The dark-haired girl was the first to speak, her voice soft but confident. "Ren Patinder. Finally. I’ve heard so much about you."
She approached with measured steps, extending her hand. "I’m Cassia Ashenway. From a high nobility family in the western region of the territory."
Her hand was soft, warm. The grip firm but not aggressive. And when she smiled, there was something in how her lips curved that seemed designed to make boys stumble over their own words.
Ren simply nodded. "A pleasure."
The blonde moved next, her steps almost floating. "Seraphina Starweaver," she introduced herself, her voice clear as crystal bells. "Also high nobility from an ancient section of the family."
When she took Ren’s hand, her fingers barely grazed him, a soft contact that somehow seemed more intimate than Cassia’s firm grip.
"Hello," Ren responded, feeling a small tickle in his hand but nothing more.
The third, the redhead with pronounced curves, was last. "Jeannette Blackwood," she said, her smile wider than the other two’s. "Goldcrest territory. My family is also high nobility but originally from the southern outskirts. The past generations elevated us."
Her handshake was the most casual of the three, almost friendly. But the way she slightly tilted her head, making her curls fall over her shoulder, seemed... calculated.
Aldric cleared his throat, gaining everyone’s attention. "Ren, these young ladies are your... reward."
Ren blinked. "My what?"
"Your reward," Aldric repeated, his expression showing something between satisfaction and nervousness. "As I promised. They’re here to help with your... ’social development’."
"Social?" Ren looked between the three girls and Aldric, confusion clear on his face.
"It’s important for a noble of your rank," Aldric continued with words that sounded rehearsed, "to interact appropriately with other nobles who aren’t your peers or friends. Especially those older than you but who see you as superior. You need experience in that type of dynamic."
Ren frowned. Larissa had mentioned something about this. About how he needed to learn to interact with nobles of different ranks...
And he definitely lacked interaction especially with those below him but...
He looked at the three girls again. They were high rank as they’d said, right? Or maybe they’d act differently...?
Cassia Ashenway clearly wasn’t acting low rank. Seraphina Starweaver even less so. And Jeannette from Goldcrest territory... None of them.
"I don’t think they’re below me in rank," Ren pointed out.
"Oh, you jest... ahem, I mean, acting humble isn’t needed here, you can relax more. Obviously, your territory will be larger than any of their families’," Aldric responded quickly. "And your connections more powerful so almost everyone sees you as superior now, right? But you’re right that the difference isn’t dramatic yet. That’s why they’re perfect for that kind of ’practice’. Not as intimidating as royalty you already master, nor so distant as to be irrelevant and dirt your name to be around."
Besides the "dirt your name" weird stuff... that... actually made some sense.
Ren didn’t interact much with nobles who weren’t his close friends or authority figures. And almost never with people who saw him as superior in this way.
Maybe that was the source of those strange tickles he felt when the groups pursued him?
The discomfort of being treated as "superior" when he wasn’t used to it. Ren was deceiving himself to avoid accepting in his subconscious that he was just shy before compliments that weren’t from his parents...
The three girls watched Ren with attention. So they noticed his slight surface discomfort.
Cassia noted something in his body language, got a flash of understanding, and turned toward Seraphina with a significant look.
Seraphina had mana eyes, Ren realized when she activated them. Ren had enormous perception and although he’d temporarily lost his advanced ones from his fungus, at least he’d learned to create archaic ones himself thanks to his huge Perception level and broad mana control, without assistance from beast abilities.
The girl was studying his mana right now, trying to read his emotions, his intentions.
But Ren’s mana was too complex. Too many intermingled tones. Jade from his broken seed, strange and multi-elemental, darkness, all mixed in patterns that probably seemed too chaotic to external eyes.
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