Pier was pissed. It had been quite some time now after the nobles of the Royalty Faction had gathered. The meeting was immediately started and they proceeded with the plan's discussion.

"Can we hear the young master's entirety of the plan?" Gaston said as he looked at Pier. Pier flinched as he was uncomfortable with the stares he got from the man.

The nobles are currently in the Crown Prince's study room. Normally, any gathering of the Royalty Faction would be held with everyone's knowledge from both nobility and commoners but this time, they wanted to keep the details secret so as to prevent the news of the anti-royalty faction's subjugation.

Pier sighed as expectant gazes landed on him. He still couldn't comprehend how his silly plan was the best solution they could come up with in stopping the opposing faction.

"The plan is simple. Conduct a gathering of the nobles who support and are included in the Royalty faction. Let the news spread in the entirety of the kingdom. Surely the anti-royalty faction would come considering it is a gathering of the Royalty Faction, I suppose?" Pier explained. He definitely did not want to explain his silly plan but he felt like he would be pestered nonstop if he were to keep his mouth shut.

The nobles present in the room nodded their heads.

"But what if they don't come?" A noble of ranking that's on the lower side spoke.

"Then the celebration will go on. There's no reason not to enjoy it if they won't come, right?" Pier smiled at them. His smile gave them an unpleasant and foreboding feeling.

"If we are to speak of continuing the celebration, are we assured that we will be safe?" Gaston asked another question. Pier had the urge to roll his eyes at the young noble's annoying face.

"It is up to the plan of distributing guards in the vicinity. However, we cannot rely on the guards and knights." Pier said and Asher nodded in agreement.

"We can ask his majesty to lend us some of his trusted subordinates. I am sure he will consider if we explain the plan properly." The king's subordinates are some of the most influential individuals in the kingdom. They are not simply the nobility under his rulership but also the best of talents that are found within the kingdom.

"But your highness, don't you think we are risking ourselves too much?" A mild and soothing voice of a woman asked. It was Elena.

"I agree, your highness. Our safety is of the utmost importance in this!" Another added. Pier, who was silently eating a cookie looked up and saw one specific gaze secretly given to him.

'Hoh, this lady has guts.' He found it funny how Elena was always trying to provoke him every time they meet.

"I simply wanted to give my honest opinion but isn't the young master's plan too reckless?" Another noble said.

"I agree. It would be absurd for us to put our safety on the line." Another one was added. Pier listened to their complaints and nodded his head silently.

'Indeed, it is reckless, I was simply trying to suggest a plan that came up in mind without having too much thought about it but everyone accepted it without complaints.' He mentally thought.

"Young master, please do think over your plans. If we are to follow your ideas then the chances of the Royalty Faction getting destroyed is higher than us capturing the anti-royalty faction!" Arda added with her voice quivering as if she were scared.

Pier grabbed the teacup in front of him which contained tea that was halfway consumed and drank it leisurely. The complaints from the nobles in the background were giving him a slight headache.

The pleasant aroma of the tea entered his nose and calmed his system. He opened his eyes and the complaints still continued as if they were a pile of garbage.

"Is the young master trying to put us in danger?"

Snap!

His patience with these unsightly nobles snapped into two. He closed his eyes for a few seconds and opened them.

"Enough." Asher's authoritative voice was heard by everyone. Immediately the complaints stopped and the air was dead silent. Asher was about to voice out his thoughts when Pier asked him first.

"Your Highness, I want to ask the nobles present here a question," He said as he placed the teacup down on the table and crossed his arms. Asher nodded his head permitting Pier to proceed with his question.

"Ask away, young master."

"Who asked me if I had any opinions about the plan for the anti-royalty faction?" Pier's face was contorted into an emotionless one. Not a sign of anything was present.

"I-It is I, young master," Arda said as she suddenly felt quite nervous facing Pier's emotionless face. Her confidence in raising complaints against Pier's plans was starting to dwindle.

"Then what happened when I took time in answering?" Pier asked another question. He crossed his legs under the table and sat comfortably in the chair. He did not care if other nobles found his actions improper. No, he never cared in the first place.

Arda was silent as she silently thought about what to answer. She opened her mouth and spoke.

"I urged the young master to answer, of course, we needed everyone's opinion-"

"I did not say I wanted any explanations, Lady Arda. I wanted to know what the lady did when I took time answering." He rubbed the thumb and pointer finger of his left arm while still having his arms crossed on his chest.

"Young master, it is not the proper way to speak to a lady!" Elena chimed in.

'Oh my, you should've kept your mouth shut.' Pier thought as he heard Elena's complaint.

"And is it the right way of speaking to accuse the young master from the Belmiunde Household of reckless endangerment, Lady Elena?" Elena froze in her seat after hearing Pier's response. If they were going to bring etiquette and status to this meeting then he would not back down.

"Lady Cornell asked and urged me to give my opinions and when I did, what did his highness say?" Pier turned to look at Asher who was watching the exchange of words between the two.

"I said it was a good plan, young master." Pier nodded his head.

"That is correct. His highness did." Pier chuckled at his own actions. Why is he even spending time here with such unpleasant individuals when he could have been practicing his magic back at the household?

"The meeting adjourned after everyone agreed with the plan I gave," He stated and the nobles silently sat in their seats listening to Pier's words.

"Yet, not a single person raised their concerns with it. Lady Cornell even said the plan was good, right?" the way Pier spoke right now was at the borderline of proper and improper, but no, he did not care. He wanted to make the nobles who were opening their mouths like a bunch of goats under the rain shut up.

Arda nodded her head in response. Her pretty face was distorted in a slightly unpleasant way with how Pier was questioning her actions in the past meeting. She felt like she was being put on a trial with how Pier was affirming and questioning everyone in the room.

"No one gave me the time to further explain my point and the gathering ended with everyone having light feelings for the proposed plan. Now, most of the nobles present here are calling my plans absurd and I am being accused of purposely risking the safety of the nobles in the Royalty faction." Pier stopped for a moment and scanned his eyes around everyone in the room.

Asher and Raphael were silent, they knew they were at fault as well for not having enough initiative to organize things properly in the first place. They were overwhelmed with the idea of subjugating the anti-royalty faction that they postponed the discussion.

'I ruined it again.' Asher knew what Pier was getting at right now.

Elena on the other hand was in disbelief at how the nobles acted when Pier started talking. She was even more surprised that Pier was talking in the meeting.

"Another question, Lady Cornell. Did I tell anyone in here that they should take my suggestion? No, pardon. I'd like to address the question towards everyone here present in this gathering. Did I?" He looked at the nobles who opened their mouths earlier one by one yet every single person avoided his cold gaze.

"That's correct. I did not. Now, why did it seem like I forced my suggestion into this plan with the way you criticize and accuse me? I guess you have enough talent and confidence to stand up against such accusations to the successor of the Belmiunde Household?" Arda's face became beet red at the comparison of power and rankings with Pier. Her family has power itself, but compared to the influence and power the Belmiunde Household has, it was like comparing a puddle to an ocean.

What could a family that controls a portion of the textile industry do against the household that produces the best protectors of the highest quality in the kingdom for centuries?

Eliam did not care if he would look like the antagonist in a novel right now but he wanted to protect Pier's image. Why would he bother talking so much and explaining his plans when in the first place, these nobles were the first to attach accusations to him?

If they wanted to accuse him of such things then they must have enough power to beat him in status, right? In fact, if only the original Pier did manage his connections well instead of chasing the Crown Prince nonstop, he would have been able to build the foundation for his own influence that cannot be shaken by any nobles or factions in the kingdom.

"T-That's..." Arda's eyes started to dampen as she felt the embarrassment from Pier's words slowly sink in.

"Young master, I beg you to stop!" Elena was in a state of panic seeing her friend start to crumble down in Pieces just from exchanging words with the young master.

"I was just asking questions, Lady Elena." Pier smiled and shrugged his shoulders as if he did not care if anyone would cry from his words. They all seemed like children to Eliam right now who easily cries at the words of another person.

"Ah, if the Lady is against my plans, then I suppose you have better ideas yourself?" Pier said as he picked up the teacup that was refilled by the servants stationed outside of the room.

Elena's posture stiffened after Pier's attention was directed toward her.

"If we are risking ourselves too much, then what does the lady have in mind that we should do instead?" Pier was targeting each and every noble right now. They started the fight then he shall contend with them.

"I..." In fact, Elena did not have any plans for the issue. She simply wanted to question the eligibility of Pier's ideas before it is actualized.

"Should we instead cower in fear behind our big mansion doors and hope the bad guys won't hurt us?" Mockery. It was a complete mockery of how Pier spoke. It seemed like he was speaking to a child with the terms he was using.

"Young master, that's enough," Asher's cold voice was heard again by the nobles. Pier and Asher stared at each other for a moment before Asher took his gaze away. How could he not, he was the Crown Prince yet it felt like Pier was looking down on him even without any form of words.

"Then this would be enough as well, your highness. Please do pardon my actions if I offended anyone. I simply do not want to be labeled as a criminal for risking the noble's lives in the plan that I gave." Asher knew this too. He knew Pier was simply defending himself from the nobles but he also just could not watch the lady he loved be spoken to like that by other individuals.

"I have already given my idea but I have to concede my involvement with the plan. I am giving the full rights and recognition to those who wanted to actualize it if everyone decided to proceed." Pier announced his parting from the plan. He no longer desired to involve himself with these matters.

Pier knew his plan was lacking in an aspect for he thought of it in the spur of the moment, but that did not give the nobles the right to accuse him of such acts. If taken seriously, he could actually come up with ideas and even thought of some when he was questioned. However, he lost all reason to even help Asher's faction right now.

"I am still His Highness' supporter. However, I also do not condone an attitude from my fellow noble that is full of atrocity. Please do well in the issue of the anti-royalty faction. I shall support whatever decision you come up with." Pier then settled the teacup once more at the table.

'I'm so useless.' Asher's thoughts were running wild after hearing Pier depart from the plan.