"Earl Ardagan, please nice to meet you. I'm Count Hareven." A middle-aged man approached Noel with a gentle smile. Next to him was a young woman. With long pink hair running smoothly like that of silk, she gave off the vibe of a gentle and graceful person. She politely lowered her head while lifting her skirt, greeting Noel as the middle-aged man introduced her. "I and my daughter, Ruby, would like to congratulate you."
"Thank you very much, Count Hareven." Noel nodded with a smile. "Since we both are lords in the north, there will be a lot of opportunities for us to talk in the future."
Noel maintained a polite but distant approach. This way, he didn't turn anyone down, but he did not choose any of them.
After getting his title, they had a little banquet to celebrate his achievement. And a lot of people took this opportunity to approach Noel for one reason or another.
The king had left the party, so the pressure on these nobles' shoulders lessened quite a bit. Even if the king wanted to harm Noel, he had to do it carefully, so there was no problem with them taking a bite of what Noel had before that.
While he was greeting the people, Kevin came to him while extending his hand. "Congratulations, Noel."
"Thank you." Noel smiled. "It's thanks to you that I'm able to reach this far."
"What are you talking about? I haven't done anything for you except recommending that position. Everything is due to your abilities. But… I have to apologize for one thing…" Kevin made a wry smile while glancing at the side, where his daughter was located.
The others who watched their interactions couldn't help but understand the circumstances. Because Kevin was Luke Ardagan's friend, he wanted to take care of the problems in their family by helping Noel. On the other hand, his own daughter was adamant about killing Noel.
As the head of the Stargaze Family, he had to choose Noel or Anna.
"Well, today, you are the star. So, I won't be holding anyone back from meeting you. If you need anything, feel free to talk to me."
"Yes." Noel nodded with a smile. As Kevin walked away, more and more nobles approached Noel.
On the side, Anna was watching Noel with a cold gaze. If a glare was enough to kill someone, Noel might have died multiple times.
Not a single noble dared to approach her due to her aura. They felt they would get into trouble if they even bothered her.
After all, Anna was supposed to be the sole pride of the Muivell Kingdom, and Noel should have died a long time ago. But everything has changed right now.
Anna might have all the talents and extraordinary abilities, but Noel's achievement made her strength pale in comparison.
After all, they might need a powerful strength, but if the other party had the same strength along with a lot of contributions to the kingdom, it was clear who would people choose.
That was why they understood if Anna wanted to crush Noel.
What they didn't know was that Anna was annoyed by another thing.
She had been crossing her arms while gnashing her teeth, thinking, 'He is in the limelight. I should be happy about this, but why am I getting annoyed? If I have been more honest, can I stand there?
'But if I stand there right now, everything would be a mess. They know that we've been cooperating. But because I can't be there, I have to watch all those women flocking around him.'
She was lamenting the fact that despite being the closest one to Noel in this room, she had no chance of meeting him.
More importantly, she couldn't help but wonder if she had been more open to Noel and realized her feelings, would Noel change his plan?
Unfortunately, no matter how hard she thought about it, there would be nothing she could do to change the current situation.
Noel kept entertaining other nobles. Even he felt a bit suffocated when acting all this polite to them. Still, he was just trying to remember these people's names, thinking that there would be a few people worth cooperating with.
Noel didn't plan to just govern the territory well. He wanted to make his Ardagan Family the ruler in the north. This was the only way to stop the royal family and their allies.
Unexpectedly, the guests weren't limited to nobles.
After he talked to another Earl, the Sword Arbiter came to him with a gentle face. "To think that I would have an opportunity to meet a man like you."
"It's my honor to meet the famous Sword Arbiter." Noel smiled.
With just a glance from the Sword Arbiter, Noel could feel that his gaze was trying to slice him open.
'So, this is the pinnacle of the sword in this kingdom…' Noel thought. As someone younger and more inexperienced, Noel was the first to extend his hand. "I'm Noel Ardagan. It's truly an honor meeting you here, Sir."
The Sword Arbiter shook his hand nonchalantly, but he was a bit surprised when he received a firm handshake.
"!!!" The Sword Arbiter couldn't help but look at their hands. While he wasn't releasing his power, the aura that he had gained after honing his sword would feel like they were being stabbed. Yet, Noel actually extended his hand and gave a firm handshake.
He was either neutralizing his aura or ignoring it.
His surprise had yet to end. Not only did Noel disregard his power, but he also attacked him.
The Spiritual Energy in his body started disorientating when their hands joined together. It was as if Noel was the one controlling this power. In addition, he could feel his body become warmer due to that flow.
The Sword Arbiter hurriedly gained back control of his Spiritual Energy and smiled, not feeling offended at all. He asked, "It seems that your path is not entirely on the sword, correct?"
"If that's not the case, how could I even bring out the runes?" Noel shook his head completely. "Your path might be straight, but it's narrow. On the other hand, my path might have a lot of turns and junctions, but who says there is only one path to reach our destination?"
The Sword Arbiter nodded in agreement. "Indeed. People often think that a single, straightforward path will be the best. But that doesn't mean having other paths is bad. I can finally understand why you can reach this far. If there is an opportunity, how about inviting me for tea?"
There was only one meaning for the tea in his mouth. The Sword Arbiter seemed to be eager to fight him. This also showed that he had acknowledged him.
"Thank you. If Sir is not busy, I would definitely invite you over for tea. I hope that Sir doesn't mind the quality."
From the simple interaction alone, he realized that Noel wasn't an ordinary person. However, he still couldn't see the fact that getting this new territory was actually Noel's idea.
He patted Noel's shoulder and walked away after leaving a single message. "Be careful of your back. I just hope that the Muivell Kingdom has a bright future ahead."
Noel politely nodded to him. Despite his loyalty to the Royal Family, the Sword Arbiter still wished for the best for the Muivell Kingdom.
Noel could respect that opinion. There were a few other important people that approached him, such as the Fire Arbiter. However, most of the time, they approached him for either the runes or his marriage.
If they managed to marry their daughter, there was no way Noel would be stingy. And they couldn't help but wonder when the Rune Academy would start operating.
This Rune Academy was actually Noel's plan to buy some time. Since the academy would have a lot of noble children, the Royal Family couldn't easily seize it or destroy the Ardagan Family. At the same time, he couldn't stall the opening for that long either as there would be more and more pressure.
Because he rarely attended a banquet like this, he didn't realize how tired his father was. And he had to continue governing the territory after all this.
Fortunately, Noel had practiced a bit with his grandfather during his stay in the Greenwood Kingdom.
After talking to more than forty nobles, the banquet finally came to a close. The noble was slightly disappointed that Noel showed no favoritism to their daughters, but that also meant the door was still open. More importantly, they had Noel's words that the academy would be opening soon.
So they better prepare their children to attend it. Not only would it be good to form a connection, but also to know Noel a bit further.
They were happy with this Rune Academy because Noel had told them that the runes didn't necessarily need to have a Spirit. This meant their less talented children could become as strong as the talented ones. Of course, they still needed Spiritual Energy control or the Demon Crystals to build up their energy reserve, but all those stuff were minor problems for nobles.
With all these nobles, Noel should have bought enough time for one year. He planned to use this one year to stabilize his new territory and explore the entire region.
But when he was about to exit the royal castle and take some rest before heading to his new territory, he was stopped by a person.
The pent-up frustration had clearly taken over her as she was looking at Noel with a cold gaze.
Yes, this person was none other than Anna.
