"I uhh..." He tried his best to avoid Silas's stare, giving it his all to pretend like this was just a normal day like any other.
Yes, everything was normal.
Nothing out of pocket.
Nothing at all.
Nothing...
Virginia moved at a speed that only a few in the world could perceive, all it took her was a single step to close the distance between them, catching even Silas off-guard.
Time slowed down.
Before he knew it, he was buried in a deep, tight embrace, Aris couldn't even pretend to choke this time, quietly standing there as the woman squeezed the air out of him. After all, he felt like this one was deserved.
He managed to make a small, muffled sound that might've been a protest, but it didn't go anywhere. His face was half-buried against Virginia's shoulder who was a head taller than him.
The room had gone silent.
Utterly silent.
The heir of Halcyon, The Virginia Halcyon, a freshly awakened S rank.
Hugging someone.
Like this.
In public.
Silas stood frozen for half a second too long, his hands panicking as he looked between the two of them.
He had been ready to intercept, ready to react, to defend. But there had been no killing intent.
No aggression.
Just...
Relief.
Raw, unfiltered relief.
Which was weird because it was emanating out of one of the most important people in this country as if they had just unearthed the meaning for life.
Virginia's fingers tightened slightly in the fabric of Aris's shirt.
"I hate you," she breathed into his hair.
The words weren't sharp.
They trembled, weak against the tension in the air.
Aris stood stiff at first.
Then, very slowly, his hands lifted.
Hovering awkwardly.
He wasn't sure what to do. It was not like he had been prepared for anything like this, to meet someone from his past in such an abrupt way. If anything, he would have liked to avoid this situation entirely. It was a chore, to keep up with all of this...
Maybe he should have just erased all the evidence yeste-
His thoughts faded away when he sensed her holding back a sob.
He took a deep breath.
He let his hands touch her back, accepting her embrace as he whispered a muffled apology.
"I had to."
He motioned to Silas that it was okay, letting Virginia squeeze him for way too long before slowly slipping out of her embrace.
When she pulled back, no sign of the sadness remained in her face, the radiance of the heir of Halcyon back in full display as she buried herself back deep under the role of a noble.
"We all thought you were dead."
He averted his gaze, rubbing the back of his neck.
"Yeah.."
It came out softer than he intended.
The word hung between them, small and insufficient.
Virginia studied him for a long moment, as if weighing whether to push further. Whatever she found in his expression made her stop. The air around her steadied, the faint shimmer of her presence smoothing into something more controlled.
She straightened.
When she did, the room seemed to remember who she was.
The officials near the wall adjusted their posture. One of them coughed quietly, attempting to restore a sense of order.
"My apologies," Virginia said smoothly, her tone shifting with practiced ease. "It seems I lost my composure."
No one dared comment.
Silas finally moved, stepping slightly closer to Aris's side. Not possessive, not confrontational.
Just there, ready to act.
"What do you mean he was dead?"
Right.
There was this part left.
She turned towards him, finally acknowledging his presence.
"Is that your friend." She asked Aris before answering his question, only continuing after she got a hesitant nod in confirmation.
"An accident with a dungeon break, most of his family died" She paused, carefully choosing her words. "We had reasons to believe he was dead as well."
Silas blinked, glancing at Aris with surprise.
Yup.
It was over.
His life as a nobody was going in the trash.
It was so over.
Maybe he could escape if he made a run for it right now...
"Dungeon break...?" Silas muttered, a faint flicker of disbelief in his eyes as he stared at Virginia.
Virginia, meanwhile, tilted her head.
"You don't know?"
"I don't know what exactly?"
She gave Aris a look, who was doing his best to scream 'NO' without the use of his mouth.
"He's the last remaining member of the house of Ashborne."
...
The silence settled deeply, the entire room, the officials, the attendants, even Silas taking time to process the information.
"What..?"
Silas didn't raise his voice much.
He didn't need to.
The single word cracked through the room harder than a shout ever could.
Aris closed his eyes.
Just for a second.
Virginia didn't look amused. She didn't look apologetic either. If anything, she looked faintly confused by the reaction.
"You didn't tell him?" she asked, glancing at Aris.
Silas slowly turned his head.
Very slowly.
"You're joking," he said.
Aris scratched the side of his neck again.
"It's… complicated."
"The House of Ashborne?" Silas repeated. "As in that Ashborne?"
A few of the officials along the wall visibly stiffened at the name.
Even in ruin, it carried weight.
Virginia's gaze sharpened slightly.
"Yes. That Ashborne."
The temperature in the room didn't change.
But the atmosphere did.
Ashborne.
A name once synonymous with power.
With destruction.
With catastrophes that never quite made it into public records.
Silas let out a short, disbelieving breath. He looked at Aris again—really looked at him this time.
Aris didn't need to guess what was going through his head.
The quiet habits, the way he scanned rooms automatically, the unnatural control of his body. The way he moved when he thought no one was watching, the battle with the boss that had ended a little too easily.
It most likely clicked.
"You-" Silas stopped himself, running a hand through his hair. "You let me complain about noble houses in front of you the whole way here." A light tone of disbelief in his voice.
Aris winced slightly.
"In my defense, you were very passionat-."
"This isn't funny."
"Sorry."