My (Monster?) Hero Life

Chapter 115: The Marquis

Kace looked around at the large open courtyard that they were currently walking through. There were trees and plants around its perimeter; however, they looked similar to some of the ones he had seen on the Island. 'I guess they brought them along so that it felt more like home?'

The courtyard garden was quite stunning to look at. Besides the plantlife around its borders, the rest of the area was paved in stone. Sculptures were dotted around like guards marking out invisible pathways. It was quite a sight to see. There was one thing that was bugging Kace, though.

There was a group of vampire nobles lounging around on a few benches in one of the corners. Most of them were looking at him with looks of disdain. However, there was one, that was staring at him as though he were keenly interested in him. Kace returned the man's gaze expecting him to look away. However, this was not enough to deter the man.

The strange vampire noble held his gaze for longer than necessary before giving him a smile and a polite wave. The look of shock on Kace's face must have made it obvious that this was not the reaction he had expected from the man. Even the other nobles looked confused and slightly angry with the man for being friendly towards him.

Kace was unsure what to make of it, but it could not hurt to make a new friend, right? Seeing as the man had been courteous, Kace returned his greeting with a casual wave of his own. There was no need to reciprocate the smile. After all, he was still unsure if the man was amiable or if he was putting on a charade for the queen's sake.

Sonja turned at just the right time to witness the exchange. Her brows furrowed as she watched their exchange. 'What is Marquis Perez up to? He's a leading figure in the noble faction, so he should be against this situation.' Sonja glared at the man, trying to figure out what was on his mind.

When Kace noticed her reaction, he realised that something was off. 'Did I do something wrong?' He wondered as he looked from the man's smile to the queen's scowl. 'Somehow I get the feeling they're not exactly on the best of terms.'

Sonja withdrew her gaze and continued to lead Kace towards the building situated at the end of the path that they were on. It was not anything grand per se to look at. Just large and unadorned. An elementary rectangular building that had obviously been made to be nothing but practical. Kace followed Sonja up the few steps to the doorway, before disappearing inside with her.

When they were out of sight, Marquis Perez glanced at the woman beside him. She gasped slightly seeing as a lot of the female nobles wanted to attract this mans gaze. He was extremely handsome, even for one of their kind. His dark hair looked like it would be soft to the touch, and he kept it swept backwards. A small leather strip had been used to tie it near its ends at his shoulder blades. Leaving it hanging down his back loosely.

Although he was one of the oldest nobles, his eyes were full of youth and vigour. Making him seem to be abounding with endless ambition and life. For this woman that he was currently looking at, it was a sight to behold. Her own husband had lost interest in their physical relationship centuries ago. Unfortunately, it was a curse for their race. Most of them would lose their interest in a lot of things the older they got. Physical relationships just happened to be the most common thing for the majority of them.

She quickly lost all hostility under his gaze to the point that she wondered if it were some kind of charm ability. Carlos smiled, and her tension eased even further. Nobody but himself knew that there was actually no secret to it. He had just been lucky enough to be this handsome!

"Dear Maria, the man with the queen just now was 'him' was it not?" Carlos asked with a voice like silk. 

"Umm, of yes, sorry." She mumbled as she came back from her daydreams.

"Then would it not be best to be friendly towards him? We wouldn't want him to get his guard up around us, right?" Carlos replied, along with another charming smile.

"You are, of course, correct Your Excellency." Another female quickly interceded, eager to lick his boots.

Carlos turned his attention to the woman who had just spoken up. Making the one called Maria go wild with rage at being left out in the cold. If anyone could hear Maria's thoughts, they would be filled with extreme choice words for the other woman. Mostly hinting that she was a practitioner of entertaining men in secret.

"Ah, Anya. So you agree with me then?" Carlos asked, stoking the flames of competition between the women.

"What would there be to disagree about? It was a very astute observation of the current predicament on your part." She replied gracefully while flashing a fake smile at Maria. As if to tell her that she had missed her chance and should just back off obediently.

"Excellent! It's heartening to see such intelligence amongst the younger generation of nobles." Carlos exclaimed with a wide smile. "Now the real question is how to deal with the problem."

"Wouldn't it be best to just kill him?" One of the men asked with confusion in his voice.

"Adam, thanks to that comment you have only shown how inexperienced you are with matters of the court." Carlos tutted as he said this. "It would, of course, be the obvious solution. However, it would also make our faction the obvious perpetrators. Instead, we should consider how the queen's new dog might be used to our benefit."

Silence fell on the group of young noble vampires as they realised what he was implying. 'He's a genius! Nobody can compare to the Marquis!' These were just a couple of thoughts flooding their naive minds. While they were lost in their thoughts, they missed the moment that Carlos flashed a predatory grin at the Training Hall's doorway...