Alex had been looking forward to spending ti with Freya since the very mont they parted ways yesterday. There was simply sothing about her that attracted him endlessly, and he more than liked the woman and her personality. And the cherry on top, she was drop-dead gorgeous.
Ever since he had tasted her lips and managed to fool around with her yesterday, he had been praying—well, not really praying, since he hated the gods—but hoping with all his being that they would get the chance to relive yesterday’s events. That was why he had been in a good mood the mont they left the underground library, just the two of them.
Unfortunately, the mont they stepped outside, they found a group of knights waiting for Freya.
Spotting them, one of the knights scurried to Freya and bowed. He seed to want to speak, but upon noticing Alex, he hesitated, unsure if he should say anything in front of him. However, a single word from Freya was enough to make the man as talkative as a parrot.
From what the knight explained, there seed to be an issue with the last batch of nobles who had arrived in Drisidd in the past few hours.
From what Alex gathered, more nobles were attending this year’s auction than ever before, and unfortunately, the noble district no longer had any mansions available to accommodate the newcors.
Baron Drisidd and even Frieda had gone to et the nobles and proposed a temporary solution: until new accommodations could be arranged, the nobles who already had their own mansions would have to share them with the newcors.
So of the nobles, particularly those who had allies or friends among the first or second groups, accepted right away. However, the majority deed it beneath them to share their mansions with anyone, even when their vast residences were barely occupied.
There was so kind of stalemate as the nobles refused the solution proposed to them, but soon enough, the situation evolved once more when so nobles who had no accommodation—and who held higher ranks than their peers who already had mansions—began arguing. In so cases, they even went as far as to threaten the latter, demanding that they take their belongings and vacate their residences.
Suffice to say, the mont things escalated to that point, the entire noble district descended into mayhem.
Alex didn't particularly care if a group of stuck-up, arrogant bastards decided to make fools of themselves, but his expression darkened when the knights began compiling a list of the nobles who had been threatened. He was slightly worried that his three cousins, Talia, Celine, and Marina, might have been among them.
Those three were nobles and mbers of the esteed Eswald family—a ducal family, true, but in hindsight, they were rely part of it. They weren’t direct descendants and held no close ties to the current patriarch. They belonged to one of the side branches, and even the head of that branch was only a baron—a baron who wasn’t even present.
What Alex failed to consider was that, even now, people didn’t know that he had beco the new head of their branch. As far as everyone was concerned, Grace was still in charge, and no noble, no matter how foolish, would dare risk slighting her by threatening mbers of her branch. Furthermore, there was always the possibility that she might attend this year’s auction herself and had sent the three to reserve a mansion for her. If that was the case, they shivered in dread just by imagining what she might do to them once she heard that one of them had chased away those that she had sent. The re thought of what that madwoman might do to them was enough to send chills down their spines—she was seriously capable of skinning them alive!
For that very reason, no one bothered the three won, instead opting to target other nobles.
Freya nodded, her expression cold, though Alex detected a trace of annoyance on her face. "Alright, lead the way," she uttered after a mont.
As the knight bowed and stepped away, Freya turned to Alex. "Sorry, but I have to deal with this," she said, her tone carrying a hint of frustration.
"Don't worry, I understand," Alex replied with a small shrug.
Fifteen minutes later, they were already in the noble district, and Alex had to admit—the situation was even worse than he had assud.
Instead of the usual quiet that reigned over the noble district, there was now a flurry of activity right at its entrance. Dozens of carriages lined the area, their polished exteriors gleaming under the afternoon sun. Before each carriage, nobles and their attendants stood in clusters, engaged in hushed yet heated conversations, their expressions a mix of irritation and anticipation.
Each noble’s personal guards stood at attention, hands resting on the hilts of their weapons, ready to strike at the slightest provocation.
The tension in the air was so thick it could be cut with a blade.
It was in this charged atmosphere that Freya stepped forward, her expression a mask of composed confidence, exuding an aura of authority that instantly commanded attention.
At first, Alex assud that it would take so ti for the matriarch to settle the matter, given the number of nobles involved and their apparent reluctance to back down. However, he was quickly proven wrong.
The mont she appeared, Freya wasted no ti in offering the nobles two clear choices. The first was that the Drazen family would provide them with accommodations, but these lodgings would not be in the noble district. Instead, they would be housed among the common citizens of Drisidd.
The second option, if they found the first unacceptable, was simply to leave the city.
Many of the nobles, along with Frieda and Baron Drisidd, were visibly taken aback when she presented the second option with a straight face, showing no room for negotiation.
What none of them realized was that Freya was thoroughly annoyed. She had been forced to cut her ti with Alex short just to deal with their entitled complaints, and that alone trendously soured her mood.
That didn’t an she had acted impulsively, though. Freya had already anticipated that every noble present would ultimately accept her terms, and she was proven right a mont later.
Despite the commotion they had caused, all of the nobles gathered here were, at best, barons. While they had co for the auction, their true goal was to get closer to the Drazen family, an Earl-level household with significant influence. The boldest among them had even brought marriage proposals for Maya, the heiress, while a few particularly audacious ones had arrived with proposals for the matriarch herself!
The fastest way to completely ruin those ambitions was to offend Freya Drazen. So even if so of them were deeply dissatisfied with the choices presented, they concealed it behind polite, insincere smiles, as if her proposal had been the most reasonable and generous solution they could have hoped for.
And just like that, a situation that could have dragged on for hours, filled with endless bickering and negotiation, was resolved by Freya in less than thirty minutes.
Both Alex and Freya thought that, finally, they would have so ti to themselves. However, fate seed to have other plans. Before they even managed to leave the noble district, more urgent and pressing matters found their way to Freya’s doorstep, demanding her attention.
In the end, Freya spent the entire afternoon handling the affairs of the family, never once finding a free mont to spend with Alex.
Not that he complained. Of course, he was disappointed that they hadn’t been able to do anything aningful together, but just following her around and watching her work gave him a better understanding of who she truly was.
First of all, as he had already noticed since the day before yesterday, Freya was soone who remained distant and cold toward those who weren’t close to her. It wasn’t that she was cruel or heartless—she simply treated everyone with the sa detached efficiency, showing neither favoritism nor unnecessary warmth.
Despite this, he could hardly find anyone who disliked her, aside from Frieda and a few mbers of the main branch. She might be cold to everyone, but she was also fair—she made no distinction between people, regardless of their background or power, which was why the common citizens actually loved her.
As the sun finally dipped behind the towering peaks surrounding Drisidd, Freya was at last finished with all of her obligations. Now, she sat in her office within the city, lounging on a luxurious couch while Alex took a seat across from her.
"Finally, I’ve dealt with everything," Freya sighed. She stretched slightly before leaning back into the cushions, a small, teasing smirk tugging at her lips. "Now, I’m all yours Sir Alexandre. What do you want us to do?"
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