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Dale raised his hands up defensively;

"Hey don\'t be like that, I am only the messenger?"

"What?"

"The governor\'s looking for you champ. He asked me to come get you."

Another look of despair lunged across his face, sinking him even deeper into the sink hole that was in his mind. If it hadn\'t been Quaid, Xzavier would have bounced this offer with no remorse. But he didn\'t want to repay Quaid\'s hospitality to him with impudence. So, reluctantly, he agreed to step into the hot steamy cauldron that was the social circles of Victoria City.

Exhaling deeply, he asked Dale;

"Where is the governor?"

"Come, I\'ll lead you to him."

Xzavier followed behind as Dale led the way and took him to Quaid. Dale himself wasn\'t completely free of the infectious need to appraise oneself in this gathering. As he took Xzavier to Quaid, he took the much longer route, making sure enough people saw him with the hero of the day. Although, Dale kept a very straight face, his mind was bursting with pride because, he knew that at the end of the night, at the dinner tables and salons, his name would come up in one or two circles.

Finally, after being trotted around like a trophy, Dale took him to Quaid, and Quaid took over from where Dale left off.

"Ahh! Baron, where have you been all this while?"

Xzavier forced a smile. It was going to take a while before he could get used to his new title. He bowed slightly as he answered Quaid;

"Forgive me Governor, I was a little preoccupied that\'s all."

Quaid waved off his apology.

"It\'s nothing to be sorry for..." then he turned around and added, loudly to the hearing of the others; "It is a party after all isn\'t it"

"Aye! Aye!"

The governor was with some other important officials on the stage. As the most important nobles in the auditorium, they were given the elevated position befitting their status.

As they saw Xzavier, they eagerly signaled Quaid to make the necessary introductions. Quaid on the other hand was thoroughly enjoying the attention Xzavier was bringing in. Even more than that, he relished playing the role as the intermediary between the hero and the politicians. After, a calculated pause, Quaid finally made the necessary introductions;

"Baron, it\'s high time you meet some of the most important officials in Victoria City, meet…"

Quaid led him through the names and titles, and Xzavier shook them all, with a warm smile and a firm handshake. They all wanted to shake hands with the new mysterious Baron. Xzavier got slammed with the arduous task of memorizing so many names and titles. Of course, he tried his best, but they all seemed the same to him.

Except one entity though. It was one face that Xzavier couldn\'t possibly forget.

"… and this is Babara, she is one of secretaries at the city hall. There is no official document in this city that doesn\'t pass through her desk!"

With a vindictive smile on his face, trying his best not to grin like a serpent, Xzavier clasped her hand and shook it, as he struggled to maintain some semblance of normalcy.

"How do you do miss?"

She replied, but with the slightest trace of trembling in her voice;

"Fine thank you Baron. Congratulations on your award sir."

The word \'Baron\' came out of her mouth with the heaviness of one attempting to chew an iron nail. As she said it, Xzavier knew that it must be really killing her inside. She tried her best to mask it, but her shock was evident in her eyes. She was still baffled, how could an ordinary person with no magic whatsoever receive such a high honor, and the additional title of Baron?! Had she missed something that everyone else had seen? She wondered and wondered. But she didn\'t dare voice her doubts regarding the new Baron.

Dale however, who had been on the side watching every single reaction on the stage, immediately noticed Babara\'s unfavorable reaction. Like the sudden blast of an electric current, it hit him that she was the only official who had been present the day Xzavier came in the town. Unlike the rest of them who were bedazzled by Xzavier\'s current glory, she secretary had seen Xzavier that day in his simple form as she led him to his office.

Not knowing how he could have missed such an important detail, Dale cursed inwardly.

"Bloody hell! Babara never liked Xzavier from the start! Heaven knows what kind of thoughts would be coursing through her mind right now…"

He dropped everything else he was thinking of, and immediately made his way towards her.

"Damn it Babara, you\'d better not say or do anything to ruin this! You\'d better not!!"

Even Dale didn\'t know just how astute his suspicion was. As he rightly guessed, there was a stream of wild, doubtful thoughts swiftly droning out of the young lady\'s volatile mind. So, in a bid to curb any eventualities, he maneuvered his way through the crowd, and craftily positioned himself next to her.

Thankfully, Quaid had led Xzavier on to meet other officials, so, he had the opportunity to caution Babara without the heated glares of all any and all wandering eyes. Still, he had to be careful as there were always a couple of lingering eyes that were eager to find a hole in anything.

With a fake smile on his face for the world to see, and his tone utterly vitriolic, in a low whisper, Dale rasped harshly in her ear;

"Don\'t even try to understand the incomprehensible okay?"

Babara wasn\'t expecting it. So, when the icy cold voice of the Silver Knight hit her ears, she froze like a deer under the powerful headlights of an automobile.

But Dale wasn\'t even done yet. While maintaining a maniacal smile, he continued his vicious assault on her ears;

"Let me tell you something Babara, if you in anyway try to mess this up, you will not be able to withstand the unfathomable punishment that will come upon you. Have I made myself clear?"

More than anyone else, Dale knew just how intuitive and perceptive his female secretary was. This was one of the traits that made her an excellent secretary in the work environment. He had often made use of her ability once or twice. Thus, his knowledge of her ability became the basis of his worry. He remembered what her reaction was on the day Xzavier came into their lives. Her mind had been filled with the worst suppositions of him. Even now, she was on her toes around Xzavier.

On a normal day, he welcomed and entertained her intuitive analysis, she was always spot on. She had the uncanny ability to investigate and sniff out an irregularities. But in this case, it might prove detrimental to the governor\'s plans. Hence, the need for a good old-fashioned warning.

Babara on the other hand listened with rapt attention as his morbid threat reached her ears. She didn\'t fail to grasp the deep meaning behind Dale\'s whispered warning. The two of them had worked side by side for a while now, so it was literally impossible for them to come this far together without knowing what the other was capable of.

Because Babara had worked under Dale for a significant amount of time, she had seen the side of him which he kept obscured from the rest of the world. His callousness and violent side never bothered her, primarily because she always saw them as being on the same side. What benefitted him benefitted her. Never for once had it even crossed her mind that one day, she would be on the receiving end of his dark side. It was pretty weird that all this was happening because of Xzavier. So, without looking at Dale, with her voice kept to the bare minimum, she whispered back to him with as much courage as she could;

"Not to worry sir! My lips are sealed. I will not be the curious cat in this case!"

She hesitated for a moment, but then she decided to add for posterity sake;

"I don\'t know anything about Xzavier…"

"Good. Be sure to keep it that way. No throw your head back and laugh softly like I just said something funny…"

Even before he finished his sentence, Babara burst into a soft hearty chuckle. Deciding it was convincing enough, Dale retreated to the background to observe the rest of the events.

Later that night, after a night of socializing and politicking, Xzavier retired back to his quarters after taking a long ride from the city back to the governor\'s estate. He felt like he shook at least a hundred different hands that night. It had all been exhausting. In Xzavier\'s mind, at some point, all of them started to look alike. They were all middle aged, or old men with fancy moustaches and elegant titles. Some part of him had secretly hoped that Adalia would stay through till the end, and wait for him so they could go home together.

But after his eyes searched and searched, he accepted the fact that she had slipped away unnoticed. Probably because she had to get up early the next day to attend to her duties. So, he had to go home alone in the fancy coach that had been left for him by his host. Back in his room, as he took off the ridiculous crown and fancy clothes, he tried his best to ruminate on the events of the day and ponder on any detail he had missed.