Chapter 182 – Karen Speaks of the Past
The three arrived at the room where they raised the Virtuous Phantasms. After the doors opened, Quinn John looked shocked. These Virtuous Phantasms were really impressive and handsome, something which he hadn’t seen before.
After looking at these five Eagle Virtuous Phantasms, Quinn John couldn’t believe what he saw. Only after some time did he turn to Laura and ask, “Young Lady, are these the Eagle Virtuous Phantasms you were talking about? The ones we had actually bought before?”
“Yes, these are those five Eagle Virtuous Phantasms that Mister gave. However, I haven’t made these eagles into armor, so I don’t know what kind they are[1],” Laura replied with a smile.
Quinn John looked at the eagles one more time, then turned to Laura and said, “Young Lady, let’s go back. I have something to tell you.” Laura nodded and the three of them returned to the study.
They sat down upon arriving in the study room. Laura looked at Quinn John, who seemed sullen, and asked, “Grandpa Quinn John, what’s the matter?”
Quinn John looked serious as he nodded and said, “I have to say, this matter with Mister Zhao Hai, Young Lady, have you not thought about it? Everything that Mister Zhao Hai touches and has given us, they look very ordinary at first, but in fact they’re all extraordinary, right? ”
Laura was frozen for a moment, looking at the matter carefully. Her complexion changed as she answered, “Right, all of them.”
Quinn John nodded and said, “Yes, every one of them, no matter if it is the fire fish, corn, bamboo rice, fruit oil, blue-eyed rabbits, or today’s Virtuous Phantasms. These are all ordinary objects, but once they pass through Mister’s hands, in a blink of an eye they become extraordinary. Furthermore, Mister had told us before that he had an ancient magic tool in his possession. However, we were mistaken about this. We thought he only had one tool. Nobody would actually think that he had two, three, or possibly even more.”
Laura was surprised for a moment. She really hadn’t thought about this. Ancient magic tools would be difficult to check. After they knew Zhao Hai had one, they’d only thought he’d possessed the one ancient magic tool. They wouldn’t have actually thought that Zhao Hai might be in possession of two or three of them.
Quinn John looked at Laura and said, “Even if Mister doesn’t have numerous ancient magic tools, I think he is in possession of a few ancient books about alchemy and pharmacy. Due to the existence of these things, Mister can make ordinary things extraordinary.”
As Quinn John said this, Laura also thought that this was the only way of explaining things. Quinn John followed up, “Mister can make ordinary things extraordinary, less common to common. He may have formulae that allows accelerated plant growth and death through pharmaceuticals[2]. Adding in his strength, along with that of his followers and undead, then although we haven’t seen any Rank Nine experts, Mister’s status and fighting strength can be considered to be not any worse than that of a large aristocrat. This kind of person, we cannot dare to offend.”
Laura nodded while saying, “I have never thought of offending Mister. What help has the Markey Dell clan given to us that can be compared to Mister’s? Why must we help that ruthless clan plan against our benefactor? Grandpa Quinn John, I understand what you mean; you want me to control Alodia, making them lose their opportunity to move against Mister, right?”
Quinn John nodded and said, “Yes, Young Lady. What we have today is all thanks to Mister. This matter of Alodia—if they fail, then it still won’t be good for Mister. We won’t help them, but we shall certainly help Mister. Along with Grand Duke Evan, our combined strength isn’t bad and it should be enough to destabilize the Markey Dell clan. Don’t forget, Mister had also helped the Purcell clan during that crisis and Grand Duke Evan isn’t an ungrateful person. If we told Grand Duke Evan about the situation, he will definitely help us. Then we can convey things to Mister. Through this matter, we can set up our tripartite strength and nobody would dare to move against us. Young Lady, how do you see it?”
Laura stood from her seat and paced slowly. She understood what Quinn John meant. Quinn John wanted her to make a decision right now. If she helped Zhao Hai, then that would be tantamount to tearing the face of the Markey Dell clan into pieces. But in return, they would gain an invaluable ally in Zhao Hai, not to mention, they would continue to be on good terms with Grand Duke Evan. The most important of all was that they could finally get rid of their connection to the Markey Dell clan, removing her fear of being married off by the clan.
However, this matter wasn’t only related to her, but also to her father. If they directly confronted the Markey Dell clan, then her father would be in a very difficult situation.
Quinn John looked at Laura’s expression and knew what she was thinking of. He sighed and said, “Young Lady, are you thinking that your father’s situation will become awkward?”
Laura sighed. “Yes, no matter what, father is also the Markey Dell clan’s second young master. If we had a falling out with the clan, then father will be in a dilemma.”
After Laura spoke, a cold voice replied, “Don’t worry, I won’t be in a dilemma. After all these years, if not for you, then I would have already left the Markey Dell clan.”
Quinn John and Laura looked towards the entrance and saw Karen. Laura hastily replied, “Father, when did you arrive?”
Karen entered the room with a smile. Turning his head, he looked at Laura and said, “My silly daughter, why is it that you won’t tell your father about your problems? Your father has said that if you had a problem that you couldn’t solve, your father can help.”
Laura looked at Karen and felt that her father’s presence seemed different today. He gave off a majestic aura with an imposing manner.
Karen looked at Laura and sat down on the sofa. “Sit down. Today, I also have something to tell you.”
Laura sat, puzzled, while looking at Karen. Karen looked back at her and gave a forced smile. “Laura, you should already know that your grandmother passed away when I was still young, thus, I was raised by the Great Lady[3].” Laura nodded as this was known throughout the Markey Dell clan. Karen’s birth mother was the Markey Dell clan’s Second Lady, who had passed away when Karen was still young. He was then raised by the Great Lady. But, the Great Lady’s real son was the Markey Dell clan’s eldest son, Cenwen.
Karen watched Laura, then continued, “The people outside the Markey Dell clan have said that your grandmother died due to an illness. However, that isn’t the case. Your grandmother was actually killed by your grandfather and the Great Lady.”
Laura’s face was full of shock as she stared at Karen. She really hadn’t thought that Karen would say such a thing. Karen continued to watch Laura as he said, “Your grandmother was her own clan’s successor. As she was just married into the Markey Dell clan, she was highly favored by all. Afterwards, she then gave birth to me. However, during the fifth year of their marriage, your grandfather made a mistake in management and owed a very large sum of money. To make matters worse, he had also offended several respected clans during that time, and those several respectable clans joined together to suppress the Markey Dell clan. At that time, it was a life and death situation for the Markey Dell clan, and the only one who could help was your grandmother’s clan.”
Laura silently listened and didn’t say anything. Karen seems to have been caught up with his memories and continued, “Your grandmother told your grandfather at the time that her clan would help the Markey Dell clan as far as they could. However, your Grandfather wanted more, he wanted all of their property. He sent assassins to kill my grandparents, then killed your grandmother. This, in turn, made the entirety of the properties she should have inherited pass along to your grandfather, to the Markey Dell clan.”
As he continued, Karen clenched his jaw, his eyes burning with anger. “Nobody knows that the five-year old me had known of these events back then. Your grandmother would tell me everyday about the situation of the Markey Dell clan. Like you, your grandmother was very good at running the business and was quite famous for her beauty back then. Although she had no steward of the Markey Dell clan, she knew a lot about their business. She told me back then that the Markey Dell clan had met a troublesome situation and that she wanted to help your grandfather. But I, in the end, saw your grandfather and the Great Lady give your grandmother a glass filled with poisoned liquor.”
Laura was shocked after hearing what Karen said. No one would have thought that there had been this kind of a situation. Even Quinn John, who’d been Laura’s mother’s servant[4], hadn’t known of such a thing. While Quinn John was a servant of the Markey Dell clan for 20 years, Karen’s matter had happened way back when he was small, so of course he didn’t know of it.[5]
Karen continued. “They didn’t know that they were being watched by me. I hadn’t made a single sound during that time, giving my all to endure myself to not to cry. I remember that day firmly.”
After saying that, Karen stopped for a while and closed his eyes. He had probably recalled an unforgettable moment in his life. After some time, he continued, “Afterwards, I was placed under the Great Lady’s care by your grandfather. I knew that they had killed your grandmother and that the Great Lady had her share in it. However, I pretended not to know, living my life daily with the enemy. Later on, I heard that the Great Lady wanted me to have a look at the account book. If I was interested in doing business, then she would remove me as she didn’t want anyone to hinder your First Uncle. Since then, I didn’t look at any business books, nor did I study magic earnestly. Instead, I only researched magic everyday.”
Karen stopped talking for a while. He turned his head and looked at Laura. “Because of that, I could grow up safely. Everyone on the continent knows that I’m not that knowledgable and that I only wanted to learn strange things and was a waste of a person. I thought that I would be like this for a lifetime, but never thought that the heavens would feel sorry for me. The heavens delivered me in front of your mother. The me, who had been a waste, was love by her with all her heart and soul. That was my life’s dawn of light.
“Everyday now, I don’t want to open my eyes after your mother had passed away. She left us too early. If, at that time, it wasn’t for you, I would have already committed suicide. But I knew that if I died, that you would be finished as you’d only end up as their tool. Don’t even talk about business. I feared that you were going to be married off, therefore, I requested the clan to let me develop here in the Purcell Duchy. This is so that we could leave the clan. Laura, don’t hesitate when regarding me. Towards that clan, I feel no sentiment. If you can fight the Markey Dell clan then do it boldly. Get revenge for your grandmother.”