CHAPTER 224: TO THE CAPITAL

"We will see them at the gala or whatever," Riven said and walked back into his smithy. Noel followed him in, he looked around at the works that his brother had completed and then spoke.

"You managed to do all this in a month?" He picked up a sword and inspected it before giving it a few swings.

"This is better than most swords, you could sell this for a good profit," Noel said.

"Nah, they are faulty works. They are supposed to be perfectly diffused with mana, giving them a reinforced state, but I wasn’t able to do that for a while.

That sword in your hand, for example, has a lacking spot close to the tip and the base of the blade.

If those two parts are hit in battle, it would shatter the sword entirely," Riven said.

"Every sword has imperfections, calling it faulty because of that isn’t right. Your work is good, I can tell because I’ve held a lot of swords," Noel said.

Riven waved it off. "Yeah, yeah, I already managed to get the refining level that I need, so I’ll be able now to craft an actually good sword.

It’s a shame that we have to go for that gala," Riven said. He held his chin and looked at his furnace.

"Don’t even think of a way to not go, you are the star of the whole thing," Noel said.

"Arghh, sadly you are right," Riven said and then turned around. "Who are we going with?" he asked.

"Father is handing the responsibility of the house to our brothers, the both of them will take it. He, Mum and Sister will come to the capital.

And as for you and I, we have to leave yesterday, so pack up and let’s head back," Noel said.

"Sigh, alright, let’s go," Riven replied. He looked at his works one more time and then left the building along with Noel. He shut the door and used the formation to lock it up.

"So you’ll be leaving it like that here?" Noel asked.

"Yeah, it’s guarded, no need to worry," he replied.

They headed back to town, and right back to the manor.

"Alright, half an hour, that’s the time you have before the carriage is ready and we move," Noel said.

"I’ll be down in half an hour, no need to worry," Riven assured and then headed inside. He went straight for his room and walked in, only to see Sophie there preparing clothes inside a box for him.

"I thought you wouldn’t come back anymore," she said immediately.

"I was learning something, didn’t want to be distracted," he replied.

"Doesn’t mean you should vanish, especially when your fiancées were here," she said.

"They’ll understand, they know the importance of research and things like that. And besides, I’ll be going to the capital and I’ll see them," Riven said.

"Sigh, you are one eccentric boy, but I guess that’s one of the things that makes you special," she said.

Riven flashed a smile and walked to the wardrobe. He took off his shirt and walked into the bathroom.

"Your trousers," she said.

"Can’t take them off with you in the room," he replied and closed the door.

"Hmph, you feel you are now grown up or something?" she asked.

"Me wanting to not show my body has nothing to do with that. I reserve the right to be private with whatever I want," he replied from behind the door.

She didn’t say anything else and got back to setting his clothes. He took his bath, made sure he dried himself off, and put on the trousers again before walking out.

He saw her standing there still, and this time with some clothes in her hands. "You’ll be wearing this on your way there," she said.

He looked at the clothes. He could already tell which type they were — noble clothes. A fancy black trouser, a shirt, and a fancy black coat with some gold embroidery.

"Those look uncomfortable as hell," he said.

"It doesn’t matter what you think, you need to start dressing like a noble. You are going higher in ranking on your own path, and your father will soon become a Count.

You need to show the prestige of your family, even if it means you get inconvenienced when doing it," she explained.

’She makes a lot of sense, she shouldn’t be a maid, an advisor would fit her better,’ Riven thought. Then an idea fell into his head. He looked at her. "Sophie, you are coming with me. I’ll tell Dad that you’ll be my personal maid. It’s time you got out of this town a bit."

Her eyes widened when he said that, but then she shook her head. "No, I need to stay here. I have a lot of things to do, I don’t want to be part of whatever happens in a place like the capital," she said.

"Well, tough luck, Sophie, because I’m bringing you along. Get ready," he said with an innocent smile on his face.

She frowned, she knew that if he wanted to get her to go, there was nothing she could really do to stop it.

"I’ll get you back for this." She dropped the clothes on the bed and then left to get ready.

"Hehe, I’ll be waiting," he replied. He looked at the clothes on the bed and let out a deep sigh. He didn’t want to put them on, but he didn’t have a choice.

He wore them and looked at himself in the mirror. He still didn’t like them, but he had to admit that they looked nice.

He put his box into his ring and then went to find Sophie. He moved to the maid quarters of the house and spotted her coming outside with a box and wearing a nice black gown, but this one didn’t have the white that the normal maid clothes had.

"Looking good," he said while smiling. He took her box from her and placed it in his ring. "Alright, let’s go."

They headed out of the manor, and the carriage was already there waiting for them. His father was there and so was Noel.

His father looked at Sophie behind him. He understood without a word, after all, she was one of the closest persons to him, and he trusted her.

He looked at Riven. "We will be coming behind you guys, be safe," he said.

Riven nodded and walked past them into the carriage. The coachman was a young knight from the family. He looked not more than twenty and was in his full armour. He had blonde hair and blue eyes.

After everyone was inside the carriage, he began the journey. The two horses pulled the carriage out of the compound and onto the main road.

Riven watched through the windows as the buildings went by. He had come home, and he didn’t even spend time doing anything else, just blacksmithing.

Did he regret his actions? Not even once. The progress that he had made in that month was more than he could ask for, and he felt closer to his goal, even if it was just a little bit.

’I don’t know when I’ll be able to get back to blacksmithing, I just hope the king doesn’t keep us there longer than needed and GNR Academy stays closed a bit longer.

But the academy has their own smithing labs, and they might have some good raw materials as well. Maybe it won’t be too bad to return to school,’ Riven thought.

The carriage didn’t waste a lot of time. Travelling at such speeds allowed them to leave the town quickly and get into the forest.

Riven looked at the trees, then he suddenly turned and looked at Sophie. "Have you been to the capital before?" he asked.

The question took her by surprise, but she quickly shook her head. "I haven’t been there," she said.

"It’s a pretty large and beautiful place, I’ll take you for a tour around," Riven said.

"You barely know the place yourself," Noel said.

"So what? I know it better than her at least," Riven shot back.

"Barely. How many places do you know there? You are here, all of us have the same knowledge of the capital," Noel said.

Sophie looked confused. "Young master Noel, don’t you both school in the capital?" she asked.

"Technically, yes, but no as well. Our school is located on an island extension of the capital, it’s a whole place on its own.

We barely ever enter the capital, and we haven’t gotten around to seeing it much," Noel explained.

"Speak for yourself, I have seen a good part of it," Riven said.

"Like where?" Noel asked.

"Uhmmm, the restaurant that I and Mia went to," Riven said.

"One place. What’s the next?" Noel asked.

"You didn’t say I had to say more than one," Riven said.

"How can you say you know a place when you only know one place, a place I’m pretty sure you have forgotten," Noel argued.