[Nightmare]

"Are you ready for this?" Marie asked with a serious tone.

"As ready as we can be. I wish we had the time to hold this in secret." Helix sighed.

"Having to consolidate so many things at once is…."

"A bad move. I'm sorry, man. I can't blindly support this." Maze noted.

"Helix was right. You do belong in our group." Marie giggled.

"You're… How do I put this?" Charlotte asked with a finger to her lips.

"Refreshing? We needed someone that Hellie's sigh charm hasn't corr~upted completely."

"Completely? You mean that you women are interested in Helix's sigh game?"

"Sigh game? I like that." Riley giggled.

"Me~too. I think I'll use that. It describes how much we're about it." Charlotte grinned.

"I… should probably try that." Maze sighed.

The women burst into giggles.

"Only if it's honest like that." Marie giggled.

"Us women don't take too kindly to imposters."

"Is that so?" Maze mused with a pensive tone.

"Something like that." Charlotte shrugged.

"It's true. You should ask the other Alzerian Knights." Riley warned with a light chuckle.

The women burst into giggles.

Maze turned to Helix, who shrugged with a hopeless smile.

"You! Are you the filthy Earthian that is corrupting the prestigious name of Samma Shaw!?" A pompous man snapped.

He had a deep-red face and a pugnacious appearance.

The man was wearing nobles' clothing.

His vest was bright green, and he greased his back.

The hair's unnatural shine was visually distressing.

Helix sighed one last time. "Hello, sir. My name is Helix Mar—"

"I don't care who you are, you filthy swine.

You're making a mockery of Samma's legacy, and I won't stand for it!" The man snapped.

"Sir. I don't appreciate the insinuation—" Helix began.

"Hah! Insinuation? Don't make me laugh!" A haughty woman snapped from his side.

She was wearing a bright red dress and was covered in jewels.

Helix touched his neck and pulled out a royal purple disc.

"Mam, sir. I'd like to request you listen to—"

"Don't you dare speak to Irene! You have no right to be here, and I'll see you hang!"

Charlotte moved forward aggressively, and Helix pulled her back instantaneously.

He was pulling on the back of her fashionable, loose green shirt.

She looked at him aggressively, but Marie put her hand on her shoulder and shook her head.

"Sir. I request that you leave." Helix sighed.

"Leave!? Hahahaha. You arrogant beast! Guards!"

Helix touched Charlotte's back twice and nudged his head in the guard's direction.

Once she made eye contact, he turned his head sharply to the guards and narrowed his eyes at them.

"Stand down!" Helix barked.

Their bodies froze unnaturally, and they felt an overbearing pressure over them.

A sharp breeze of heat assaulted their lungs.

Both the pressure and heat released themselves instantaneously.

But the sharp stabbing experience of both was enough to cause the guards to remain frozen.

Helix turned back to Charell and Irene.

"I'd request you to leave as well."

The two started shaking in fear.

Their bodies displayed primal fear after watching the guards freeze in their tracks.

"Furthermore, you are permanently banned from all Samma's Exotic Fashion Bizarre events." Helix continued in a cold voice.

"Your names will be released to all future auction admission professionals."

"Y-You! If you are who you say, you w-wouldn't dare!" Irene snapped.

Helix turned to her and gazed into her eyes.

"I just did. It's permanent."

Charrel broke from his daze.

"Hah. You arrogant boy. Even if we can't harm you now, I'm going to destroy you!"

Helix turned to him.

"I invite you to test my influence. However, I'll warn you that you will face power far greater than yours."

Everyone in the vicinity shivered.

Charlotte's shivering was different than the others, however.

She looked at Helix with a pressurized grin.

"G-Guards! Kill these people on the spot! I'm a noble!" Charell screamed.

The yelling attracted the attention of dozens of nobles that had made it into the auction house.

"Wait… isn't that…."

"Sir Helix, he called himself?"

"I think so…."

"That's Charell… Wait!"

"That fool!"

The gossipping spread like wildfire as the confused guards started recovering.

They didn't know what to do.

Noble authority stopped when faced with [higher] authority.

If they attacked Helix and Helix had the influence he claimed, they would hang.

"G-Guards! What are you doing!?

We're ordering you to kill this imposter!

Two nobles demand—"

"What is going on here!"

Charell and Irene froze, and the blood drained from their faces.

Then it drained from their arms as well.

Their entire bodies turned blank as a sheet.

Helix and his partners raised an eyebrow.

They had never heard the woman coming from the other half of the auction house.

She was wearing a royal purple dress with white frills at the bottom.

The woman had her hair professionally curled.

Helix panicked and kneeled, tugging aggressively on Charlotte's leg.

She fell as well, and Marie and Riley dropped.

He had no idea who the woman was, but if she had enough authority to strike fear into the hearts of nobles, it wouldn't be wrong to kneel.

Their instantaneous kneel [before] the other nobles would be striking if it were the queen.

The gesture would show his absolute loyalty to Alzeria in a dazzling display.

His gamble paid off handsomely.

Over sixty nobles standing behind him fell to a knee like dominoes toppling over.

The nobles behind the woman's back started kneeling in waves.

The only people still standing were Charell and Irene, who were shaking and hadn't turned to her.

Their bodies turned around with the fluidity of rusty cogs.

"Did you not hear me? I've asked you what is going on!" The voice demanded.

"Y-You're Majesty. This imposter is defiling—" Charell stuttered while pointing to Helix.

However, his face contorted when he realized [she] was at the auction house.

"Imposter?" She asked with a raised eyebrow.

Helix was on a knee with his head facing the ground.

However, she could tell who he was by the peacoat he was wearing.

It had become iconic and was a striking focal point to the reports she was given.

"Might you be Sir Helix Margrave?" The woman asked.

"Yes. My name is Sir Helix Hellsgate Margrave, my lady." Helix confirmed.

"Please forgive me for not knowing proper etiquette for the Alzerian kingdom.

I am from a far away country, my lady."

He was sweating.

Helix had never [seen] the queen.

It could become a scandal if he called her [your majesty].

So he chose a preemptive explanation for his lacking etiquette and called her [my lady], which was universal.

Maybe.

"It is a pleasure to meet you, Sir Helix.

We have never met, but I have learned much about you.

My name is Queen Liliana the Third.

I am the sole surviving monarch of the Alzerian kingdom.

I humbly welcome you to our Capital." Liliana said with a gentle smile.

"It's an honor, your Majesty." Helix replied.

Liliana shifted her gaze to Charell and Irene.

Her eyes were cold and murderous.

"What is the meaning of this?" She asked with a frigid tone.

The two nobles started shaking.

"F-Forgive us, your majesty.

W-We didn't think this Earthian could have p-possibly been a represented to Samma Shaw, your majesty." Irene stuttered.

"Hoh? And why not?" Liliana asked with a sharp emphasis on the [not].

"Y-Your majesty. Samma lives in Kozen and hasn't come out of seclusion for a d-decade.

T-The Earthians have only b-been in Myriad for a few months.

The timeline is too short, my lady." Charell reasoned with a shaky voice.

Helix was slightly impressed by his answer.

Charell was a politician, so his rhetoric was not half bad.

"Hoh? Then why does he know of Samma Shaw, hmmm?" Liliana asked sarcastically.

"And why is it that a Knight has a caravan of unique clothing goods?

Do you think he's made a fortune, hired designers, and organized hundreds of seamstresses to make clothing?"

Charell started shaking.

"I-I don't know, my lady."

"You don't know? Did you not think about it before asking guards to kill him?" Liliana asked.

Helix was grinning internally. His gamble had paid off.

—

Power stones and grammatical errors = more content. :)