Jarius was sweating bullets as he stayed inside his room. He knew he was taking a risk by planting an undead lizard inside the meeting hall where three of the strongest members of this House were talking.
But he was banking on the fact that none of them would notice his lizard if they weren’t looking in the first place.
He was highly motivated to find out what they were discussing since he had to give Asher something instead of going to him empty-handed. However, he personally was also feeling curious about what they were talking about so secretively and wanted to know.
His eyes narrowed upon listening to their discussion, “Things might seem okay for now, but the royal consort is going to be bad news for all of us in the future. And that is why we have to deal with it now itself,” Esther said with a squinted gaze.
Edmund shook his head and said with a soft scoff, “Mother, it will be at least centuries or more until he can be strong enough to be somewhat of a threat. There is no need to panic over someone I can crush with my feet anytime.”
Esther clicked her tongue and looked at her son with a cutting gaze, “Stop being so arrogant and underestimating someone you shouldn’t.”
Edmund’s expression became slightly ugly, seeing how his mother was reprimanding him and giving Asher too much importance.
Esther added, “You have no idea how quickly reality can change when you least expect it. Under the queen’s protection and the Head Warden’s guidance, he will grow faster than any of us did. Only a month passed, and he is already strong as a Soul Warrior, which none of us in this kingdom had ever achieved. That boy is also not dumb. He acts above his age and knows what he is doing.”
Edmund clicked his tongue and said, “You are giving him too much credit, mother. I just got the news that he and the queen will be doing a bloodline union test soon. Just watch him get thrown out right after everyone sees how his alien bloodline doesn’t mix with hers. Without the queen’s protection, he is nothing,” Edmund was exactly waiting for this to happen so that he could stop feeling anxious about that gray-skinned toad and get rid of the nuisance once and for all.
“Don’t be foolish. You never depend on unknown outcomes. We wouldn’t be here if our ancestors did that,” Esther firmly stressed.
Edmund felt this quite frustrating and looked at his sister, “Sabina, help me out here. Make our mother understand how impossible it is for two different bloodlines to have a perfect union. It is the main reason why even a fool from any race wouldn’t mate with a different race unless they want a deformed child or a weakling, or perhaps there won’t even be any child. Only two people with the same bloodline have the ability to perfectly become one with each other.”
Sabina, who had been watching the mother and son argue with amusement, finally parted her pretty red lips, “Sorry, brother. I feel mother is right but what I don’t get is why we are getting restless for no reason. It’s not like Asher, and we have something against each other…do we?”
Esther and Edmund glanced at each other with a knowing look, making Sabina furrow her brows and ask, “Don’t tell me…you guys are hiding something which I don’t know of yet.”
Esther looked at her and said, “It’s not that we were hiding it from you, but we never thought it mattered until today.”
Edmund’s expression became slightly troubled as Sabina smiled and said, “Now, you two have made me interested. So spill it…What is going on…”
“You tell her, Edmund. That’s the least you can do now,” Esther said with a slight shake of her head.
Edmund muttered something to himself in frustration before saying to Sabina, “It’s nothing, to be honest. All I…”
Edmund went on while an undead lizard was hiding behind a table in the hall. Its creepy dark blue eyes glinted as Jarius, who was sitting on the upper floor, was listening in on the conversation with perked ears.
But the moment he heard Edmund talking to Sabina, his eyes increasingly widened the more he listened, “Fuck…Fuck…Is he fucking mad…Why…Oh shit…” Jarius felt a bead of sweat rolling down his temple just by listening to this and imagining Asher’s reaction.
If he revealed this to Asher, he had no doubt he would be stirring up a shit storm. But if he doesn’t, and Asher somehow finds out later on, he will be the first one to get fucked.
He had to choose…being loyal to his family or to himself. He had never been stuck in a huge dilemma before.
If he reveals this to Asher, he will be safe since there will be no way his family will suspect him, even if this gets exposed. But by doing that, he would be betraying his family and this House. And on the off chance they find out about his betrayal, he can’t even fathom what would happen to him, especially how his father would react.
Jarius felt like banging his head on the wall out of frustration and helplessness. He was biting on his nails, and in his nervous state, he stopped listening to the conversation going on downstairs.𝑜𝗏𝗅xt.𝐜𝗈𝑚
The moment Edmund was done talking, Sabina had her hand on her lips, her eyebrows raised, “Brother…sometimes I wonder if you use that thing inside your head.”
Edmund clenched his fists, hearing her words, and said with an irate look, “Don’t be like that, Sabina. I am sure at that time, you also wouldn’t have thought this would be a problem. We also don’t know if he even remembers. Everyone knows he doesn’t recollect anything from the past 14 years. So stop making this a big deal. I will handle this.”
“No need,” Esther sternly said and added as she looked at Sabina, “Your sister will handle this without making a mess out of it.”
Sabina raised her brows, “Oh me? What would you want me to do, mother?”
Esther took a deep breath and said, “I want you to seduce him and make him fall for you till he feels like he cannot breathe without you. Then once he is in your palm, not only have we taken care of the mess your brother made, but we also will have a potentially powerful pawn with an immortal bloodline.”
“What in the name of…” Edmund’s jaw slacked, and his eyes widened in disbelief, wondering if he heard his mother right.
Sabina also had a glint of surprise in her eyes as she softly giggled and asked, “Are you really serious, mother? You are giving me permission to seduce him?”
“No! Stop talking about this! Mother, what the hell? She is my fiance. We are going to get married within a few years. You can’t just tell her to seduce some worm when I am standing right here,” Edmund said with a red face, veins popping over his temples. He couldn’t believe his own mother would suggest something like this. But on second thought, thinking about the kind of person she was who would do anything to protect this House, he felt it wasn’t that surprising, though he was adamant about not letting this pass.
Sabina was his woman. Even if he had yet to marry her, he had always considered her as his. They were betrothed since the moment he was born, and in his eyes, no woman was more charming than her. He was considered quite enviable as a man, especially because people saw how he had such a fatally attractive and capable woman as his fiance. What would happen to his pride and face if people caught a glimpse of her spending time with another man?
Not even he got the chance to touch her since she wouldn’t let him based on the reason that he doesn’t make her blood ‘tingle’, though he interpreted it as her just waiting till marriage. She was the only woman he desired whom he could never dominate nor possess yet. But once he gets married to her then she will be his forever.
Esther slapped his arm lightly and said, “Don’t talk back to me after making all this mess. Since you made it, you will have to bear with the consequences and stop overthinking about this. Your sister knows how to do this while keeping her maidenhood intact…Isn’t that right, Sabina? It wasn’t my idea in the beginning, but your father’s who told me to handle this.”
“Of course, mother. Leave this to me,” She said with a confident smile and patted Edmund’s shoulder, “And brother, you really have nothing to worry. Your sister is going to take care of this easily. How hard can it be to seduce a boy who hasn’t felt the touch of a woman for his entire life?”
Edmund felt some kind of heaviness in his chest by just thinking of the idea of Sabina seducing some other man. But he knew he couldn’t go against his mother and especially his father since it was his idea to begin with.
And hearing Sabina’s words, he felt maybe he was overthinking this. Asher was like a child who woke up a month ago and didn’t know anything about women. Maybe just a simple smile from someone as charmingly attractive as Sabina would be enough to fall for her. She probably does not even have to touch him, and if she succeeds, he also doesn’t have to think about this annoying issue anymore.
The more he thought about it, the more he started to feel better and realized he got worried for nothing, though he was unable to fully get rid of the uneasiness he was feeling.
“Okay…but if anything doesn’t go the way it’s supposed to or if anything strange happens, I want you to let me know,” Edmund stressed as he looked at Sabina.
Sabina smiled charmingly, “Of course, I will. This is all going to be over before you realize it, brother,” As she said this, her blood began to dance in excitement, just thinking about how fortunate such a good opportunity landed on her lap. It would probably be easier now to get what she wanted.