The hall was silent.
The noble was shaking. Covered and stained in wine, he seemed to be filled in rage, wrathful enough to not register the fact that the cuts on his face and right hand—which was still holding onto the remaining portion of the broken glass—were producing blood.
"Are… you… insane…?" Finally, he spoke, in a trembling tone that was barely keeping its rage contained. However, the rage then exploded, "Do you know who I am, Nameless?!"
"Why would I?" Isaac spoke, nonchalantly.
Cassiopeia, Marlene, and others who were acquainted with Isaac all knew in this moment, that Isaac wasn't his usual self.
"Because I am Aaron Clodia, the second son of House Clodia—"
The noble, Aaron Clodia, paused in the middle of his sentence. Or, he couldn't continue, more like.
After all, the moment his name was spoken, Isaac's face changed.
…Clodia?
Isaac looked at Aaron Clodia, who flinched from his gaze.
"Hah…" Aaron snarled, "where have your manner gone to, commoner?"
Isaac didn't respond. Instead, he muttered, "I see." Nodding as if he understood, he stepped forward. Swept his gaze over Aaron's drenched and bleeding form once more. "You are a member of the infamous House of Clodia."
"Yes, and look at what you did to such a person." Aaron leaned in toward Isaac threateningly. His rage-filled eyes flashed. "Now—"
Without blinking, Isaac interrupted, "you will head over to your father and cry like a moron."
Aaron processed what Isaac said. Then, he exploded.
"SON OF A BITCH!"
Aaron Clodia brought his hand out as if about to dispense his skill. However, someone then grabbed him by the wrist.
"Hey, hey, Aaron, calm down."
Fuming, Aaron looked at the one responsible for stopping him. "Jax." He tried to get rid of the obstruction on his hand but to no avail. "Let. Go. I need to murder this F-ranked nobody."
It was none other than Jax Wason, whom Isaac has encountered numerous times by now. Wearing a white suit and looking at Aaron in pity, Jax shook his head, "I get your anger, but we're in a formal banquet. Your B-rank: [Mana Blast] is a clear violation of regulations."
"He used his fucking [Condensation] at me!"
Jax scratched his head. "I hate to say it, but… all he did with that was to put the wine back in your glass." Jax then frowned.
Isaac raised an eyebrow. Jax, from his memory, wasn't a composed figure as he was showcasing now. He doubted a person could change so much in a short period of time as well.
In other words, Jax was likely the one who trigged Aaron Clodia to act as he did just now.
"Now, Isaac Nameless." Now, looking at Isaac, Jax spoke with as much weight as he could, which didn't seem to fit him in Isaac's point of view. "You want to cause a scene at the royal banquet?"
Isaac looked at Jax and found the glee in his eyes. It was the exhilaration that came from an idea that he finally caught Isaac's weakness, that he had an upper hand for once.
"Jax Wason." Isaac glanced at Evangeline, who was still trembling. The fact that another noble joined in on this incident seemed to have amplified her anxiety. "Do you remember that one time in the training facility? Before the class designation?"
Jax seemed to be taken back, not having expected Isaac to mention the past. "…What about it?" He spoke cautiously.
"Back then, you blasted your [Bolt Streak] at my back. Was that incidental?"
Jax flinched, before responding violently and impulsively—breaking his banquet persona, "hell no! W-Who do you think I am, Nameless?!"
"Exactly." Isaac nodded. Jax paused, not having expected him to agree. Isaac then continued, "this incident is just the same. Aaron Clodia accidentally poured the wine over Evangeline. I accidentally returned the wine on his glass and smashed it on his face. As civil individuals would, we proceeded to apologize after, didn't we?"
Jax's expression flattened, as he realized what Isaac was speaking.
"What the fuck is that nonsense?!" Aaron cried, about to lash out, but was stopped by Jax, who held his arm out.
"…True." Jax, with a grimace of acceptance that he had no choice but to accept Isaac's words, nodded. "Aaron, step back. We'll get you a new suit."
"JAX! Are you on my side or not?!" Aaron, with his rage still overflowing, turned to Jax.
"Shut up, Aaron! People are watching!" Jax, with annoyance of his own, glared back at Aaron.
"Bastard, I shouldn't have listened you from the start! Why did you—"
"Hey, what did I say, huh?! You're the one who decided to start all this bullshit—"
Isaac watched as two individuals began a quarrel of this own, Isaac and Evangeline completely forgotten.
"Are you fine?" Isaac, glancing at Evangeline, asked. Although still unable to look up, she nodded amidst her trembling form.
She wasn't.
Letting out a light sigh, Isaac took the hold of her wheelchair from the back. Pushing and limping slightly as he walked, he moved the two of them out of the scene that Aaron and Jax now occupied. Ironically, Aaron, who called Isaac a jester, has now been reduced into a fool himself.
"You… hurt him." Evangeline slowly whispered as they moved through the hall. People were still watching, and her whisper was low enough to be heard by no one but Isaac, unless spectators had a skill that amplified the sense of sound.
"Yes," Isaac replied as if it was the normal thing to do, "because he hurt you."
"But… this… banquet…" Evangeline mumbled words to herself before going silent.
"HEY!" Then, from the back, Aaron shouted at the two of them.
Evangeline flinched. Without turning the wheelchair, Isaac turned his body instead, with the movement slower than it should have been, due to the stiffness in his leg. Looked at Aaron with tired eyes.
"Where do you think you're going?!"
"To seats."
"We aren't done yet!"
"C'mon, Aaron, just let it go!" Jax groaned, which Aaron didn't listen. Jax tried to grab Aaron by the arm, but Aaron pushed him off. Jax growled in frustration.
"Bastard… I am Aaron Clodia! Do you think you can leave for free after what you did to me?!"
Aaron Clodia, with the furious expression, raised his hand. It was a clear gesture of someone who was about to use his skill based on impulsivity, without a second thought.
"I wouldn't."
Then, a voice came from the left.
"Who now?!" Gritting his teeth, Aaron turned. Then stopped, as if dumbfounded.
Vesper stood with his hands in his pockets and a clear confidence.
Bardot was the name of higher nobles. Vesper was their heir. He was someone with A-rank: [Shapeshift]. He was in the higher class. In every single aspect that Aaron valued, Vesper outshone him.
Aaron's mind went blank after an instinctive calculation.
"Ves…per Bardot…"
"Aaron Clodia." Vesper gazed at Aaron's raised hand. "You were just about to dispense your C-rank: [Sound Wave]. Against the advice of Jax Wason." His eyes narrowed. "Should you truly wish to give in to your foolishness, I dare you try and see what happens."
Aaron looked at Vesper. Gulped, unconsciously.
Aaron's hand lowered.
"…My apologies," he said with the delivery of someone performing an apology that they didn't mean.
"Am I the one whom you should apologize to?" Vesper said in sarcasm.
Aaron's face reddened, but he nonetheless complied, turning to face Isaac who stood at some distance away and at Evangeline who wasn't facing them. He didn't look at Isaac, but looked at the back of Evangeline's wheelchair.
"My… apologies."
With a frown of disgust, Aaron turned and walked back through the crowd with what remained of his dignity.
Jax peeked on Vesper for a moment, before turning to where his eyes naturally led him—to where Silas was seated.
Silas was looking back at him in a cold gaze. From beside, Vane appeared to be sighing.
Jax became pale. Turned and stoically walked back, to the table he was seated in prior to his intervention.
Isaac noticed Vesper's gaze, who nodded at him. Nodding back in gratitude, he turned. Resuming the walk, he brought Evangeline and himself to a table by the corner, which was filled with lesser nobles who clearly wanted to be away from attention.
Staring at the empty seats, Isaac asked them, "can we?"
With fearful expressions as they looked at Isaac, they nodded. Without further words, he stationed Evangeline by his side before he sat.
For a moment, those on the table sat still, as if petrified. Clearly, they were afraid that Isaac and Evangeline's arrival at their table may raise their social vulnerability.
"U-Um, I think I need to go for a moment…"
"Y-Yes, you did mention that you have a friend to introduce."
One by one, those on the table stood up and left. It wasn't long before the table was completely empty except the two of them.
Evangeline looked at the empty table in a darkened expression. The trembling of her body was gone, but the thoughts didn't.
She looked at Isaac, who managed to retrieve two glass of water and placed one in front of her. He took a sip from his own, before noticing her eyes were on him.
"If you are worried of a potential poison, there isn't any." He said.
"…Why did you help me?" Evangeline, as if not having heard what he just said, let out a question she's been holding in her. "I wasn't nice to you. I told you that we will pretend as unrelated as possible. Then…" She seemed to be at loss of her words. Gratitude. Guilt. Realization. Numerous emotions swirled in her, and she didn't know what to do.
Isaac stared at the glass of water he held. Gave it a gentle swirl. "Years ago, I participated in a banquet of a smaller magnitude. It was the one meant for young nobles, of at least higher noble in status, so that they can familiarize and integrate themselves to the noble society. Of course, partner was necessary, and I was engaged to someone."
He still remembered—the very incident that gave a sharp, negative turn to his reputation.
"I was provoked with the commoner status of my deceased mother. I lashed out, faced consequences, but the point is—no one was there to help me." He glanced at Evangeline, before taking another sip from the glass. "Perhaps I saw my past self in you."
"Your mother…" Evangeline whispered. Her fists, laid on her thighs, tightened. "You lost yours. Just like me."
"Seems that we have some traits in common," said Isaac without much thought to it. He didn't continue after.
In silence, Evangeline observed Isaac.
"He isn't the type to let his partner be humiliated."
Back then, that was what Irine said. Although Evangeline accepted it, she didn't believe it. From up until now, those with low status were cowardly and opportunistic. Driven by survival instincts, they prioritized themselves over everyone else.
…Evangeline Velvet herself wasn't an exclusion to such belief.
Yet, Isaac Nameless was different. She knew that it wouldn't have mattered if his skill was something even worse than [Condensation]—which is a nigh impossible scenario given its low rank. If he stepped up and received the full blunt of hostility in her stead, with his status and power, no factor would've changed his action.
Her lips twitched. Then,
"…I am sorry."
Isaac turned. She was looking down at her fists.
"And thank you."
He didn't reply. He simply turned back and faced the front, where the banquet was ongoing and nobles were mingling.
There was no need to reply. The peaceful silence sufficed, after all.
Furthermore, he wasn't in the condition to respond. The trivial details of banquet couldn't bother him currently, with the lingering thoughts of the ongoing war, the explosion, and Henrick's death still haunting his mind.
He simply prayed that this pointless time would pass by quickly.
Unfortunately, the peace didn't last for as long as he hoped.
It wasn't that there was someone who approached the two of them. Rather, it was that from nearby tables, the commentary regarding them was loud enough to be overheard.
"Hmph, aren't they hot-headed." One shook his head.
"I know Jax Wason well. Supposedly, he asked Sera Voss to be his partner and was rejected."
"Who's his partner today?"
"Doesn't matter. The point is, these second-years almost singlehandedly ruined the entire banquet."
"Well, the uselessness of [Condensation], I suppose, actually proves to be advantageous in this banquet setting. If not for restrictions, that Nameless boy would've been punished."
"Are you sure? He defeated Silas Fulgur before."
"I thought we reached a consensus for that? That it was nothing but a sheer luck? I swear to you, it wasn't that the Nameless boy won, but that Silas Fulgur's [Lightning Spear] deflected off the wall and was reflected back at him."
"Either way, I can't believe that that boy managed to secure a partner. Wasn't he asking practically everyone because of the issue? That Evangeline Velvet, what is it that made her be his partner?"
"Lack of option. They fit each other well."
"Still, she hasn't undergone Rite yet."
"You believe that she will gain a noteworthy skill? A Velvet of all things?"
Evangeline shrank into her wheelchair. The words from ambient surroundings were harsh to her. She held her arms together to prevent the shaking that was about to return.
"Breathe." Then, Isaac said without looking at her. He seemed indifferent, as if the insults and bad words on him were mundane things to him. "Don't bother yourself with things you have no control over."
"…How are you so calm?" Evangeline asked.
"Experience a thing or two," Isaac replied with an aloof look which suggested that his thoughts were elsewhere, "and ones like these become nothing but trivialities." He then stood up, "the food is up. Since there's nothing to do until the speech, why not satiate our hunger first?"
Evangeline looked at Isaac with nervousness present on her face. She was afraid of receiving more attention as they move. However, as she continued to look at him, an unknown confidence—perhaps a feeling of safety—slightly filled her heart.
"…Okay."
In such a short amount of time, Evangeline's cold and noble-like persona broke. Isaac wondered, if this was who she truly was, if the person he's seen in the first meeting was nothing but a mask she wore to protect her vulnerable pride.
She tried to roll her wheels, but her hands seem to have run out of strength. Just as how they arrived at their seats, Isaac gently pushed her wheelchair from the back, with the slow pace that accommodated his limping locomotion, to carry them to the food corner.