White Clover - Black Ridges

Before Ross could collide with anyone or fall directly to the ground, three pairs of arms suddenly came from the sides and tried to cushion his landing.

These people were obviously the hidden forces of the Clover kingdom and were responsible for maintaining the order in the capital.

"Are you alright, young man?" Asked one of the people who was an obese female wearing the royal knight uniform.

The other two people who also supported Surya tried to make him sit down very slowly at the side of the still lively and bustling market.

Surya, who was now drenched in Noelle's water magic was out of words.

It all happened so fast that he couldn't summon Eminence to cancel Noelle's magic, and even if he did, he could not use it in front of her as her forward momentum would have caused her to get impaled by his sword.

Surya was a proud man with a god complex, but he was not stupid. He knew very well that if he had hurt Noelle before even becoming a magic knight and getting the protection of a house, the House of Silva would hold him accountable. It was one thing that they themselves made her life miserable, but if someone else did the same thing to Noelle, then it would be like challenging their dignity.

And, well, Surya had a pretty good impression of one Solid Silva who was extremely powerful and incomparably sadistic.

"Is she fine?" was his reply to the woman who just asked him about his own well being.

"Ohh, How sweet of you to say that. You are so cute. Here, let big sister help you dry your clothes." Said the lady with a twinkle in her eyes as she summoned her grimoire almost instantly and the next second, Surya's clothes were dry.

"My Name is Puli Angel, a Magic knight of Blue Rose and a member of Royal knights"

Said the now identified Puli with a very warm gaze.

"Uh, I..am Surya RajPurohit. I am here for the entrance examination happening day after tomorrow." replied Surya after standing up and taking Puli's hand in his own after which he kissed her knuckles.

Although Surya had a major superiority complex and absolutely hated this world for tearing him away from his family and most importantly Ragini with whom he now realised he was in love with, but he was not stupid. Even in his previous world, he showed respect to people even if it was just for show whereas he also genuinely respected strength.

"Ara ara...Such manners! Hey Fragil, come meet him. Such a fine young man" Said Puli while motioning for the other royal knight that helped Surya with a smile.

"Greetings, I am Surya RajPurohit, it's nice to make your acquaintance, my fair lady" Surya again bowed a little while taking Fragil's slightly raised hand in his own and kissing her knuckles and greeted the young girl.

"Hi, My name is Fragil Tormenta of the Azure Deer and a member of the Royal knights." said Fragil with a very soft tone as she looked at Surya with a slight blush.

"Oh! That Ruben escaped again!" Puli commented as she wasn't able to find the third person from their team.

They were actually trying to look for the Magic Emperor Julius as he disappeared again and in their search, they saw the scene with Surya and immediately rushed to help.

The underground security forces of the capital, seeing the things were in control didn't approach further.

In all this chatter, however, they all forgot about the fainted Noelle who Surya made lie against the wall of a house.

Puli now finally addressed that problem and picked up Noelle with her wind magic while saying

"Come Surya, let's go to the infirmary. I can see it in your posture that your c.h.e.s.t is paining, and rightly so because the attack you just took was from a very close range."

Surya just nodded his head in acceptance and started to follow them.

Fragil was walking with Surya while throwing a sideways glance at his side every so often while Surya knew that she was curious about him and got a little infatuated at the same time.

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Within minutes, they arrived at the Infirmary which was a pretty big building at the central market of the capital.

People made way for them as Puli and Fragil were wearing the Royal knights uniform and without any problem, they arrived at a healer in the infirmary.

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"Hmm, Your ligament around the c.h.e.s.t is a little torn, although I must say that your physical fitness is very good, but this level of physical fitness means nothing in front of magical attacks. Next time be careful.

Now rest here for a while and when the pain completely subsides, you can leave."

Said the healer while she applied an ointment on Surya's c.h.e.s.t.

Puli and Fragil left them soon after contacting the healer since they had other pressing matters and because Surya had a lot of money on him, he obviously asked for a private room instead of a general ward.

So now, Surya and Noelle both were in the same room, while she was sleeping on her bed, Surya was sitting on his bed, supporting his back against the wall.

"no...no...I...didn't kill...mother…"

Surya immediately turned his head towards Noelle who was talking in her sleep.

As soon as he heard her, he immediately guessed what must have transpired. Suddenly, she became more distressed and Surya sensed her magic starting to go out of control again and he quickly flew to her bed while summoning Eminence which he gently touched on her head.

This immediately showed the result as all her powers got instantly nullified while some was absorbed in the sword with Surya's mental command.

One of the upgrades that his sword had was that he can store the spells of other people and release them at his will at any time, unlike the mangas where one of the swords must release all the absorbed attack before absorbing another. Surya can store them separately in his sword and release them at his convenience and the major advantage of this was that he could combine the stored magic in the sword before expelling it out

And sure enough, as soon as Noelle's magic became calm, her eyes flew open and she got up.

Surya immediately made Eminence disappear in his Soul space as Noelle's sudden movement almost beheaded her.

"You know, In the past few days, I have encountered many half-wits who had suicidal ways of approaching strangers but you, you take away the cake on this one."

Said Surya with calm eyes as he stared at Noelle who was starting to panic seeing an unknown man inside her room but before she could voice out anything, she noticed the room and realised something.

She remembered that she was running out of the capital to kill some beasts to vent her anger, the anger she felt towards herself for taking her mother's life and in that state, her powers went out of control and she slammed into a a person who caught her very gently.

The last thing she remembered before falling into his arms was the black silk waistcoat and now looking at the person in that same waistcoat again, she bowed her head in apology.

In Manga, Noelle was indeed hostile towards Asta in the beginning but that was because that Asta was completely unrefined and extremely loud with trashy dressing sense.

But the Asta she saw now was calm and composed. Whose every action was taken with a habitual elegance and without any extra movement.

This Asta was not wearing some trashy beggar clothes but he was wearing a very sophisticated, yet simple outfit which suited him quite well.

Noelle found herself staring at Surya and with red cheeks, she again apologised

"Uh, I am sorry for hurting you, Good Sir. I was…..uh-"

"You were depressed, blaming yourself for your mother's demise and running away, trying to hide from getting completely crumbled by your sibling's loathing."

Finished Surya.

Noelle was first shocked as Surya completed her sentence but then she felt angry.

How dare he voice out her deepest secrets with such a straight face! How did he even know this! Even she was in denial of the fact that her mother died while giving birth to her but for the sake of keeping herself together and keeping herself sane, she repeatedly denied this fact for she knew, that once she accepts this, this guilt will destroy her.

"How dare you…..Speaking something you have no idea about and that too so casually. Whoeve-"

"No idea about? Miss, sorry to inform you but I think most people in the noble circle of the capital have more than just a simple idea about this. You think that running away and denying the fact is going to fix everything? Just how long can you run away from the guilt? Guilt is a very dangerous thing, Mylady. It can drown relationsh.i.p.s, it can destroy lives. What you need to do is forgive yourself. Come to terms with your mother's demise. And most importantly, become indifferent towards the taunts of others.

I know that you might not be able to understand what I am saying, but in future, when you are calm and have some clarity to think carefully, you should think about what I said and use your mind to make some decisions about your otherwise miserable life."

Surya said all this to Noelle who was again stunned by his sudden interruption and incredibly m.a.t.u.r.e words. Her mind suddenly started to calm down and as a princess of a very powerful family, she could feel that it was Surya who was doing something to calm her down.

Noelle reminded Surya a little of Ragini as both the girls were living with a family who never cared about their happiness but he quickly squashed that thought.

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Outside the window of their room which opened in a secluded street, Julius listened to Surya's words with a smile and revealed a little astonishment after witnessing Surya use the powers of Soul to calm Noelle.

With a sigh, he started to leave from there while muttering

"Now I just can't wait for the entrance exams."

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Surya also left the infirmary after giving Noelle a lecture but that lecture made him doubt himself. Didn't he had guilt? He obviously had! His only guilt was how he had disappointed Ragini with his actions again and again. Although he did everything he could to make her happy when they were together, his dense self failed to see how she was craving for his attention. His dense self failed to realise his love for that pure soul and when he did realize he was trapped in this…...whatever this was!

He quickly used his soul powers to calm his mind as started to walk towards a building which had "Reuk's INN" written over the Gates.