Hours ago, after Kent left Li Hua’s cake shop following the directions given to him by the store lady. A young man in the store beside her closed his and left.
An hour later, he was kneeling in front of Dave and Daisy Ashland, who seemed to have just finished a round of sex. The two had been quite intimate recently.
In their minds, they had set the perfect trap for the Dark Cloth lady and were already anticipating reaping the benefits. So, even with nothing yet accomplished, they started to celebrate.
However, their celebration was cut short when the young man, one of their spies, brought them rather unusual news that could destroy their plans.
“Are you telling me those two without names are being sought out by a stranger?” Daisy asked with a slight frown.
“Yes, my lady,” the young man replied, not daring to hesitate, fearing he might lose his life at any moment. He had heard that their Madam and Master had become something of a menace recently.
“Did you get a good look at this stranger?” Daisy asked.
“Yes. He is a young man, about 18 years old. He has long silver-purple hair and eyes matching the same hue. He is quite handsome and dressed well, probably a noble.”
Daisy listened to her subordinate for a while. After he finished, she pondered on it for a few more seconds before a small smile formed on her lips.
She retrieved a small pouch from her space ring and threw it to the man. “Good job. Take that as a reward for bringing such good information.”
The young man took the pouch and soon left the room. Once outside, he let out a good sigh and disappeared from the Ashland estate altogether.
Back inside the room, Daisy wore a smile on her face, which startled Dave. The Daisy he knew wouldn’t smile for no reason. That smile usually appeared only when her schemes were bearing fruit.
“What is it, my love?” Dave asked.
“Nothing much, just that we’ll be getting results sooner than we anticipated,” Daisy replied, looking ecstatic.
“Really?” Dave’s expression relaxed noticeably.
“Yes. The stranger he talked about was the same alchemist who started this whole mess. If we capture him, we can blackmail his master into fighting and hopefully killing the Dark Cloth lady.
Of course, before anything else, we will have her sign a contract prohibiting her from revealing the truth afterward. Unless she wants to risk her soul being annihilated,” Daisy explained, her tone brimming with confidence. Dave’s eyes widened in amazement.
“This is a brilliant plan, my love,” Dave said, his mood visibly brightened.
“What do you need me to do?” he asked.
“Double—no, triple—the guards at the prison and make sure the perfect bait is placed to attract him. I know for a fact he’ll somehow find the prison. In fact, if possible, they should make it easy for him to find it.
Once he’s inside, they can ambush him, beat him up, and capture him. Once he’s in our custody, we can think of the next steps,” Daisy instructed with a sly smile.
Dave smiled back. He trusted his woman and knew her well. Her plots always ended with them gaining more than they bargained for. For 50 years, she had devised many schemes, and at every turn, she came out on top.
This had made the Ashland Noble Family one of the kingdom’s most respected and powerful noble families.
Daisy was the brain, while Dave was the brawn. However, over the years, Dave had started to sense that his woman was far more ambitious than he had initially thought. She began contacting shady organizations, seeking help to rise above their current status.
Her dream was to become a queen, and she intended to use foreign powers to achieve that goal.
Everything had been going well until Kent appeared.
He had destroyed her first plot to steal Lilian’s spirit root for her daughter and then sell her to the shady organization. This move would have helped secure the family’s status as a legacy family, which means a step closer to the throne.
But Kent’s presence destroyed everything.
Still, her mind didn’t register the setback as a defeat. Instead, she saw a way forward and was now treading that path.
With the Sword Saintess Selene now in the picture, Daisy planned to use her to eliminate a troublesome variable. From there, she intended to move even further toward her ultimate goal.
If a spirit root was that useful to this shady organization, then how much would a rare body constitution cost?
Daisy had been researching Li Hua’s condition for a while. Somebody has told her about a rare body constitution that can fetch a fortune. Naturally, she had no reason to trust this person, but that doesn’t mean she didn’t look into Li Hua.
While many may see Li Hua as someone who might have an illness, which was why she was so small, Daisy knew better. However, she wasn’t sure. She wanted to wait and see how things progressed.
That was until the spirit root deal fell through. She quickly devised a new plan, and since she had the next best thing, she went for it.
Now, however, she was about to make a big move, and Kent would play a huge part in it. She couldn’t afford to lose again.
Unbeknownst to her, she had provoked a sleeping dragon when she moved her fangs toward Li Hua.
Coming after Lilian’s Spirit Root wasn’t something Kent cared about. He wasn’t going to pursue the matter. He left it for the Alderford family to handle.
He only wanted to have fun with the ladies. But the moment he set his sights on the small human, their destinies were interlinked.
They were somehow linked. But now that they had taken a step further and killed her guardian, they had accelerated things, and now, a dragon was marching toward them.
They had made the wrong move, and it was about to bite them where it hurt.
Naturally, this is what people call fate. But their fate is already sealed. Soon, the kingdom would know what Chaos feels like when a Guardian is provoked.
Dave Ashland left to carry out his woman’s order like an errand boy. A few minutes later, more guards were sent to the prison, where they planned to ambush Kent.
It was also the prison where Li Hua and someone else that fate seemed to be toying with were being held.
***
Hours later, Kent, who had just left the small shed in the woods, began making his way in the direction Janice had tracked the attackers.
He was in the forest, but all the beasts he sensed were weak, so they didn’t even notice him. Of course, a few tried to play hero, but those unfortunate ones died before they even realized what was happening.
It took Kent a couple of hours, but soon, he came upon a clearing where a battle seemed to have occurred. Judging by the beast carcasses scattered on the ground, it was clear the fight had been between humans and monsters.
Kent paused only briefly to track where they had gone. It took him just a moment to find their trail.
Thirty minutes later, the soul-tracking seal picked up on the target…