The tile of trust part 3

"Are you going to follow me inside in that form? I don't think people would take you seriously" the offhand comment seemed like a thought being voiced without thinking. It was something one would say in the heat of the moment.

However, it did not feel like that to Noah at the current moment. But then again, he had not tried really hard to hide his identity either. He just let things happen while he followed the plot that Ryu had set for him.

It was no surprise that the other had likely figured out his identity.

"What do you think is appropriate for me then? This meeting seems important to you" Noah knew that anything seemingly above 15 would do since the king was likely close to that age too. It would not grant him a lot of power, but it would create a ground for him not to get criticized for.

"Get anywhere close to my age" the child nodded but the king was not really looking at him which made it a worthless notion at that moment.

Since the other was not paying attention to him anyway, Noah decided that this was the correct moment for him to change his form.

With every step, the small body he possessed grew just a few centimetres, as did the clothes. If there was a small glow to his body, it would likely not be noticed since his clothes covered almost every inch of his body.

The armour started to feel restrictive which meant he would have to reshape it too. His every moment appeared graceful to the onlooker, a show of magic one could gwack at and then move on with their lives.

Only he knew how much effort and focus he had to invest in order to not trip and fall flat. Every step sapped his magic power but it was an effort well spent.

At this point even he knew that his cover was blown, so he decided to validate the other's suspicion. At this point, it didn't matter if his identity was discovered or not. It never had at any point in time mattered.

What mattered was, if the king would learn something from here and take that lesson back.

By the time the big gate of the inner castle came about, the child was no longer a child but a teen. Neither the clothes nor the mask looked too off, having grown with his magic along with his body.

Keito, too, stopped right in front of the door and finally turned around to face the recently grown teen and froze in shock.

The armour along with the height and the posture, everything was reminiscent of the final moments of his past life. The masked teen was the same height as him, if not a few inches shorter which was a weird experience to see.

Noha had always been shorter in the past life, always having to look up at him which had been a comfort. It had somewhat solidified their dynamic in their precious life.

In their future interaction, he had been the one to look up at the other. His still grown body had not yet caught up to the other's height and it was evident that it would take time for it to do so.

And no matter how he phrased it, the truth still remained that they had never been equals in terms of position and it was always reflected in a physical sense when they met.

This might be the first time they were actually seeing eye to eye, an ironic feat since the other had his face covered with a mask which prevented Keito from seeing anything significant.

"We should head inside" Keiot did not move even when the other already crossed the threshold. His body seemed to be in more of a shock than his brain, which was saying something about his current situation.

'Coming around to my side, are we' his heart was beating faster for an unknown reason and he was sweating too. Has it ever happened like this? Perhaps once or twice when Jess gave out her sweet smell but never like this.

Never this intense.

It felt almost like magic but that would be an impossible assumption to make. His wolf would tell him if that was the case.

He would, wouldn't he?

"Catch the intruder. Don't let him go any further" Keito was too deep in his thoughts to notice that the others had waltzed away without him.

Had it been the previous scenario, no one would have stopped a child. But a teen walking without permission inside the royal palace was not something that could be permitted. So understandably, Noah was stopped outright.

The feeling of rage was somewhat new on behalf of the other and the need to help the other just boiled more inside him.

"He's with me" Keito called out to the soldiers who were a little too close to the other teen for his comfort. One had Noah in his hold and Keito could see the visible effort on the teen's part to hold himself back.

The soldier was so close to losing his life and he was not even aware of it at all.

The masked figure was let go of but not without a cautious look aimed his way. But since he had the king's support, no one could say anything. The risk was not worth the reward and their benefactors would throw a fit if they got to know this.

It was better if they kept their neck out of the obvious danger.

"Thank you" the flush came fast causing Keito to avert his face. A greeting of gratitude had never felt this good before and it had never actually made him feel things.

"No need" Keito's voice shook as he replied back which was humiliating but luckily for him, the other did not comment any further. Either he did not care or cared enough to spare him the face.

As they moved deeper, it felt as if everyone was whispering about him. Even if they were always whispering around him, he had never felt such hyper-awareness of those words.

Some talked about how young he was, others about how he was so easy to influence. Most did not even talk about him at all, but he still felt as if his impression on the other was dwindling.

Had Noah heard all these rumours in his last life too? And he has still chosen to stand by his side?

"Do you expect anything of me during this meeting?" the other asked and the king pretended to think about it before nodding.

"I don't trust most of my ministers to come up with a strategy that benefits the common folks. If anything feels like foul play, tell me immediately" the teen was somewhat taken back by that proclamation and so was the wolf inside the king.

That had been unexpected but not unwanted. While this was the direction they wanted the young king to take, they had not expected things to become so easy all of a sudden.

Has things already started to change this much?

"I understand" Noah looked at the young king, really looked at him and saw an old spirit fluttering to find his purpose. The other was not nearly old enough to possess that look on his young face, but the eyes looked considerably aged.

The amber of the iris had begun to shift to a molten gold shade and he felt considerably different to Noah's senses. Slowly but surely, he was beginning to feel Ryu inside that aura too and he saw that face inside the king's own face.

It was a bittersweet moment for Noah to see their plan work and yet start to feel lonely too.

'It was bound to happen eventually. Ryu assured me this was the right thing to do and soon they will be one as was foretold and then what? I lost Keito before but still had Ryu but will this time I lose both?' The train of thought did not last long before the doors behind them opened and the council came into focus.

The noise stopped as soon as the silhouette of the young king came into focus, his back straight and imposing.

There was a hand extended to Noah, the light from the room creating shadows on the young king's face and he knew it was a door to a new beginning. He took that hand and was dragged behind the king in a spooking silence.

The king sat at the head of the table, Noah on his right which caused an uproar and waved of gossip between everyone present.

From the corner of the room, a pair of scarlet eyes watched in curiosity and almost disbelief at that action.

But it didn't phase the king who just gestured for everyone to quieten down and start the meeting. That one gesture made it all final but it also made everyone aware that a change was about to happen.

Lady Jess's seat of honour at the King's side had been awarded to a mysterious person after all.