6.14.
“Operation womanizer.”
“Excuse me?”
“Oh nothing..” Reese looked away.
“You really like to talk about a lot of nonsense,” Schwii clicked her tongue.
“It’s to lighten up the mood, no?”
They were on their way to the gates of the count’s manor, each person wearing a set of refined clothes. Schwii in a white dress, a contrast to her normal style. Reese wearing a gray military uniform of with her signature red robe (the one she uses whenever she wanted an impression of being some cult leader). Sequencee also wearing a gray uniform which had a lotus pattern blooming at the shoulder pads, and Leticia who wore an elven dress, minimally frilly with layers of opaque and translucent fabric, the colour resembling that of a pink a meadow of rhododendrons.
‘It’s nerve wracking.’
Leticia felt the discomfort rising within.
“Leti, should I enter your shadow now?”
“What did you call me?” Leticia looked at Reese oddly.
“Okay, mission complete,” Reese sank into the ground.
“.. What?”
“Reese was just trying to be nice.. I think,” Sequencee said.
“Leticia, you’re not alone this time,” Schwii followed up.
‘I know.’
“Thank you.”
They continued until they reached the gates, two knights stationed there halted them.
“Who are you people?”
“I’m Leticia, these are my companions, I’m here to meet my brother Lancet.”
“Don’t know who you are. Cole, you go ask if they’re expecting visitors.”
“Understood.”
One of the knights went in.
The three stood under the sun whilst waiting, the knight folded his arms.
“You’re the one who ran away from home, weren’t you?” he asked.
“Yes.”
‘So what’s with the looks then? Can’t you have just allowed us in?’
“You’re the one who killed the count’s two daughters?”
“What would I gain from doing that? A person who just wants to be free does something to put her in trouble? Does that make any sense to you?” Leticia argued.
“I don’t know the details. All I hope is for you apologise for all the trouble you’ve caused.”
Leticia gripped the hem of her dress tight.
‘Calm down.. ‘
“Let them enter!” The knight named Cole announced from afar.
“Follow me.”
Walking down this familiar path, feelings of nostalgia rose to the surface. It was just like three years ago, nothing about the road had changed. The same plants, the tiles weathered a little more.
Nevertheless, it still reminded her of those dreadful days.
They approached the entrance, a suite of maidservants stood in one line. In the center stood a man who Leticia had let to die– Lancet.
He bowed without saying as much as a word. She responded with a silent nod.
Sequencee and Schwii who followed behind her maintained their silence, glancing at each other every so often to see if the other had any intentions of making a move to help break up this tension.
They entered into the foyer, the maidservants lowered their head.
“This way,” Lancet spoke.
“Thank you.”
They followed him up the winding stairs and into a room just opposite the stairs. Leticia was familiar with this place– the drawing room for general guests.
Lancet opened the door, and though it looked like they had prepared the place in advance, there was no one else but them.
When everyone was in, Lancet closed the door and took a seat. Leticia continued to gaze out the window. Sequencee and Schwii were already seated.
“It’s been a while since we met, Sequencee,” Ignoring Leticia who didn’t seem interested in joining their banter, Lancet first spoke to him.
“It’s been a while,” Sequencee replied plainly. He didn’t come here with plans to convince him of anything, so his words lack any form of intent.
“I recently heard that you’ve become engaged to the imperial princess?”
“That’s right.”
“Alongside the girl beside you and.. my sister.”
Sequencee merely nodded.
“I congratulate you for the achievement. It’s a man’s dream to be loved by so many.”
“Thank you.”
“Please pardon my brother-in-law. He might be a little late.”
“Is this what you want, brother Lancet?” Leticia broke her silence.
“Could you elaborate on that?” Lancet replied with an annoyed tone.
“This life. The fact that you’re calling him brother-in-law.. you still plan to stay in this family?”
“Leticia, you really don’t know anything do you?”
“Tell me what I don’t know.”
“Now that Rose is gone, you have no choice but to.. no. It’s useless now. What I’m I thinking, of course you won’t allow that to happen will you?” Lancet eyed Sequencee mid sentence.
“What?”
“Tell me, why did you even come? To save my ass?”
“I had no such intentions,” Leticia confessed.
“Hah. Of course my sister would say something like that. So why did you come?”
“What will happen to Estia, our home?”
“Thought you’d never ask. Estia will become a territory of the count.”
“Why?”
“Because I couldn’t fulfill the contract of course.”
“What contract? The one you signed without my permission three years ago?”
“When did I ever need your permission to decide things huh?”
“What exactly is the term you breached?” Sequencee interrupted them.
“Stated within that to regain my rights to my territory, I must marry into the family. Of course, it’s not limited to me, Leticia can also do it. Whoever does it will become the next baron of the fief, but of course, now that both Rose and Azaleas are gone, there’s no way I can marry into the family can I now?”
“Don’t expect me to marry anyone here.”
“So you’re willing to let our home get taken away? I knew you were selfish, but I didn’t think it’d be to such a degree.”
Leticia shut her mouth, fingers dug into her palms.
Then the door of the drawing room opened.
“Fellow guests, it’s a pleasure to have you here.”
Leticia trembled.
Schwii lowered her head, Sequences stood up and bowed.
“I hope you don’t try to do what you did to me last time,” he smiled.
“I only acted as I did back then because I knew that was merely a projection, and not the real person.”
“Then can you guess if the current me is real or fake?”
“...”
The one who made the assessment back then was Iona– no Sequencee himself, so there wasn’t any way to judge if he was the real person or another decoy.
Spatial magic was reacting to his presence. It was an unusual gift he possessed that allowed him to create replicas of himself.
“Let’s get to the bottom of things. I’m sure you all are busy people.”
Sean Stravince ushered himself in alongside the team of knights which accompanied. They formed an encirclement around the room, two knights standing guard at the door. There was also a secretary-like woman holding a file in hand.
“To what do we owe your visit to, Leticia?” Sean asked with a smile.
The girl in question had moved from the window to the seat beside Sequencee. She spoke, “I just came to confirm a few things with my brother. However, since you’re here, I suppose it’s much easier to make things clear.”
“Please tell me about it.”
“What is going to happen to my home now?”
“Your home?”
“Estia.”
“That? Very simply, it will now be a territory managed by us. A great chance of that being myself.”
“...”
“Or do you have any interest in taking it back?”
“...”
Leticia wasn’t sure. If she could take back her territory, would she? What was supposed to be her’s, was so easily taken away. Just what was her stupid brother thinking when he signed the contract three years ago?
‘No. It’s too much.’
Even if Leticia could take back her home, she wasn’t someone who wanted to run the territory.
‘How much.. can I afford to give up.’
But it was ‘her home’– how could she just let someone else take it without a fight?
“If she wanted to take her ruling rights back, what are the conditions?”
‘Ah?’
Sequencee was the one to respond instead.
“Seems like you’re interested,” Sean crossed his legs.
“What are the conditions?”
“Leanne, what’s the updated contract,” he shot a glance to the girl sitting firmly beside him.
“Give me a moment,” she fliped open the file, “This new contract has not been approved, but certain changes have been made after the unfortunate death of the count’s daughters.”
Lancet couldn’t hide his shock.
“You may read it, but to summarize the conditions, Leticia who will become Estia’s next lord will owe a favor to Sean Stravince. It’s as simple as that,” Leanne laid the papers out on the table.
“What?” Leticia snapped.
“I’m giving back your authority. Think of it as a gift from me to you to celebrate your engagement with your new partner,” Sean grinned.
“You can’t be..” Leticia gripped the paper in her hands hard.
Schwii reached over and restrained her finger from tearing the paper.
“What do you think? A favorable deal no?”
Sequencee thought back to his meeting with Robert and Loziah. For now, he had told them to wait until he graduated before he returned. Even if the home was there for him, he was busy attending the academy. It wasn’t possible for him to be at two places at once.
Seeing this however, it seems he had overlooked something crucial. While the management of Estia which had been under the count all this while was done fairly with excellence, there’s no guarantee that the same generosity would be shown if Sean took over.
What if he decided that Robert and Loziah vacate his home? They wouldn’t have any power over that would they now?
The terms of the contract didn’t have anything that could be leveraged against the contractee besides the sole favor of Sean’s request. This was what Sequencee and Schwii confirmed having read it.
“What about my brother?”
“Your brother?”
“There’s nothing here that mentions my brother. Does that mean you’re not going to let him go?”
Sean contemplated her words a few moments before bursting out in laughter. A nonplussed expression on Leticia’s face, he settled himself with an exhale and said, “Your brother continues to stay here per his own volition. I had never forced him to remain.”
Lancet could be seen trembling. Biting his lips with his hands clench, he looked like he could lash out at any moment now.
“He wanted his home so bad, that he was willing to go through so much. So aren’t you going to help him achieve his dreams, Miss Leticia Estia?” Sean leaned back against the cushion.
“It’s an unfair proposal. I don’t see why you would need to hesitate. I will vouch for the fairness of the contract, and say that asides the favor, there is nothing else which we have included that we may exploit,” said Leanne
The word struggled to form.
She knew that it was a great deal, that they had really intended to give them the territory back. In her current situation, as someone who had been expelled from the academy, where else would she stay? While being under the protection of the hero is convenient, she knew that she needed to prepare for the day when such a case wouldn’t be true.
She needed her own place.
And if she could regain her own land, Sequencee would also be able to return. He would have a place to stay if he felt that the culture of the demon empire did not suit him. Moreover, she could end Lancet’s suffering if she signed.
All the odds were in her favor, so why was she unwilling?
Instinctively, she knew that there had to be some trick behind this. A favor? What kind of favor would he ask for? This wasn’t something arbitrary Leticia could just brush off. Whatever he requested would be obliged.
Looking at it from the outside, it’s clear that owing a single favor in return of a territory which the contractor had fixed could be said as extremely lopsided towards the contractee. If it were Leticia or Lancet, could they have restored Estia to the state it is now?
It was a no-brainer deal.
They could come clean with but a single favor.
“What seems to be hindering you from deciding?” Sean asked.
“What.. what do you plan to do using the favor?”
“I have no plans to use it now. Perhaps, in the future,” Sean showed a soft smile, Leticia felt a chill down her spine.
“The favor–“ Schwii’s voice rang out, the temperature of the room dropped by a few degrees. “ – should you try anything that would bring harm or challenge her dignity, expect there to be consequences.”
Despite being the small lass she was, the authority she emanated overpowered that of Sean. His fingers trembled unconsciously at the abnormal situation before him. Who was this girl?
“Leticia, agree to it.”
“S-Schwii..”
“I’ll support you anyway I can. Sir Sean, I hope you keep your word.”
“But of course,” a bead of sweat running down his chin.
“A.. a pen..”
“Here..” Leanne passed it to Leticia.
She signed it.
“Congratulations.”
“...”
“My father will release control over the fief one step at a time. You may inquire about it later, but for now, let’s have a hear of your experiences over at the academy?”
“What..?”
“Sequencee, I’ll be going first to contact Evelyn to discuss something. You stay here with Leticia.”
“Are you sure.. no, alright. Be careful.”
“Excuse me, could I ask where the washroom is located?” Schwii excused herself–or tried to.
The knights at the door reacted, standing to seal the path.
Schwii, noticing that, sighed regretfully and looked at Sean, “I take it that you are aware of the implication of your actions?”
“You are currently in our home. It’s impolite to excuse yourself when an important discussion is taking place, no?”
“I don’t disagree. I simply think that your home is rather strict with its guests. It's almost like a prison.”
“What a great choice of words. Now, please bear with me for a while longer.”
Schwii obeyed, an annoyed expression on her face.
“If you leave now, I’m afraid my father wouldn’t be happy to pass the necessary documents and paperwork required to manage the current affairs of Estia to Leticia. How about you stay the night while he prepares it?”
“It would be an inconvenience no? I happen to think that it would be better for yourself if we came back tomorrow after you’ve settled the documents.”
“Is there no management branch in Estia? Do all documents in Estia require that the people mail it over to the county?”
“No, it is as you say, there is a management team at Estia, however, the critical documents are in my father’s study. Those are undeniably important.”
It began to dawn upon Leticia the complexity of her role. Documents? Management? Systems? What exactly are these and what does she need to do? She was as inexperienced as a toddler.
“There’s a lot we need to handle here.. “ Schwii contemplated.
Leticia bit into her lips.
Sean wet his lips with some tea.
“We’ve gone off topic. Whilst waiting for father to return, do you have any interesting stories to share, perhaps? I’m quite curious.”
