"The Laute Family will begin its existence as the lowest noble class from scratch."
That was the first thing that was agreed.
"After they finish their training, Adrian Laute will be officially appointed as the leader of the family. Until that happens, the Laute Family will not have any of its noble titles and privileges available."
And this is the other thing.
"Adrian Laute will heal the World Tree when he reaches the required level of power."
And a lot of other things.
Apart from that, even though Julian hasn't done much so far, he made himself especially present in this eting.
"We want the Virhen Family to be in charge of Cevilian and Eshaware's communications regarding Adrian and Alysia Laute's dual citizenship, the negotiations, and developnts regarding the Laute Family."
He was much more active in this eting than in the previous one, perhaps even the most vocal. Not only as the one who presented the images, the terms of the agreent, but also as the representative of the Virhen Family here.
I can't really count the number of things that the Eshaware trip did for him.
So, in the end, the contracts were signed and everything was finalized.
That ans... our work here has ended for the ti being.
We can go back.
At least after we've done one more little thing.
I took a deep breath, slowly sat down at the table inside my dark room. No one was near , maybe just Sith or other spirits watching. But it was okay for them to watch, I didn't mind and care.
A holographic screen appeared in front of , just above the table, as I clicked on my watch. By swiping the screen to the right, I found the naless and logo-less app I was looking for.
As soon as I clicked on it, the screen in front of changed. Three dots appeared and disappeared one after the other, and just below them was the simple text 'calling'.
Almost imdiately, the call was answered. Not long after, the figure of a woman appeared in front of . Her black hair and eyes as black as her hair were completely on , and her expression was very serious.
"Aiden Tenebra."
Her voice was far more threatening than her expression as if she knew why I was calling her.
"Hi, Syla."
I leaned back, deliberately making myself as comfortable as possible.
"How's it going? Things must not be good in Saligia as far as I can guess."
She didn't answer, just squinted her eyes. But even that reaction was enough for .
"You shouldn't have any mission for Eshaware, so I'm sure you're not affected at all by what's happening here. But... that's not the case with your higher-ups, is it? It must be pretty complicated there right now."
But this ti, she didn't stay silent.
"It is."
"Oh, good then."
I tore my eyes from the screen, from her gaze, and turned them to my slightly raised hand. She could see it too, and focused on it.
I stubbed my index finger.
"I don't know if you rember... but I told you at Laute Manor."
My voice echoed clearly in the room.
"That it was only the beginning."
I stubbed my middle finger.
"That every ti sothing goes wrong for you, you'll find my hand. And that I'll lead you to a point where you won't even be able to regret ssing with ."
This ti, my ring finger.
"That I declared war."
It was just... this one was a little harder, it even hurt a little bit.
"I didn't have to lift a finger, you know? I told Faelan everything, showed him the evidence... and watched the whole show just from where I was sitting. The collapse of everything you've worked for in Eshaware for years, how Alith, one of your greatest assets, is now one of your greatest threats."
And finally...
"It was fun, believe ."
My pinky finger.
"But... it's not the end. It's just the second trouble you've been through."
I lowered my hand, making her focus on again.
"Do you want to know what will happen next?"
She didn't say anything, didn't even move a muscle as if she were a statue.
"Go on, guess. Another one of Saligia's greatest trump cards, which one is it?"
She was completely insensitive to my provocations.
I raised my hand again. But this ti, I pointed to the floor.
"Underground, Syla."
This ti, though, she reacted. One of her eyebrows went up slightly, and a tiny trace of... surprise appeared in her blank expression.
"No tricks, no deception. My next target will be the underground world. I'm going to break down your contacts with illegal companies and organizations."
"I'll keep that in mind."
She didn't get angry, she didn't show her surprise.
She just took what I said seriously.
She recognized as a real threat.
"Keep it, of course. Tell your superiors, show them the recording of this call in person as I am sure you are doing that now."
I straightened slightly where I was leaning, narrowing my eyes.
"Stop , if you can. Because... I will not stop until you are done for."
And... as soon as I closed the app, the call ended abruptly.
With the only source of light in the room gone, the darkness engulfed again.
I, anwhile, just stood where I was.
I closed my eyes and breathed in as much as I could.
Seconds passed in the silence... darkness.
It was good.
I am satisfied.
But, right now, I need to focus on sothing else.
And that is...
For now, of course.
I still have a lot of work to do, a lot of trouble to put them through.
But, right now, I need to focus on sothing else.
And that is...
The dinner with Aroniels before heading back to Cevilian.
Actually, it was never in our plans to do such a thing.
According to the spirits, it was Alith's request.
I would have preferred to return to Cevilian early rather than deal with such a thing. But... I had no choice but to accept the invitation.
So dinner ti ca relatively quickly.
After putting on so new clothes to go to dinner, I stood in front of the mirror. I was dressed quite simply these days, as I was now, even though I was going to a dinner with royalty. But what caught my attention in the mirror was not the suit I was wearing, nor my own appearance.
It was more... the spirits whose reflections were in the mirror.
Spirits that had completely stopped avoiding after the Alith's situation, spirits that sotis hovered around as if I didn't exist, but when I called out to them, imdiately turned back to at attention as if they had been waiting for hours just for that.
They are definitely useful. Too useful, in fact. Not only do they make Sith's work many tis easier, but because there is more than one of them, they are like a completely invisible information network.
And yet... it's strange how comfortable they are around all of a sudden.
...
Whatever.
I took one last look at them before I turned and left the room.
A thought ca to then. I didn't see any of them hanging around Alith in particular. Did he sign a contract with any of them? Is he hiding it? Or is he still on hold...
It's not a big deal, yes, but I'd be lying if I said I wasn't curious.
With him being so close to the spirits, a few of them must definitely have spoken to him about it.
It's quite literally impossible none of them did not.
After a short while, I sighed lightly, took my eyes off the spirits, and left my room.
Julian, Adrian, and Alysia were already ready and waiting for . They weren't expecting it since the dinner was kind of a last-minute thing, which made them a bit tense again, even though they had been relaxed before.
Julian was much more confident than before, though. And Alysia seed as calm as ever...
Only Adrian was nervous, actually, now that I looked more carefully.
I tapped him twice on the shoulder with my cane before heading out.
"Rember, it's the last night here. And then, we're going back."
He looked into my eyes briefly. Then, he stretched a little, and took a deep breath.
"I know."
Actually... when I think about it, it could be said that he did almost nothing here.
He and Alysia did very little here in general. They didn't need to talk much, there was little reason for them to leave their room. Still... since this was the place where their future was going to be shaped, it was normal for him to get nervous. That's why I've never once been hard on him about it and I've been understanding.
And I will continue to do so.
I turned my eyes to Julian and Alysia, they both nodded slightly.
So...
"Let's go, then."
*******
The palace, at least as Faelan called it, because to it still looks more like a strange building than a palace, had a rather large 'dining room'. In general, it had the sa design as the other rooms, except that there was a round table in the center, which was quite large.
Servants and maids were moving around preparing the table and guards were standing at attention closer to the walls. Apart from these people that everyone could see, a few spirits were hovering around, as if looking for threats. Maybe it was because they knew Alith was coming here, who knows...
"Welco, esteed guests. Please take a seat at the table."
A maid called out to us, but I didn't pay much attention to her.
The Aroniels weren't here, we were the first to arrive.
And, well... that was what was expected.
As the Royal Family, they couldn't be the ones 'waiting'. They had to be the ones 'awaited'. Especially in their own place. No matter how good or bad the relationship between us, that was always going to be the rule here.
That detail aside, there were exactly as many chairs at the round table as there were people to eat with - eight. Of course, our chairs were much more simple and unpretentious than those of the Aronians. They were also a bit far away compared to their four chairs. It was quite clear which ones we were going to sit in.
So we took our seats and... simply waited.
The table in front of us beca more and more varied as ti passed. Multiple types of soup, types of food we had never seen before... and much more.
If I'm not mistaken, there were even bottles of alcohol sowhere on the side.
The Aroniels arrived shortly after the whole table had been set.
"The Royal Bloodline of Aroniel is entering the dining hall!"
Following the maid's announcent, the great doors of the dining room opened to reveal the Aroniels, with King Faelan in the foreground. And all eyes naturally turned to them.
They were their usual selves, to be honest. Noble, sharp-eyed, and 'superior'.
Only... there seed to be so distance between Alith and Phloria. A real distance. They were distant from each other.
It's going to take a while for things to settle down, I guess...
They sat in their chairs, and the first seconds were very quiet.
Just the first seconds, though.
"I heard that you will be leaving before nightfall, unless sothing urgent has happened."
King Faelan was looking at as he said these words. At the sa ti, he was reaching for a spoon to start eating the soup in front of him.
"That's right, Your Royal Highness."
With him being the first to start eating, the queen, then the prince, and the princess reached for their spoons, followed by .
We were the last ones to start eating.
"I hope you did not have any problems during your ti here."
"No, Your Royal Highness. We had not any problems."
As if I can honestly say to his face that we had any...
I would be dead tomorrow if I did that.
"Good."
But, of course, that doesn't an I will just keep quiet.
"I also hope we didn't cause any trouble likewise."
King Faelan continued to eat as if he was not affected in any way. Not even a single facial expression moved, even though we had obviously caused quite a lot of trouble.
"Don't worry. You were the kind of guests anyone would welco."
"Fortunate for us, then."
I lowered my eyes and looked at the soup in front of .
How absurd, really, that we had to keep going on and on with this formality the whole ti we were here.
But it is necessary, because what happens here is also what is leaked to the dia. One of the servants, maybe one of the guards, maybe a few of the guards... all the ti, everywhere, soone is secretly spilling the beans early on things that shouldn't necessarily be said.
That's why these things are necessary, even if I think it's absurd or unnecessary at this point.
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