Chương 29: Chapter 29
---3rd Person POV, Evening---
Promptly returning to the Atlee Resident, ahead of his Mistress, Dan requested a meeting with the Earl and his father to discuss the information he had acquired. Wanting to spare Clarice of further pain, as she was devastated by Jilk's disinterest in her at school, he hoped something could be done to get rid of Marie and restore things to normal. After ensuring that only the Earl and his father would hear what he had to say, Dan dove straight into things.
"My apologies for requesting a meeting so suddenly, but things are not progressing well with Lady Clarice and that bastard Jilk.", Dan said, trying to hold his anger in.
"Son do not call the prince's foster brother a bastard!", his father pleaded.
"Father, it is the truth! He has abandoned Lady Clarice in favor of a traitorous wench he met just yesterday! He has been seen galivanting around campus with Marie Fou Lafan, Prince Julius, and the prince's entourage. She has sunk her teeth into the prince and company with no signs of remorse for the chaos she is sowing.", Dan said, producing the photos he received, "I have it on good authority that she is working with the Principality to pay off her family's debts. Here are the photos I was received this morning."
Looking at the photos he was handed, Earl Atlee was amazed by the quality and clarity of the photos. Wondering who Dan received them from, as they could potentially be fakes, the Earl needed to be certain of things before making his next move. If they were indeed genuine, he would immediately take action to save his daughter's happiness as well as ensure the safety of the Holfort Kingdom.
"Dan, who did you get these photos from?", the Earl inquired.
"Viscount Victor von Stark gave them to me after confronting the prince and his entourage this morning with this exact information. Before Lord Stark could explain in detail what he found, Marie pretended to faint causing the prince and his entourage to rush her to the infirmary.", Dan said, hoping he had not been fooled, 'Should I have done more investigating? I was in such a rush to help Lady Clarice that I did not think the photos were fake…'
"These photos were given to you by Victor?! If he reports she is a traitor, I have no reason to doubt him.", the Earl said, satisfied the photos were genuine, "Did he happen to give you any other proof?"
"Yes, he gave me a recording of their entire interaction.", Dan replied, producing the object he received from Victor, "I apologize for my ignorance, but is Viscount Stark an important nobleman?"
Looking up at Dan for a moment, the two men thought he was trying to lighten the mood with a joke. Giving him a few moments to laugh it off, when the laugh did not come, they realized he was being serious.
"Son, you do realize that Victor von Stark is the Holfort Prodigy right? Victor changed his name about eight months ago to separate himself from the Bartfort Household. His father has a reputation for being a bit sheepish, so he changed it to differentiate himself from his birth name.", his father said, "Please tell me you have not done anything to antagonize him…"
"I…I have not done anything, I swear! Before my conversation this morning with him, I have never spoken to or interacted with him.", Dan gulped, "That said, that means Prince Julius is playing with fire. He was making wild accusations this morning about Victor seducing Queen Mylene. Julius told him to release the Queen, or he would have Victor thrown in jail."
"This is about their interaction yesterday, correct?", Earl Atlee said, having ridden with Clarice to school as well.
"Correct, sir.", Dan acknowledged.
Letting out a sigh, he could not fathom how Julius knowingly made such a wild accusation. While her reaction to Victor's arrival was a bit over the top, it was well known that the King and Queen were quite fond of his gadgets. Given the callous response she received from her sons yesterday, according to their morning meetings, it was no surprise she went with him to soothe her aching heart.
"If the prince or his entourage ever engage in a fight with Viscount Stark, I want you to immediately summon medical personnel. He may not look like it, but the rumors of his combat prowess are understated. Victor defeated the Sword Saint in less than thirty seconds and has regularly defeated the Guildmaster of the Adventurer's Guild.", Earl Atlee said, with a serious tone, "Victor is our counter to the Principality's Black Knight. While the two of them have yet to cross paths, it is no coincidence that the Black Knight has not been seen at the border in four years."
Having heard stories from those that survived encounters with the Black Knight, Dan could not begin to comprehend how much of a monster Victor was. Understanding that upsetting him was to be avoided at all costs, a smile crept upon his face.
'Lady Clarice has a powerful ally in her corner when it comes to dealing with that traitor.', he thought, setting the orb on the table.
Scanning the room, after Dan let go of it, the orb made sure the room was secure before sharing its data. Showing the three men recordings of both Marie and Stephanie's interactions with the spies, Earl Atlee's eyes narrowed as he watched Stephanie hand over top secret documents that only the Crown and Cabinet Ministers had access too. Watching the entirety of the recordings, the Earl lowered his head and began to think.
"Earl Atlee, we should immediately inform the palace that classified documents have been leaked to the Principality.", Dan's father said, worried about the security of the southern border.
"No, the information that was given to the Principality was fake. Victor requested that the Cabinet Ministers and Crown keep fake documents where we usually store classified documents. While I was not sure why it was important back then, now I see that he felt we had traitors among our staff.", the Earl growled, "I do not want to believe that my staff leaked this information, but I inherited them from the last Prime Minister after he passed two years ago. After this revelation, it would be wise to thoroughly investigate our staff to find the culprits. Can I leave the investigation to you, Charles?"
"Of course, I will personally take charge of the investigation and see that the traitors are apprehended swiftly.", Dan's father swore.
"Dan, I need you to keep watch over the prince's entourage and that traitorous wench. If she continues to sway the five of them, especially Julius and Jilk, I need to inform the palace of it. While they may not realize it, those five men have a lot riding on their marriages.", Earl Atwell explained, "Their marriages represent a melding of the most influential people in the kingdom. Should they throw it all away for Marie…it will create utter chaos among the nobility. We cannot afford to fall back into the mire after all the progress we made these past years."
"I understand, I will relay any information I discover to you immediately!", Dan said, bowing to the Earl and his father, "I will inform Lady Clarice's other subordinates to watch the prince and entourage closely. Nothing that we have said in here will be shared with them, I will say I am concerned that Jilk will break her heart."
With that, Dan promptly left the room leaving the Earl and his father to discuss his plans for the investigation further.
---Two Weeks Later, Victor POV---
"Viscount Stark, this is the room we have set aside for your Tea Party.", an administrative staff member said, opening the door to a decent sized room, "I hope it is to your satisfaction."
Having secured a room overlooking the garden, I hoped to avoid most of the party crashers by staging mine toward the center of campus. Poking my head in to confirm everything was in order, I stepped inside to begin preparations.
"Of course, this will do perfect. Thank you for securing such a fine location on such short notice.", I remarked, tossing them a small bag of gold coins, 'I really did not want to partake in this shitty tradition, but my etiquette teacher insisted I do so. That old man has a way of convincing people to do things they do not want to do.'
Bowing their head and promptly leaving me alone, once the staff member was gone, I had Luxion bring over the party supplies. Setting out tableware and snacks, Luxion made a large pot of Earl Grey tea to go with the sweets. As I was polishing the silverware, I received a notification from Luxion that Lucoa and Roxanne were ready to join us.
<Shall I teleport them here now, Master?>
"Please do.", I replied, taking a few steps back.
Watching the two women materialize out of thin air, I noticed that they had come dressed for the occasion. Wearing custom-made maid outfits, the two of them had gone all out to make themselves appear to be servants of mine.
"I am regretting my decision to wear this. This stupid thing makes moving around a pain in the ass.", Lucoa complained, as her dress was hugging her body tightly, "You sure you took my measurements right, Victor?"
"Victor would never mess up something like that. You must have put on a bit of weight with all the snacks you have been eating at home.", Roxanne teased her, "I am more than happy to spar with you back home to keep you in shape, if you want."
"Are you seriously calling me fat?! I am curvy, not fat!!", Lucoa pouted, "I blame Victor, he made us his taste testing guinea pigs. If his sweets were not so amazing, I would not have eaten so many!!"
"Come on now, the outfits shrunk a bit in the washer no need to fight over it. I love the two of you just the way you are so hush it.", I chuckled, giving them both a kiss, "Now before any bimbos show up, have some cookies and tea."
Eagerly taking my up on my offer, the two of them snatched up several cookies while I poured them tea. While they were eating their sweets, I affixed a sign to the door bearing my name on it. As I was taping it up, a familiar face came walking down the hall hanging her head in defeat.
"Olivia, is everything alright?", I called out, "Why do you look so sad?"
"I…I was kicked out of several tea parties already.", Olivia sniffled, "I showed up a bit early, and the girls told me leave. They said that a commoner like me would ruin their experience, and then tore up my invitation before throwing the scraps at me."
"Damn, I am sorry those bitches treated you like garbage. Come on in, I have plenty of cookies and tea.", I offered, motioning for her to come in.
"Thank you…", she said, shuffling into the room with a grateful smile.
Stopping when she saw Lucoa and Roxanne, the two women turned to look at her for a moment. Observing how she carried herself and how she acted to their gazes, they nodded in satisfaction before motioning for her to take a seat.
"Sorry for the intrusion.", Olivia stated, taking a seat beside Roxanne, "Are you two Victor's maids?"
"Officially yes, but unofficially we are his lovers/mistresses.", Lucoa answered, with a smile, "Hope that does not bother you."
"It does not bother me, I do not have anything against nonhumans.", Olivia remarked, "Victor…he did not force himself on you, did he?"
"No, I am not that kind of guy. I have known the two of them since I was five years old. If you want to hear it, I can tell you all about it.", I said, handing her a cup of tea and some cookies.
"Of course, I happy to hear more about you.", Olivia stated, wanting to know more about the only person on campus who treated her like a human being.
---Twenty Minutes Later---
Telling her about how we met each other, the adventures we had gone on, and my brother Rutart's despicable crime, Olivia finally realized who I was. Apologizing profusely for not recognizing me, even though we had never met in person before a few weeks ago, I promised her that I was not offended.
"Most people have yet to realize I changed my name almost nine months ago now. While it may sound bad, it has helped mitigate the number of boorish women I have had to deal with.", I chuckled, "As you may have heard, I have a low tolerance for insufferable nobles."
"Yes, I have seen it firsthand.", Olivia laughed, "May I have some more tea, please?"
"Certainly.", I said, pouring her another cup.
Wanting to ask her about her childhood, as I could not recall anything about it, our conversation got derailed when a group of four noblewomen came barging into the room. Immediately demanding tea and sweets from me, I glanced back at them with an annoyed expression.
'So it begins…', I thought, getting up from my seat to greet them, 'Hopefully they calm down or they are going out the fucking window…'
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