[LitF] 58. Unpleasant Business (Patreon)

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[A/N:  Sorry I'm late again. Too much stuff happening in December.

This chapter was supposed to be released last Saturday. This Saturday's chapter will be released either on Wednesday or next Saturday. And the chapter supposed to come out next chapter will likely be late, too.

Don't worry, every delayed chapter will be released this year even if I must work on my vacations.

Delayed chapters: 1

Notice: There will be no chapters from 12/26 to 01/06. In other words, I'll take two weeks off. I feel more tired each day and believe it's the right thing to do. It's been forever since I took a real vacation to decompress.

If you want a refund this month, just comment below or DM me. No questions asked, no hard feelings.]

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"We afraid and stupid," Paixi replied. "We afraid. Terrell kill us if he sees us weak. We stupid. Blinded by greed. Bloodline lost all power. We take what we can in our one last job."

The old lady resumed writing, slower this time. If Arthur killed them, she'd rather he have less information than everything she could provide.

This could still be a scheme. They could've seen how to better appease his anger after they sold him. They might've known he would be more curious about everything he could obtain from them information-wise than in revenge; thus, the lady was hinting at what he stood to lose.

Arthur considered their situation. Regardless of what those two did for him, they would have to die. Everyone who had ever been an awakener in their family would. They had put Sophie in danger and needed to pay the price of their choices, both in blood and resources. But the prince could let those who had never awakened live.

He constantly wanted to second-guess himself about how to deal with these people but believed in his training, so he went straight to the point. He sat on the bed and commanded, "I'm amenable to letting some descendants go. That is the best you'll get from me. Speak. Then I'll read the book. Then we'll talk."

The old guy opened and closed his mouth a few times. He wanted to defy Arthur. And indeed, old habits die hard. He couldn't withstand the humiliation of being treated like that. He put as much humility in his voice as he could muster but said, "Book is encrypted."

Arthur could threaten to mind-control them but knew better than to make threats he wouldn't follow through. So, instead, he made one he would enforce if they pushed him.

"You might've seen my maid in your visions, Lord Paixi. Lady Tamara Lauquenbur. She's a level thirty biomancer who watched over me from childhood. She always knew when I lied and could get anything she wanted from me. Recently, I discovered it wasn't just because I was a child. I witnessed the effectiveness of her questioning methods against Terrell's goon in North Lake. You might've heard of Dwight Howard."

He spoke softly. Even if they were to threaten each other, they might as well do it civilizedly.

Mentioning Howard's name brought the expected reaction: fear. It seemed everyone who mattered knew about him and the state he had been left in. If anything, the prince was surprised Terrell hadn't used that against Arthur yet. The media knew about Howard, but the subject had yet to resurface.

The prince continued, "I'm against mind control except in extreme situations like that one, and I'll admit yours doesn't fit. I wouldn't let your mind be ravaged. But I would let almost any other method be used against you, your wife, and your family. You almost ended my bloodline and my suitress's, yet here you are asking for mercy for your family. Ironic, no? Put yourself in my place, Lord Paixi, and understand that while I'm willing to listen, you should not mistake it for weakness or permissiveness."

To be frank, Tamara would only get to extreme measures against select individuals. Her methods would start soft and gradually worsen as time passed if she figured someone was hiding something and deserved to be more thoroughly questioned. Only the worse scum would deserve it, but if House Paixi had been willing to assist Terrell, they knew what the man was capable of and had at least turned a blind eye to it. Most likely, they had helped in some unsavory ventures. Arthur didn't think many of their top figures would fare well in the maid's hands.

"The two reasons I listened to you, Lord Paixi, were that you showed proper deference and that it would save me time. Your little defiance has denied one of the reasons. Unless you start talking, you will also deprive me of the second reason. There will be no prospect for mercy then."

Old man Paixi didn't immediately reply. His body was a chaotic mess of chemicals and emotions. He resented what was happening to him and was angrier than any person Arthur had ever sensed.

Yet, despite all the evil this man might've committed or assisted with, he cared for his blood. His House had been weak until a few decades ago, but he evidently still adhered to the beliefs and customs of old House dynamics. You could mess up badly enough to destroy your House, but the ultimate sin would always be to cause the end of your bloodline. It was better to live on humiliated than not to exist at all.

"We— I... understand... High Lord Boria," he said with difficulty, each word making him feel worse. "I speak." He paused, then added with gritted teeth. "I beg mercy. I offer information in exchange for safety of descendants."

Arthur waved his hand dismissively. He had already allowed the man to speak. He was willing to consider the request, but how far depended on the value of the information.

Lord Paixi took a deep breath and shared his experience with Terrel. He painted the man as the genius of a generation, with the vision to change the world for the better, the willingness to do what was needed to accomplish it, and the means to obtain the required power to further his goals. That's who had come to House Paixi as a client, who they agreed to work with.

Back then, their House's weak awakeners couldn't peek too far into the future. They knew something was wrong when they learned some more powerful diviners had refused to do business with Terrell, but the Paixi had been in dire straits. They had only specialized in divination in the past few generations as a final attempt to save their House. So, when Terrell offered them good money, they took it, even though they knew better. The way they saw it, they were exchanging the inevitable demise of their House for a mere possibility.

The partnership proved even more profitable than they had anticipated. Terrell paid well, and they invested those resources in themselves. They awakened more of their House members, purchased more time in dungeons, bought skills, and leveled up. They grew strong and prosperous.

Eventually, they noticed Terrell's true colors. His actions were bound to upset someone powerful that would come for him and them. Yet, they could see further into the future after their level-ups and skill upgrades and still saw only a promising future for him. He would control the world. He would expunge all Fated Races other than humans. That would open up land and resources that would be used to drive progress and the greater good. House Paixi saw nothing wrong with any of that and justified it as a righteous worry about a future with a lack of resources.

Lord Paixi shared some crimes Terrell had committed to further those goals. Terrell constantly asked for divination about major businesses. House Paixi wasn't perfect; their predictions were wrong at least half the time. But such was the risk of chronomancy.

Paixi described divining as traveling a three-dimensional Web of Fate. The present was the center of the web, and to glimpse into the future was to follow the most stable and thicker threads through each intersection. Each node was another Web in itself, and one could lose themselves forever in it.

Five years ago, the entire Web shook and was rearranged. Every awakener in House Paixi felt and studied the phenomena. They concluded that Terrell was the source. That day, he had upgraded a skill—Lord Paixi didn't know which—and it affected how he would handle everything in his life. He became even colder and less accepting of variables out of his control. More specifically, it affected how he would deal with the person in the center of some intersections.

Those nodes were the ones where Arthur left the dungeon for the first time. There was more than one because the date he left and how many people came with him varied, but the intersections were present in almost all futures. Five years ago, it was determined that the prince would almost certainly leave the dungeon alive.

Terrell's transformation caused ripples in almost all futures the Paixis had ever divined. There was no changing the man's mind. Every possible Terrells of the future, as far as they could see, followed threads that ended on a single, thick thread that led to the intersections where Arthur left the dungeon. He would only deal with that event one way: opposition. That was inevitable.

Worse yet, they couldn't peer too far into the future after those intersections.

One reason was that although they could see Arthur leaving the dungeon, there were too many different possibilities of how many people came with him and his personality. One of the least likely—which actually happened—was for four people to come out, and it was almost impossible for them not to hate each other.

The second and most important reason was that an unknown force blocked their sight. Some power they had never encountered prevented them from seeing too far into Arthur's future. They couldn't see precisely when Arthur would leave the dungeon or where. Likewise, although they could see how Terrell would fight Arthur and the most likely results, the most likely chains of events ultimately entered a territory they couldn't peer into.

Further analysis revealed Arthur would most likely die in the first few years after leaving the dungeon, but any future where he survived was blocked. House Paixi had only entered the diviner business less than a hundred years ago but had bought teaching from other awakeners. One such teaching called Arthur a Fated Existence. People and events like him had appeared before. No one knew what would've happened if they lived, only that they had all died.

Facing the unknown was a nightmare for diviners, and House Paixi considered distancing themselves from Terrell, but when they looked into the future, they saw only their demise if they did that. Terrell wouldn't allow them to leave him, and they had no way out. The man was too powerful, well-connected, and cautious. The Paixis knew too much to be allowed to live disconnected from him.

So, they chose to believe Arthur would be like any other Fated Existence and end up dead. They kept selling divinations to Terrell.

Everything changed three weeks ago before Arthur even entered the dungeon.

Terrell brought them the Gloves of Fate. Made of soft golden threads with silver runes, half of which were snapped, the artifact was the reward for killing the final boss of a level 66 dungeon five hundred years ago. Previous use had revealed it allowed a chronomancer to pierce through any blockade in the Web of Fate.

Lord Paixi saw nothing wrong with Terrell's gift. Paixi had shared his difficulties with Terrell to explain why they couldn't tell whether one tactic or another would work in the long term against Arthur. That was also not the first worn-out artifact Lord Paixi had ever used. Nowadays, it was easier to find old relics with a few uses left before their enchantment stopped working than otherwise. Almost always, only magitech was brand new.

So, he used it. He pushed through the barrier. The unknown was laid bare at his feet.

At first, he looked as deep as the Gloves allowed and saw dozens of futures. In a few, Arthur destroyed the world to avenge Sophie. In others, he destroyed the world at Sophie's request. In yet another, he destroyed the world after Sophie betrayed him. Strangely, however, there were as many futures where he saved the world to honor Sophie's departure, at her request, or because she had betrayed him. His fate and hers were intricately intertwined, but there was no telling what would happen. Likewise, he sometimes was assisted by the elves, other times destroyed them first, and once was betrayed by them.

Each alternative was as likely to come to pass as the other. Lord Paixi couldn't determine what would happen. He could, however, figure out some things closer to the present. Without the Gloves, there were many small instances where something was important enough to affect the distant future and, thus, blocked. Shen's meeting with Joint Command, entering the dungeon, and when he would leave it were such things.

He looked into those things. Then came the pain. That's when he understood why the Gloves had been half destroyed.

Piercing the blockade came at a cost to the artifact. The further he went, the greater the strain on it. Another diviner's family had used the gloves much more cautiously than the Paixis and pulled back when it started unraveling. Unlike Lord Paixi, the user had undoubtedly kept others nearby when they used the thing. He was selfish and petty. House Paixi had been undergoing the inevitable passage of power as the young surpassed the old, but he wanted the glory for himself. He hid the Gloves from everyone and used them alone.

Evidently, the worry for his bloodline he had shown not long ago didn't come naturally to him. It was a hard-earned lesson.

Paixi reckoned he was also blinded by his curiosity about the future behind the blockade. As the Head of a new diviner House, he hadn't learned to grow as cautious as those from ancient institutions. He had also grown drunk on the power and riches Terrell had gotten him. Arrogant. Lax. No other future had ever led to his House's demise except for leaving Terrell, so there was nothing to worry about. He went too deep, too fast.

He passed out, and when he woke up, the Gloves were nothing more than a pile of useless golden threads on the ground. But the worst part was the two Windows into Fate before him.

"I write the words down," he pointed at the book. "Page one. No cipher."

Arthur walked to the book. The old lady trembled at his approach. She understood the situation she was in much better than Lord Paixi. The prince even suspected she was the real shot-caller in the family, influencing her husband with whispers here and there. That might be one of the things that led him to do something big for himself, to prove he didn't need her, to massage his ego, causing his House's downfall.

She offered the book to Arthur with both hands. He didn't take it from her as he turned it to the first page and read the contents of the Windows into Fate Lord Paixi had received.

"Fatebreaking Warning — You're about to break through one of the safety barriers placed on your power. Continuing will result in severe consequences."

Lord Paixi hadn't seen the warning until he finished his business.

"Fatebreaker — You have broken through one of the safety barriers placed on your power. You and your bloodline's fates have been permanently returned to the natural course of your unawakened lives. Your bloodline is now permanently blocked from awakening."

Arthur looked at the man, who was seething with rage. "Why?!" he asked, unable to hold himself back. "Why Fate give Gloves if using them harms us?! Why Fate abandon and punish us?!"

Lord Paixi had a point. The artifact felt like a trap, and Arthur wondered if that was the case. Perhaps dungeon cores—or the devourers behind them—could affect the rewards under some circumstances and had helped make the Gloves.

However, he shared a different hypothesis with the man, "Lord Paixi, Fate might've just wanted to let a few awakeners prepare for some parts of the future it keeps hidden, but you were greedy. What happened after that?"

The man shared how he had left his work office to find his House in chaos. Everyone had lost their power. He tested having a child awaken, and it failed. They were cursed.

Lucky him, he had been the only one to get the Windows into Fate. Only he knew why that had happened, and he rid it from all but his wife. Together, both concluded they should send the divination results to Terrell. The man had already left because divining the future and parsing through everything took time, usually a few days. Appeasing him now would give them time and money. They would use the latter to gain even more time. That was the best they could do.

Pasilia had been on high alert ever since. They had been waiting for Arthur because the one undeniable thing in the future was how powerful he would become. If he lived, he would undoubtedly find them.

Most of the book's contents about Terrell meant to be given to the prince had long been written, but they sometimes wrote nuggets of information they remembered. They had lost all their stats, including their intelligence, which made their memories fickle. Only the broader strokes of their past were clear to them. They only recalled as much as they did about Terrell's business because it had been central to their rise and fall.

From what Arthur could tell, Fate had been very merciful to them. They thought they had lost all their intelligence, but that wasn't true. Each had five hundred points on the stat.

They had lost many memories, but not as many as they believed. The issues were the lack of skills, losing their intelligence traits, and their wisdom being brought back to ten points. That was peak natural stats, the mark of an unawakened who could think very fast, but it wasn't enough to easily navigate their memories.

Arthur turned to the woman. "Teach me the cipher. I'll read the book aloud. Interrupt me if listening to it reminds you of anything else."

Lord Paixi frowned, raising his head from the floor for the first time. Arthur had his back to the man, who thought it was safe. Lady Paixi very subtly shook her head to stop the man from saying or doing anything.

"Of course, High Lord Boria," she replied.

The cipher was deviously simple. Lady Paixi changed the position of letters and words in a sentence based on a keyword that only she knew and was unique to each page. A "counter" also increased for each letter she wrote, and based on a second keyword, it determined seemingly random alterations to the letters here and there.

Arthur could break the cipher with enough time, but it would take a while. The Paixis' assistance was invaluable, and they knew that. The fact that Lady Paixi was the only one who had written after the first page with Fate's messages was a cunning trap of its own. Keeping only the House Head alive for information—a common practice—would be less profitable than showing restraint, even if Arthur had been willing to let Paixi's descendants live.

That little scheme greatly upset Arthur. These people showed no proper respect even after having almost caused his and Sophie's death. They didn't regret what they had done to him, only that they had lost their power.

As the prince read and learned everything they knew about Terrell's activities, he understood why they behaved so arrogantly. It was their personality. They were racists and racial purists. They believed in human hegemony and that every half-monster should die. There was no changing that just because their House might perish. That was who they were at their rotten core. Arthur was a half-elf, Sophie a half-vampire, Tamara an elf, and Arthur associated with elves in the futures Lord Paixi had seen. They hated him for his blood while begging him to preserve theirs.

If that wasn't House politics, Arthur didn't know what was.

The book wasn't overly thick, only a few hundred pages long. Still, with all the interruptions when he had a question or they had something to add, it took them almost two days to go through everything. A servant regularly came to bring food for the couple, and they had to take a bathroom break multiple times. Arthur forced them to remain awake with his magic, which might've caused complications later if they wouldn't die anyway.

At last, the prince read the final sentence. After that, he listened for another hour as they revealed other things they had recalled in the past days. Then, it was over.

Lady Paixi was sitting on the chair by her desk. Lord Paixi was sitting on the chair from his desk, which had been pulled closer. Arthur was sitting between both people on a metal chair he had made.

"Is that all, Lord and Lady Paixi?" he asked.

"Yes, High Lord Boria," Lady Paixi said with a sore throat. She had been the last to speak.

"Very well," he replied. "The information you provided would've been more helpful if half of it hadn't been a lie. Do you care to explain, Lord and Lady Paixi?"

That was the final trap they had left behind. Even if Arthur got the cipher from them, he had to read it in their company to discern the truth of most passages. Otherwise, he would lack the context and background knowledge for even his Truth Seeker trait to help him locate the lies.

The answer to his question, however, was evident. This was a trap. They resented him for destroying their future, not Terrell. There were countless snippets of future predictions in everything they said and wrote, things connected to him, the kind of stuff that might affect how he acted. That was one of the main dangers of knowing about one's future. That was the most obvious in the constant reminders of how Sophie betrayed him in a few futures Lord Paixi had seen.

Despite knowing the answer, he asked the question to lead to other matters. He sought to figure out something else. None of their divinations included anything about his domains. Their understanding of his power was severely lacking, even in the futures he destroyed the world. Lord Paixi couldn't see exactly how he did it. Either his chronomancy had been too weak to glimpse some secrets of the future, Fate had filtered some information, or he was pretending so the prince would think Terrell knew nothing about it.

"We still afraid of Terrell," Lord Paixi replied after sharing a look with his wife. "We want give him reason not to kill us. Your question makes tactic useless. We ask forgiveness."

Despite Arthur's magic, the days had been exhausting to the two people, and Lord Paixi's mask of humbleness had almost entirely dropped. He struggled to pretend to be meek even while forcing himself to ask for forgiveness—and subtly admitting to another scheme against the prince.

"So, Lord Paixi, unlike your earlier words, you have not severed all ties with Terrell," Arthur pointed out. "In fact, I suspected you have already told him you would share lies with me."

The man opened his mouth to reply, but Lady Paixi spoke over him, "Yes, High Lord Boria." Her voice was brisk, but she was upset at her husband, not at Arthur. At least, not for this. "We know we'll die, but we want to leave a way out for our children."

Their constant reminder about their children explained why Terrell repeatedly attempted to force Arthur to make mistakes out of empathy. Lord Paixi had mostly gotten the prince's personality right when he saw the future. Arthur's enemies knew he wouldn't destroy Houses to the root. Some Houses did it, but High House Boria considered it needlessly cruel.

It was also a show of weakness to boot. Any House worth their name could easily suppress the children of their defeated enemies if they wanted. It was their mistake if they allowed any avenging ploy to affect them in the future. And keeping potentially vengeful people alive even assisted in keeping everyone sharp. It almost served as training on how to deal with the true foes hiding in the shadows.

They also knew he would not let innocents suffer too much. The prince was even starting to suspect the cassinos' had been purposefully leaked to get Arthur right there. Morally, the sex slaves were the worst of Terrell's business; the two instances of trafficking the Fated races he saw later were pretty mild in comparison. Such a leak on purpose also explained why the elemental beam rifles present in Margrave had yet to make another appearance. Terrell expected Arthur to die there and didn't know about the prince's domains.

Still, he wanted to make sure, if possible. "Lord Paixi, tell me everything you told Terrell that you haven't told me yet," he ordered. "If you do and give me half your House's assets, I'll let everyone in your family who never awakened live."

Arthur was unsure if House Paixi could revert the ransom payment later. Theoretically, ransom was a core part of House wars. You paid not to get destroyed; it was as simple as that. It was questionable when used by the instigator, but Arthur was the victim. Terrell had sneak-attacked the prince twice in a row before he declared war, first in the meeting with Joint Command, then with the warhead. Arthur had every right to demand ransom to give one of Terrell's allies a way out of this war.

Yet, only awakeners had Houses; technically, House Paixi had ceased to exist when it lost its awakeners. They were now the Paixi Family. Arthur called the man Lord Paixi merely so as not to upset him even more, which would have been detrimental to the conversation.

The common law would classify what Arthur was doing as "extortion." Nowadays, the League had more laws to protect the unawakened from awakeners, especially when both parties belonged to different countries. The League had to approve this ransom as part of a House war. Despite calling him names, they had yet to officially claim House Boria's war was illegal, but it would be very easy for them to do so.

The prince was powerful, but he lacked the institutional means of keeping what was his. Sure, if the League refused to accept his ownership of something, he could destroy or replace the League and claim its judgment on the matter had been wrong, but it would only make him a tyrant. It would feel immoral and cast doubt on him or any other organization he replaced the League with. Such organization would only appear after the war ended and he shed the villain's gambit persona, so he would take the loss for the greater good.

That was almost irrelevant in the grand scheme of things, but Arthur had to worry about the details so he could negotiate—and Lord Paixi did have the gall to bargain.

"Ten percent," he instantly barked back as his anger surged again. "Not ounce more!"

Arthur smiled coldly. "Lord Paixi, you seem to forget your family must be alive to use your money, and almost everyone will die. I'm offering a way to let a minority survive with more resources per person than what you have now. Don't be greedy."

"You greedy!" he replied back, even angrier, stepping up. "Fruit of labor! Lifetime! We unawkaened! We out of business! We can get no more!"

"I see," Arthur replied and killed the man who forgot he was dealing with an enemy who had come for vengeance.

The corpse fell silently on the floor.

The prince had already mostly confirmed Terrell knew nothing about his domains, but even then, that wasn't that important. The man already knew Arthur could use some form of special magic. Learning about domains from visions of the future included knowing what they could do, but it was not a big deal. Arthur also didn't need the money he might be unable to keep. Lord Paixi had severely overestimated his position.

Lady Paixi's eyes widened in shock as profound terror and disbelief filled her. It drowned the sadness at seeing her husband die.

"Were my terms acceptable to you, Lady Paixi?" Arthur asked coldly.

If she helped, good. If not, alright. Seizing all of House Paixi's assets after destroying it was easier. That's what happened when a House vanquished another.

The old woman was too shocked to reply. Eventually, a surge of despair broke her down. She threw herself to the ground, grabbed her husband's head on her legs, and sobbed loudly. Arthur felt bad for her loss, and this felt too cruel, but that could've been him or Sophie in her place. She was reaping the consequences of her actions.

After half an hour, it became clear that she would say nothing else. Arthur ended her suffering. As a last act of undeserved respect, he gave their corpses a peaceful semblance and placed them on the bed.

Then, he erased many of his memories.

The prince didn't want to forget the hints about his future, but knowing too much of one's future was too dangerous, and believing himself immune would be arrogance. Especially when it was related to Sophie. He knew he might be unable to think straight when it came to her.

Outside the manor, he found Pasilia's police forces. They were still surrounding the area and guarding it against outsiders, though only with their presence. The only equipment they had brought was the field tent at the mansion's main entrance.

The leader, a level 15 biomancer clad in silver plate armor with green details, left the tent as Arthur approached. He looked behind the prince but saw no one following. The truth was obvious.

"I'm Arthur Boria," the prince said without preamble. "House Paixi has been conquered by High House Boria. Their assets now belong to me. I'll go through the official proceedings later. For now, I'm asking for police assistance. Please vacate all my properties from trespassers. Remove access to everything I own from anyone other than me, especially bank accounts. Only allow anyone to take any claimed personal belonging that is in their bedroom or if they have proof they purchased it themselves—and it's in their name."

Arthur didn't go on a killing spree. He was confident he would end up killing every adult from House Paixi, but he would question them first, whether former awakener or not. If any of them had always been against doing business with Terrell, to the point they sacrificed some of their comforts to make a point, he would let them live.

It was unorthodox, as they had profited from belonging to a family with an agreement with Terrell, but it was also more in tune with the times. Humans organized themselves more individualistically nowadays. The innocent awakeners had already been punished enough by losing their power, money, and influence, and the unawakened wouldn't understand what it meant to associate with a House nowadays. That felt fair to Arthur.

He continued, "House Paixi's employees are also to be removed from my properties but kept on the payroll until I can deal with them. However, they are not to assist any member of the former House Paixi any longer. They are now my employees; helping their former employers will be against my wishes. I'd appreciate any assistance from Pasilia's government in keeping them paid until my war against House Terrell ends. Personal employees from individual members are not my problem.

"Inform every House Paixi's associates that all contracts are frozen under the League's Rules of Conquest until the war ends. I'll respect all rules to the letter. Whoever is to be paid will be paid. Whoever isn't to be paid better not waste my time.

"Every currently living member of former House Paixi should also be paid minimum wage for the first three months or until I come to deal with them." It wouldn't do to starve them before he judged them guilty. "They are to be told all minors will be allowed to live. All adults will be questioned about their instance about House Paixi's business with Terrell. Whoever wasn't against it will be executed for being my enemies, according to the League's Rules of Engagement. Publish my decision so all businesses worldwide know to expect to be dealing with clients with potentially short lives."

He should be telling the League that, but its people had not come close to him. Pasilia's governmental troops would have to do.

"Any questions?"

The tall man had short black hair and eyes of the same color. He was in his mid-thirties and had the look of someone who had dealt with too many unpleasant business he didn't always agree with but knew better than to question.

"What if your enemies counter-claim your property or demand access to the assets?" His voice was tired.

Arthur raised an eyebrow at that. In modern terms, the man wanted a free "out of the jail card." He was asking Arthur to let them not clash with Terrell if he came. In exchange, they would do what he had asked unless Terrell got in the way.

"Then you pick a side," the prince replied the obvious.

House Peixi was a behemoth with connections everywhere in Pasilia. Half the government was on Terrell's payroll, according to former Lord Paixi. However, the prince had no information about any property owned by Terrell there or any assistance provided by the government to Terrell during the war. Thus, he hadn't label them Terrell's people—yet.

That would naturally change if they acted against him. If they helped him with the bureaucracy, he would appreciate the gesture. Otherwise... He would see after the war ended.

"Anything else?" Arthur asked.

"No," the guy replied, though his face and feelings betrayed how much he disliked the answer he got.

The prince nodded and flew away.

Killing the one who had almost caused Sophie's death felt good, but he resented not having found actual diviners working for his enemy. Those were the ones he had to dispose of before reaching Terrell. House Paixi had merely been a detour.

His primary gains had been the information about Terrell. He now better understood how his foe thought. Some information about the man's past might also assist Tamara with locating his businesses.

The prince eventually got to the underground bunker where he had left Emily and Graham and returned to Avaria.

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"It's been twenty-four hours, master," Tamara said softly behind Arthur. "You've put yourself under too much risk already. I beg you, let's leave."

The prince stood before the hotel's window, looking at the street below. People came and left. None of them were Sophie. None had been for two days. She hadn't come.

It had been a month since the beginning of the war, and his suitress had just missed their very first meeting.

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