"Ragar! How could you have let him escape?" The Lord cried out after Frankenstein have fled.
"My apologies Lord, I can chase after him immediately."
"Wait, there's no need to," Raizel's charismatic voice reverberated clearly throughout the throne room. "He's not an enemy."
"Cadis Etrama di Raizel, just who was that person?" The Lord queried. He rested his head on his hand, slouching in his throne. The occupants in the room tilted forward, all eager and curious to know as well. For the Noblesse to defend the human, he must have seen something in his head.
Raizel tilted his head away, not meeting anyone's eyes, but not before the whole room took note of the blush sprouting on his face.
"OMG?!" The Lord gasped out, he shot up on his throne, no longer sitting down languidly. "Wha- What did that human do to you? Tell me and I'll hunt him down for you! My poor Raizel, corrupted by a human."
Seeing that the Noblesse was not going to be forthcoming with the information, the Lord tried to pry the information out of Raizel, "I'm your Lord and I order you to answer my question. You can't refuse this, Raizel!"
"... He's my bonded."
"But that's not possible! You have never even seen him before."
"Yeah, plus we saw his soul. He didn't have a contract. Well it looked like he once did, but it's broken now. It couldn't possibly be you."
The throne room erupted into hushed whispers at the revelation. The Lord looked questioning at Raizel, beckoning him to continue his explanation.
"He… he meddled with time."
"WHAT?! That's taboo even for us!"
"What a troublesome human!"
"We should totally go after him right now just for that."
"Breaking such a law, even if he is your bonded. Isn't it taking it too far?"
At this, Raizel turned to gaze sadly out of the large windows in the throne room. With a sigh he admitted, "I wasn't there to stop him."
The Lord glared accusingly at the person who said the last sentence, for making Raizel sad. The person withered appropriately and scratched his head in guilt, while the entire throne room started to realise the magnitude of the situation.
For the future to be so bad that Raizel was gone, and that his bonded had to travel back in time to fix it… Unthinkable.
"Well you said he's from the future right?" The Lord addressed Raizel casually. At his confirmed nod, the Lord's eyes sparkled and he crowed out, "Well? Don't keep us in suspense! What did you see? How are we like in the future? Did my Raskriea get married yet? I'll hunt down her potential husband first!"
The entire throne room sweatdropped.
After that night, Raizel was so confused and surprised at the events that transpired that he stayed willingly in the Lord's castle. He stared out of the windows in the castle and watched his house from there.
Often, a stray image of a blonde tending to the house would emerge from his mind. The figure would be seen busying with household chores, and livening up the atmosphere of the dull and dark place. Raizel would then somehow taste tea that he had never tried before, or hear laughter of people he has never met.
With a sigh, he gripped the window sill and gazed solemnly outwards.
This made the Lord so worried that even though he retired and passed the throne to his daughter, he stayed around to look after Raizel. Often, he would come in to stand behind Raizel, both of them gazing out silently. Many a times, the previous Lord would break the silence first, chattering to Raizel about his day, or about his precious daughter. Sometimes, he would query about what Raizel was thinking about, even though the answer was known to both of them.
After a few centuries has passed, on a particular night, something different happened. As usual, Raizel was standing by the window in the castle with the previous Lord behind him.
"What year is it now in the human world?"
Startled at his question, the previous Lord took a moment to regain his wits. Raizel never ever broke the silence first in his years of contemplation. "It's 2010."
"I see…" He continued staring at the window for a while. It was a full moon that night, and the silvery orb hung daintily up in the night sky. It illuminated the forested area in Lukedonia, bringing an ethereal silvery glow to their land. A beautiful sight for both beings to admire, yet they both knew that the landscape was the last thing on their minds right now.
Raizel suddenly turned around and faced him. "It's time for me to go to the human world."
"Huh?" The previous Lord gaped at him. "But why?"
"I heard that their ramen tastes good."
"..." And the previous Lord had nothing to comment on that.
And so, both beings set out of Lukedonia that night, to venture into the human world.
During the contract making, unbeknownst to Frankenstein, the previous Lord was outside the office and could hear everything. He had posed as Raizel's guardian, escorting him to the school.
The truth wasn't very far off. The previous Lord actually followed Raizel to the human world to make sure he didn't get lost with his horrible sense of direction. If he went alone, who knows what year it'll be when he finally found his human!
Well, and he wanted to see the peacock again. It's not everyday such an amusing human drops onto your lap. Entertainment for long-lived beings like him comes by rarely.
"Ragar… Have you seen the previous Lord lately?"
"No. But a few nights back, I felt him and the Noblesse leaving Lukedonia."
A sigh left the female figure, who was sitting on the throne. "And you never thought to report it to me?"
"..."
"Ragar, Gejutel. Go find my Father and see what he is up to. Make sure that he isn't doing anything too extreme with the Noblesse. Your sons, Rajak and Rousare, will take over your duties while you're gone"
"Yes, my Lord." Both bowed to her and left the throne room.
"Hmmm… do you know which direction to go?"
"The previous Lord did leave a trace for me to follow when he left. Most likely he knew we would be sent out to find them."
"How astute of the previous Lord! Let us go forth then."
"Are you sure it's this building?" Both of them stopped in front of a building. They could hear lots of loud chattering coming from within. Running footsteps and shouting reached their ears.
"The power trace stops here."
"But… but it's filled with children."
"Maybe if we find the person in charge of this place, we can find the Lord and the Noblesse."
"Hmm… there are some humans are approaching us." From afar, they saw three people walking towards them. The one in the centre had a mop of silver hair. Flanking him were two other people- a guy with a mushroom haircut, and a guy with a long purple ponytail. "...What sort of hairstyles are those."
"Now Gejutel, don't judge someone before you get to know them. They may assist us in our quest after all."
"Hi! How can we help you two?"
"Could you lead us to the person in charge of this place?"
"Sure sure, follow me!"
"Boss! Someone is here to see you. We'll just leave ya'll to it then" The mushroom hair guys shouted through the door.
He then turned towards them, "Boss is inside here, just open the door and head straight in. See you guys around then!"
Ragar and Gejutel nodded their thanks at him before heading in (Both of them wouldn't admit it, but they struggled with opening the door for a minute). What they saw when the blasted door finally opened made both of them slack jaw.
"My Lord! What are you doing?"
"And you! Aren't you the human from that time?"
"Huh? I can feel a bond… with Sir Raizel?"
They were understandably, confused. The two occupants in the room were sitting side by side on a couch, and gazing intently at a screen. In the screen, they can see a classroom, where a lesson is currently being conducted. The teacher looked really fierce, just like a competent fighter.
"Isn't that Sir Raizel at the back of the classroom?!" Gejutel burst out.
"Oh would you be quiet! Come in and sit down, and stop making so much noise in my school."
And thus, this was how the friendship between the two nobles and Frankenstein started.
Four figures sat primly on a couch, encircling a large screen which gave them a high definition view of the class being conducted. All four beings were focused on just the raven male at the back of the classroom.
At that moment, the wind blew in from the window and ruffled the hair of the Noblesse. All four stalkers sighed in admiration.
"You know, this school idea sounds fantastic."
"Oh? Do tell."
"For children to all gather at one place to learn so many different subjects. They even can eat together and play together. It sounds like a blessed childhood."
The school bell rang just then, and a few figures started to approach the Noblesse with smiles on their face. At their question, Raizel nodded and stood up, following them out of the class, most likely to the canteen for some ramen.
"I feel that you are getting somewhere with this." Frankenstein snapped the screen shut and gazed intently at Gejutel.
"Wouldn't it be a great opportunity for the noble children to come here to learn? It'll be an eye-opening experience for them, and also they can learn about the human world at the same time."
"Oh! What a great idea! We can start off with a small number of them first, and if all goes well, we can get more to come." The previous Lord became very enthusiastic, talking animatedly. "How about your grandson Regis? And you Ragar! Your eldest son may be taking over your duties, but your other son Rael is free to come, isn't he?"
"We can get Seira from the Loyard clan to chaperone them."
"Oh you sly fox Ragar! Are you trying to give your son a chance with his crush?"
"... Don't I get a say in this, considering that I'm the principal of this place?" Frankenstein twitched.
"Now now don't be such a spoilsport. Ragar can go back home swiftly to deliver my orders, and come back bringing the children. All in three days. There! It's settled."
"Say, why is the boss calling us to his office?"
"I dunno. Did you break anything recently?"
"Of course not! If I did that, I would have fled immediately. Why waste time talking to you when I know the devil would be after me."
The trio stood nervously outside of the Principal's office. All hesitant to go inside. None of them wanted to knock on the door.
"Just come in already, I know you're there."
Tao opened the door and twirled in, "Hahhahaha Boss! Of course we weren't standing there afraid to come in. No way, sire!"
"..." Takeo and M-21 followed in, internally screaming at their colleague, wanting to strangle him for being so obvious.
Frankenstein was sitting on his office chair behind his desk. With his elbows on the desk, he laced his fingers and placed his head on top of them. "You remember the two people you brought to see me last week?"
"Yeapp"
"They're friends of mine. Tonight their children will be coming in from another country to study here. Are you all free tonight to come by my place and help them settle in? Since all of you are also foreigners, maybe you can give them some tips. I know it must be hard to assimilate into a new place."
Frankenstein smiled charmingly. First, ask them nicely and provide some context. Takeo would already be swayed to help the poor new students.
"Of course, dinner is provided and you can stay overnight at my place."
With the promise of food and shelter with other people, M-21 would be reeled in. Frankenstein knew that M-21 has enough money from his paycheck to afford food and housing, but he still secretly craves the company of others (Of course he could tell!).
And lastly… Tao… "And to make up for this inconvenience to you all, I'll be paying extra this month. Take it as overtime work."
"Of course Boss! We'll come meet you here again right after work! No problem!" Tao grinned widely at the prospect of more money.
Hook, line, sinker. Piece of cake for Frankenstein.
And hence that very night, the household was complete once more. Despite the cheers and ruckus, it was one of the best nights everyone had experienced.
And Frankenstein finally smiled genuinely, feeling happiness from the bottom of his heart.
"So! Doesn't this brings back memories, Frankenstein?"
Frankenstein shot a warning glare to the previous Lord, daring him to continue and cause trouble in his own house.
"Huh? What do you mean?" Tao, ever the chatterbox, asked.
"My my! You haven't told your employees yet? I expected better of you hohoho!" The Lord continued.
Raizel who was sitting beside him shot him an exasperated look.
Frankenstein pinched the bridge of his nose and closed his eyes. He prayed for patience, and wondered what he ever did to deserve this. He couldn't believe that this old bugger was still here annoying him.
"I have no idea what you're talking about. Mhm, Seira, your cooking tastes wonderful!"
Said female blushed and thanked him for the compliment.
"Now now Frankenstein! Don't change the topic. We were just talking about how nostalgic this must be for you right? Seeing everyone's faces again." The previous Lord's eyes twinkled mischievously. In the background, Frankenstein could hear Gejutel berating the ex-Lord under his breath.
"Huh? Again? Did we meet somewhere before?" Takeo asked.
"Well I mean you do feel familiar, was it why you offered the job to us? I knew that it seems kind of weird that such a good offer landed on my lap. I'm not that good of a martial artist you know."
"Ohhhhh or was it… time travel?" Tao's voice dropped low at the end, and he staged-whispered to the rest.
"HAHAHAH! What a smart human here!" The previous Lord guffawed.
"No way!"
"Eh… did you just say human?"
"Boss, did you poison our dinner? Or is this some kind of April's Fools joke?"
"I knew something was up when he asked us to come over! Tao! Look what you gotten us into."
Seeing that his employees were getting a little jittery, he gave a weary sigh and slid his palm down his face. He closed his eyes in resignation. "I suppose that since all of you are here now… All of you have the right to know. It's going to be a long story."
And so, the household learns of Frankenstein's story and how their lives were changed for the better through his sacrifice. They all stayed up late that night, hearing the story from Frankenstein.
This may not bridge the gap between this family and the one they had previously, but at least it was a start.
And this, was enough for Frankenstein.
