Entering inside Bianca’s home, Marcus looked around at the grand entryway that lay before him.
Yet as he took in the whole area, he noticed that like the outside, the inside was very different from what he had seen in Borealia and Tralenstein.
‘This pretty much clenches it. No way that this style developed on its own.’
Seeing the inside of what the ice elves’ homes looked like, there was now no doubt in Marcus’ mind that someone from Earth had heavily influenced them.
In all of the places he had been in so far, the homes had been sectioned off with every room being its own area.
However, here it was what would have been called open concept on Earth and appeared to have a more modern style in contrast to everything he had seen before.
“Irene, if you would follow me, I will give you a quick tour of the common areas of my home, and then take you to your guest room.” Bianca said, after letting Marcus look around for minute.
Nodding his head, he followed Bianca around as she showed him the house’s common areas.
“And this will be your room during your stay here.” Bianca said as she opened up the door to Marcus’ guest room.
Though as much as it was just a guest room, it was massive, with a bigger bed than Marcus had ever seen, and a full bathroom that was almost as big as the one he had custom made in his own home..
“Oh, and I have already made arrangements to have the closets filled with any clothing you might need, but if you want something else made, we can get that process started before our meeting with the council tomorrow.”
After saying that, Bianca left Marcus to himself, heading to her own room to get some sleep after their long day of traveling.
Once Bianca had left, Marcus searched around his room familiarizing himself with everything that was here.
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇtThen once he was done, he made his way over to the large bath and filled it up with hot water.
‘Ah after over two weeks of traveling, a nice relaxing bath hits the spot.’
Soaking in the hot tub, Marcus let himself go, enjoying the sensation of the soothing warm water washing over his form.
In fact, it felt so nice that he closed his eyes and shut off his mind before going to sleep.
Waking up Marcus found himself completely submerged in water that was now cold.
‘Woops I got a bit too comfortable.’ He thought as he pulled himself out of the water.
Luckily, he did not need to breath, because he was pretty sure that he had been asleep for around eight hours, and if he was still human this would have certainly spelled his end.
Of course, he had not needed to sleep this long or at all, but he simply wanted to pass the time.
With the new day having arrived, Marcus got ready and exited his room, before heading down to the main kitchen and dining area.
When he arrived, he found that Bianca along with eight other people were already eating.
“Ah Irene, I see that you are awake. Please let me introduce you to my family.”
Quickly getting up, Bianca dragged Marcus over to the dining table and introducing him to her family.
First, she started with her brother and his wife. Then her aunt and uncle along with their two kids. And finally, her grandmother and grandfather on her father’s side.
“Oh, and my grandmother is actually one of the seventy-seven members of the ruling council of Glenna Reota and is going to be vouching for you on my behalf.” Bianca said.
Getting up from her seat, Arryn, Bianca’s grandmother, bowed towards Marcus and said, “As my granddaughter said, I will be advocating for you during your appearance before the council today. It has been far too much of a hassle for me to see my adorable great-grandson, so it is time that we fix our stubborn ways. Oh, and it will be good for us to start forgiving Borealia again.”
Smiling Marcus thanked Bianca’s grandmother for her support, even if her reasons were more biased towards having easier access to her family.
Now that the introductions were finished, Marcus sat down next to Bianca and across from her grandmother in order to talk strategy.
“Hm so are you really a spirit? Bianca told me over a sending stone that you are, but you seem human to me.” Arryn said as she stared intently at Marcus.
Truthfully, she had even used her appraisal skill, and had just gotten back that Marcus was a level thirty-three human.
“Yes, I am a spirit as you daughter told you. It is just that I have a skill that allows me to alter my status to those that appraise me.”
Marcus then turned off his false status skill, and allowed Arryn to appraise him again, though this time she only got back that he was level fifty due to how the appraisal skill worked.
Still, Marcus had another way to prove that he was a spirit and disappear before reappearing again.
“I see so you really are a spirit. That will certainly help your case with the council, since they are not thrilled with humans.” Arryn said
The three of them then talked strategy and told Marcus about some of the questions he was likely to be asked and how to respond to them.
Quickly as Marcus was coached on how to not offend the members of the council, the time for the meeting was fast approaching.
“Very well it is time that we get ready before heading to the central spire where the council’s chambers are.” Arryn said when they had about three hours before meeting was to begin.
After that, Marcus, Bianca, and Arryn headed back to their own rooms and prepared for the upcoming meeting.
Then when around an hour and half had passed, it was time for them to leave and they took the cable cars and rail system to the central spire.
Follow on Novᴇl-Onlinᴇ.cᴏmThis spire which as its name suggests sat right in the middle of the ice elf city and was by far the tallest and a true marvel of architecture and engineering.
“Well, I will see the two of you inside once the meeting has begun. Make sure to not get in any trouble or offend anyone while you wait. It is possible that one of the less approving members might try to get you angry before the meeting.” Arryn said, giving Marcus and Bianca a warning.
After that they split up as Arryn entered through the council member’s entrance and Marcus and Bianca entered through the public one.
They then went and checked in at the reception desk before being led to a waiting room until it was their time to address the council.
And during that time, just as Arryn had warned them, three ice elves did come by and try to enrage Marcus and Bianca.
They threw whatever insults they could come up with at the two of them, many calling Bianca a traitorous whore and saying that her half breed child would never be welcome.
‘Yeah, that is enough.’
Not willing to hearing these three people insult him and especially Bianca any longer, Marcus lightly released his phantom pressure having reached his tolerance threshold for assholes.
It was not enough to cause any sort of damage or even paralyze the ice elves, but they certainly felt a sense of dread as if a mountain was hanging over them by a thread.
The three of them feeling this looked around trying to pinpoint the source, but Marcus had done a good job of concealing that he was the one attacking them.
Soon they left, not able to take this oppressive feeling any longer.
“I am sorry you had to see that, Irene. There are still many of ice elves that are xenophobic, but I can tell you that most of us are not like that. Plenty of us want to meet people form other races and have visitors come and go, as well as be able to more readily leave themselves. Which is one of the reasons that I want to change our ways and open us back up to Borealia to start with.” Bianca said, trying to alleviate any worries that Marcus might have.
To this point he had met quite a number of ice elves that hated him on sight, and she was afraid that it might be getting to him.
Shrugging his shoulders, Marcus said, “There are always people like that wherever you go, and I try not to use them as a base for an entire race. Anyway, Aeric and your family have been very nice to me. Also, it was more of their insulting towards you and your son that got to me than anything else.”
After that they sat there patiently, waiting for their time to be called into the council chambers.
“Bianca Valorre and Irene Geist. The council is ready to receive you now.” A young ice elf girl said to them.
“Well, let us go and take the first step in strengthening the relations of our people.” Marcus said, while giving Bianca a confident smile.