially with someone that old, it just doesn’t track with the Margaret that we know.”

  “You don’t think she is inheritance snatching, do you?” Lenna wondered.

  “As much as that would set her girls up well in the future, I don’t think that Margaret is that kind of woman. It might be something that she sees as an extra bonus when she becomes widowed, again, but I doubt that it is the main reason. Still, I think it might be best to at least have a casual conversation about it when we get home.” Isaac went on.

  “Agreed.” Lenna stated. “If for no other reason than to see what she is looking for.”

  The rest of the duo’s night was spent reading and relaxing in their room. They had hours to kill but not much else that they could do. They were pretty much stuck waiting until sunrise so they could get back to being properly productive.

  Come morning, they were met by another messenger from the royals who informed them that the royals would be expecting them for dinner that evening an hour before sunset. The duo obviously agreed to the time which left them with nearly twelve hours to kill. During their free time, Isaac and Lenna made a request to the Artificers’ Guild for a pair of glasses that darkened based on the average ambient light levels. They also had Shamesh request new attire from the Silverstrands for himself and found a secluded place to finish scrubbing the ash off of him. There was still a bit here and there, especially inside of him, and it took a dedicated effort for around four hours before they were finally mildly confident that he was clean. After that, the duo got a bath to wash the smell of mesit out of their hands and hair and then got dressed up to meet the royals for dinner. As they were on their way out of the inn, they were met by the same messenger from before.

  The messenger was a man in his thirties with the same light brown hair and eyes that most of Altesia’s residents had. He was a bit more tanned than the average resident but that just meant that he was tanned at all. His face was clean shaven and his hair was kept mostly under a hat that shielded his eyes from the sun or rain. His clothing was all very common and even looked slightly used. Isaac wasn’t sure if the messenger just burned through clothing that quickly or if it was a conscious decision by the crown in order to help him hide his identity while working.

  “Lord Darkness, Lady V’Nova, there is a carriage waiting for you. If you would use it, it would honor us greatly.” He greeted the duo with a bow.

  “Lead on then.” Isaac told him and they followed him outside.

  Just outside of the inn’s front door there was a carriage that seemed to garner a lot of attention. It was ornate but every embellishment was entirely made out of the same ashwood as the rest of the carriage. It looked like it must’ve taken a handful of master carpenters weeks just to get all of the swirls, flowers, and eagles done just right. The glass windows had dyed brown curtains that matched the stained ashwood and all of the necessary metal hinges and such were brass. In all, it looked like it could have been from either a wealthy merchant or a noble who didn’t like to ride around surrounded by precious metals for some reason. It also could have been the private carriage of a double platinum level adventurer considering the price tag probably sat around a gold adventuring bounty payout. Add on the pair of horses and the driver and it just wouldn’t be worth it for an adventurer who wasn’t either a super successful platinum or the average double platinum to own.

  Isaac and Lenna were decently sure that it was the royals way to avoid too much attention while still not making their guests feel like they had been summoned via common carriage. Those thoughts didn’t slow the duo down as they entered the carriage and headed off to see the king and queen of Altia once again. This time with gifts.