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"Cadis Etrama di Raizel… is alive?" Roctis was stunned, gripping the arms of his chair, barely enough of the control honed over tens of thousands of years left not to break it.
He heard the voices of the other elders and tuned them out.
"It can't be," Roctis said, still dazed. "He can't be alive."
"Are you still questioning the word of the Fifth Elder?" snapped the Second Elder.
"I'm still here, instead of already in eternal sleep. How can this be, if the Noblesse is alive?" Roctis asked, only half as a response to the Second Elder. "The Twelfth Elder was the first to die in South Korea, and he was my contractor. The True Noblesse would have sensed my power within him, and ripped my location and Urokai's from his mind. He wouldn't have waited to see if the Union would send both of us to South Korea."
"Didn't he usually stay in his manor?" the Third Elder asked. He was also confined, although for very different reasons.
After all this time, Roctis still felt a stab of guilt in his heart for insulting the Noblesse by comparing him to the Third Elder. Why, when Roctis had done so much worse to him?
"Even if Cadis Etrama di Raizel was able to forgive us for how we betrayed him, he would never forgive the loss of his bonded." For the six of them to try to destroy the Noblesse, someone more powerful than them? It was not an offense against power, and he was always gentle and merciful. He would try to avoid having to execute them. But to kill a human? The human he had chosen to Awaken at the cost of his own lifespan, even though it wasn't his duty to protect humans? If Cadis Etrama di Raizel woke from what sent him into eternal sleep to find his bonded missing? "He can't be alive, or he would have hunted us all down until he found out what happened to his bonded. Fifth Elder, why are you so certain you faced the Noblesse?"
"I wouldn't recognize the Noblesse," she admitted, "but the Sixth and Seventh Elders said he was the Noblesse, and who else could kill them so easily?"
"Did they say he was Cadis Etrama di Raizel, or is there another Noblesse?"
"Another Noblesse?" Roctis heard the Second Elder pound his fist on the arm of that throne of his. "After all the trouble we went through to help you neutralize him, are you saying he can be replaced?"
"Calm down," said the Third Elder, trying to defuse the situation. "Shouldn't a new Noblesse be weak like the clan leaders and the Lord?"
"No," Roctis said.
"No?" inquired the First Elder.
Roctis couldn't reveal that Cadis Etrama di Raizel spent his lifeforce and a young Noblesse would have more to spend. He couldn't even though that would let the Union throw disposable humans at him until he perished.
It would grieve him so, to have to kill the weak, to know these people were dying because of him…
"The Noblesse must be able to face clan leaders and even the Lord," he said instead. "Their power removes skill from the equation. If this is Cadis Etrama di Raizel, Second Elder, then spending these centuries asleep must mean he's still weak and our efforts," our betrayal of that kind soul, who gave us so much mercy undeserved, "weren't wasted. A new Noblesse wouldn't be so weakened. Before you ask, how a new Noblesse comes into existence is only known to the Lords, and the Previous Lord did not know Cadis Etrama di Raizel's birthday." Meaning he hadn't chosen that day. Probably. Even the Lord could forget things.
"A Noblesse could fight a Lord? A real Lord?" the Third Elder asked, sounding almost excited.
"As the Symbol of Power, the Noblesse was the only check on the power of the Lord. That is why the clan leaders who resented the Previous Lord confining them to Lukedonia sounded him out, informing him of their plans."
"And he killed them for it," Maduke said disgustedly. "Killing his own kind for the sake of humans."
Such disgusting creatures, who killed and tortured so many of their own… so was it really wrong? It wasn't as though he and Ignes had added to what the Union was going to do already, surely?
"A different Noblesse might listen to reason," said Maduke. "Fifth Elder?"
"They called him Cadis Etrama di Raizel, and spoke as though they knew him. And he seemed to know them," she said, looking apologetic for the first time this meeting.
After all, why should she be sorry she'd failed to save two nobles and a creation of the Ninth Elder, when the Ninth Elder served a noble? For the werewolves, there was no downside to this… except the Noblesse's existence.
"It can't be," Roctis said, despising himself for being one of these people, playing their games. "If he was alive, he would have come for us immediately after the Twelfth Elder went to South Korea." Then his eyes widened and he strengthened in his chair. "Unless… Fifth Elder, was there a blond-haired man there?"
"Yes," she said. "I said the current clan leaders weren't as weak as we thought: the current Kertia Clan Leader was there."
Roctis' frown deepened. "We haven't been attacked outside South Korea, so his bonded must be alive, but Cadis Etrama di Raizel fought to protect humans and his bonded wasn't at his side? It doesn't make any sense."
"Fifth Elder," the Third Elder asked, "is there anything else, no matter how insignificant it might seem?"
They all saw her glance at the Second Elder's monolith. "In addition to the two clan leaders and the Noblesse, there was also another human or noble there, who showed up to help Seira Loyard. The Seventh Elder kept interfering in my fight with him. They seemed to have history, so I assumed the man was another clan leader."
"Frankenstein." Roctis nodded, ignoring the hints of deceit. He already knew the werewolves were plotting. Were they hiding that Frankenstein was still alive because he was an enemy of the nobles who had sold contracts? "It's the only thing that would explain it."
"Frankenstein?" the Ninth Elder exclaimed, excited. "We must immediately send an expedition to South Korea! I don't care how many agents we have to sacrifice, the chance to recover the data he stole is worth it!"
"I agree," said the First Elder.
The data Frankenstein stole from the Union? Insulting the Noblesse by calling his bonded a thief?
But Roctis had kept his silence on far worse things. "Be careful," he said. "My survival was a clue that Frankenstein is alive because he would not rest until he avenged his Bonded. If a Union agent or Elder is responsible for his death, even if the Noblesse forgives them Cadis Etrama di Raizel will not. He cares for Frankenstein no less than Muzaka cared for Ashleen."
Killing a man's daughter to send Cadis Etrama di Raizel into eternal sleep… he'd done such a vile thing for his Ignes, but how could he not?
"He'll exterminate the Union for the sake of that human? Instead of because we were about to crush Lukedonia?" The Second Elder made a sound of disgust.
"We claimed that the Noblesse was the leader of our betrayal in order to confuse the issue," Roctis reminded him. "Clearly we didn't succeed in creating a rift between him and the Lord, if he fought alongside two clan leaders. Frankenstein may have vouched for him: he used to spar with the previous Kertia Clan Leader. But you're right: it is the Noblesse's duty to protect the nobles." Roctis ignored the Second Elder's snort. "The current clan leaders are children, and for the strong to attack the weak is an offense against the Symbol of Power. If Seira Loyard is there, perhaps she was petitioning him to avenge the Loyard Clan." Which he'd done. "We will come into conflict with him eventually," he said, heart tightening in his chest. "But we should have some time."
"Why are you so sure?" the Third Elder wondered.
"The most likely reason isn't something the Union can exploit," Roctis said.
"Fourth Elder, are you withholding information?" the Fifth Elder glared at him.
He'd accused her of the same earlier, but it was still worrying. Eventually, Ignes would be a target of the werewolves, once the humans were under control. Unless she was useful to them for her experiments and skill enhancing them…
"Under normal circumstances, the Noblesse wasn't called upon more than once in a few centuries. If he truly has reunited with his bonded, we should have had a few decades, perhaps a century, before Cadis Etrama di Raizel informed Lukedonia that he was alive and resumed his duties. Unfortunately, it seems that certain Elders," plural, "and their activities in South Korea intruded on his second honeymoon and brought us to their attention."
It took Roctis a moment to notice the silence.
The Third Elder was the first to speak. "Fourth Elder, are your translation abilities acting up?"
"I don't believe so. Why?"
"A second honeymoon is a trip a married couple takes together," the Third Elder explained.
"You have a point," Roctis said, frowning.
The Fifth Elder, who'd been staring at his icon, let out a sigh of relief.
"Why would they visit South Korea?" he wondered. "Do the humans consider it especially scenic? Then there's that neighbor of theirs, and I can't see Frankenstein bringing Cadis Etrama di Raziel to somewhere a war might break out. Frankenstein must have been living there: yes, he'd want to stay where he could confirm the Noblesse's health." Even if the Noblesse had sealed his power and banned him from performing experiments to gain new power, he would build a lab to try to save his bonded. Surely.
While a noble didn't even care enough to find out what happened to his own bonded… What more proof was needed that Roctis had abandoned his honor as a noble?
"You're saying the trip part was wrong?" the Fifth Elder asked. "Not the married couple part?"
This time, he tapped his fingers on his armrest. "Forgive me, the word marriage isn't very precise, so it's hard to translate."
"Understandable, when nobles reproduce asexually," the Thirteenth Elder said, speaking up for the first time.
That reminded them of his presence, but the Ninth Elder and Fifth weren't cleared for the truth either, so if they were going to evict someone from the meeting, they should have done it already.
"You're not saying a contract is anything like marriage?" the Third Elder wondered, and Roctis knew he had to nip that in the bud before there were comments about the Twelfth Elder.
"Contracts and marriages are both transactions where one person is sold to another person," no, a contract was more than taking an animal's blood to control them, but no one was going to tell the Union that the nobles weren't selling them true contracts, "and there may or may not be some affection involved," in the Twelfth Elder's case, certainly not. "My translation abilities used a word related to married couples instead of slavery because they actedmore like one than a slave and slave-owner. They lived together for a decade before they contracted, which is a long time for a human. Frankenstein appointed himself Cadis Etrama di Raizel's caretaker and was always intruding on our meetings with him to bring him food or tea, although that may have been to spy on the clan leaders who visited the Noblesse."
Roctis heaved a sigh, noticing the Fifth Elder seemed relieved for some reason. What had she really observed when she met the two of them? "After they contracted, they were always embracing in front of anyone who visited Cadis Etrama di Raizel. They just would not keep their souls off each other for five minutes unless we visited while Frankenstein was busy experimenting or sparring with Gejutel and Ragar." At least it gave him a good reason to keep Ignes away. It was a good thing Urokai had already returned to his clan, or he would have challenged Frankenstein again the instant he saw them.
"Their… souls off each other?" The Fifth Elder said, a little faintly. "So they really are married?"
"There wasn't a marriage ceremony. If there was, the Previous Lord would have made sure that everyone knew about it, I'm sure." Ignes would have received an invitation, and what would he have done then?
"But they're in love?" she asked.
"Yes. As I said, the Noblesse would be as angry if he lost his Bonded as Muzaka was to lose his daughter."
"So he sees the human as a child?"
Roctis had no idea what the Elder was getting at. "No, Frankenstein had already reached his age of majority when he came to Lukedonia. Second Elder, could you clarify the Fifth Elder's question?" Maduke was much older than Lunark, he might be able to figure out what the other werewolf was saying. They didn't have translation abilities, after all.
"She wants to know if the Noblesse and that scientist are having sex. Frankenstein was very strong: if we can capture him alive, he'd definitely be worth breeding as well as experimenting on."
"Ah." Werewolves wanted to fight and do other things with strong people, and that was only one reason Roctis hadn't revealed his enhanced power to any of them. "I'm afraid I wouldn't have any idea."
"Did their relationship seem romantic?" the Fifth Elder tried again.
"…Since they are enemies of the Union, I certainly hope they aren't going to have a happy ending." And yet how he wished… If Cadis Etrama di Raizel would only stay there, in that insignificant human country, if he would only abandon his duty and live!
"Did they fight?" she asked him.
"Obviously not, since Frankenstein is alive. Even that human couldn't possibly survive against the Noblesse. We tried, but we were unable to convince Cadis Etrama di Raizel to sentence him. Unfortunately."
"Not fight to kill, fight to prove their strength, for pleasure!"
"The Noblesse does not fight, Fifth Elder. The Noblesse sentences criminals to forced eternal sleep, and certainly not for pleasure." Not when fighting would drain his life away. Cadis Etrama di Raizel was too gentle a soul to enjoy attacking anyone, even in a training fight.
He could see her frustration: werewolves had no concept of elegance. "Do they give each other chocolates and flowers?"
"Frankenstein changed the flower arrangements in Cadis Etrama di Raizel's room frequently, and the Noblesse was also fond of sweets, so I'm certain he's introduced him to chocolate. Elders, is this information really essential?" He might have abandoned the nobles, but it was still uncomfortable to see someone embarrassing themselves by being inelegant.
"Fifth Elder," the Second Elder cut in, "You'll have to ask the human yourself whenever we manage to capture and interrogate him. Nobles don't gain power by breeding with the strong the way we do: for them, breeding produces weak children, so the clan leaders have no interest in it. Even the nobles that enjoy fighting aren't attracted to their opponents, although since it is meaningless to them they may agree to have sex in exchange for another fight."
She was staring at his green rectangle like that could not possibly be correct, but he was still the Werewolf Lord. "If you say so, Second Elder."
The First Elder cleared his throat pointedly. "Perhaps we should retire to consider what we plan to do next. Fourth Elder, shouldn't you contact the others and inform them of the Noblesse's return?"
"Yes," he said.
"I'll do the same," said the Second Elder.
Roctis considered asking him how Gradeus was doing these days, but he needed to think of ways to ensure Ignes' safety and had no desire to extend the meeting further.
"If I may ask," said the Thirteenth Elder.
Roctis restrained a sigh.
"What is a Noblesse? And how could even someone like this Frankenstein survive stealing data from the Union?"
Silence. Obviously no one had any intentions of telling the scientists among the Elders the truth – they were here to serve their masters. However, right now they needed the Ninth and Thirteenth Elders to produce results.
The First Elder settled the matter, even though he theoretically didn't have the authority without clearing it with the Second and Fourth. Roctis certainly didn't feel like interrupting. "The Noblesse is a being with the authority to execute clan leaders."
Which was completely inaccurate, but Roctis didn't feel like telling them anything about Cadis Etrama di Raizel.
Else. Anything else.
"Frankenstein was a scientist who enhanced himself and then stole data from a predecessor of the Union a thousand years ago. The book the Union discovered around five hundred years ago was likely written by him – that site belonged to one of the groups that eventually became the Union, and he worked there for some time."
"The writer of the novel Frankenstein knew nothing," said the Third Elder. "We checked, and let her go in case he was still alive and decided to investigate her himself – he hadn't been seen in centuries. When he didn't show before the memory wipe chemicals used after all the interrogations gave her a brain tumor, I thought Dark Spear or side effects from one of his experiments must have finished him off at some point."
The rest of them had thought the same, much to Urokai's frustration.
"If we're contacting them, we should adjourn the meeting," the Second Elder said, sounding displeased by the fact they'd just given information to a human.
"Yes," Roctis said with a firm voice, even though it was a shaking hand that cut the connection.
Cadis Etrama di Raizel… was alive.
He'd betrayed him to save his daughter: was there some way… Was it still possible for them both to live?
No, he admitted to himself some time later, watching his daughter and the Ninth Elder walk off together happily chattering about how they were going to perform some experiments.
Torture some humans.
No.
Cadis Etrama di Raizel would not suffer a monster like his daughter to live.
Which meant… he had no choice, did he?
"You seem to be in a good mood, Dr. Crombel," Yuri remarked.
His idol was alive and interested in men. Or at least man-shaped asexual beings – Cadis Etrama di Raizel's forged documentation identified him as male, which might at least mean the noble took male form.
Not that Crombel normally cared about the preferences of his victims, but he wanted F's mind to remain intact enough to discuss enhancement theory. The power they could gain! And a being like the Noblesse, who could kill clan leaders? What a test subject! Seducing the noble into giving F power and letting him experiment on the Noblesse? A scientist after Crombel's own black heart.
"Yuri," Crombel said, smirking, "this is the second-best day of my life." After the day he found that journal.
We need more fic mocking Crombel. Or stabbing. Or both, both is good.