"Sweetie, you can cure him right?" Diana wiped off the tears that were running out of her eyes. Michael was not a soft-hearted guy but when he saw the pain, grief, and helplessness in Natalia's eyes, helping this helpless mother became his main objective, and taking advantage of the situation became secondary.
"First we need to find what kind of poison is in his body. A wrong antidote could complicate the situation further" Michael did not say kill him for the sake of Natalia but everyone could tell he was sugar-coating it.
"Lady Diana, this is not a coincidence. First Alden tried to kill Sabrina and another one tried to assassinate you on the same day. Someone really wants to hurt your family"
"But Alden is dead right?" Sabrina asked.
Honestly, the three ladies were in denial of the assassination attempt on Diana. However, Michael's words shattered their wall of denial.
"Where are the men?" Gaya asked. She noticed that the majority of the people in the house were women and children and Diana seemed to be the authority. Gaya wondered where Diana's and the other two ladies' husbands were.
"My husband and my brothers-in-law were summoned by Duke Slade, along with most of our soldiers"
"Is there a war going on that we don't know about?"
"Yes. Duke Marvin is at war with Duke Avon" Sabrina answered Gaya as everything made sense to Michael. Since House Winston sent most of their manpower to accompany the Duke Marvin war, it became the perfect time to seek revenge by killing the people in the compound. They were basically sitting ducks to be slaughtered at this point. Michael really questioned the competence of Diana's husband because it was pretty dumb to leave his family unprotected like this.
"Noah should take care of his family before taking care of others," Michael thought in his mind.
"We'll be safer after Young Miss Rowena and Young Master Noah arrive"
"When will that be?" Michael wanted to leave the place before Noah came. Michael did not like the company Noah keeps, especially Alicia.
Besides, if Noah brought Xanali with him, it might jeopardize Gaya's safety. He wasn't going to take any chances when it came to Gaya's safety.
"Healer Adele, can you find what kind of poison in his body?" Sabrina asked Adele but the old woman shook her head.
"The poison might have already mixed with Andrew's blood. It'd be damn hard to find it now"
"No...Andrew!" Natalia began to scream. Her cry reverberated the entire compound.
"If I were you, I would start rounding up my enemies who have the motive to hurt my family," Gaya said.
"Uncle Samuel, get me a team. I'll hunt down all our enemies" Like she learned nothing from today's events, Sabrina volunteered for this task.
"No. We'll ask Captain Giles to do that" Diana immediately rejected Sabrina.
"But mom"
"No buts!" Yet again, Diana raised her voice, stomping the ground. Sabrina halted her steps in shock and didn't choose to test her mother's patience.
"Please...save...my...son" Natalia stuttered, sobbing in grief.
"I need to be alone to find a way" Michael did know a way to identify the poison in Andrew's body but he wanted to take time to heal him because he trusted his instincts.
Michael then stepped towards Natalia and squatted in front of her to take her hands.
"I will save your son" He then whipped off the tears running from her eyes.
He was not a goody-two-shoes who would help out anyone but something about this family made him help them. Something deep down of him couldn't let this family suffer. There was still no doubt that Michael would kill Noah in a heartbeat if he stood in Michael's path but Michael really wished he didn't.
Besides by helping this family, he could build a good samaritan reputation that would hide his Lucifer persona. After all, many wouldn't suspect a good doer to be an evildoer in the night.
"Thank you," the three ladies said in unison as Samuel stepped forward to lead Michael to his room.
*******************************************
"Where did this bastard come from?" Jacob was shouting at a figure wearing a cloak to hide their face.
The veins on Jacob's face seemed like they were about to explode. He was shaking and walking from one end of his room to another.
"It doesn't matter. Alden is dead, we need to find another way to get what we want" the hooded figure said, taking off his clout to reveal himself.
"I know that Giles. Alden is fucking idiot who lost all his reasons after Noah killed his family. I said I could kill Andrew without all that star pox nonsense but no, he said he wanted Noah's family to suffer"
Captain Giles listened to Jacob's rant, stroking his beard.
"Now that he's gone, I can finish off Andrew before that Ghost bastard cures him and moves on to kill Noah. Then, I will be the next Lord of the Family"
"Don't forget our deal, Jacob. My employer wants Diana dead"
"What's your employer's beef with that bitch anyway?"
"I don't know the exact reason but I can tell it's something to do with Noah"
"Of course it is. That bastard runs around pissing off the powerhouses, making more enemies to House Winston. He's more trouble than what he's worth" Jacob's face turned red as a fresh tomato in anger. Ever since they were little, Noah always overshadowed him by overachieving in pretty much everything. It was the sight of the girl he loved with Noah that snapped Jacob. When he first laid his eyes on the red-haired beauty, he immediately fell in love only to realize that she was a guardian who came to Pen Town accompanying Noah.
Jacob never expected the red-haired beauty to fall in love with Noah. Although they acted like they were just friends, Jacob wasn't a naive kid to believe they were just friends. The tension between Noah and the red-haired beauty was obvious to him.
Jacob now wanted to kill Noah and take over the family before the elders name him the next in line for the family head seat.
"Who was that guy who tried to kill Diana today? That was a dumb move Giles"
"I think it was Alden's backup plan to hurt Noah. Good thing that Ghost guy killed him instantly without capturing him alive" Giles heaved a sigh of relief.
"What are you gonna do about Andrew? I'd say let him be, he won't be alive in a month anyways"
Jacob frantically shook his head, taking out a small vial of purple glistening liquid.
"I have a feeling Ghost might be able to save him. I want both Noah and Andrew to die. Only then I can get what I want without killing most of the elders"
"Is that the same venom you used to poison Andrew?"
"Yes. If it wasn't for Alden asking me to use only a few drops, I would have used the entire bottle and killed Andrew two months ago" a devilish grin appeared on Jacob's face.
"What about the Phoenix potion? Didn't Alden say giving Andrew the Phoenix poison was equal to killing him?"
"Yeah, the potion and this poison would react in some sort of weird way, killing Andrew horribly"
"Then let Ghost brew the potion? Why did you try to stop him earlier?"
"Look what happened now. That fucking bastard found out Andrew's poisoned and currently making something to save Andrew. If he hadn't seen Andrew or tried to brew Phoenix potion, they wouldn't have found the truth. Now I have to finish the job"
"How do you plan to do that?"
"Don't worry about that Giles. I can poison Andrew in front of Natalia and she wouldn't even notice"
Giles saw a glimmer emerge in Jacob's hand. He looked closer to see a tiny needle come out of the ring in Jacob's middle finger. The needle quickly retracted itself back into the ring as Jacob willed.
"Few more drops of poison would do the trick" Jacob grinned, pouring the purple venom a few drops at a time onto his hand. The ring in his hand glimmered gain before absorbing the venom into itself.
**********************************
"I knew something was off about that guy" Inside the room given to Michael by the Winston's, he and Gaya were watching Jacob and Gaya through the mirror connected to the spiders.
"Stupid fuck. If you want to kill someone, you shouldn't draw all attention to yourself" Gaya shook her head like she was disappointed in Jacob.
It was Jacob's stupidity of messing with Michael that made Michael send a few spiders to his room. If Jacob had just stayed silent all the time, Michael wouldn't have suspected him in the first place.
"Although we know about Jacob and Giles, we can't go accuse them unless we say that yeah we bugged your entire house"
"Only people like Guardians need evidence Gaya. People like us, we create evidence"
Michael took out a paper and quill from his space ring to forge a letter that was supposed to be from Captain Giles to Jacob, implying all the information needed for the Winston's to suspect both of them.
Michael didn't worry about Giles's mysterious employer because that was not his problem, it was Noah. After all, although Michael had a soft spot for this family, he knew he can't always be there to save them.
Who knows if he was lucky, he could get a gift from the system when he cured Andrew. He did get one when he saved Raylene and the children.