“There is really no reason for you to return any favor. We are simply wishing to make it easier for you to settle down in the capital. We can provide the building for your headquarters and everything you require to kickstart your work. This is my gift to you.” Vincent replied after a moment of silence.
Isla stared at the prince silently for a moment before she exhaled a small breath. “We cannot accept such a gracious gift without giving something back in return.”
“…” Vincent rested his head on his fingers as he examined Isla’s expression silently. He didn’t know why, but her response didn’t sit well with him. He knew that things were going his way perfectly, but he didn’t feel right.
‘She is trying to lure me in…’ He concluded rather quickly. From the information he gathered about the group, he knew that if there was one person he must focus on, it was Isla. She was by far the smartest and perhaps the strongest out of all the team. ‘Though… This kid with her… He is by far the most odd one… That aura…’
Vincent had already felt Arthur’s presence and as his men said… It was very oddly familiar. He could not comprehend how that was the case. Something was very off and he couldn’t figure it out yet.
So far, Arthur didn’t seem like he was anything special so he couldn’t really bother to focus on him. He had to deal with Isla first.
“Well, if I must think of something you might give me in return…” Vincent thought for a moment. “I wouldn’t say I have anything I want to ask from you at this very moment. But, in the near future, I will need your help with something.”
“What kind of thing?” Isla squinted her eyes. ‘Here it is.’
“I cannot disclose any information for now. But, it is something you can most definitely help me with. Oh, there is a second thing I want to request.” The fifth prince snapped his fingers as if he remembered something. “In the next several days, you may or may not receive an invitation similar to the one I sent you. If that happens, I want you to completely ignore it.”
“Ignore it?” Isla raised an eyebrow as if she was quite taken aback. “Who might send us such an invitation?”
“Annoying people who will simply waste your time,” Vincent replied coldly. “I will take care of the rest so you won’t have to worry about being approached again after that.”
“…” Arthur stared at Isla, waiting for her response. He wasn’t stupid not to understand who these ‘annoying people’ are. ‘He is definitely talking about the other royal family members. But, the fact he addressed them in such a manner… He must really hate them…’
Arthur and Isla had already thought of this possibility and it was only getting more and more probable with every passing second. The royal family had some kind of internal war between the different members.
‘We can take advantage of that.’
“I am sorry, your highness. But, I cannot promise you that. If the invitation is from someone important, we shall accept it.” Isla shook her head.
“They are not worth your time.” Vincent’s entire aura went a degree colder as if he hated that reply.
“We can decide what is worth our time and what is not,” Isla didn’t back down even though she felt the sudden shift in the entire atmosphere. Vincent was getting angry. But, she had already expected that.
“… You do not seem to understand the problem here. The people who will try to contact you are only looking to use you and make sure you stay under your thumb. I am giving you the opportunity to flourish on your own and do what you want to do.”
‘Yeah, sure buddy, you are the saint and they’re the bad guys. We are not that stupid, we know that you want to control us too.’ Arthur struggled against the urge to roll his eyes at Vincent. That kind of acting was truly shameless but also very funny to watch.
“If that is the case, then we will simply refuse their offer whatever it is. But, we have to evaluate our options first.” Isla said calmly.
The fifth prince found himself in a very tough situation. On the one hand, he had to somehow keep the other greedy bastards away from his targets. But, on the other hand, the gifted ones weren’t letting him guide them wherever he wanted them to go.
‘Tsk, I thought this was going to be slightly difficult… But, they’re really making it a headache for me.’ He thought to himself as he gripped the armrest slightly.
The silence inside the room turned suffocatingly tense very quickly as the trio stared at each other. Even the bartender stopped wiping the cups as he looked up at the conversation happening, feeling a little afraid.
An awfully long time passed before Isla finally exhaled a small breath. “Well, if that is it, I think we should excuse ourselves now. We have a lot of things to do and I’m sure you are busy too, Your Highness.” She stood up and stared at Arthur. “Let’s go.”
“Mhm.” Arthur cracked his neck before he rose from his chair too. “Thank you for the hospitality, Your Highness.” He made a small nod to the prince and then followed Isla. As the two walked to the door, Vincent stared at their backs with a very strong frown. He was struggling to keep his aura from leaking.
A few seconds passed and by the time they reached the door and opened it, he suddenly opened his mouth.
“Is there something you want in return for accepting my second request?”
‘Fuck.’ He cursed in his head. ‘I have no other choice. I must keep them away as far as possible. This won’t work well to my benefit if they somehow end up contacting those bastards.’
Being put in such a tough position, the prince could not let them leave just like that and threaten to ruin all of his plans. He had to take some unfavorable measures to keep them away.
That was when the two stopped and slowly turned around to look at Vincent. “Another request?” Isla asked.
“Yes, if it is within my ability, I will help you with it. However, you must agree to ignore the invitations no matter what.” He said.
“…” Isla blinked a few times before she opened her mouth to respond. However, at that moment, something unexpected happened.
“Anything… You say?~” She heard Arthur speak. Looking to the side, she saw a wide grin on his face. That grin made her eyes widen slightly. She knew very well what that meant.
‘What are you doing, Arthur?” She asked him with her eyes secretly.
‘Just trust me, ok?’ He replied.
‘…’ Isla didn’t know how to even react to that.
“Yes.”
“Well, we have one single request.”
***
*A while later*
*Click*
Finlay and Serko heard the door click while they were busy working on the design of the building for their future headquarters. The progress was steady and fast with no major problems.
“Hm, I wonder who it is.” The two walked out of the room and peeked at the door, there, they saw Isla and Arthur. Immediately, their eyes lit up.
“Arthur! Isla!”
Rushing toward them, they welcomed them with hugs. “You’re back!”
“Yeah, did we make you wait too long, guys?” Arthur asked with a smile as he patted their heads.
“No, we were working on the design so time passed quickly!”
“That’s good, hahaha…” Arthur laughed before he walked toward the couch and sat down with a loud sigh. “I’m exhausted.”
Isla headed to the kitchen and poured a cup of water for herself.
“So… How did it go?!” Serko asked curiously as he sat next to Arthur.
That made Arthur look up. “Oh, it went pretty well… Perfect actually.”
“Hm? What do you mean?” The curious dwarf blinked.
“I can say we have just struck a perfect deal with the prince. We were able to secure land to build the headquarters on it, free of taxes for the first two years. He is also going to provide us with the material and pay for the cost of the building process.”
“Wow! That’s great! We will finally have our own place!” Finlay clapped his hands together in excitement.
“Hahaha, but that is not even the best part. We have gotten something way better.” freewebnvel.coɱ
“I was a little taken aback when you said that.” Isla came into the room and sat down.
“Sorry, haha, that idea came to me at that moment so I couldn’t resist.”
“… Well, it is a very good idea so I’m going to give you that.” The girl crossed her arms as she replied.
empire
“What? What is it? Tell us!” The two dwarves were eager to know everything.
So, Arthur stood up and walked to the window before he faced the two dwarves. Pointing outside, he said. “We are taking a trip to the Divine Tower soon.”
A//N: Don’t forget to give the book some golden tickets for good luck! :3