Lia knew it was partly her fault. Back then, in the cave, if things happened differently, maybe the guy would've a more favourable view of her.
But what was done was done. She couldn't change the past anymore. Lia could now only wait for Xavi and Lily, and hope that Xavi would be able to change the guy's mind.
Yet on her way to the city centre, Lia suddenly decided to not rely on Xavi and do it herself. She was going to become the Immortal King, how could she not bring people to her side on her own. She has already speculated that if she wanted loyal followers, then they had to trust and believe her, not anyone else.
The problem was now how she was going to convince him in a way that wasn't imposing nor too intrusive and showed him she was not what he made her out to be.
A bad thought crept into Lia's mind. She could blackmail the D family and threaten to uncover their farce of being a Lord, however, this would make her even more hated in his eyes.
She could also kneel in front of the mansion and beg him to join her but this wasn't Lia's style. Even though she was partly at fault, she wasn't going to lower herself to that extent.
In the worst scenario, if she couldn't ally herself with the D family, it only meant one ally less. If the D family really wanted to stay out of any matters, no matter what she tried, they wouldn't be swayed.
This was however only in the worst case.
Lia was used to do things her own pace and the chance to prove herself opened up right in front of her. As she was halfway to the city centre, she heard shouts and screams. Then a minute later, she saw an elder man with various males dressed like the servant in the mansion surrounding him.
The passerby all stopped and bowed. They cheerfully greeted him, "Lord, you are back! Lord, we've missed you!"
"Please visit my store again!"
"Lord, can you shake my hand?"
"Lord-"
"Lord-"
"Lord-"
And so the cheers and the welcome followed the male with an amiable face. He waved and answered everyone.
This was the so-called Lord here in Rag. Lia still didn't know if the D family was truly one of the Lords or if they just pretended to be and someone else actually was. However, it was clear he was the 'Elder' of the D family.
Lia walked closer to the Lord and when he passed her, she stumbled forward right into his path and shyly said, "Lord, it's an honour meeting you!"
She bowed clumsily and the Lord quickly told her not to lower herself like this, "It's fine, it's fine! Don't worry. It's also a blessing to meet you."
Compared to the other Lord, the Elder of the D family also had this hearty nature that might turn out to be fake. Just to play it safe Lia continued with her act.
"Lord I heard you are benevolent and loved by many. I have a problem I wish the Lord to graciously help me with," Lia feigned to be saddened and troubled.
In front of many eyes, even if the Lord was also just acting, he couldn't deny her request or else the great reputation he held would be slandered immediately.
"Of course, please help this lady to the house," the Lord took Lia's hand and reassured her he would help and ordered his servant to guard Lia with him back home.
If his son threw her out, Lia could only use his father to get in again. For some reason, this sounded and seemed wrong but it was left up to anyone's imagination.
The way back to the mansion was considerably slowed down as the Elder took personal time to talk to each person that greeted him and expressed their gratitude towards him. The more Lia watched the more she felt like he was pure in his intentions.
But for a hidden family to be a Lord and so well-known and liked in Rag and maybe the surrounding area, weren't they running on the danger of being found out by Min? There was something Lia didn't understand, something was missing in all of this for this phenomenon in front of her to make sense.
Or was the D family actually colliding with Min? Xavi said that the hidden families didn't keep in touch with each other. Maria was the only one to act as an informant between them. Then was Maria being a spy a lie? Did she actually work for Min?
The other thing Lia didn't understand was that if the guy was the son of a Lord, then how did he end up with the other three people there and why did they have that token that teleported them away?
It just didn't make sense. And this was highly suspicious. Was the D family completely different from what Lia and Xavi have thought?
After a good half day, the Elder was finally released from the people wanting to talk to him and they made it to his mansion.
"I hope you didn't mind me taking up so much time," Elder D apologised to Lia as they entered the hall.
"How could I? Lord is well-loved and cares about everyone. I'm already happy enough you have agreed to listen to me. I can't thank you enough," Lia smiled and wanted to bow but the servant stopped her.
"Please don't do that," Elder D felt bad and invited Lia to have a meal, "I would like to hear what you have to say."
"Thank you, Lord," Lia made a gesture that seemed like she was going to bow again but stopped herself in time. The servant next to her already had his arms stretched out and awkwardly retracted it.
Lia held her laugh back and followed Elder D into the dining hall, she was not even an hour prior.
It would sweeten her food if Elder D's son was also present to witness this scene.
"Please eat as much as you like," as masses of plates were dished onto the table Elder D eagerly pointed at the food to show to Lia.
"Then I won't hold back," Lia said but only shovelled small amounts on her plate. She was here to talk and not to dine.
"What is it you wanted my help with?" Elder D seemed to have read her and the moment, the food landed on his plate he cut straight to business.
"Before that doesn't the Lord have a son? I have also heard great things about him."
"Have you? He doesn't really like to dine with me. He rather prefers to eat alone. He's at that age."
Lia giggled lightly, "That's a shame. I had hoped he would be happy to see me."
"You know each other?"
"We are acquainted. He… helped me a lot, I wanted to meet him again before being shameless and ask for another favour."
Lia was truly shameless. It probably would have been better to keep him out of this but Lia felt like that the matters regarding the D family, wouldn't be decided by Elder D alone. Lia needed allies and only that guy could travel with her and fight alongside her.
There was no other way than to face him head on.