This was a man from Melas’s extended family. A family that disowned Aria, and publicly celebrated her death when it was finally announced to the world. Even just sitting next to Nero, Adrian could not help but feel a sense of revulsion building up inside of him.
Calm down, the boy told himself. You don’t even have to say anything. Just let Alice do all the talking, and maybe he’ll eventually leave.
Unfortunately, that did not happen. Now that they were seated next to Nero, Alice was suddenly deathly quiet. Adrian could see her face burning red as her eyes constantly darted between the man and the ground.
"Hm, that’s odd," Nero said, with a hand on his chin.
"Uh, is something the matter Sir?" Alice quickly asked as Adrian stayed quiet.
"Oh it’s nothing, Miss…?"
"Alice," she squeaked. "And this is my friend, Adrian." She nudged the boy, clearly trying to get him to speak. He didn’t.
"Ah, Ms Alice and Mr Adrian." The Holy Knight nodded, and turned to the boy. "I came here because I heard one of you had motion sickness. I wanted to offer you a potion for it, but it seems that I must have misheard."
Adrian scowled. Onia. She was probably trying to ridicule him in front of Nero and it backfired, since he was with them now.
Then Adrian realized what Nero had said. He slowly lowered a hand to his stomach, but the numbness was gone. He felt better. His intense focus on the Holy Knight distracted him from the bumpy ride to the point he felt nothing.
"You’re too kind," Alice said. "But you needn’t worry yourself with us. We’re just commoners, not worth the time of your esteemed presence."
Are you trying to get him to leave or stay? Adrian retorted in his head. Although he wouldn’t mind if the man left because of that. He was using every ounce of his strength just to hold himself back from glaring at Nero.
Nero just shrugged. "Commoners, nobles, what’s the difference?"
This time, Adrian was taken aback. He felt like Alice in that he was unsure what to say.
"Sir! You can’t mean that!" Alice was horrified. And Adrian would have been too— the man might have just been testing them.
But he doubled down on his statement. "I mean it, Ms Alice. In my opinion, there’s no difference between me and you other than the family we were born to. That does not make me superior to you, nor does it make you inferior to me. You’ve proven it by entering Xander’s Academy, no?" Nero leaned back on his seat, before adding, "Plus, Saint Theron had to have taken an interest in your friend for a reason."
He knows? Of course he did. Everyone of Adrian’s classmates knew that the boy was sponsored by Saint Theron himself. But they had a reason to know since they were in the same class. Why would a Holy Knight Captain and possible heir of a Ducal house bother to learn of such a minor detail? It was not something any random noble would go out of their way to learn.
However, he was not a random noble. He was of house Corinna. And everyone knew Saint Theron was the one who killed the Fiend— the disgraced daughter of said Ducal house. So there was only one reason he could be here.
And if the man’s piercing gaze were any indication, Adrian’s suspicions were correct. The boy shifted as Nero continued to scrutinize him. "...what?" he finally asked, breaking his silence.
The black haired man lifted an eyebrow. "I’m just curious as to what the Saint found so intriguing about you that he brought you all the way from the Rem Republic to Xanderia for," Nero said. "I do admit, from what I hear you are indeed quite talented. Yet, there are countless other children in this world with untapped potential, but he’s never once brought them back. Instead, he chose you."
"...does it really matter?" Adrian had to stop himself from snapping at the man. Nero was not being rude— in fact, most would’ve taken that as a compliment. But the boy could tell that Nero was probing him, and that made him uncomfortable.
Nero continued to inspect Adrian for another moment, before he sighed. Whatever it was he saw, it was clear he realized he could not get anything out of Adrian. Adrian nearly sagged in relief, when the man spoke.
"What was she like?"
Adrian froze. He felt his entire body stiffen. There was only one ‘she’ the man could be talking about, and although Adrian expected something like this, he did not anticipate that the man would be so direct about it.
"Let me rephrase," Nero said, clearing his throat. "Was she like what they made her out to be? Was she really evil?"
The young boy slowly turned to face the Holy Knight. He ignored Alice’s confused looks, and he found himself staring into the deep blue eyes of the nobleman. There was genuine curiosity in them— a longing to know the truth.
Adrian could have played dumb. He could have given a fake answer. But something screamed in him to tell the truth— to go against the narrative written and believed by everyone else in the world except for himself and Melas. So even if this implicated him as some sort of heretic sympathizer, Adrian spoke what he believed was true.
"She was not."
Nero paused. It took the man a moment to absorb Adrian’s response. Then he nodded. "I see," he said, standing up. "Now if you’ll excuse me, it seems like we’ll be arriving soon. I have to speak with Lucas and plan with him to ensure you’re all safe. It was a pleasure speaking with you two fine young children."
Adrian hesitated, but he eventually answered, "Likewise."
Alice took a moment longer to gather
