房客(糙汉)何璐程曜坤

All the guards could not leave their post – no matter how peaceful the day was, their orders were clear – but still, one of them rushed after the Espine's carriage still trying to stop them.

"How can there be such a clueless man amongst the guards?! You will see, fool, you and all of your friends who tried to stop the duke and duchess Espine will be thrown to the streets for your disrespect!"

The coachman scoffed furiously when another attempt was made and it seemed that even if the guard laid flat on the ground to create an obstacle, he would run over him without hesitation.

"NO! He is right there! That black-haired martial artist singlehandedly subdued all of King's Guard! He said that he will kill the Espines on sight! What are you all doing?! You must have received the warning!"

The guard really was a good guy, he was basically crying as he ran beside the carriage while pointing in a panic to the three people standing right in front of the inner castle's gate.

"Don't be delusional. We are a the brink of war so the royal family started spreading false rumors about some powerful ally that showed up out of nowhere. It's all empty bullshit. And there's no way that someone would be so stupid to try to raise their hand on the Espine family!"

...but all the goodwill ended up bouncing off the thick layer of coachman's pride...

"You there, stop following my carriage or I will melt that armor of yours while you are still inside."

"...!"

The door to the carriage opened a little bit and the hostile voice of duke Epsine sent chills down the guard's spine and made him stop in place.

"I'm sorry for the audacious inconvenience, my lord...!"

"It's not your fault that the people at the royal castle are all fools."

The coachman called out over his shoulder, bowing his head to the side and the benevolent nobleman scoffed before shutting the door.

Meanwhile...

"Zoemi... Mizoe... you two can't be serious, right...? You can't attack the head of the Espine family! Hell, attacking ANYONE from the great families will get you in huge trouble!"

Leveo looked between the two men and reached out, grabbing their sleeves trying to speak some sense into them.

"Really? They were the first ones to attack my family. Not to mention I saw the exception of the previous head of the Derizno family a few days ago and nothing happened. You're worrying too much."

Zoemi shrugged his shoulders without turning to face the brown-haired girl and was announced as if he was speaking about the weather.

"You...! What?!"

Leveo gasped and tugged on his sleeve, demanding answers.

...but she got none – as the carriage arrived in front of them...

"Make way for duke and duchess Espine!"

The coachman scoffed trying to chase the trio away from the inner gate showing off the position of the Espine family, but the moment the animals caught a glimpse of the black-haired young man they pulled to the side, causing the whole carriage and everyone inside to jerk suddenly.

"Good girls~"

Zoemi smiled softly and muttered under his breath and the horses' ears perked up and wiggled as if they were happy... and the two armored wolves behind the black-haired youth looked jealous...

"...what in the... Stupid beasts! Making a fool out of...!"

The disheveled coachman cursed and raised his hand with a whip but stopped as the overwhelming feeling of dread had him drenched in a cold sweat.

He hurriedly turned around but the two armored wolves were sitting a little bit behind the people blocking the inner gate and didn't even look in the direction of the carriage.

"Hmph! Haven't you heard what I said?! Move out of the way for duke and duchess Espine!"

The coachman regained his gusto soon enough and scoffed while jumping down from his seat to open the door for the high nobles.

"Haven't you heard what the nice guard said?"

In response to that, the black-haired young man smirked devilishly and asked the coachman back.

"Tsk...!"

"It sounds like a fool started to believe the propaganda spread about him."

The coachman clicked his tongue, but at that moment the man inside the carriage could not wait any longer so he opened the door himself and got out while glaring down at the younger man.

*whoosh*

"Hooo?"

Then, a sudden chill surprised him and he let out a curious voice as he turned his attention to the other man – a pale-blue-haired knight who had rather peculiar lines of pale-blue light appear all over his body.

*WHOOO*

Without saying anything else, the red-haired duke activated his defensive spell – the flame armor – the bright red fire burst forth and engulfed the already large stature of the middle-aged man and condensed into a protective shell that the enchanted armor of the members of the King's Guard could barely compare to.

"In your place, I would think twice before doing something exceedingly stupid."

"..."

Duke Espine scoffed proudly at Mizoe but the pale-blue-haired knight didn't talk back, merry clenching his fist around the handle of his sword.

"What is this commotion about?"

The other person left the carriage too – it was the green-haired duchess, the woman who was well known for being the most powerful wind magician in the kingdom, that is before she gave birth to Miriette.

She also held the honorable position of the manner's teacher and many young nobles – from the high ranking families – were her students, and that included the first – but not the second – prince.

"Nothing much, my lady. I just want to make one thing sure."

"...?"

Zoemi leaned to the side to have a better look at her and said with a surprisingly pleasant voice – surprising enough to make Leveo let go of his sleeve and stare at him in confusion.

"It can wait."

"Dear, it's better to get over such situations as soon as possible."

Duke scoffed and his flame armor cracked in agreement, but the duchess shook her head and held him back.

"Speak."

She nodded her head benevolently, looking at the black-haired young man with the unwavering composure of someone who practices what she teaches.