Floyd

Walking back to his carriage with Lassie, Ryder thought about what had happened only a few minutes ago. He could feel the blood in his body rushing all over. He really did what he did, yes he did.

    'What the heck did I just do!? I am going to die for sure..!'

    Back then he was only saying what he felt within himself. His mind was not really thinking about the consequences of saying something like that. He would not be surprised in anyway if they made an attempt on his precious life. Refusing to let Lassie know that he had regrets for what he had just done, he turned his face the opposite way.

    "You surprised me when you said an actual sentence to them. What surprised me the most was the fact that you actually tried to defend the low breeds, and most of all in front of them. They definitely hate you more than before now", Lassie expressed what was in her mind.

    Ryder could feel his mood plummet further from her words. What he did was really dumb after all. At least she said something that cheered him up a bit. That the Academy already hated the Ryder of this world.

      Without any warning, Lassie bursted into laughter scaring rather than surprising him. At first it seemed like she was deriving some sort of sick pleasure from his current situation, however that all changed within a few seconds.

    "Anyways I think I like this version of you. Sure your other fiancees may not feel the same way but I feel like I have something I can relate to when it comes to you now. The fact that you defended the low breeds shows me that you are indeed a good person. That was something I never thought you would do, and this was something I never thought I would say. I only hope though that you will be able to withstand the backlash of what has been done."

    Just then Ryder realized this was probably the most reasonable fiancee he had. The other two seemed to be complex in certain ways he couldn't quite understand. Lassie was no easy task, but at least she gave him the feeling that if he tried hard enough they could form a bond on a deeper level when compared to the previous one.

    A smile crept on Ryder's face in slow motion, expressing his joy for what she had just said. Lassie on the other hand did not notice this as she was in the process of alerting the rider to get going. After doing this she threw a question at Ryder that he never saw coming.

    "You are following me home, right?"

    'What!?'

    The chariot stopped at Lassie's home causing Ryder to develop instant goosebumps. Ryder believed this was the worst place he could probably be in because he knew he would have to meet her parents. Parents that he clearly knew nothing about.

    'Damn it my palms are all sweaty!', he thought to himself as he rubbed his handed over his clothes.

    Following her through the interiors of her castle, he noticed a ton of differences in their castle arrangement. One of these differences was the insane amount of guards everywhere. They were clearly afraid of him as they did their best to avoid any form of eye contact with him, however that did not change the fact that were watching him. Ryder at that moment came to a realization which he quickly dropped as he believed it was absurd.

    Another was the number of flowers within the castle. There were a lot of them for some reason, so much that it appeared to be a garden. He couldn't help but wonder how they grew so well within the castle.

    'What is that?', Ryder asked himself as he saw something approaching from the distance.

    On a closer look, he realized it was some kind of Sabre toothed tiger with dots all round it's body. It rushed to Lassie licking her face just like a dog. In a few seconds it noticed, Ryder and walked over to him. It growled at him causing him to shudder before it followed up with a lick on his face.

    "Hmm that's strange, meat ball likes you all of a sudden. He usually does his best to run away from you."

    'Meat ball!? What is up with these names seriously!?'

    Ryder believed it recognized him as a different person entirely. That was most likely way it didn't hate him anymore. After petting the terrifying creature for awhile, the two continued their March through the castle.

    After walking for a few minutes through the halls of her home, his eyes laid upon two individuals in the distance, a woman standing right next to a man with an intimidating aura. They both emitted the confidence those of royalty usually had. The lady had a stunning resemblance to Lassie with all of her features alike, however she was much more matured than Lassie, so he believed her to be her mother. As for the man it was a totally different matter all together.

    'Who the hell is that!?'

    This man was a huge stoic figure that he believed to be the tallest man he had ever seen both on Earth and Mageia. Not only that, he had a huge physique and was shredded to an unbelievable degree with massive amounts of beard hair escaping his face. If Ryder had to compare him with something, he believed a viking would be just right.

      Walking right up to them, Lassie spoke setting the ground for a conversation.

      "Ryder, i believe this is the first time you are meeting my mother. She was away on a trip to Sylen, her home town when we got engaged."

      "Kory Floyd in your presence, Master Ryder", she said with a curtesy.

      Responding by bowing down slightly, a thought rushed through Ryder's head, one that made him feel awkward.

      'If that is the case does it mean that only the father is allowed to give the permission of marriage in this world.'

    This meant that he had one less person to worry about, however it also meant that the one person out of the two he was afraid of, was the person that also knew him. Out of instincts, his eyes moved to him ultimately locking eyes and sending shivers down his spine. One thing was certain to Ryder though, and that was the fact that this man was a man of silence. He could tell as they stared each other down.

      "Good to see you again, Ryder", Floyd said catching him of guard.

      Ryder bent over in respect. For some reason he felt as if Floyd was checking him for the slightest details. Did he give himself away? He couldn't help but wonder. He was kinda intimidated at the moment, something he believed the previous Ryder never felt in his presence.

      "Do come and seat with us for lunch, Master Ryder", Kory offered.

      Ryder shaked his head in an instant refusing the offer. The last thing he wanted to do at the moment was stay with the one person that suspected him.

      "But..?"

      "Let him be Kory. Ryder is a busy man", Floyd entered the mix.

      "Okay if you say so. Till we meet again, Master Ryder."

      Ryder took his leave, feeling the intense gaze of Floyd behind him. There was no mistaking what he felt at the moment. He knew that her father had to be a Strageia, someone who was on par with the previous Ryder in terms of power.

      Stopping at the entrance of the castle, he took one last glance before entering his carriage and riding away.