The knight, Heath, only snorted and still looked at Aurum like she's some witch trying to seduce his brother.  

Aurum calmly gathered her emotion.  Aside from her initial surprise, nothing could be seen on her face besides the gentle smile on her lips.  From what this man said, she could safely a.s.sume that he was the brother of the young priest.  Though she couldn't really see the resemblance, aside from the same dark blue eye color.  They couldn't be more different than night and day.  

"It's okay, Father Heinz.  Your brother must only be worried about you."  Aurum turned to the knight sitting inside the carriage.  "I apologize if I gave you a bad impression.  But I'm not malicious to your brother."

Anyone who could hear her gentle tone and see the sincere expression on her face would be moved.  Like Heath's foolish brother, for example.  But not Heath.  No matter how pretty the girl looked, he could just smell the falsehood in her.  Inciting his dislike.  That's what his instinct was telling him.  And he always trusted his instinct.  

When Heath heard that his older brother asked Bishop Ernst if he could bring two people to his dinner party, he immediately suspected that his brother was being swindled by someone.  Based on his brother's soft character, that was highly possible.  Everyone knew that attending the Bishop's dinner party was a good way to obtain an invitation for the Midnight Auction. 

Bishop Ernst had been a.s.sisting Archbishops responsible for the auction for years.  Making him have a bit of authority when it came to the auction.  The people attending the auction were usually the top n.o.bility of different countries, as well as some very wealthy merchants.  Their invitations were sent a month before the Festival of Creation.  

The Bishop developed a habit of inviting guests that arrived early at the city.  He usually did it a week before the festival.  Of course, not all people who visit the city early were qualified to attend his dinner party.  He still picked those who he thought had the capital.  Unless, there's a special circ.u.mstance.  Like a personal request from his most obedient priest.

If Heath knew about that, then it wasn't weird for other people to know about it too.  Getting close to his stupid brother just so they could go to the Bishop's dinner party and then in turn obtained an invitation for the auction.  He had no doubt that this girl was capable of that.

Just one glance at her and he was immediately reminded of that hypocritical Pope.  So he couldn't bring himself to believe the words that came out of her mouth.  She was definitely just using his brother for her own purpose.  Using that face to confuse him.  Only his brother was too stupid to notice it.  

"Stop acting.  It's disgusting," Heath said with a matching disgusted expression on his face.

Before Aurum could say anything, Clay already stood in front of her, pulling her behind his back and standing between him and the annoying knight.  "Don't talk to her in that tone."

Clay's voice was calm and steady but there was strenght behind it.  His stance was not agressive, but Aurum knew that if the knight ever tried to hurt her in any way, he wouldn't hesitate to fight back and protect her.  Even if he ended up hurt and wounded.  This cognition made Aurum's chest tight.  But there was also some kind of sweet taste inside.

"Oh?  What would you do, fight with me?" Heath said mockingly.  "Unfortunately, you're not qualified."

From what he heard, this masked guy was the girl's brother.  He didn't like the girl, so of course, he also didn't like this guy.  Heath didn't feel threatened.  Because he knew he's stronger.  This guy couldn't even evoke a tiny bit of excitement for battle from him.

On that note, he suddenly remembered that b.a.s.t.a.r.d he fought with at Shandra.  He still couldn't forget that fight.  How could he, when he almost died from blood lost?  He swore, if he could find that b.a.s.t.a.r.d, he would break every bones in his body.

Because he was thinking of other things, he didn't notice a pellet that was flying towards his direction at a very fast speed.  When he did, he immediately moved to the side.  But it still grazed his cheek.  If not for his fast reflex, the pellet probably wouldn't just graze his cheek but it would be embedded on his face instead.

He looked sharply at the masked guy who smirked at him.

"Am I still unqualified?" Clay said.

Clay recognized this 'Heath' person the moment Aurum opened the door to the carriage.  It was a good thing he was wearing a mask or his surprise would definitely show on his face.  He didn't plan to fight or even argue with him.  But he couldn't just let him insult Aurum continuously.  Yes, they were really just using the young priest.  But they were not planning to hurt him or anything.  And, well, Clay just simply didn't like this guy.  Especially his tone. 

Heath bared his teeth, like an awakened beast.  "You'll pay for that."

"Stop!" Heinz shouted before Heath could initiate an attack.  He turned to his younger brother.  "They are my guests.  You acting this way towards them is only bringing shame to me.  If you have nothing good thing to say, then please, just leave."

Heath looked at his brother and knew that he was really angry.  He snorted and jumped out of the carriage.  "This is not over," he said to Clay and Aurum before walking away.

Heinz let our a tired breath.  He turned to Lady Stella and her brother.  "I apologized for my brother.  He's not usually like that."

Truthfully, Heath always had a bad temper.  When their parents died, it became even worse.  He fought with anyone who looked at him the wrong way.'  He's like a mad beast, sheating his claws at anyone who approached his territory.  There was not a single day he wouldn't come home without a single wound on his body.  Heinz couldn't help but worry.  Every day that pa.s.sed, that worry only intensified.

He was 17 then while Heath was 15.  He didn't know how he should curb Heath's violent tendecy or if he even could.  He was already on his path to priesthood then.  And the Bishop he was studying under suggested that he could let Heath apply for knighthood.  With his brother's strength, he would definitely pa.s.s the knight's admission test.  It could also be another way for him to vent his excess violence.

Heinz persuaded his brother to apply.  Reluctantly, Heath did.  And now, six years later, he was a priest here in Victoria City and Heath was already a high-ranking knight.  Some would say that this was already a good end for a pair of orphans with no relative background whatsoever.

But when he looked at his brother, he sometimes wondered if he actually made the right decision.

"It's okay," Aurum said using a very gentle tone.  "I noticed your brother's dress.  Is he a knight?"

"Yes.  Not just any knight.  He might act rough but he's actually one of His Holliness' bodyguard," Heinz said, obviously very proud of his brother.

His Holliness?  The Pope?  Aurum truly didn't expect that.  Could that jerk actually be related to the Apostles?  She looked at the young priest in front of her.  It's probably good luck that they came across this guy.  He might not know much, but his brother probably did.  Being a bodyguard to the b.a.s.t.a.r.d Pope and all.  Maybe they could even export some information from him.

"Let's go, or we'll be late," Clay's voice said.

Aurum collected her thoughts.  She should talk to her brother about this later.  "Yes, let's go."

The three entered the carriage and it traveled towards the Bishop's residence.