This chapter is brought to you by by WILLOW.

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"--Tobus Arcadia... Lord Calypto's long lost nephew--"

"--formally invited to the Calypto Ball--"

"--introducing his nephew to the city--"

It has been two weeks since Lord Calypto came back to the city with his mysterious nephew in tow.

Mercury had heard nothing but the spewing of hypotheses and theories regarding this nephew who appeared out of nowhere.

The people of Vesna had little to gossip about, but now wives and husbands and their children were talking about it.

Tobus Arcadia.

The nephew didn't take the Calypto name.

For what reason?

Was he an illegitimate child? Was Lord Calypto ashamed of his existence?

Mercury had seen the boy from a distance.

The hoard of children dressed in red, with three overgrown cats following at their heels, was a sight to see.

But no one dared to approach them, merely eyeing them curiously or apprehensively.

Under the secret orders of Lord Calypto, no one was to speak with his nephew and the children he came with until the next Calypto Ball.

Mercury scoffed at the idea of another Calypto Ball.

Unlike most Houses in Vesna, the Calyptos hailed from old blood. They held balls and soirees like the aristocrats of the Capital and pretended their riches came from trades and businesses rather than violence and war.

The House was a branch of nobility that was rumored to be related to the Imperial Family. Lord Eartha treated them with just as much respect as he treated the Monttevis, who descended from mercenaries and were known as the House of War Gods.

The rivalry between the Calyptos and Monttevis was insane. They often fought in the streets, dueling and brawling, and trying to murder one another on sight.

Vesna was not a peaceful city, not when it housed dangerous families known to be the Imperial Family's beasts, but the two houses hated each other on sight.

... And it seemed the new long-lost Calypto nephew was not spared from the hate, either.

Mercury watched from the rooftop as the arrogant-looking boy dressed in red stared at his friend with a half-lidded gaze.

On the other side of the fountain, across from the group dressed in red, Bel looked as if he was ready to throttle Rowan, as the younger boy remained on the ground and refused to move.

Bel had told him what happened when he first encountered Tobus Arcadia.

"He was... intimidating. Very... mean eyes. Stares into your soul. The greenest eyes I've ever seen. And he's prett--I mean, mean-looking. And I think he declared we were enemies? Seems kind of fast to hate each other on the spot, but he was sort of nice? He did find Rowan and... but I think he called me a... dog. Worthy of being his rival, don't you think?"

So Bel was delusional, but he often was when he found himself in situations where he fumbled basic social norms. That was fine.

Mercury would have to meet this Tobus Arcadia up close to judge what type of person he was.

He decided on a first impression that would wow anyone and promptly threw himself off the roof he was standing on.

Crash landing on Bel was a bonus.

Crash landing on Bel and then sending him flying into the fountain was a double bonus.

Gaining the attention of Tobus Arcadia was gold.

Mercury laughed as Bel emerged from the fountain, sopping wet, and glared at him with enough killing intent to send shivers down his spine.

Oh well.

Bel will get over it eventually.

He felt eyes on his back and he turned, only to meet emerald green eyes staring at him with... disinterest?

Wait, what?

Tobus Arcadia's attention was snatched away by one of the kiddies surrounding him, grabbing at his red and gold coat with grubby hands stained with sweet syrup.

Mercury almost cringed as sticky fingers touched expensive velvet.

The owner of the coat didn't seem to care as he patiently cleaned the kid's face.

Come on, were some icky children worth more attention than someone crash-landing on someone else?

Where was the curiosity? The concern? The confusion.

The other barely batted an eye!

Mercury was thoroughly irked by the lack of a reaction.

"You!" he pointed at Tobus.

Once again, emerald green eyes turned to him.

That's more like it.

"Yes, you! You called my friend a dog the other day, didn't you!"

Mercury ignored the look of horror on Bel's face as he faced off against this Tobus Arcadia.

A flash of something overcame the other boy's blank face before he stared at Bel.

Bel turned red, out of anger and embarrassment from the incident before, no doubt.

Tobus cocked his head, "Puppy?"

Mercury watched as Bel slowly covered his face, shielding himself from the humiliation.

He frowned.

No matter how pretty the other boy was with his stupidly green eyes and girlish long hair, it didn't give him a pass to insult his friend.

He spotted the hoard of cats lying around and an idea formed.

"If he's a puppy, then you're just a cat! In fact, you're the prince of cats. The cattiest of cats!"

What a witty insult! Mercury was determined to hone himself for the next verbal bout against this Tobus Arcadia.

But the verbal battle he imagined never came.

Another kiddie took Tobus' attention, asking with a sleepy voice, "Nap?"

Tobus looked up at the sky, saw the placement of the sun, and then made a noise of agreement.

He turned once more to Mercury and Bel, and gave Bel a nod and a parting "Puppy," before walking away.

What?!

Did he just ignore Mercury?!

Absolutely not!

Where was the verbal spar?! The epic comebacks?! Mercury thought long and hard about that last statement about the prince of cats!

"Wait!"

Thankfully, the figure paused.

Mercury caught up to Tobus and stood in front of him.

"I am Mercury Stella of House Stella."

The other looked at him like he didn't care.

Just as Mercury was about to go on a tirade about who House Stella belonged to, Tobus answered in a bored tone, "Tobus Arcadia of House Calypto."

Great. Now they knew each other.

He waited for Tobus to state they were enemies like he did with Bel, yet nothing came.

Instead, he said, "The kittens need sleep. Have a good day, Lord Mercury."

How rude! He didn't even acknowledge the fact that Mercury was clearly Bel's friend, and therefore, a hated enemy as well!

"But--"

He felt a hand on his head, but it disappeared a moment after as if it had been a figment of Mercury's imagination.

"Be good."

Then Tobus left.

Bel came up next to him and gave him a less-than-impressed look.

"Did you get what you wanted?"

Mercury flushed.

"Shut up. He didn't even call you a dog. You're just a puppy."

"A puppy is a dog!"

"Oh wow, so scary!"

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Nine was very confused by that encounter, but nevertheless, like everything else he had so far experienced, he took in strides and with the tolerance of a parent who had seen it all.

He knew coming to Vesna meant he would be another step closer to participating in the story of Poisoned-Laced Daggers, but so far, he had made himself the center of attention, but not relevant enough to be despised.

Drawing negative attention away from himself meant he could protect the children and Jovette from the events in the future, and being in the body of a child allowed him time to prepare.

As long as Jovette didn't fall madly in love with Rowan, then there would be no deaths. And if she did fall in love, then Nine would be there to prevent her from making stupid decisions.

Actively separating himself from the identity of Toby Calypto also helped in moving the plot points beyond the story's outline.

Some of the major conflicts had to do with Toby Calypto trying to marry Jovette and interfering with her secret romance with Rowan.

He also schemed a lot when his seduction of supporting characters failed, which was such a poor way of dealing with rejection.

Not that Nine would know anything about rejections, but he was smart enough to comprehend that there were healthier ways to handle what was essentially the word "no."

Speaking of people Toby tried to seduce, Mercury Stella was... not what he expected.

The boy was... loud.

Loud and overeager for some kind of conflict.

Perhaps the lack of stimulation and the idyllic life of Vesna was driving him up the walls and now the new shiny toy that was Nine and his group had caught his interest.

The child was cute, but not as cute as Jovette and the kittens.

Nevertheless, Nine gave him a head pat for the effort.

Hopefully, he would be discouraged from trying to rile up anyone else in the future.

Mercury Stella was a supporting character in Poison-Laced Daggers.

He was one of Rowan's friends and had objected to his relationship with Jovette. However, he eventually agreed to keep the secret and became the captain of their "ship."

Toby tried to seduce him because he was the nephew of Lord Eartha.

Mercury killed Toby when the man tried to murder Rowan.

Needless to say, Nine and his roommates applauded him for the job well done.

Toby was such a pitiful character, not because he was secretly a good man, but simply because he was so stupid and never thought about the consequences of his actions.

He did not have the temperament to survive in Vesna and should have never put his hopes on House Calypto or his aunt and uncle.

Alas, the story was told and his fate was set, and there was no way to undo what had been written.

Nine was now in the story, and it wasn't merely a story anymore. He was unwilling to play Toby, and he barely tolerated being Tobus Arcadia.

Toby was gone, and hopefully somewhere better, and Nine was here.

Jovette once again wandered into The Sun Room just as the children fell asleep.

"Kitten," Nine greeted.

He picked her up and carried her in his arms, the weight reminding him of another child who often wanted to be carried.

A soft smile appeared on his face as he stared at her.

She, too, had eyes just as green as his own.

From her mother, his aunt, who was his father's older sister.

Yet, her hair was not dark brown like his, but blond like his uncle's. She was a perfect mix of both parents and was dearly loved.

Jovette let out a yawn. She had gotten used to napping at this time, a habit that took a mere few days to implement.

Nine brought her over to the furs and held her close.

He would make sure she would be unharmed in the coming years.

No matter what.

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[.................. Mercury Stella : Nephew of Lord Eartha and supporting character of Poison-Laced Daggers. A man Toby Calypto tried and failed to seduce. Killed Toby Calypto ..................]

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The author has something to say:

Okay, Mercury. What the hell was that? Get it together. I had this whole epic verbal battle waiting to happen, and it didn't because why would Nine want to argue with an eleven-year-old? Anywho, I personally think this chapter is not that interesting, but I hope you guys still enjoyed it!