’Hehe...’
At this point, Rachel began to grin widely.
Those who genuflected before her magnificent throne began to shiver even more violently, feeling the weight of her malevolence spread throughout the hall.
This was a cruel woman!
Soone who was rumored to have assassinated the previous Head of the Family and also taken down all of her rival siblings, with the exception of one, whom she tortured until he was her loyal dog.
She then chose soone from the Branch Family and united them, making them figureheads of the Rouge Family.
Those two were the current ’Head Couple’ of the Household.
However, no one was mistaken about the one truly in charge in the Rouge Family.
Not even the Branch Family.
Rachel Ciel Vi Rouge had long dominated everyone in the Branch, making them one cohesive unit. This was actually one of the main reasons the Rouge Family was considered the strongest.
Unlike other Noble Households, where family mbers constantly sched against each other in a disharmonious cycle, nothing of the sort happened in the Rouge Family.
Everyone was united.
Whether through fear and submission, or respect and loyalty—though it was usually the forr—they all bowed to the absolute authority that was Rachel.
And that was simply due to her absurd strength and imnse intellect.
These people could see the latter manifesting now.
Rachel’s great intelligence—her affinity for the art of manipulation.
’The first goal is to observe those whom I will be able to ally with among the factions who will be present in the expedition. As for the second objective... It’s more straightforward. Those I catch ddling because of their greed will be exposed and punished. This way, I’ll be able to suppress all the factions that I do not want to ally with. Since anyone who isn’t with is my enemy, and it’s only right that I burn them to the ground."
The only exception to this would be the Nobles.
Even though the Rouge Family was the strongest, it couldn’t eliminate the other Households.
Still—
’I can weaken their power sufficiently. I’m sure the Bleu Family is trying to expand their power sohow, and they must be trying to curry my favor for an alliance. Depending on the actions I observe during the expedition, I may consider making the mbers my subordinates. As for the Noir Household, there’s sothing I’d like to confirm. Then there’s the Blanc Family... the most interesting, but also the most threatening of the bunch.’
Rachel’s grin stretched to the limits, her ruby eyes gleaming with both delight and malevolence.
’Richard Lamperouge Von Blanc... You’ll surely attend this Expedition. I also know the Blanc Family is dissatisfied with my Rouge Family gaining the first rights to the mountain range, and that they will use this opportunity to fish for benefits.’
This was all going according to her plan.
Which was what exactly?
Well...
’I’ll be keeping a close eye on you and your family, Richard. Once I notice the moves being made, I’ll be sure to expose your family and make it suffer imnsely. To pay the price for their insolence, I will demand you as my prize. That way, you’ll belong to the Rouge Family—no, to and alone!’
It was a foolproof strategy.
To confirm that the Blanc Family would indeed do sothing, she had intentionally kept spies hidden in key areas. They had inford her that the Blanc Family was sending for one of Richard’s cousins—an exceptional individual in the City of Silver who possessed a High Rank Principal Disposition.
What did this an?
It ant they needed all the help they could get in the coming expedition.
’That old scher Karl is definitely planning sothing. All I have to do is watch his son and his aide very closely. They’ll make their move for sure. I’ll wait until they’re very deep in the ss before I expose them. Only then will I have the justification to kill the aide and take Richard for myself. They will try to negotiate to have their son back, and during that ti, I will make sure to thoroughly educate him until he is mine. By the ti I return him to the Blanc Household, I would have already succeeded!’
There were many advantages to having the heir to the Blanc Family subservient to her.
One was that she would be able to manipulate the Blanc Family from the shadows, but that was still a faraway goal—one that she wasn’t too focused on.
The most imdiate benefit was that she simply wanted to own Richard.
’I’ll make sure he breaks off all his prior engagents and becos solely attached to my Rouge Family. I can use a disguise to have him engaged to instead. That way, I’ll have him all to myself....’ The way Rachel thought about him was as though she had found a new toy.
All her other toys were either too broken or simply didn’t interest her.
It was Richard she wanted.
"Hehe... hehehe... hahaha!" Rachel Ciel Vi Rouge chuckled loudly, her sonorous voice echoing throughout the hall.
"You better make it fun for ... Richard!"
***********
[A Few Days Later]
Richard sat opposite Neia as they went over the plan one last ti.
"So, you’ll be disguised as , just like before. As for , I’ll blend in with the other Adventurers and Explorers in the event." Richard explained everything rather succinctly, to which his only friend simply nodded.
There were two main reasons he chose this arrangent.
For one, he wanted Neia to co along with him for the expedition.
Since he didn’t trust his family enough, he would feel safer if he went with soone as strong and as reliable as Neia.
If this were all he desired, then it would have made sense if Richard had simply let Neia disguise herself as an Adventurer. Since she had [Impersonation], it would be no problem at all. In fact, she would blend right in with the Adventurers.
But no!
Richard made her take on the role of pretending to be him while he was the Adventurer.
Why?
Well... this led to the second reason.
He wanted to experience what it was like as an Adventurer!
’I’ve always read about them in novels...’ Richard grinned to himself as though he were a child. ’I now have the opportunity to act as one of them.’
It was exciting to think about!
"Of course, I’ll be hiding my identity so no one knows it’s . Since I have all the Mystic Objects I stole from those Six Eyes of Infinity kidnappers, I can equip myself with powerful items that’ll make really strong." He bead just thinking about how badass the experience would be.
"And whenever you require my presence, all you have to do is give the signal," Neia added.
Richard nodded emphatically at those words.
"We’ll likely be in the sa group. In fact, we should probably stick close to each other. The only person we have to be wary about is that cousin of mine that will be your aide..."
"Understood! I’ll be on my guard!"
"Good. I trust you to handle whatever situation arises. And if you need any help, you know how to contact , right?"
The two of them had already shared a communication-type Mystical Object.
It also had a tracking function embedded inside, so finding each other within the expedition would be no problem at all.
"Alright! Let’s do this!" Richard stretched out a fist to Neia, who smiled softly.
After living with Richard for three years now, she knew that this was the signal for a fist-bump, so she stretched out her fist and lightly bumped his own.
The two of them laughed, their loud giggles echoing across the room.
Neither of them knew... that this would be the last ti that they would both be laughing together like this.
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