Isaac and Lenna barely waited thirty seconds before they sat on the luxurious furniture. The sofas were a dyed silk canvas filled with patterns of the sea and mountain ranges. Only cherry was used as wood and every metallic surface was plated or made of pink gold. The low coffee table in the middle of the sofas was almost entirely made of stained glass that portrayed a road running from a mountain range to the sea. The entire room almost seemed to glow with natural lighting even though there wasn't any. The room didn't need any dedicated magic to cause the effect either. The candles, lamps, and lanterns lit with fire and glowing stones alike were all that was needed. None of the light sources were directly visible, due to excessive use of stained glass, but some of the candles could be seen through mirrors that sent their flickering light back out into the room.

The duo heard steps clacking against marble floors through one of the open doorways. A moment later, a woman entered said doorway and took in the pair sitting casually in her sitting room. "I hope I have not kept you waiting for long." She told the duo with a voice that sounded far older than her wrinkle free features would suggest. She didn't speak with the voice of an old grandmother but rather the voice of a middle aged woman who had lived through more of life than most her age. It was clear just by looking at her that she had plenty of time to reach such a state of invisible aged wisdom.

The Marchioness Constantine was a woman of both human and elvish lineage. Her golden hair and eyes reminded anyone that saw them of the midday sun. Her pale skin made her look like she was carved out of a birch tree. Her pointed features only served to reinforce the idea that she was carved from a tree and not born like mortals. Her dress was pure white silk and hugged her features, not too closely but close enough that there was almost no sway as she moved, and it entirely lacked ruffles or embellishment. Her hair was up in a ribbon coiled bun with a sapphire blue ribbon and her ears were adorned with simple pure gold studs. Her attire was elegance in minimalism yet it also ensured that her wealth would never be taken into question. She was a woman who could afford to wear anything she wanted and she had chosen attire that brought out her natural beauty instead of attire that added more on top of it.

"Not at all." Isaac replied with a nod but did not rise from his seat. "We were just admiring your sitting room. It is quite a bit different from ours."

The Marchioness smiled and walked completely into the room. She was either used to adventurers not knowing noble etiquette or she fully understood that Isaac was certain that he held more power than she did. "And where might my two latest guests hail from?" She wondered and then sat down on the sofa across from the duo, instead of in the solitary sofa chair that the head of a noble house often used. Before Isaac or Lenna could answer she cut in. "Oh, dear me, pardon my manners, I am Marchioness Florence Constantine. It is always a pleasure to meet famous adventurers, even if I am rarely aware of them before they arrive at my door."

Isaac's face took on a casual smirk as he leaned back into the sofa. Lenna slowly reached up and started unstrapping her helmet. The room was definitely too bright for her but she wanted to relax and be as casual as possible to match Isaac.

"Safeharbor." Isaac spoke the word like he already knew what thoughts were going through her head. He knew that Marchioness Constantine knew about the insanity that had gone down in and around Safeharbor, every noble did, and there were only two high level adventurers from Safeharbor that would wander into her estate and immediately act like they were visiting a subject instead of a noble. Right as Florence made the connection, Lenna finished removing her helmet.

The drow beauty, whose known power put her at least at Guild Master level, shook her head to help her hair settle after her helmet had been removed. She then reached forwards and sat the piece of armor on the almost priceless stained glass coffee table. She did it so casually that Florence couldn't take her eyes off of the action until its completion. She almost hid the surprise from her face when Lenna's helmet barely made a clink when it was set down. The perfect control of every fraction of an inch of movement was something that only ancient elves came to naturally. Most others chased it for clout or to be as pretentious as possible. It was clear that the dark elven woman had achieved it by accident through centuries of combat training and experience.

If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

"I see." Florence got herself back on track and smiled kindly at the duo. "That makes you the Dark Lo-" She cut herself off as Isaac's eye twitched and his smirk immediately turned into a disappointed frown. "Pardon, is it something I said?"

Isaac flicked his hand to the side and his shadow grew and extended over the edge of the sofa, down to the ground, and then outward another four feet. "Shamesh." Isaac called casually.

The regal being of bone in a canvas black suit rose up out of the void and turned to regard his master and mistress. His movement sent soft sounds of shifting chainmail and harsher ones as he bowed at the waist. "My Lord, how may I be of assistance?" Shamesh asked with practiced ease.

"I do not have any further immediate need of you." Isaac told him simply without moving his eyes from Florence who had gotten even paler as she watched Shamesh straighten.

"Of course, my Lord." Shamesh replied and moved to stand a comfortable distance behind the sofa that Isaac and Lenna occupied.

"I am not a 'Dark Lord'." Isaac told the Marchioness simply. "You could call Shamesh a 'Dark Lord'. I am The Lord of Darkness. The Lord of all that is Dark. I am Lord Darkness, Lord Wexler, Darkness, and Isaac to my friends. But I am never a 'Dark Lord'."

Florence nodded once with a quick finality in her understanding. "I apologize. I meant no offence, Lord Darkness, I will ensure that none of the nobles under me make the same mistake. Unfortunately, I cannot state the same for my peers." She spoke with the dignity of a woman who refused to yield anymore than was necessary, but was willing to take responsibility for her own mistakes.

Isaac nodded once in understanding and then motioned for her to continue. "I will not hold it against you, please, carry on." He said as his casual smirk found its place on his features once again.

Florence took a quick moment to bring her mind back around to where the conversation had been. She had just been going through casual pleasantries when she stepped on a pitfall trap. "Yes." Florence spoke almost more to herself than to the two-three in front of her. "That would make the lovely Lady next to you the Lady of Hellfire?" Her voice took on a more questioning tone as her eyes flicked between the two in search of any negative expressions.

"Indeed." Lenna purred. "I am Lenna V'Nova, formerly of the Great House V'Nova."

"It is a pleasure to meet you. I feel as though I am one of the rare few that have met one of House V'Nova in casual greeting, instead of on a battlefield." Marchioness Constantine replied.

Lenna nodded. "There have been more as of late, but yes. My family is not known for their pleasant conversations." Lenna joked. When it didn't land, she switched conversational directions: "You can relax, Florence, we have no reason not to be friends here." She assured the younger woman. "We are just passing through on our way to Altesia. Your guards informed us that you wished for all mid to high level adventurers to greet you upon entering your city. That is the only reason we are here."

Florence nodded slowly to Lenna and glanced at Isaac for confirmation from the obviously more volatile of the two. "After our rather eventful visits with Arthur, and the… what were their names?" Isaac asked Lenna with only slightly faux confusion.

"Thronsen, Flynn and Beatrix, I believe." Lenna answered casually.

"Yes." Isaac agreed. "We are done with your noble problems, passions, and proclivities. If you wish to meet with us, then I expect some casual hospitality in exchange for casual conversation. Afterwards, we will continue on our path."

Florence nodded slowly again. She had so many questions about everything that had happened but that could wait. He was right, she had yet to show them any real hospitality. "Jinna, you may enter." She spoke firmly but not harshly towards the third entrance to the sitting room that hadn't been used yet. A servant pushed in a tea cart a moment later that was covered in pastries and small cups of various dried leaves and berries. Tea and pastries were the bare minimum level of hospitality that any true noble could give to someone after all.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.