Chapter 66 – Direct approach
Merlin was very angry about those people trying to kill Adelle, and after giving Shin the order of tracking down and send a message to the Dushe Consortium if they insisted in their attempts he had a hard time calming down. Not wanting to dwell on that matter any longer, Merlin went back into the house to pass some time with the girls and the little Lizza, which would allow him to think about something else.
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Onboard a ship in the middle of the sea.
Elessia had left the elven lands, however, instead of going alone, as she had originally intended, in the end, she was accompanied by Lauressia, an elven adventurer, to keep her safe. As a beautiful young elf, she brought a lot of attention to herself, fortunately, she had Lauressia by her side protecting her. Currently, they were onboard a ship, but there had been a lot of trouble prior to their before the departure.
Lauressia saw Elessia looking into the horizon on the deck of the ship and went to her side, Lauressia was about to touch her on the shoulder to ask for her attention when she suddenly stood her hand. Unexpectedly, Elessia was crying, and Lauressia did not know why.
Lauressia: “Child, what is upsetting you?”
Elessia cleaned her tears away and looked at her.
Elessia: “I’m not upset, auntie!”
Seeing her puffing and trying to deny her tears, Lauressia could not help but laugh out loud, that reaction had been just too cute! She ruffled Elessia’s hair and gave her a hug. Elessia, who had been caught with her guard down, tried to escape the hug without much success. After letting her go, Lauressia tried to make her say why she had cried.
Lauressia: “Are you feeling better now?”
Elessia: “Y-yes.”
Lauressia: “Can you tell me now why you were crying? Did anyone bully you or tried to harm you in any way?”
Elessia: “No, auntie, nothing happened I was just feeling a little homesick…”
Lauressia: “Ok, let’s go down to grab something to eat! Ok?”
Elessia: “Ok.”
Homesickness was not the actual reason for Elessia’s crying, as a matter of fact, even she herself had no idea of the reason behind her tears, she had started crying for no reason at all… Lauressia, on the other hand, did not buy Elessia’s answer. She had a very keen instinct, and it told her that Elessia’s answer did not have any truth in it.
Lauressia was troubled, she had not expected that Elessia would have that kind of attitude with her, and it made her wonder what had actually happened to the little girl in the short while she had been out of her sight. She was responsible for the wellbeing of the little girl, and the situation was exasperating for her, so she secretly made an oath: she would not allow Elessia to leave her side until they had reached their final destination.
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Klausna Kingdom. Duke Risme’s mansion.
Duke Risme was in his study when someone knocked on the door.
D. Risme: “Enter!”
The door opened and he saw his adoptive daughter at the door. He put down the parchments he was looking at and looked at her.
Mandy: “Hello father, I’m sorry to disturb you…”
D. Risme: “Oh! I don’t really mind it, I’m well aware that you wouldn’t have come for no reason, so what is it?”
Mandy: “Well, mother asked me to pass you a message.”
D. Risme: “What is your mother’s message?”
Duke Risme poured some wine on a glass and started to drink it when he heard Mandy’s answer, which made him choke on it.
Mandy: “Mother said that Viscount Connard is pestering her and that you may not care about her making you wear a green hut, but she does. She said that if you don’t deter him from continuing such tedious acts, she will take a dagger, cut his third leg and have it served to you for dinner… which is funny, because I saw Viscount Connard when he came in the morning, and he clearly had only two legs…”
Duke Risme compromised and sent Mandy back to her mother, and asked the girl to pacify her mother while he took care of the problem. Duke Risme was currently having a headache, Viscount Connard happened to be a key man in his plans of seizing the throne.
That was why he had tolerated that lowly viscount pestering his own wife, he just did not want to take some action which would hinder is future plans. However, his wife knew and understood his line of thoughts, so, for her to give him an ultimatum meant the bastard had gone too far and his actions were not bearable any longer.
The real problem was not that lowly viscount, but the one backing him. Viscount Connard’s actual power did not amount to much, but his father-in-law, Anthony Cooper, was a blacksmith and a merchant who had enough influence in the kingdom to make it impossible for Duke Risme to have access to a smithy if he ever made him mad.
Unsure of how to resolve the situation, Duke Risme stood up and went to open a window of the study. He looked out and wondered when it would be the next time he would be contacted by a member of the “council of ten”, as he was at a loss of what to do, he thought he could use some advise from them. Unfortunately, the members of the “council of ten” were usually the ones who contacted him, not the other way around. Duke Risme turned around after hearing some knocking on the door.
D. Risme: “Enter!”
The door opened and he saw his wife’s favorite maid, Athena, at the door, looking accusingly at him.
Athena: “Hello my lord, I’m sorry to disturb you… but there is something I must tell you.”
Duke Risme was startled by here serious tone, and wondered what was so grave for this maid, who never meddled in the matters of the house, to seek him out.
D. Risme: “Go ahead, speak!”
Athena: “My lord, I don’t wish to meddle into something that is not my busyness at all, nor being a whistleblower, but there is something you should know.”
Hearing her words, it struck to him like lightning, *Being a whistleblower, that is it! That is the solution to all my problems with Viscount Connard! Anthony Cooper has always pampered his daughter, if he learned that his son-in-law is pestering my wife, not only will he take action to stop him from doing it, I might even be able to forge a friendly relationship with him!*
D. Risme: “What’s your point? I don’t have all day!”
Athena: “The lady is a little hysterical about that man pestering her and she is about to have a nervous breakdown! Please, my lord, do something to prevent that bastard from coming anywhere near the lady!”
Those words took Duke Risme a little aback, he hadn’t expected that even a maid would half-scold him because of that matter. Granted, she was one of the maids closest to his wife, but she was still part of the service… if even the service knew of this matter, he couldn’t delay his actions any longer and had to immediately go seek for Anthony Cooper’s help.
D. Risme: “I sincerely thank you for your concern, Athena, but I have already started working on a solution to that problem. Thank you for your loyalty toward the household. Could you please see to it that they prepare a carriage for me? I’ll go out in half an hour for a meeting.”
Athena understood her lord had dismissed her, and went out of the study to carry out his orders. Meanwhile, Duke Risme was pondering the pros and cons of the different approaches he could use when meeting with Anthony Cooper.
In normal circumstances, it would be almost impossible to meet him, but he had a distinct habit when he came to the capital, he would always dine at “The silver paw” restaurant, owned by his friend Richard Clark. His friend Richard always boasted to him how Anthony Cooper would have him prepare an isolated room in the restaurant to have dinner, every single time he came to the capital.
Duke Risme had always inwardly scolded his friend for boasting about such a thing, but now he was very grateful to Richard, had it not been for his boasting, he would be now at a loss of how contacting Anthony Cooper.
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Diner time, at “the silver paw”.
Anthony Cooper had gone to dine at his favorite restaurant, as he did every time he was in the capital. He would usually have breakfast and lunch in the company of his beloved daughter Melinda, at her house. However, he was unable to stand his son-in-law any longer, and he would seldom dine at home with his wife, but the few times mister Cooper had dinned at their place in the past and had happened to coincide with his son-in-law, they would always end up in a conflict.
Inwardly, he regretted enormously having allowed his daughter to marry such a fine bastard. Externally, on the other hand, he usually covered the bastard’s misdeeds before they got to the ears of his beloved daughter. He knew it was only a question of time before the bastard’s actions burst Melinda’s pink bubble, but he wanted his beloved daughter to be happy for as long as possible.
Unfortunately, his Melinda had just given birth to a little girl, were it not for that, Anthony Cooper would have already made his hateful son-in-law “mysteriously disappear” and found her a better match. He suddenly heard the door opening, and looked in its direction. He frowned when he saw an unfamiliar man walking toward him.
Anthony Cooper: “Who are you? I had asked not to be disturbed!”
D. Risme: “I am truly sorry, Mr. Cooper, but there is an urgent matter I must discuss with you!”
A. Cooper: “Ok, I can understand that, but who are you?”
D. Risme: “My name is Loch Risme, I am a duke of this kingdom I have come here to seek your help with a matter of the utmost importance!”
A. Cooper: “Ok, since you have already disturbed my diner, please, take a seat and tell me the details of that important matter.”
D. Risme: “Thank you, Mr. Cooper.”
After Duke Risme sat down, Mr. Cooper called for someone to bring a new wine bottle and an additional glass to the table. After serving wine in both glasses, he gave one to Duke Risme and spoke again.
A. Cooper: “So, what is the matter you wanted to talk with me, Duke Risme? I am just a simple blacksmith and a merchant, I am not sure of how exactly I can help you…”
D. Risme: “Please, Mr. Cooper, don’t belittle yourself! Everyone in the kingdom knows you control its blacksmith industry and that with just a word of yours, any noble house would be unable to have access to blacksmith services or materials! However, that isn’t my reason for coming here and disturbing your dinner.”
A. Cooper: “Oh? Please, pray tell, then… What is your reason for coming here tonight? You could very well have appointed a meeting or sent an invitation to my daughter’s house, instead, you came directly to meet me here, risking angering me. You chose such a direct approach in spite of the serious consequences this action could have in the future for you… This shows the matter you want to talk about seems to be a life-and-death matter for you.”
D. Risme: “Well, it seems you really are as insightful as the rumors say, Mr. Cooper. Ok, here is the problem I wanted to talk with you about: my poor wife is hysterical and on the verge of having a nervous breakdown, and it is all due to the continuous pestering of your son-in-law!”
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A/N: Non-proofread version. Please do point out any mistake you might spot. Thank you!
thank you!!
ReplyDeleteForeshadowing, Elessia is the girl that killed the MC on the start of the novel. I think.
ReplyDelete