He turned toward the sage and Aria, giving them a sharp, cutting look that made the sage tense up. Not just tense, actually very tense.
"What exactly are the two of you doing here?"
The moment the sage heard his voice, he stepped back and hid behind Aria like a frightened child. Aria raised her voice slightly, trying to keep some composure.
"You two were late. We came to make sure the boy was still alive."
The masked man lifted his eyebrow with obvious sarcasm.
"And now you pretend you care about him?"
Aria replied, her tone edged.
"What are you talking about? I care about him more than you do."
"And who said I care about him at all?" he said sharply, then added while pointing at her, "At least I don't deceive him with incomplete contracts where you conveniently skip the real outcome and all the consequences."
Aria frowned.
"Excuse me? I explained everything to him already."
"Did you tell him he would die if the deal failed?"
"Yes. Of course I did."
