Planet: Kelion III (Location of the Celebration) -Year: 931.M34 -Location: Segmentum Obscurus, -POV: Zora Bahar, mother of Liara Bahar

'Liara won't listen to her, she never will' the thought pained Zora's mind.

She saw her daughter searching around the banquette, looking for the night's special guest, though he was nowhere to be seen, he hasn't even arrived at the Celebration even though half of it was already over, at least the first day that is.

Zora sighed, Liara would no doubt cause great trouble for her tonight, she couldn't lock her up in her room, that would just be insulting to the noblemen that came to see if they have a chance with her or not. She couldn't order her to not interact with the interrogator since she would most likely ignore her orders, she doesn't even listen to her father for the emperor's sake.

The old woman took a generous sip from her wine glass and nodded to the highborn entourage around her as they talked, she didn't pay attention to what they said, she was too busy worrying about her inquisition problem.

"That is quite a tale of your son, lord Harkown, I'm sure my fourth son would enjoy his company since both of them share a taste for hunting" Zora smiled as she replied to the noblemen in front of her.

"I'm sure they will Lady Zora, especially wh..." Zora didn't pay attention as he continued to speak, her mind trailed off again.

'Emperor hear my prayers, please let the interrogator be ugly, ogryn shaped even! please just make him unappealing!' Zora prayed in her mind, if the interrogator is unappealing, Liara might reconsider her decision, they might not be doomed if that is the case.

Another hour passed as Zora continued to entertain her guests, the wine and quality amasac flowed into the room like water from a river as the servants rushed to fill the guest's demands. Light snacks, dancers, entertainers, jesters, everything was in order and the guests seem to be enjoying them, the only things left for today, was dinner and a dance, after that, the guests will go back to their rooms until tomorrow.

Everything was going well until a maid approached her with a message in tow, Zora signed her to come closer and deliver her message, her face tense as she heard the news of the Interrogator's arrival, she quickly told the maid to follow her before looked towards the Highborn guests around her.

"Although this has been a pleasant conversation, there is a matter I need to attend to, please enjoy your time" Zora said with a fake smile.

"But we were only just beginning lady Zora, oh well, duty calls for you I guess" An obese highborn woman said with a chuckle, Zora did everything she could to not look at her with disgust as she made her way towards the landing bay with the maid in her back.

"Did you inform Liara about this?" Zora asked the maid.

"No mistress, Lady Liara has not been informed yet" she answered "The lord interrogator and his assistant are currently in the landing bay" she informed Zora.

"Let us not keep our guest waiting then, go and informed the head butler to prepare everything, I want you to keep him in a good mood" Zora ordered.

"As you wish mistress" the maid girl bowed before leaving towards the head butler.

"O god-emperor hear my prayers, let this night end uneventful" Zora muttered as she moved towards the landing bay.

In less than 3 minutes, Zora was already at her destination, she saw the intimidating Inquisitorial transport as it began to land, the famed black transport that was only given to people of the highest authority. Zora observed the cutter as it slowly landed on the metallic ground beneath. The black-colored ship was unlike anything she has seen before, far more advanced and far more capable.

Zora gulped as she witness the doors of the shuttle open and two figures emerge from it, the first one to exist was a young white-haired lady, she wore a blue dress with white sleeves that reached until her knees with a dark blue coat on top, she had black gloves and wore white silk pants with dark blue boots, the women's dress was decorated and only worked to enhance the beauty in her face, she walked gracefully out of the shuttle, her blue eyes was like a pair of gems, she must be a noble lady, the kind that put Zora and her family in shame.

The women stopped halfway from the shuttle's bridge and looked back inside, revealing a young man with black hair long enough that reached his neck, unlike his companion, he wore a decorated red coat with white silk pants and brown boots. His face was devoid of any scares or facial hair, and unlike the noblewomen, he walked with an aura of authority around him. He was young yet look as if he knew everything, he was handsome yet emitted a sense of power, his features will only encourage Liara.

'Emperor damn it!' Zora cursed as she saw the man with the interrogator badge 'Liara will definitely cause trouble over this' Zora seemed defeated, from now on she could only pray that the man would not take offense from her daughter's actions "By the throne" Zora muttered as she approached to welcome the duo.

(-POV: Anon)

The young man looked at his surroundings as he descended from the cutter, at least 40 guards were standing at attention and it seemed like a noblewoman was ready to greet them, Anon remembered the woman from the files, she was Zora Bahar, the mistress of Bahar household who had married to a high-ranking militant commander. For some reason, she seemed to be cursing inside her mind.

"Welcome sir interrogator, it is a great honor to have you in our humble home" the noblewoman bowed with a smile, though Anon knew it was fake.

Zora flinched as Anon looked her in the eye "The interrogator and I are honored to be here as well, lady Zora" Celliphus answered Zora's greeting though she did not bow, her status as inquisitorial agent gave her the authority not to do so "Though we came here for inspection rather than joining the Celebrations" Celliphus said, for some reason, Anon could feel a small amount of disappointment in his companion.

"Of course my lord Jermai, Lady Celliphus" Zora replied "Please, allow me to escort you inside, let us not waste time in the cold of the spire" Zora offered to escort them to the hall, Anon Zora right behind Celliphus.

A noble banquette was one of the few things Anon hated the most, a place filled with greedy, power-hungry wimps with a stick up their asses. He sighed as he walked through the furnished halls, he could already sense the thoughts of the people, the joy and greed of the highborn, the jealousy of the menials, and for some reason, the fear of Zora.

'At least his(Anon's) companion might keep Liara away' Anon read her thoughts, he was a little bit confused as to why she mentioned Celliphus, but since he felt no hostile intent from her, he decided not to think upon it further 'Alright, back to work' Anon focused on his task, he will start the memory alteration with Zora and slowly alter the others, but before he could do anything, a pair of hands wrapped around his left arm, he looked at his left to see Celliphus clinging to his left arm.

"Is there something wrong master?" Celliphus asked in a low voice, Anon shooks his head and ignored the gesture, his student continued to hold his hand with a smile while Anon slowly invaded Zora's mind.

'Hmmm, let's see' Anon probed her mind, her mental resistance was too little to have any effect. The memories in her mind were not promising, it appears that most of their soldiers were currently in the neighboring systems, fighting aliens, so Anon couldn't hope to take it from them, moreover, he wasn't willing to take them from them, they were using their soldiers for the benefit of the imperium.

Anon slowly retreated from her mind, careful not to alert her, until he came felt a worrying memory regarding him 'Now, what do we have here?' he carefully examined the memory, he saw a beautiful woman with the same hair color as Zora, it appears that she was her daughter 'A memory about her daughter?' Anon questioned, but what was in her daughter that caused distress in Zora? why is her memory causing anxiety in Zora when she saw Anon?

He examined the memory further and finally found out why, 'So she is looking for a suitable husband?' Anon huffed, Celliphus and Zora both heard an annoyed grunt from Anon as he learned of the news 'This is going to be a troublesome night'.

Hearing his annoying sound, Zora flinched but continued walking, she felt something in her mind, a weird feeling of numbness. Seeing this, Anon quickly retreated from her mind so not to arise any suspicion, he frowned as he processed the information he has gathered so far.

"Something wrong, master?" Anon heard a hushed voice from his left side.

He turned to look at her face, her blue eyes were locked on him "Nothing important so far, we won't be able to complete the process with the Bahar family" Anon said in a low tone, making sure that no one could hear him "There will be some trouble when we reach the main hall, a red-haired woman, her daughter" Anon gestured quietly towards the woman in front of them "It appears that she has an obsession with people with high authority" Celliphus scowled as she heard his words but Anon's next words lit her up "Stick close to me, don't leave my arm's length, hopefully, it will discourage her from approaching us" Anon ordered.

The grip around Anon's hand became tighter "I will make sure to fulfill my duty perfectly then" Celliphus grinned, this caused him to smile at her expression, the group took a left turn through the hallway, Anon sighed as he felt the presence of the highborns getting closer, before he could grunt, however, a voice called him out again "Master?" Celliphus asked.

"hmm?".

"Emm... do you think... emm" She stuttered for a bit before regaining her composure "Are we going to leave once our mission is complete?" she asked.

"Is there a reason to stay?" Anon replied, he looked at her with a confused look, he saw her expression turn sour, her smile turned upside down. Realizing the situation, Anon quickly corrected himself "Maybe staying for a short while won't hurt anyone" he said with a smile, this seems to improve her mood, 'Poor lass, it seems she missed her noble lifestyle' Anon nodded to himself, he was truly a master of reading people to figure that out.

A few minutes later, the group reached a large door held open by two servants, Anon's frowned as he saw the crowd of highborn.

They stood above a large marble staircase that lead down to the main door to the hall, everyone else was down next to the tables and chairs put together in a tasteful manner. Servants constantly tended to the needs of the nobles, Anon saw a group of dancers entertaining the guests while jesters performed some tricks. It appeared that they haven't noticed them enter, but that was about to end as Zora decided to inform them of their arrival.

Zora gestured towards a butler to call their names to the crowd, before he could say anything however, he was stopped by Anon "I would rather not inform the other nobles of our title" Anon informed Zora, he was ordering her to shut up about their identities, it was true that they used their title to suddenly barge into the Celebration but they have only informed Zora so far, since she was the head of the household.

Zora nodded at his orders, Anon could feel a sense of relief from her, probably because of her daughter, if they informed the crowd, she would also know of his presence.

"Please my lord, my lady, enjoy your night, I will make sure they attend to your every need" Zora said with a smile, only if it wasn't a fake one.

Anon hide his inquisitorial rosette before nodding and moving down the stairs, following a butler, Celliphus was still clinging to his arm while a few of the nobles glanced towards the new arrivals but thanks to Anon they were quickly ignored, all except for one man who eyed Anon as he walked by him, he continued to watch him as he and Celliphus sat on a table in the corner where the butler had lead them.

The butler bowed before leaving the two alone "Celliphus" Anon suddenly called out her name, he carefully glanced towards the blond man.

"Should I dispose of him, master?" Celliphus looked towards the blond man who somehow wasn't affected by Anon's illusion, even when he focused his powers on him, he kept looking at him.

"No, just keep watching him for now, so long as he doesn't interfere with the mission" Anon ordered, Celliphus nods before putting her chair closer to Anon.

As they change focus from the blond man, a few maids and butlers approach their table and fill it with light snacks and amasac, high-quality alcohol to candies, sweets, and fresh fruits, everything was prepared.

Celliphus's shined like a star when she saw the fresh fruits, she took a fruit that was shaped like an orange ball and peeled its skin, inside of the fruit was orange as well but it was divided into several pieces that Celliphus pulled them apart and started eating them one by one, each time she lit up like a child eating sweet candy for the first time. Anon looked at the strange fruit, for some reason he felt as if he have seen it before but couldn't remember it.

Anon shook his head and ignored the fruit, a maid stood beside their table, she was most likely ordered by Zora to make sure they had everything they needed, Celliphus thanked the servants as they left the table.

Anon coughed two times, signing Celliphus that he will be focusing on the mission at hand, she quickly gulped the strange fruit and clumsily nodded, Anon sighed 'This woman has killed hundreds of daemons and a few astartes'.

The temperature around their table dropped as Anon prepared for a large scale memory alteration, he closed his eyes and saw the souls around him, at least 300 nobles were here, their souls burned like matches in the warp, but they were nothing next to Celliphus's soul which burned brightly like a large torch. The color of their souls was disgusting and untrained except for a few of them, most likely ex-commanders or officers.

He slowly tried to see through the souls but for some reason, he couldn't see through them. Anon tried another approach, he focused his attention on a single mind, but even then he couldn't pierce it.

'What is going on?' he questioned as his mind suddenly returned to the realspace, as he returned to his body, he managed to regain his sight, Celliphus was eating all of the fruits on the table, she looked at Anon as she was biting another fruit, she gasped as it fell to the ground.

Anon slapped the fruit out of her hand to the table "You're going to ruin your stomach at this rate" he scolded her.

"Master do you have any idea how expansive fresh fruit is!" Celliphus protested.

"It's expansive on terra not here, you Terran snotling" he glared "There is a problem" Anon informed Celliphus, this seems to focus her attention.

"What's wrong, master?"

"I can't reach their minds, something is blocking me" he answered in a low tone, making sure that no one besides Celliphus could hear him "Try to search for a psyker or an anomaly in the area, I will do the same" he ordered, seeing Celliphus nod, he returned to his mind.

The shape of the souls around him began to appear, except this time, Celliphus's psyche was also there, she was looking around the large room for anything of interest, 348 souls were seen free of anomalies effects, seeing nothing else the duo returned to the realspace.

A task that took them at least two hours was over in less than one minute in real space.

"Sorry master, I couldn't find anything of note, did you?" Anon heard Celliphus's voice.

"Same" Anon quickly answered, his expression stiffened "I was expecting an easy mission but it seems that I was wrong" he looked towards his disciple "I don't like to do" he grunted "We have to observe the nobles one by one if we want to find out the reason behind this phenomenon" the words came out from his lips as if he was spitting poison, Anon really didn't wish to talk with the highborn.

Celliphus nodded and accepted his decision, though she looked a bit worried, unlike her, Anon wasn't adept at dealing with nobles, what do you expect from a man who lived in a hut as a nomad most of his life?

He reduced the pressure of the spell that he has been casting from the start, it was to ensure no one paid attention to them in order to end the mission quickly and without invoking the attention of the troublesome daughter of Zora, but now, they had to talk with others and the spell would only hinder their efforts, the spell was still active but not as strong as before so at least you could talk with someone face to face without them ignoring you.

"I need to learn those Aeldari rituals" he muttered under his breath as he reduced the psychic concentration on the spell, his mind eased for he did not need to focus on the spell too much "Those Xenos can focus their psyche from hundreds of meters away, I will learn their tricks one day" Anon remembered the weird rituals that allowed them to focus and project immaterial energies from long distances, hell, if all their seers and warlocks focused, they could affect an entire sub-sector!

'Was it because of their rune stones or something else?' his thought process continued as he looked searched for the anomaly, Celliphus was doing the same. One after another he examined the psyche of the people around him but none were abnormal, he searched 14 people before someone tapped on his shoulder, he flinched for a moment before turning to face the figure, the sudden turn seem to scare the woman in front of him.

"Bloody throne" the woman cursed, she seems to be a military commander of sorts, she looked young but the effects of rejuvenation treatment were obvious on her skin, she wore a red military coat on a decorated armor plate, her brown color hair was tied in a shape of a simple bun, she was the only one in the hall who wore a cap.

Witnessing Anon's alerted state the woman let out a short chuckle "Don't worry handsome, I won't eat you, despite the rumors" she smiled, this seemed to ease Anon.

"Apologies for the austerity, I didn't expect someone" he apologized and brought up his hand, waiting for a handshake "My name is Jermai, just Jermai" Anon smiled.

She looked at his hand and seemed confused, she raised an eyebrow before introducing herself "Sypha Elmond, Lord-General of guard unites in 272nd Imperial fleet, renown regiment of Mordorian Iron Dogs, excuse me but what is?" she gestured towards his hand.

"Oh, Terran tradition, a handshake" Anon explained, he almost forgot, not all of the imperial worlds know what a handshake even is, they had developed different ways of greeting during the long night.

"A Terran tradition?" she questioned, she shook his hand, Anon noted that she had quite a handgrip "A Terran noble, how fortunate" Sypha said with disdain, seems like she is not fond of Terran nobles.

"Oh no, I am not a noble Lord general, I simply know many Terran traditions" Anon explained, she seems to look more favorably towards him now.

"Thank the emperor you not one of those inbreed fools" Sypha spat out "Just thinking about those arrogant bastards makes my blood boil" she growled.

"Not too fond of Terran nobles huh?" Anon chuckled at Sypha's expression.

"Oh, emperor no! not only them, all of those noble Cunts, but the Terrans, they are the worst! Emperor forgive me for insulting the throne world but Terran nobles can eat grox shit for all I care".

"I understand your anger Lord General but I advise you to keep your tone down, all the people around us are the highborn" he smiled, at least someone shared his hate for the highborns "So" he called out for her attention "I don't think you came to me just share your hatred, how can I help you Lord general?" he asked.

"Help me?" she repeated before answering "I didn't come here with a hidden purpose, I was just sitting in the corner and saw you alone, so I decided to chat with you instead of being miserable in a corner" both chuckled at her statement.

"Oh do I look so lonely now?" Anon questioned before realizing the answer "I guess I do look like that" he paused for a moment before continuing "Mind if I ask why you here then? with your disdain for the nobility and all that?"

"Free Amasac" she said out loud without not shame "Besides, it's not like I was doing anything, the fleet I was assigned to left for Segmentum Solar, those damn fuckers in the navy left me and my regiment here" she explained, her voice was seething in anger "Only if I get my hands on that Bartford bastard" she looked down and clenched her fists before easing up again "But enough of me, why you here Jermai?" she asked.

'A Lord general without an assignment? interesting' Anon thought, his thoughts found their way to the surface as his lips turned to the shape of a smile "Why am I here? well of course, I'm here for you, my lady" he grinned.

"I'm an old woman Jermai, if you want to sleep with someone, you are in the wrong place..." Sypha suddenly stopped talking as she saw the inquisitorial rosette, a minute passed as she watched the rosette before looking up to face Anon "So...you really want to sleep with me?" she asked.

"Wait what? No! what are you talking about?" Anon retorted "I'm here to recruit you and your men" he informed her "Now tell me Sypha, do you have any experience working with the navy?"

(-POV: Celliphus / Two hours later)

"Not this one either, damn it!" Celliphus cursed under her breath, it's been a few hours since she began searching for the Anomaly that is disturbing psychic spells, at this rate, she won't be able to achieve her goals "Emperor damn it, I'm losing time, I worked so hard on preparing for tonight and it's all going to waste!" she muttered in a frustrated tone.

So far, she has searched through almost 150 people and found none to be abnormal, she wanted to do it faster but the constant attention from the nobleman around slowed her down significantly, all of them wouldn't stop bothering her about her name, her household, her relations statues, and so many other things, some of them didn't even ask for her relationship status, whether she was engaged or not.

'By saint Ollanius, here comes another one' Celliphus sighed as she saw another nobleman who was going to try his luck with her, she smiled as the young noble in rather decorated attire approached her.

"Greetings my lady, my name is Darios of the house Sufi, the son of..." the young nobleman continued but Celliphus didn't listen, she just smiled as he spoke 'Useless noble trash, trying to decorate your name with false titles and names so you can hide your lack of competence and experience, you have never achieved anything of your own to deserve that title, nor you deserve any chance with the likes of me you lowly worm, you waste of emperor's given oxygen. Now shut up and let me go back to work, you are wasting my TIME' her mind was filled with rage but her face was that of a beautiful smile, only if they knew what kind of rage was boiling beneath the surface of that surreal face.

"It's a great honor to make your acquaintances Lord Darios, for what do I owe this honor?" she asked.

"My lady, I came here to ask your hand in tonight's dance" he bowed, Celliphus sighed "What was that?"

"Oh, Nothing my lord, as for the dance, I must apologize, I already have a randevu with someone" she slightly bowed in apology "Now if you allow me, I must depart".

"W-wait, my lady!" Celliphus ignored the calls as she walked away.

After putting some good distance between herself and the nobleman, she breathed in and out in order to calm herself, she still had time, she only needed to discuss her findings with Jermai, then she could...

The white-haired girl stopped suddenly as she noticed the blond-haired man, the one who looked at them when they walked by him, despite being under Jermai's spell, he didn't removed his eyes from the duo. She attempted to see through him, the temperature around her dropped as she tried to pierce through his psyche but as soon as she approached him with psionics, all her energy was immediately consumed.

"There you are, you little rat" Celliphus muttered as she approached the man, the blond man seems to be alone and away from the crowd, he noticed the young woman as she approached him, he hastily fixed his coat as Celliphus waved at him with a smile.

"H-hello" Celliphus smiled as she saw his poor attempt at the greeting.

"My name is Celliphus, Celliphus Septium, a pleasure" she introduced herself politely.

"T-tyres Locust" he stuttered as he introduced himself "Em...h-how can I help you, lady Celliphus?" he asked, he tried his best to keep eye contact but he had a hard time doing so.

Celliphus was disgusted at his gesture, though she did not show it "Oh, how considered oh you lord Tyres" Celliphus chuckled "But no, I just came here to have a conversation, you don't seem to have company, I can leave if I'm bothering you"

"No, not at all, please have a seat" Tyres pulled out a seat and offered it to Celliphus, she thanked him before sitting on the chair.

'You're doing this for Jermai, Celliphus, don't worry, soon you won't have to talk with these idiots' she reassured herself before starting to talk with Tyres "Please lord Tyres, tell me about yourself".

(-POV: Anon)

"I would be honored to join you in your crusade, Lord Jermai" Sypha saluted.

"Calm down and stop your gestures Lord general, do you wish to announce my title to the other here?" Anon snapped.

"Sorry, didn't mean to do that" she apologized as she scratched the back of her head "But still, I will need some number, number of our troops, the enemy troops, enemy assets, number of ships and all that"

"You will have the required data soon enough but not here, we will return to my cutter once our job here is done, once we return to William we can begin our talk about strategy" he paused for a moment before speaking again "I never heard of Mordorian Iron dogs, in what area are they specialized at?" he asked.

"Close quarter siege warfare, they can do fine in other terrains but they do better in urban areas, especially hives" Lord general explained "I currently have 12 regiments of them under my command, though the 34th was damaged and was disbanded, now they act as reserve for the other regiments"

"I see, and where are they stationed?"

"Agri world of Mare, in our current sub-sector"

"Good, we will retrieve them for service in a few months" Anon nodded to himself, he smiled, he finally had a proper battle-hardened force for the attack on the Ashen Claws, now the only thing that remained was to "Aquire" soldiers from the nobles.

As he planned their future attack against the traitor Astartes, he felt a sudden chill from his back, a sense of danger filled his soul, he looked into the eyes of the General and saw a reflection of a figure within them, someone was behind him.

"You seem to be enjoying yourself, master" an all too familiar voice filled his ears "Did I ruin your time? are you having fun while I dealt with the problem?" Anon turned back to face the source of the voice, Celliphus was smiling but for some reason, it made him uncomfortable.

"O-oh, so your finally here".

"Yes, I am here, and who might you be?" she looked towards Sypha, she flinched as she saw her cold eyes.

"I'm Lord General Sypha Elmond, is she working with you Lord Jermai?" Anon nodded in confirmation "He wants my service for an upcoming assault on a system, though I don't know much about the details" Sypha explained.

"Oh" she turned towards Anon who nodded, confirming the truth behind her words.

"This matter aside, have you found what we were looking for?".

"Yes master, it appears the problem was being caused by a blank" Anon's face showed curiosity as heard the information.

"A blank?" he questioned.

"Yes master, although he seems to be a weak one that causes little to no direct discomfort in others, even in psykers. Psychic spells have no effect on him" she informed, Sypha flinched slightly as she heard the words about psykers.

'A blank?' Anon questioned, having a blank or a pariah would be extremely useful for an inquisitor, well, maybe not pariah since both he and Celliphus were psykers, if it was as weak as she claimed him to be, he might be able to use him despite them being a psyker and a blank.

"Where is he now?" he asked.

"He is currently unconscious in a restroom outside the hall" Celliphus grinned, seeing the confusion on Anon's face, she continued "He shouldn't have followed me to the restroom will ill intentions, master" she explained.

"Oh... is that why Isaac doesn't trouble you?" the white-haired girl didn't answer "Emm... I should focus on the mission..." he turned to face the Lord general "You are free until our task here is done, enjoy the banquette and the expansive alcohol while you can, you won't have such a luxury after we leave".

"That I will sir" Sypha chuckled as she moved out of their way.

"Let's finish our task here"

Sometimes later, Anon came back to his senses as he finished the alteration in the last nobleman, with this, they should have enough soldiers to mount an assault on Ashen Claw's fortified system. He managed to secure more than half a million well equipt household soldiers, though they weren't much compared to even a small Imperial fleet, they were more than enough to deal with a single system, they were very well equipt compared to normal guardsmen regiments, he also had around 11000 Mordorian Iron Dogs and Aeldari reinforcements and even some grey knight who were coming to their aid, the only left for them was to secure the ships from the house Telvani, the rogue trader house.

Anon sighed as the exhaustion of altering so many memories kicked in, the vision of the banquette returned, he saw as it was time for dinner had passed, and the nobles were dancing in the middle of the room to a weird "Ancient Terran music".

'How much time has passed since I started?' he questioned and rubbed his eyes, his head ringed in pain, he saw a glass of Amasac on the table and quickly drained it of its content, the strong alcohol warmed his head and eased the pain until it disappeared completely.

As he observed the scene before him, he saw a beautiful red-haired noblewoman dancing with another nobleman, he recognized her as Liara from Zora's memories, her psyche was filled with disgust and anger as she danced with her partner 'Good riddance' he thought to himself, she wished to trouble him with her pointless fantasies about him, so he hid his identity, now she has reluctantly danced with someone else. He smiled at her misfortune.

A minute passed before Anon realized 'Where is Celliphus?' he questioned and looked around, he soon spotted a white-haired woman to his left, she was talking with someone?

He stood up from the chair to inform her of the mission's completion, but soon found her surrounded by a few highborn.

"Apologies my lords, but I do not wish to dance" she politely refused their offer with a smile and tried to push them away, but they don't seem to listen, Anon could feel agitation beneath her smile.

'Damn, I need to protect those idiots from Celliphus before she does something rash' the thought process forced him to move faster.

"Do you know who I am? I am Jerald from hou-" his words were cut short by a hand on his left shoulder.

'Bringing up your title when you are rejected? that most cliche thing you could've done' Anon smiled as he tried to hide his inner disgust "Sorry my lords but she has a promise with me" he lied.

"Who are you wretch? you dare touc-"

"Master" Celliphus quickly pushed the people around her aside and clung to Anon's arm.

"You!" the short noble faced him and looked up to face him, his head barely reached Anon's and Celliphus's chest yet he still tried to look intimidating "You dare steal another man's woman?" 'Wait what now?' Anon thought to himself, he looked at Celliphus who just shook her head and had an annoyed expression 'Oh, I see' Anon realized the situation and sighed 'This is why I hate nobles'.

He removed Celliphus's hands wrapped around his hand and faced the chubby noble, he put his hand on his shoulder and moved him to the side, his entourage tried to remove him but they couldn't move, even if they wanted to.

"What are you doing filth, remove your hands immediately" he tried to resist Anon but wasn't strong enough to do so "I will have your hea-" the words died in his mouth as he saw the inquisitorial rosette in his hand, Anon smiled as he felt the fear in his psyche.

"Perhaps I should have your head instead?" he whispered into his ear, the nobleman began to sweat "Go away" Anon said in a non-threatening voice, he released the chubby man and moved towards a white-haired woman who had a smug face.

"Lord Jerald!" the other three who were released from Anon's psychic grip quickly surrounded the terrified noble, one of them faced the duo "How dare you!" he approached them but stopped in his tracks as he heard Jerald's voice.

"Leave him alone" he ordered, cleaning the sweat on his forehead.

"But my lord!"

"Leave him Alone Laten!" the small man turned to face Anon "My apologize my Lord" he said in an apologetic tone before slightly bowing, his entourage faltered as they saw him do that.

Anon just waved his hand in the air as he left them to themselves, Celliphus was following right behind him but not before smiling at the nobles behind them.

"Thanks for saving me, master" she thanked him.

"Save you? I was saving them from you!" Anon chuckled "This matter aside, we can return to the ship, our task here is complete, we only need to get Lord general Sypha and retrieve the blank" he informed her, Celliphus suddenly stopped after hearing this, Anon looked back to see a weird expression on her face "Something wrong Celliphus?" he asked, observing her closely.

She looked at him before shooking her head "No, it's nothing, we can go" she answered as she started to follow him again.

A few minutes passed as the duo didn't say anything to each other, for some reason it felt extremely awkward for Anon to talk with her, soon enough, they found Sypha waiting for them near the exit of the hall, she waved at them as they approached.

"Lord Interrogator, we have retrieved the blank as per lady Celliphus's orders, we are ready to depart" she informed the two.

"Good, we can return now, Celliphus can you-" Anon turned back to face the white-haired woman, his question died halfway as he saw her looking intently at the dancing nobles while playing with a button of her coat, her attention quickly came back.

"Y-yes master, I'm ready to leave" she answered.

Anon turned to face Sypha "Tell your men to wait in their shuttles, you are free to do as you wish until I come back" she nodded before leaving towards the exit, Celliphus tilted her head in confusion as she heard the orders, Anon turned to face her again "Celliphus" he called out her name, there was a hint of embarrassment in his voice.

"Yes, master?"

"Would you like to dance with me?" Celiphus's face lit up as she heard him.

"I would love to" Celliphus smiled, her angelic face stunned the immortal witch, for it was the first time he has felt such an emotion, an emotion he was not familer with, yet it was pleasant. Anon could not but to smile, it was ok to take some time off of his duties, it was ok to enjoy his time once a while...

Author here:

Thanks for the reviews and follows, they really help me continue writing, especially those few people who DM me and talked about how much they like my story, you guys are the best :)