“Tell me, princess,” Regis looked her in the eyes while his tone turned serious as he began to plan his counterattack. “What do you know about the Argent family?”

“Only that they are part of the Exiled Court, and that they’re willing to pledge their loyalty to house Andrade. A pledge we’ll gladly accept, given the dire situation.”

“Then you are hopeless.”

“You...” Sir Godfrey growled as he reached for his sword, but Regis continued without even flinching at the obvious danger.

“You might want to keep that domain active,” he looked at the Archbishop. “I don’t want my words to be seen as empty lies.”

The man nodded as he reinforced his ‘truth seeker’ domain before letting the loremaster continue.

“Back on Earth, magic thinned out so much that even casting a simple arcana bolt counted as a great achievement and a great waste of resources. Most of the great mage families who still acted as nobles despite the nobility system being abolished centuries ago knew about the planar convergence and were waiting for the chance to leave Earth for a world that better suited them. Can you guess which family was counted amongst the strongest with surprisingly abundant arcana, despite it supposedly being out to near non-existence?”

“The Argents.” Princess Helena answered immediately.

“Exactly. According to the rule of equivalent exchange, one cannot gain something without giving up something of equal value. Arcana won’t just appear out of nowhere unless you know how to earn it. And they did.”

“What are you implying?”

“Sacrificial rituals,” the loremaster remarked. “The Argents owned several funeral parlours, using it as a disguise to get fresh corpses to sacrifice in exchange for power.”

“While it is considered distasteful,” Archbishop Philip noted. “It is not outlawed to do such things in Ecragurne.”

“Neither was it outlawed back on Earth,” Regis agreed. “But making deals with demons was.”

“Demons,” Sir Godfrey repeated the word with enough venom to kill everyone present in the dining hall. “That is a serious accusation unless you have proof.”

“If we had proof, their entire family would have already been wiped out even before setting foot on this world. They were always good at covering up their businesses, but it was still well-known that the family’s main field of arcane studies revolved around blood magic and summoning. Anyone who stepped forward claiming that they had proof of the Argents’ demon deals tended to soon die in an accident. That along with their unscrupulous way of doing things brought up way too many rumours about them. The one thing I do have proof of is Natalie’s powers. Back in Hunor, one of my comrades of that time lured me to a tavern by telling me that another one of our friends was needing my help.”

Here he stopped to think things through.

“When I arrived, the place was filled with dark elves of the Exiled Court with Natalie and Etienne at the front. She said that she only wanted to talk to me and given the fact that I was surrounded, I had little choice in the matter. The three of us entered a study and she began to make an offer to me to lure me into their family’s services as an infusion enchanter.”

“I take it you said no.” Helena deduced.

“I did more than that. As Natalie gave her speech about how misunderstood her family was and how all the rumours were just made up by the other families because they were jealous, she felt so convincing. When she made her offer, it felt perfect. Non-refusable. But it wasn’t an offer.”

Regis sighed as a visible shudder ran along her spine.

“The whole time she talked, she was using a charming ability, lulling me into her offer. If it wasn’t for my high willpower, I wouldn’t have even noticed that something was wrong. Then it dawned on me that there were rumours about her having some kind of allure ability and I managed to snap out of her spell. I snapped, killed her and her brother, then made my escape from Hunor.”

“You... killed her?” Helena asked with her eyes widened by surprise as she glanced over to the dark elf woman in the distance for a split second.

“Outlanders are notoriously hard to kill,” Regis remarked with a smirk. “We thought we were at least somewhat safe after getting out of Hunor, but we were wrong. We only found out later in East Fork that the Argents caught one of our comrades and replaced him with a shapeshifter to spy on us. That’s how they must have found out about me practising transmutation alchemy. And now, they tried to use that same information to get me arrested so that I wouldn’t hinder their plans in any way. Whatever they’re planning, it won’t end well for anyone but them.”

“I...” Helena tried to speak, but her thoughts were in disarray.

“That’s the kind of snake you’re trying to bring under your rule. I don’t have the right to make suggestions, but if you’re willing to accept a piece of advice; you better stay the hell away from them or you’ll end up like the rest of us. Used and discarded.”

“That is quite a lot to take in if it is true.” Sir Godfrey noted as he looked at the Argents, then back at the loremaster.

“You can always use your ‘truth seeker’ domain to question me about the matter, although I can only speak with certainty of the things I know for sure.”

“There’s no need,” the archbishop shook his head as the light faded around them. “I’ve dealt with enough people throughout my life to recognise genuine hatred, shame and worry. I can easily tell that you’ve said what you believe to be true even without my domain.”

“Even so,” Godfrey cut into their conversation. “We cannot act recklessly in this matter. Even if weakened by the war and its aftermath, the Exiled Court is not something to take lightly. Especially not now with the matter of the succession is still unsolved.”

“Still,” the princess looked Regis in the eye. “I am grateful that you brought this to our attention. I can only apologise for our distrust toward you regarding the matter of your... alchemy practices and promise that we’ll convey the matter of the Argent family to my father, or whichever brother of mine shall succeed him.”

“As long as you’re wary of their actions, it’s fine with me. Now if you’ll excuse me, I think we’ve already spent too much time on the matter as it is. It’s best if we re-join the others or they’ll have even more time to gossip about us.”

“Agreed.” Sir Godfrey said as Helena nodded at the elderly spellcaster outside the barrier.

The old man dismissed the barrier, much to the excitement of the nobles present.

“Thank you for your time, Lord Regis,” Princess Helena said loudly. “And I sincerely hope that you will continue supporting our kingdom in these trying times.”

“Of course, your highness.” Regis answered diplomatically while bowing slightly.

He turned around to leave, walking back to Tristan and Quentin with a slight smile on his face. Everyone seemed to be taken aback by his relaxed attitude which suggested that their veiled conversation was quite amicable, despite the archbishop using his ‘truth seeker’ domain on the dark elf.

“Looks like everything went well over there.” Quentin remarked quietly as the loremaster finally reached them.

“Well, I’m still alive, so that should count as a success on its own. We’ll talk about the rest when we’re back home. Oh, and Tristan…”

“Yes, milord?” The steward looked at him worried.

“Remind me later to increase the prices of our enchanting services by at least fifteen percent when it comes to the Royal Army.”

“But…”

“I hate it when people point their weapons at me like I’m a fucking criminal or something.”

“The Third part of the assembly shall now begin,” Godfrey said loudly. “Everyone, please take your seats!”

The people present finally stopped their hushed gossip and returned to their seats, some of them still glancing toward Regis with unveiled curiosity or glee. When everyone was seated Princess Helena looked at Lord Andrew, giving him a slight nod. The nobleman looked at the men and women around him before speaking up.

“As it was stated at the beginning of the assembly, the third part will allow you to voice your concerns in matters regarding your territories. Some of you have already voiced your wish to speak up during the resting time, so we shall begin with those people. Lord Humphrey if you would.”

“Yes, thank you,” the balding mop-haired man cleared his throat. “I’d like to inform the crown...”

What followed was a lengthy two or so hours filled with personal grievances, marriage proposals and heated arguments which stemmed from failed trade negotiations. Halfway into that time, Regis was seriously contemplating the repercussions of openly casting a silencing barrier around himself so that he could fall asleep in the magic-induced silence.

“If things go on like this for another hour,” Quentin whispered to him. “I’m going to smack myself in the head.”

“Anything to stop the pain, huh?” The loremaster teased, although he too found the idea tempting.

About half an hour later the last aggrieved noble finished as well, ending the third part of the assembly.

“Lord Regis,” the loremaster heard Lord Andrew call out to him. “You have been awfully quiet during the last part of our assembly. Do you have anything to add regarding your territory?”

“Not really,” he shrugged. “Our people work hard to make their lives return to normal. My trade agreements and such provide us with whatever is necessary, so I can’t say we have troubles on par with those present.” Here he stopped for a moment as a thought came up in his mind. Although he planned not to bring the matter up, that was before the royals decided to interrogate him with weapons drawn

“However,” he hummed. “I did recently have an unwelcome visitor. A few days ago a tax collector showed up at our territory’s entrance, rambling on about annual taxes and punishments if we fail to comply.”

“A tax collector?” Sir Godfrey asked surprised.

“I was as surprised as you are, but he was adamant that we were to pay taxes, despite not even being part of Ecragurne. Thanks to Sir Quentin’s ‘truth seeker’ domain, we managed to find out that they were sent by the third prince.”

“What?” Helena asked back baffled by his words. “Are you certain?”

“As certain as you were after Archbishop Philip used his domain to question me,” he jabbed back verbally. “My question on the matter is whether this was a one-time occurrence, or if I should expect similar visits in the future?”

“Most definitely not,” Sir Godfrey immediately stated with a serious tone. “The third prince had been disowned by house Andrade nearly two years ago, banished to the territory of Lurms-wroth. He has no right to collect taxes of any kind outside of his meagre territory.”

“Even though he is no longer part of the royal family,” Helena sighed. “I must still apologize for his actions. House Andrade respects the sovereignty of the territories outside of our kingdoms’ borders, so you shall have no such visitors in the future under House Andrade’s banner. Any tax brought upon by your trade agreements with people from Ecragurne will be shouldered by them, which will likely be included in said trade agreements.”

“I see,” the dark elf nodded. “Thank you for clarifying things for me, your highness. I have no further questions.”

Hearing that, Lord Andrew looked at Godfrey, earning a nod from the man.

“In that case, the third part of the assembly shall be concluded.”

“Thank you all for attending,” Helena said as she stood up. “May the Seven protect you and your subjects!”

“May the Seven protect your Highness!” The nobles responded as one, watching the princess and her entourage leave the dining hall.

“So,” the familiar voice of Perry resounded from behind the dark elf. “What was all that about with the princess? They seemed quite serious with all the guards and that magic barrier.”

“Here for more gossip?” Regis asked with a smirk, the young man looking quite aggrieved by the accusation.“I would never… fine. Yes, I’m here for gossip, but can you blame me? One moment everything is fine, the next moment you get sealed away with the archbishop interrogating you. Everyone said something else when the reason behind it came up.”

“And you want to find out from me? There’s not much to it. They wanted to make sure that I wasn’t a threat to the kingdom. As a noble from outside their borders, they wanted to know if I had any affiliations with the other nations, or if I was working for them.”

“And?”

“Do you think I’d still be here if the answers weren’t to their liking?”

“I guess no,” Perry deflated after hearing the lacklustre explanation. “At least they did not drag you away as that Verhen fellow.”

“Yeah, there’s that. Anyway, it was nice to meet you, Perry.”

“Are you leaving already?” The lordling looked at him surprised. “The day is still young and there’s plenty to eat, drink and talk about.”

“I wish that I could stay, but I’m on a tight schedule. Being a lord and a craftsman leaves little in the way of spare time.”

“I see. Well, it was nice to meet you, Lord Regis. I hope we can meet again soon.”

“Likewise.” He shook hands with Perry before turning to say his goodbyes to the few people he made acquaintances with.

“Looks like you’re not planning to stay either.” Regis noted as he caught Zola and Galen leaving the manor as well.

“I’d rather leave before they begin digging for more information to use against me in the future.”

“That bad, huh?”

“Can you believe some of them even had the gall to ask me if we plan to strengthen our alliance through marriage?”

“I don’t see how that could even work if we both have our territories,” the spell weaver shook his head. “Stuff like that usually happens through marrying off one’s second or third-born child. Right?”

"That is not the point,” Zola said frustrated while walking. “You have stated quite clearly that you have a fiance already and yet they still implied that we were lovers.”

“What did you expect from a bunch of stuck-up pricks?” Galen asked, surprising everyone. “They live to gossip and scheme against each other. You will learn that over time.”

“Either way, it was nice to see you again.” Regis claimed as they reached the gateway.

“Likewise,” Galen agreed as they shook hands. “Do come to visit us sometime, alright?”

“Will do.” He nodded as he watched them step onto the rune-carved platform, only to disappear in a flash of light.

They did the same, vanishing from White-spire Keep and reappearing in Thornfell.