Leonel raised his eyebrows, clearly having not expected Arthur to come to a decision so quickly.
In fact, the most surprised were those from the hidden families. They had come here with a lot of confidence and the only reason they hadn't interrupted during the extended silence was to give Arthur some space and respect.
Negotiations were meant to be like a game of tug of war. A single volley of arguments should have never been enough to close the subject completely. They had expected Arthur to have some back and forth discourse with Leonel first before tracking back to them. Then, they could try to rebuttal some of Leonel's views.
But, instead of any of that happening, King Arthur shut it all down from the beginning. In fact, he didn't even pause to have a conversation with his court ministers either. He just directly made the decision before them all.
It was no surprise, then, that even the court ministers were shocked. The only one that didn't seem to have a violent reaction was Lancelot.
He sighed deeply, closing his eyes. He sank back into his chair.
"Hold on a moment, King, isn't this too rash?" Matteus' expression changed violently as he stood. "Please reconsider, there are still many matters I've yet to bring to the table.
"Though what the child said about us is partially true, it is not completely so. Even without technology, we have access to many mystical means far beyond what mere –"
Arthur rose a hand, his eyes remaining closed.
"That's enough. I've understood most things but my decision remains the same. If you would like to stay as ambassadors to my Kingdom, please feel free to do so – we will accommodate you appropriately."
Matteus' expression froze. Were things really going to end just like that? How had they lost to a kid who barely spoke a few words?
Unfortunately, Matteus didn't really understand the backstory of it all. There were too many versions of the King Arthur story. He was shocked enough that Mordred was a woman, he would have never guessed that she was also Arthur's daughter.
These intricacies were all things that Leonel picked up by being front and center within Camelot. Of course, he also got a bit lucky by being placed within the same trial as Mordred as well. But, regardless, these were all things outside of Matteus' grasp.
Matteus didn't know what to say or how. Arthur's words were so final that any attempt he made to change them would come off as a sign of hostility.
At that moment, Matteus felt a hand grasp onto his shoulder. He turned to find that it was the red haired Brazinger Clan member.
"In that case, we will be taking our leave."
Arthur nodded lightly and all the energy seemed to drain from him. Under a heavy silence, the four hidden family members walked away under the escort of several guards.
…
"Fuck!"
Matteus blasted a fist print into a thick tree. Despite his strength, the tree hardly swayed. But, that didn't stop bark from flying in every which direction.
Though he had hid it well before, Matteus was completely enraged by Leonel bringing up his capture. He had already suffered ample punishment from the family, but to also be berated in public and looked down upon for it… how could he not be enraged?
It was no surprise that anyone part of the hidden families that could be on Earth currently didn't have very high statuses. The only exceptions to these rules were the youths that had yet to mature. In comparison, Matteus and the others were just glorified babysitters.
In order to display a stronger front, the older members were sent to negotiate. But, Matteus had never expected to run into Leonel. Had he known, he would have allowed one of the others to speak even if the red haired man of the Brazinger family didn't.
The flicker of a lighter caught Matteus' attention. He looked over to see the red haired man lighting up a cigarette.
"Those things have been extinct for centuries, Laeron. Keep that cancer smoke away from me." Matteus waved his hand, slapping the grey smoke away.
The green haired woman and the golden eyed man stood to the side, feeling somewhat impatient. They were more peeved about the wasted trip than Laeron seemed to be and were wondering why they were standing in a forest instead of returning home.
"If you all are just going to stand here, I'm going to leave first." The woman spoke, pulling out a talisman.
"Hold on there, Zindi. What's the hurry?" Laeron spoke languidly.
Zindi sneered. "You seem quite relaxed for a man who was almost killed by a brat."
Laeron's gaze flashed with killing intent as he swept it over Zindi.
"Almost killed by who?"
"Stop wasting my time, Laeron. Have a good reason for stopping me or I'm leaving right now." Zindi replied without fear.
Laeron continued to coldly glare at Zindi as though he hadn't heard a word she said.
"Alright, alright." The blond man stepped in. "That's enough. I'm sure you had a reason for leading us here instead of letting us go home to report this, correct?"
The blond man was known as Ameron. His words seemed to hold quite some weight because instead of continuing to glare at Zindi, Laeron took another long puff and exhaled slowly.
"… You guys plan to go back and report a failure? Why? So that you can fall even more out of favor?"
"What are you trying to say, Laeron?" Ameron's gaze narrowed.
"I'm saying that you're giving up too soon, tucking your tails and running just because a fairy tale character told you no?" Laeron chuckled, taking another big puff.
"And what do you want us to do about it exactly?" Zindi interjected.
Matteus turned an eye toward Laeron. Clearly, he was interested as well.
"Didn't I already give you the answer?" Laeron smiled slyly. "Do you get the impression from them that they understand that they're nothing but a bedtime story?"
The three's eyes widened as Laeron continued.
"I noticed that that 'Queen Guinevere' was quite close to that 'Demon Empress' in the court room, they were even holding hands at the end there like a pair of girlpals. I have a gut feeling that folk tale of a King only made such a decision because he sided with his wife.
"I wonder how he'd react if he knew aside from being the legendary boy who pulled the sword from the stone that.... he was just as legendary of a cuck?"