Peaceful Life System: I only need to live peacefully

Riku saw the look on Aurelia's face. The blood had drained from her cheeks. Her hands were clenched into tight fists at her sides. It was not just recognition. It was something deeper. Something painful.

Lila noticed it too. She moved closer to Aurelia, her voice a low, worried whisper. "Aurelia? Are you alright? You look like you've seen a ghost."

Riku's gaze was fixed on the handsome, black-clad noble in the plaza. "You know him, don't you?" he asked, his voice quiet.

Aurelia didn't answer for a moment. She just stared. Her stormy grey eyes were filled with a whirlwind of emotions. Shock. Pain. And a deep, profound sense of betrayal.

"Yes," she finally whispered, her voice barely audible. "I know him."

She took a shaky breath. "His name is Davian. Davian Boros. He is the second son of Lord Boros of Ironhold."

"House Boros?" Lila repeated, her brow furrowed. "The ones who supply the military? The ones Caelus warned us about? What are they doing here? This is a matter for House Aris."

"I... I don't know," Aurelia stammered. "It makes no sense."

Riku looked from Davian's cold, confident face to Aurelia's pale, shaken one. "There's more to it, isn't there?" he asked gently. "You don't look like you're seeing a simple political rival."

Aurelia flinched. She looked down at the ground. "We... we grew up together," she said, her voice a low murmur. "For a time, our houses were allies. His father sent him to study at the Silverwood Academy for a few years. We were... friends."

She looked up, a sad, wistful look in her eyes. "He wasn't like the other boys from Ironhold. They were all loud and arrogant. They only cared about fighting and strength. But Davian... he was different. He was quiet. He was kind. He loved to read history books with me in the library."

A small, melancholy smile touched her lips. "He was my best friend."

"He doesn't look like a friend now," Lila said, her gaze sharp and suspicious.

Aurelia's smile faded. "No," she agreed, her voice heavy with a sorrow that went deeper than fear. "He is not."

She shook her head slowly. "Something happened. A few years ago, his older brother was killed in a border skirmish. Davian was recalled from the Academy. He was given command of a legion and sent to the front lines. He was gone for two years."

She looked at the cold, hard man in the plaza. "When he came back, he was... changed. The quiet, kind boy I knew was gone. He was replaced by this man. A cold, ruthless soldier. He started embracing the High Priest's teachings. The ones about strength and culling the weak."

The pieces were clicking into place. A rival house. A changed man. A political assassination plot.

"So he is the one," Riku said, his voice a low, dangerous rumble. "He is the one who put the bounty on your head."

Aurelia looked at him. Her eyes were filled with a deep, painful conflict. "I... I don't know," she whispered. "I don't want to believe he would do such a thing. The Davian I knew... he would never."

She looked back at the man in the plaza. "But that man... he is a stranger to me."

As if he could feel her gaze, Davian's head turned. His sharp, intelligent eyes swept over the crowd. They passed over the disguised Riku and Lila without a second glance.

Then, for a single, chilling moment, his eyes met Aurelia's.

There was no recognition. No flicker of surprise. Just a cold, empty, assessing gaze. The look a predator gives its prey.

Aurelia flinched and quickly looked away, her heart pounding in her chest.

It was him. It had to be. The kind boy she had known was truly gone. And in his place stood the man who potentially wanted her dead.

The crowd in the plaza was a sea of silent, watching faces. They stared at the handsome, black-clad noble who had just arrived. He was a son of a Great House. A commander of the Tempest Legion. He was a power they had only ever heard of in stories.

Davian Boros did not shout. He did not make threats. He simply stepped forward, his expression one of profound, solemn duty.

"People of Penitit," he began, his voice calm and clear. It carried across the plaza without the need for magic. "I am Davian of House Boros. I have not come here today as a lord. I have come as a son of Eldoria. A soldier who has bled for this kingdom."

He paused, letting his words sink in. A few people in the crowd exchanged skeptical glances.

"I have come because a great danger threatens our home," he continued. "A danger from within. A rot that seeks to poison the heart of our kingdom."

He gestured to the wanted poster on the wall of the guard's office. "You have seen the face of this danger. Lady Aurelia of House Aris."

A low murmur rippled through the crowd. House Aris was a merchant house. They were known for their wealth, not their treason. "House Aris? Traitors?" a woman whispered. "That can't be right."

"I know what you are thinking," Davian said, as if reading their minds. "House Aris has been a loyal part of this kingdom for generations. But the daughter is not the father. Lady Aurelia has turned her back on our ways. She has embraced the weak, sentimental philosophies of the southern kingdoms."

He began to pace slowly, his gaze sweeping over the crowd. "She consorted with forbidden magic. She communicated with foreign spies. She sought to undermine the very strength that has kept our kingdom safe for generations."

Riku watched, a grim expression on his face. He recognized the technique. It was a masterclass in manipulation.

He's not just giving a speech, Riku thought, a memory from his old world surfacing. He's crafting a narrative. He's Brutus, telling the people of Rome that he killed Caesar not because he was ambitious, but because he loved Rome more.

"Some of you may have known her," Davian continued, his voice now filled with a feigned sadness. "You may have known her as a kind, gentle girl who loved old books. But I ask you, in these hard times, is kindness a virtue? Or is it a weakness that invites our enemies to our door?"

The crowd grew quieter now. They were listening. The skepticism was being replaced by a thoughtful unease.

He stopped. He looked at the crowd, his eyes filled with a powerful, convincing fire. "My own brother died on the southern border, defending us from those very enemies! I will not stand by and watch a naive girl's foolish sentimentality undo his sacrifice!"

A wave of sympathy washed over the plaza. A few people nodded in agreement. The mood was shifting.

His voice rose, filled with a righteous fury. "She is a traitor! Not because she is evil, but because she is weak! And her weakness is a disease that threatens to infect us all!"

"He's right!" a man in the crowd shouted. "We cannot afford weakness!"

He raised a fist to the sky. "We are the Kingdom of Storms! We are a people of strength! Of order! We do not bow to our enemies! We do not coddle traitors!"

"I am not here to ask for your help as a noble," he roared. "I am here to ask for your help as a fellow son of Eldoria! Be my eyes! Be my ears! Help me find this traitor! Help me cut this rot from our kingdom, before it is too late!"

The crowd, which had been skeptical just moments before, now erupted.

They were no longer just a crowd. They were a mob. They roared their approval. They clapped. They cheered. They were completely and utterly convinced.

"For Eldoria!" they shouted. "Find the traitor!"

Davian stood before them, his expression one of cold, calculated triumph. He had not just given a speech. He had won a battle.

From the window of their inn room, Riku, Lila, and Aurelia watched the scene unfold.

Lila was speechless. "They... they believe him."

Aurelia just stared, her face pale. Her eyes were filled with a look of profound, devastating heartbreak. She saw her friends, her neighbors, the people of her kingdom, all turned against her by a few well-chosen words.

Riku said nothing. He just watched the master orator at work. He knew that their quest had just become infinitely more difficult. They were no longer just hiding from a rival noble.

They were now hiding from the entire kingdom.

Riku shook his head and gently took Aurelia's arm. "We need to go," he said. "Just in case someone among the nobles has something that can recognize you through the disguise."

He began to lead them away, moving carefully through the still-cheering crowd. They kept their heads down, melting into the chaos, just three more anonymous faces in a sea of angry citizens.

They didn't stop until they were back in the relative safety of their small, quiet inn room. Riku barred the door behind them.

The roar of the crowd was muffled, but the weight of their anger still pressed in on them.

Aurelia stumbled away from the door. She sank onto the edge of a simple wooden bed. Her hands were trembling.

"They all hate me," she whispered, her voice a broken sound. "They all want me dead."