Shackled Exalted

Emil

He walked towards Sven with a calm façade. The overseer appeared to gesture at him in his periphery, but Emil ignored him. The annoying ring in his ears still dulled his hearing, but in this situation, he was grateful for the temporary disability. It would be a flimsy excuse, but it gave him plausible deniability for what he was about to do next.

Sven remained incapacitated on the ground. His chest heaved with difficulty. The warrior was still conscious, eyeing Emil's approach with curiosity. His mouth twisted into an arrogant sneer as Emil loomed over him.

"Go on," Sven seemed to say.

"Gladly."

Emil's hands twitched with rage. He balled his fingers into a fist and drove the knuckle straight into Sven's jaws. The man's head twisted sideways, spitting out blood. Emil gave him another one, adding his weight into the swing this time.

"That's enough!"

The overseer's voice blared from behind. The sounds of the Training Grounds suddenly became clear. Shocked gasps and angry protests showered from the spectators above as they denounced his beatdown. Emil paid them no mind as his hearing steadily recovered.

Thud!

A couple of Belle Exalted dropped down from the ground floor onto the sparring field. Emil immediately conjured a set of stone protrusions near their positions.

"Stand back," he warned, not hiding his hostility, "I'm not done with him yet."

The Belle Exalted readied themselves to fight until Sven raised his hand and waved them down.

"Just one more, alright?" he muttered between bloodied teeth, "Any more and my colleagues won't be able to hold back."

"Sure," Emil brought his fist up and hammered down on Sven's face.

***

The air in the Training Grounds was thick with malice as Emil rose to his feet. The Belle Exalted in the sparring field were glaring at him like a pack of hungry hounds, ready to pounce at a moment's notice. Emil ignored them and watched Sven instead. The man's body was a mess. Fresh lacerations and bruises decorated his abdomen from the hits he took from Bulwark. His eyes were rolled back, unconscious. His face was coated in his own blood and there was a hole in his mouth where a tooth once was.

You got off easily considering that you made an attempt on my life.

"As for my reward for winning this 'spar', you now owe me a personal debt," he said loudly for all the spectators to hear.

Emil pried his cold gaze away and directed his attention at the overseer. The old butler was watching him with a sharp gaze as if he was evaluating his every action.

"So? Are you satisfied?" Emil asked.

The butler raised an eye, confounded by the question. His gaze was unfriendly as though offended by his curt attitude.

"Answer me! How much longer do you plan on continuing this farce?!"

The Training Grounds fell deafening quiet. Emil didn't miss the shocked expressions on the nearby Belle Exalted's faces. Their tense reactions effectively confirmed his suspicions.

Before anyone could respond, a figure suddenly descended from the second floor. A small layer of frost gathered by their feet to cushion their landing. They stood up with immaculate posture and poise befitting of an ideal warrior. With a handsome androgynous face, they motioned for the startled Belle Exalted to stand down.

"Hello, Emil. Great job. That was a wonderful match," Liesel said. Her tone was calm and composed, but her eyes shone with a childish excitement.

She hasn't changed at all, Emil thought, suddenly reminded of their conversations before and after the Clash of Dawn. Liesel might have appeared as a regal woman of House Belle, but in truth, her nature was like a child, searching for playmates to challenge her status as the Prodigy of Ardair.

Liesel turned to face the overseer. "Father, don't you think this is enough? Evaluating Emil is one thing, but this is going a bit too far. I'm going to be mad if you continue to treat my classmate and guest with such indignity."

I knew it.

The overseer appeared deep in thought before finally letting out a heavy sigh. The hardened expression on his face faded as the façade crumbled. He reached for the back of his head and pulled off his disguise. The gray hair was apparently a wig. Liesel handed him a towel and he used it to wipe away the makeup that had been used to alter his features.

Now, with the mask gone, the former butler looked much younger than he initially appeared.

"Emil Milligan, my name is Otto von Belle," Liesel's father said with authority, "Welcome to House Belle."

***

After a brief checkup by the on-site medical staff and some careful stitching to seal the wound above his sternum, Emil was led to a private room on the second floor of the Training Grounds.

Otto was waiting for him. The butler who escorted Emil to the Belle estate this morning was in the room, brewing tea. Delilah was present as well, greeting him with a slight nod. Judging by the audience, they were probably giving Otto their assessments of him.

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"Take a seat." Otto invited him over. Once Emil sat down across from him on the coffee table, the butler served both of them a cup of the fragrant tea. Without another word, both him and Delilah promptly left the room, leaving him alone with Otto.

"How are your injuries?"

"Fine," Emil replied, tactically adopting a curt attitude. He wanted to make it clear that he was still displeased over what happened during the spar with Sven.

"That's good to hear," Otto said while taking a sip of the tea. He was notably more casual compared to when he was pretending to be a butler of the estate. "I can understand why my daughter is so intrigued by you now. You have a lot of talent as an Exalted. You're also clearly intelligent, judging by how you foiled all my associates' attempts to evaluate your interests and how you figured out who I was. But beneath all of this veneer, there's also a monstrous side to you that can't be dismissed."

Emil nearly scoffed. "Don't be mistaken. If Sven hadn't deliberately attacked me with an intent to kill, I would have been more civil. Once you didn't rule his attempt as an illegal attack, it was no longer a spar."

"I apologize for that."

Otto suddenly lowered his head. Emil raised an eye, perplexed. Nobles rarely showed deferential behavior, especially to those of common birth. Whether it was because they had to maintain their image as an elite or because they truly believed in their supremacy, it was simply something that they never did.

Interesting. He's more reasonable than I thought given that he's the head of the second most powerful family in Ardair. Or is this just him being shrewd to get onto my good side?

"It was Sven's idea. He saw your match against Liesel in the Clash of Dawn finals. His assessment of you at the time was that you were someone who rarely went all out unless there was an important stake on the line. I'm afraid to say that he might have been correct," Otto explained, "If you had fought Liesel like you did today, I think you would have been crowned the new Prodigy."

Emil shrugged.

"I don't know about that. I really did try my best during the finals. But the version of me today can't be compared to who I was a month ago."

"Fair point. I'll mention that I was also in the audience that day. The growth you've shown since then is frankly outrageous," Otto revealed, "I've never seen my daughter so excited before when talking about someone her age. She was always reticent since she was so much stronger than everyone else. That being said, imagine my surprise when she suddenly decided to annul her marriage with Prince Rory."

Emil frowned. "She told me that you gave her the option to choose. Surely, you're not going to pretend that you didn't see this development happening."

"I just want her to be happy," Otto said with a pensive smile, "People like to paint me as an ambitious man who wants authority. In truth, I'm just someone who wants the best for my family. Unfortunately, the nature of this kingdom compels me to accumulate power to achieve that goal."

Emil kept silent and took a sip of his tea. The fragrant, yet gentle flavors danced in his mouth.

I know how he feels, he thought, thinking about Mia and Raz. The mere remembrance of Mia's kidnapping nearly made him wince in pain. Ardair was becoming a dangerous place thanks to Vigil's emergence and the resulting power struggle between the royal family and the elites. But it's hard for me to sympathize with him. Indirectly or not, House Belle is one of the causes behind this current tension.

"Anyways, that's enough pleasantries. Let's talk about you instead."

Otto set his cup down and folded his hands. The gesture was subtle, but the atmosphere of the room changed in an instant.

"I've looked in your background, Emil."

Shit.

His reaction was instinctual. Emil froze for a second, nearly losing his composure. Chills rushed down his spine. I knew this was going to happen eventually. Once he made his name for himself in the Clash of Dawn, he was bound to get interested parties investigating his origins. Still, this was the first time that he had been so blatantly confronted with the fact.

He forced himself to sip his tea with a calm façade. When it came to keeping his information safe, he had no choice but to rely on Steiger to conceal his true background.

"Don't worry, it's customary procedure. But," Otto paused, his eyes suddenly narrowing, "I thought it was strange. Your background is quite humble. Just a commoner living in Lower Dannan's industrial district. That's fine and all, except you're anything but normal."

Otto trailed off. The implications of his words lingered in the air.

How much does he know? Emil tried to discern Otto's intentions. Is he trying to understand how I became who I am? Or is he insinuating that he has suspicions about my origins?

Sweat clung to his back. He wanted to probe Otto more to see how much he figured out. If he knew about Mia or Raz's existence, then Emil had to consider drastic actions. Steiger's shackles were tight enough, and he refused to let another party use them to exploit him.

No, I have to believe that Steiger did their jobs properly. Even if Otto does know about Mia and Raz, his knowledge only becomes useful once he reveals it to me as a threat. I can decide what to do then. If he tries to do anything to Mia and Raz without my knowledge, then he would have to be ready to confront Steiger.

He tried to go with a vague reply.

"I don't know what to say. I am who I am," he stated nonchalantly, "One's talent as an Exalted is not determined by the circumstances of their birth. Plenty of Exalted became formidable even without being in the proper environment to nurture it. It's why the Academy does not discriminate against lineage when admitting new students."

"Fair point."

He conceited much easier than I expected. Maybe he doesn't know more than what Steiger laid out.

"Then answer me this instead—what's your relation to Princess Aoife?"

The abrupt change in topic caught Emil off-guard.

"We're friends. Classmates," he blurted out, much to his chagrin.

Otto narrowed his eyes. "Is that really all?"

It took a moment for Emil to decipher his intent.

"Princess Aoife did bring up the possibility of me aligning with the royal family."

"And?"

"I didn't give her an answer," Emil replied, choosing his words deliberately. Nothing he had said so far had been a lie.

"Then, will you consider joining House Belle?" Otto asked without missing a beat, "You've seen the facilities, resources, and privileges available to you as an Exalted associate. And while I'm still not certain of what drives you, I will do my best to work with you to achieve your goals. As the governor of Isarelle, I can promise your treatment will not be any lesser than the nobles and elites residing in the city."

And there it is.

Otto's offer would have been irresistible, had his circumstances been more normal. Still, Emil didn't want to outright reject it. He was in a unique situation as a Steiger agent who had the opportunity to enter an elite household. If Hortensia commanded, House Belle's offer would be the perfect entry point for him to infiltrate the upper echelons of elite society.

"I like to keep my options open for now."

"May I ask why?"

Emil sat up straight, going through his rehearsed response in his head. He had contemplated his answer to this question since his arrival at Isarelle. As a commoner who's unaffiliated with any faction, what reason did he have to hesitate to accept an offer from House Belle? In the end, only this response made any semblance of sense.

"With Vigil's appearance, Ardair's status quo is being shaken up. The royal family and the Council of Mana have taken hits to their prestige while the elite factions are desperate to build up their power. I'm not oblivious to these rising tensions. Ardair is quickly becoming a powder keg of power struggles."

Emil paused. Otto listened without offering a single word of objection.

"For now, I wish to observe," Emil continued.

"And see which faction has better odds of winning the inevitable power struggle?"

Emil nodded.

Otto leaned back into his seat, a conspiratorial smile emerging on his face. "You really are an intriguing young man." He stood up, signaling the abrupt end to their discussion. "Out of respect for my daughter's wish, I'll keep my offer open for the moment. However, one word of advice—"

His gaze sharpened with steel.

"It's good to be patient and vigilant. Being a neutral party in a factional war gives you a lot of implicit power. But it also means that you're alone if you ever find yourself become a target. Don't wait too long to choose."

Otto stood up. Pressure exuded from his looming form. For the first time since their meeting, Emil got a true glimpse of the man who led the second most powerful house in the kingdom.

"And when you do, make sure you don't regret your choice."