"What would you like to ask about it, my lord?" Theo asked, curiosity edging his voice, making the man smile.

"We have received information that you tame insects rather than conventional beasts. Is that correct, Theo Merrick?" asked Vaelmont, the one in the middle.

Theo met the man’s gaze. While he felt like he understood the man’s line of thought, he still couldn’t pinpoint the exact thing.

"I do study and tame insects, my lord."

"Hmm... quite an unconventional take... I can’t help but almost think of it as a child’s creative imagination," the man spoke in a thoughtful manner before continuing, "but the rumors have been very accurate in terms of your achievements."

Theo couldn’t help but revise his impression; the man was more perceptive than he had taken him to be.

"Can you show me your beast?" Vaelmont asked, then looked at the head butler.

The butler shook his head. "My apologies, but Master Theo’s beast possesses a suppression ability that affects weaker minds. I cannot allow it to be summoned within the castle grounds."

"Hmm..." Vaelmont looked like his interest had only deepened, and he couldn’t help but speak again.

"In that case, I would like to invite you to my residence, Theo Merrick." The man then turned to Lucien, who had a calm expression on his face.

"You can come along too, Lucien Merrick. The more Merricks, the merrier," he joked, at which only the other two laughed.

Theo and Lucien followed with a polite, somewhat forceful chuckle, as it would be rude not to laugh at an old man’s joke.

The man’s gaze briefly passed over Merek before moving on, as though there was nothing he needed to say to him. 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝔀𝓮𝒃𝙣𝓸𝒗𝒆𝒍.𝙘𝒐𝒎

Which, in truth, was normal. Vaelmont had nothing to say to him, the same with all the others who were just staring at the conversation in silence.

The older nobles soon bid farewell and took their leave; only then did Theo take a deep breath of relief.

The head butler escorted them out of the castle, leaving them at the gate.

Once he was outside, Theo clenched and unclenched his fists several times, trying to ease his nerves and the tension in his body.

"So... this mission brought us closer to becoming nobles?" Kaelor asked, disbelief evident in his voice and face.

"And allowed the nobles to raise their rank, yes," Lucien answered right away. He stepped forward, facing the group.

"Now that we are officially done with the mission, let’s have a feast to celebrate it," Lucien said with a clap, a rare grin forming across his face.

In all the time everyone had been with him, none of them had seen Lucien smile like that.

Theo chuckled, taking a deep, steadying breath before moving to his brother, the attendants following closely behind. Then, he glanced back at the others.

"What are you all waiting for? Let’s go have that feast already."

Lysara’s eyes lit up with excitement, and Kaelor merely smiled. Garrick was still in shock, while Merek just clicked his tongue and started making his way toward the castle gates.

They watched the man pass through, get inside a carriage, and disappear as if it were the most normal thing in the world to do.

Kaelor had some things to say about him until he remembered who he was with right now. Nobles, all of them.

"He is finally gone," Theo said with a sigh of relief, drawing a chuckle from Clara and Elias.

At that moment, Kaelor noticed, just as he had countless times before, how casual Theo was with his attendants.

They made their way forward and boarded a carriage to return to the inn. Since the Merricks’ carriage could only hold five, they had to hire another.

Soon, the inn owner saw Theo and Lucien return, this time with a group in tow.

After Theo explained the situation, the man happily accommodated them, arranging for everyone to dine in the private room.

Once everyone was inside, Theo noticed the flabbergasted look on the trio, as if they had never seen so much food in one place before.

Lysara, in particular, looked utterly shocked. Theo couldn’t quite tell whether she came from a wealthy family or not.

Until, in the middle of the feast, Theo finally asked her.

"Miss Lysara, what family do you belong to?"

Lysara froze mid-bite, then looked at Theo with a surprised expression; she quickly chewed and gulped it down before answering.

"You likely wouldn’t know my family, young master. We are a small merchant group in the southern part of the kingdom—the Venth Merchants," she said with a polite smile.

Theo returned the smile and nodded. "That’s fascinating. Your family must have been proud when you awakened a healer affinity, Miss Lysara."

His words made her smile even more.

"Yes, they were very happy about it. My studies in the academy were all focused on healing affinity, which helped me get into this mission," she spoke.

The more questions Theo asked, the more comfortable she grew with him—until she asked a question of her own.

"Is there a break going on in your academy, young master? A summer break?" she asked, curious as to how he had been selected for the mission when there were classes to attend.

Theo awkwardly smiled at her question. "I left the academy a few months ago, Miss Lysara. I am not attending any at the moment."

At that moment, Kaelor, who had already been watching their conversation and had wanted to facepalm himself, felt even more embarrassed for her.

There was no way anyone in the kingdom hadn’t heard about the Merricks’ youngest and his conflict with the academy.

She fell silent for a moment before taking a sip of a drink from the side.

"I-I see," she said, with nothing else to add.

Seeing her expression, Theo couldn’t help but laugh out loud. There was no way she was this cute.

"Don’t worry about it. I left because my interests didn’t align at the time. I am quite happy at the moment."