After giving the magic stone to the guard, I returned to the palace.
My work with the empress was done for the moment. Now, I only need to wait.
Tomorrow, I'll make reach another message to her. That message will contain Bryan's voice begging her to save him plus some not-so-important demands.
I can already imagine Lilia's reaction. I'm sure she will first enter in panic, but soon, she will start to find in a way to rescue Bryan.
However, her first option will not be to obey my demands. Instead, she will pretend to cooperate while she uses her influences to find the people behind this (me).
Regardless of her many flaws, Lilia is a strong woman. She loves her children very much, but she will not resign herself to be used by others unless it's the last option.
And at that moment, I will send her the third message.
Something like. [I told you to not try something funny. Unfortunately, you were a disobedient woman. As punishment, here is a finger of your son… Remember, you can't tell about this to anyone, not even the emperor. We have men everywhere, so if we find you have leaked information, your son will die.]
I'm sure Lilia will truly panic then.
Unable to know who to trust, and unable to rely on the forces of the empire or her family, she will fall into despair. Perhaps, she will even consider acceding to the demands.
At that moment, she will hear news about the Red Skull Gang and remember my promise to help her.
It will be like her last ray of hope.
Therefore, she will appear before 'Clark' again, asking for his help, without knowing that it's just what I want.
Of course, nothing is perfect in this world, so I'm sure that some things will not go as I planned, but I just have to modify the plan slightly and everything will fall into line.
That way, I'll control Lilia from two fronts. In a front, she will have an unknown man blackmailing her, and in the other, she will have an understanding lover advising her and helping her to recover her lost son.
Hehe, I'm curious to see her face when my master plan comes to light. How will she feel when she realizes she betrayed everything she loved for the man that hurt her son…?
The same man she tried to kill several times. The son of the woman she drove to death.
Humhum humhum… I hummed cheerfully while thinking about that.
Returning to my bedroom, I gave my beautiful little sister a good morning kiss.
Lena was feeling better after resting for a night, but she was still a bit down. So, she asked me to spend the day with her.
Due to the incident of the Forest of Wolves, the classes in the institute were temporarily suspended. In other words, I was rather free during the day, so I acceded to accompany my little sister.
Soon, though, Dina and Daisy joined us.
I did not mind it and played with them for the rest of the morning, flirting with my beautiful maid and cute sisters for a while.
I must admit that spending time like this is not bad.
After lunch, though, I was forced to stop our flirting.
A servant approached us and told us that someone was asking for me. It was Louise.
I nodded and followed after the servant under the reluctant gazes of my maid and sisters. Although I wanted to play with them for a little bit more, I could not let my lover wait.
Besides, I already have a good idea of the reason Louise is here.
When I arrived at the entrance of the palace, I saw a beautiful blonde girl seated in a chair with a worried expression.
I sighed as soon as I saw her. Louise seemed like she had not slept for several nights.
Her green eyes were a bit dim, and she seemed like she had cried a lot recently. Just based on that, I could infer the situation in her home has not been the best recently.
When Louise saw me, she stood from her chair hurriedly and rushed towards me.
"Claus!"
I hugged her tightly and kissed her forehead.
"… You look tired. Did something happen?"
Louise smiled bitterly. "You already know, don't you?"
"Well, I still need to ask."
Louise nodded softly. I, on the other hand, felt a bit pained seeing her strained smile.
Sigh.
With a soft look in my eyes, I kept her body in my arms for a while, without asking for anything else.
"Are you coming for that?" I asked when I felt Louise was a bit better.
Louise nodded. "Mother agreed to talk with you… Can you come with me right now?"
I was about to nod, but suddenly, I felt something.
My expression changed slightly, but I instantly hid it from Louise before smiling and kissing her lips.
"I can't right now. Mm… What about two hours later? The place will be… How about the Imperial Institute? I'm sure nobody will suspect anything if we meet there."
"... Sorry for worrying you about our problems."
I curved my lips up softly and comber her beautiful blonde hair. "Don't worry about that. I'm your lover, remember? It's my duty to take care of my beloved's problems."
Louise blushed softly. "… Idiot."
"Well, you are my girlfriend. What does it make you then?"
"Fool…" Louise smiled and shook her head. "I will tell your message to my mother. See you later, Claus."
"Be careful." I bid farewell to Louise with a kiss and watched her leave the palace.
When she was gone, I furrowed my brows.
I then stepped across space, appearing in a small forest outside the capital.
When I was sure there was nobody nearby, I looked behind me with a complicated look.
"Are you not going to appear yet, [Witch of Unending Fates]?"
The forest stayed silent for a while, but suddenly, a soft sigh rang through it, moving through the leaves of the trees like a summer breeze.
"… You don't look happy to see me."
I stared at the beautiful woman that appeared suddenly.
Black hair as dark as the night itself, and a pair of black eyes that seemed to swallow the light. Her figure and face were so beautiful that they seemed to transcend the concept of beauty itself, and her aura went beyond anything a normal human could have.
It was as though fate itself was bowing in allegiance to her.
She was the witch. The greatest seer I have ever met. A powerful Immortal able to plot against the strongest people in the universe.
An old friend, but once an enemy… And even before that, a lover.
The woman smiled softly, genuinely happy about seeing me again.
"Long time no see you, old friend."
Unfortunately, I was unable to share that happiness.
...
I'll try to post another chapter tonight...
P4TRE0N: patr-eon.com/aidnovels