Affinity:Chaos

"We're here because of that. I have a way to solve this," Elda said calmly.

"I'm sorry Milady, but we can't go against the Lord's wishes," The guard at the left side of the door said.

"If my father were to find out you didn't permit me entry given the importance of what I'm about to tell him, I doubt you'd be able to keep your head," Elda threatened.

The two guards exchanged looks, they would naturally easily let Elda enter, but her family clearly told them to make sure no one disturbed them while they were in the meeting.

"Did you say it would solve the problem?" The guard on the right asked.

They were currently in a difficult position, if what Elda said was correct, then her father would most likely punish them for not allowing her to enter. But if she were lying, then they would be in even more trouble, but there might be a chance that the girls might be able to plead on their behalf.

Elda nodded to his question.

With gritted teeth, he made way for the trio. The second guard looked at him, and with gritted teeth, he also made way for them. They've decided to place their trust in the sisters.

….

Inside the hall.

Over fifteen people could be seen in the hall, all seated with sour expressions. The people consisted of both men and women, all looked to be over fifty.

A man with a dignified look could be seen sitting on a chair in the middle, with the others sitting on the sides. The man had dark circles around his eyes, it was evident he had been going through a lot lately. He was none other than the family head of the Earl family.

"What do we do now? They want the boy, who we don't even know where he came from. I've spent so much, yet I haven't heard of a Zeke Hoover, nor a person that fits the description of that young man in the neighboring cities," The family head said with a downcast look.

"Didn't you get anything from Old man Gerald?" A man asked.

"No, Old man Gerald gave me a glance and told me to leave. If my conjecture is right, the background of the young man isn't something a family like ours could dare to go against," The family head said, feeling a headache about the issue.

"The Smith family is being too unreasonable, they clearly know we can't find the young man, yet they are giving us unnecessary troubles," Another man chimed in.

"I think they're taking their frustrations out on us. After Donald was summoned by the Emperor, they couldn't fight with them anymore since they didn't know why the Emperor summoned him," A lady said.

"They're only being stupid, why bother us over something we don't have a hand in?" A man said.

They continued speaking about the matter with different people having different opinions about the problem.

While they were speaking.

Creak…

The door to the hall opened slowly, with Grey and the sisters walking into the hall.

"Elda, what's the meaning of this?!" An old man immediately scolded her when they saw the trio.

"Such audacity, you not only came here without permission, but you also brought in a stranger. This is what happens when your father lets you do as you please. We're in a mess because of your actions, now you defy the family rules as well?" Another person scolded, a man this time.

They weren't the only ones who scolded Elda as soon as they saw her, almost half of the people here scolded her with faces of disgust.

Elda looked at them with an apathetic expression, she didn't even want to see them again. She slowly glanced at the man sitting in the center chair, her father, waiting for him to speak.

"Leave at once, before your punishment increases," An old man said.

"Why are you here?" The family head finally spoke up.

His question silenced the others who were about to continue scolding Elda. Surprisingly, none of them even said a word to Aldreda.

"Father, I want you to meet someone," Elda said, before looking at Grey.

"You interrupted our meeting because you wanted to show your father the boy you like?! Family head, you're being too lenient with your children, this is why they keep bringing troubles," The old lady who scolded the first time said, pointing at Elda.

Most of the reason Elda had animosity towards Grey even after he said he'd help was just because of this. After the problem started, some of the old people in the family had been blaming her for it. Since she was the eldest, she was supposed to know what to do, instead, she brought trouble to the family.

"Who's he?" The family head asked.

"Hello, I'm Zeke Hoover," Grey spoke up calmly, before taking off the hood of the robe that was hiding his face.

His bewitchingly handsome face came to view for the people who were gathered in the hall, and they all came to a single agreement, he was handsome.

"You're Zeke Hoover?" The family head asked, shocked.

"Yes, I encountered the sisters on my way back to the city and they told me about the crisis your family was facing because of me, so I decided to come to you so you could hand me to the Smith family," Grey went straight to the point.

He didn't really have a good impression of some of the people here, so he didn't want to stay here for too long.

Most of them were at the Peak of the Origin Plane. The old lady who was scolding Elda the most had not even gotten to the Peak of the Origin Plane, she was still in the Eighth stage, just like Grey.

Grey felt he might kill her with a single strike if he stayed here for too long. He didn't see any reasons for them to be scolding Elda without even allowing her to speak.

'Tsk, such unreasonable old fogies.'