Hadn't this guy just said he wouldn't be introducing him to the others? Not until he'd learned to mimic the original owner of his body, anyway.
Did he forget? Was he stupid??
Arin glanced at the white-haired man, who was leaning back comfortably in his chair.
'Swift as ever,' the man remarked, smiling pleasantly. 'Thank you, Varida.'
'Don't thank me yet. I managed to destroy part of the Great Hall while getting away. If someone recognized me, they'll be contacting you with talks of compensation.'
The man dismissed the issue with a nonchalant wave. Clearly, he couldn't give less of a damn about the current state of whatever 'Great Hall' the woman had mentioned.
'How did you get caught this time?' he asked, gesturing to a spot before him, right next to where Arin was seated. Arin tensed up a little when he noticed that another chair had, at some point, appeared next to the one he was currently occupying.
The tall lady strode over, dropping into the seat. 'An interesting choice, Master,' she said, skating past his question and looking around the room. 'Though, if I am being honest, such pretentiousness is far inferior to the spaces you usually create. Is there a reason for this?'
The white-haired man shrugged. 'Merely testing a different approach,' he responded vaguely, holding out a cup of tea.
The woman took it and drained it within seconds. 'Much appreciated,' she said, flinging her long, dark ponytail to one side. 'And to answer your question, I'm afraid it's because I momentarily lost my temper.'
'As you do,' the man nodded.
'As I do,' the woman laughed.
Arin watched them interact, mouth slightly agape. The woman had neither spoken to him, nor acknowledged his presence. He'd found it strange when her gaze had passed over him entirely when she'd been looking around the room. And just now, when the tip of her ponytail had swung at his shoulder, he hadn't felt it at all.
After a moment's pause, he slowly stretched out a hand towards her face, and waved before her eyes. The lady continued looking through his hand, as though it wasn't there at all!
Whoa…
He turned his head to look at what she was seeing, and met the white-haired man's eyes as his gaze flicked in his direction. There was a small, amused smile on the man's beautiful face. Promptly, Arin pulled his hand back and snapped his mouth shut.
Illusions… huh.
'But you must know,' the lady was now saying, 'that I had good cause for it. Ralen, that filthy, rat-faced bastard – '
'Varida.'
'My apologies. Rats do not deserve the misfortune of such a comparison. In any case, his intention was to kill, and frame it as an accident, or even a disappearance. That slack-brained fool had been bragging of 'cleaning up his house' – in his own, remarkably subtle words! – within his wretched circles.'
'There was a shady deal carried out at the midnight market; details of any purchases he made have long been carefully erased. I did, however, discover the unnamed goon's he'd hired as an additional measure.'
Arin watched her speak, taking in her animated movements. The way she glared, shook her head, and gestured with her arms. She was beautiful, yes, but unlike Layla – whose beauty had been akin to that of a sweet and vivacious apple-blossom flower – this lady's countenance was bright and sharp, almost like a spark of electricity running along the edge of a blade.
Whatever that meant...
Anyway, something about Varida was incredibly captivating.
He pursed his lips, dragging his focus back to what was being discussed. He figured that the white-haired man had kept him around for this conversation - albeit as a non-participant on the outside of it - because it concerned him in some way.
His assumption was proven true.
'And despite all his preparation, he still failed. Rin managed to evade his schemes successfully,' Varida laughed. 'With some help from Tarra, I'm sure. In any case, it goes to show who the true failure of that family really is.'