Titan Beneath the Heavens Chapter 148

It was at Vielonna, on the sixth day of the eighth month in the Church's year 798, O'Neil Andrew Morisette and his Princess wife had come here once. Just like their previous visit, the music-loving civilians welcomed His Imperial Highness the Prince and the Princess with their lovely voices.

Oscar discovered that the current situation of Vielonna was quite similar to how he remembered it to be, the place had yet to be affected by the waves of the riot. The bandits were smart, they never had the intention of touching the large cities.

"What a cunning bunch!" the Prince mumbled lowly, but this fact was as clear as day even to fools. Vielonna was the headquarter of the brave Hagrid brothers, and the warriors from the Hagrid family were the only soldiers the bandits did not dare to mess with. Furthermore, Vielonna's defenses had never fallen in history. The bandits were no fools, they would not surrender their heads just like that.

During the government's reception that morning, His Imperial Highness the Prince got to know numerous famed individuals among the Southern Nobles. Oscar could see that they sincerely welcomed the arrival of him and the Princess. However, at the same time, they did not have high hopes for any visit from the Imperial Envoy.

These were the people who had been traumatized by the killings of bandits. The elderly kept on recounting the cruelties of the mobs, they burnt churches, trampled the Nobles' cemeteries, and even hanged the bodies of some of the most respected families on the trees. In the end, the elderly concluded by saying, "Oh dear, oh dear! Sins! The God of Light would never pardon these horrifying sinners!"

The younger generation ignored the rants of the elderly, just like how the Prince did. However, there was a difference between the nature of Oscar and the infuriated bunch of Noble youngsters who were hungry for revenge. What the Prince was concerned with was that although the Southern Nobles had murdered a great number of rioters in cooperation with the Guards, there were many other innocents being killed as well.

As for the Southern Nobles, the enraged youngsters despised the elders to the extreme! Led by attention-seeking youngsters, armed groups such as 'Youth Guards' and 'Fury Knights' came into existence one after another. However, these organizations would never go to the frontlines, those are businesses of the regular armies and mercenaries. Thus, all they would do was shouting 'loyalty', 'patriotism' and 'revenge' while strolling the streets donned in their ridiculous armors.

To sniff out the hypocrites, Oscar pulled a trick in the morning's garden tours. Upon recalling the funny memories, His Imperial Highness the Prince smirked, that unlucky fellow brought it upon himself!

The event was like this! A young Discount named Paurol Jaywock was leading his group intruding into the grand garden of Serevan Palace. Due to them being fully armored, they nearly invoked a commotion.

Discount Jaywock handed in a bloodletter to the Imperial Prince and presented his speech with great enthusiasm. What surprised the Prince was how eloquent the fellow was, his speech could even be an impressive battle call! In the end, Jaywock expressed his wishes for him and his comrades to join the Military Intelligence Bureau's Special Combat forces for a bloody payback from the bandits to wash clean the Nobles of their shame.

According to normal procedures, Oscar, who was the Imperial commissioner, should have acted like a true Prince by helping up the passionate youngster who had been kneeling on one knee, praising his patriotism and then rejecting the request with the smooth excuse that military matters were not to be decided lightly.

Yet, who was our Prince? It was O'Neil Andrew Morisette! In these occasions, he would say, "I forbid!"

Thus, to everyone's surprises, not only did His Imperial Highness Prince not reject the 'children's' request, he simply permitted it!

"Hahahahaha!" Oscar failed to contain his laughter, how he wished to employ the best artist to reproduce the whole scene. Oh my God of Light! That was simply amazing! Upon hearing the Prince's response, Discount Jaywalk almost fainted and his silly followers looked as if they wanted nothing more than to flee the scene immediately.

Naturally, the parents of the immature bunch were the most concerned. It was only then that the people truly comprehended the implications of the name of O'Neil Andrew Morisette! The Imperial commissioner, the Imperial Prince and the Commander of the Guards! The string of titles was no joke! Those titles gave him sufficient power to decide the fate of the Five Provinces of the South.

That was also the reason why no one dared to openly disagree with the words of Marshal cum Imperial Prince. Hosted by Oscar himself, Paurol Jaywock and his associates had their military statuses officialized. It was supposed to be of utmost honor, but the 'children' appeared as though their parents were dead. Why did things turn out differently from what Paurol had told them? Surely, they garnered a lot of attention, but they had become real soldiers!

However… Oscar still had some regrets as things were getting out of hand! What was the problem? Who could persuade O'Neil Andrew Morisette to change his mind? Perhaps Paurol Jaywock had the answer to that question.

Who was Paurol Jaywock? He was the son of Marquis Sherman Gondo Jaywock, the greatest landlord in the Five Provinces of the South! The richest man in Vielonna! His influence in the local military scenes was ranked only after the Hagrid and Gru Goolean families. Facing the pleads of a father, Oscar naturally agreed to retract his prior orders as he was just fooling around with the children!

As a result… the people did not complain about an indecisive Marshal, but swiftly agreed in unison and praised His Imperial Highness the Prince's humor.

After the little entertainment, Oscar, or to be more precise, his wife, received a gift from the Jaywock family. It was a set of three-piece jewelry with a pair of earrings, a necklace and a hair adornment in the shape of a crown. The Prince must say, the Southern people really did know the trends! The set of accessories comprised of one hundred and sixteen 1.4 Carat platinum diamonds. The Prince wondered, was it normal to give these out as gifts? How rich were the Southern people?

"Put them there!" Alanis pointed at her accessory box, of which the people would call a luggage instead. Although the Princess yelped softly when she saw the sparkling jewelry, she still thought of them as normal goods.

"You tell that Marquis Jaywock, that your wife has better jewelry!"

Oscar frowned, "This sounds like a blackmail!"

Alanis became stern, "It must be done! Otherwise, those people in the South would think that we've seen less of the world!"

Understanding dawned on Oscar. During the court ball at night, Oscar publicly expressed his thanks toward Marquis Jaywock and relayed his wife's message in private. The Marquis nodded in understanding and admitted that he was careless, how would such things be rare to the Princess?

In the end, the gifts from Jaywock added to four pieces, each addressed to one of the Prince's female companions: Lady Sasha E. Nedgabel Andrew and Princess Ashfin Kristen.

As for Oscar, he received an intricate cane, he loved it! The cane was, in fact, a masterpiece of the art of carvings, not only was the design elegant, the cane handle also consisted of a piece of top-quality amber! What satisfied Oscar the most was the cane's deceiving appearance. It was actually sheathing a sharp blade! Upon pressing a switch concealed under the handle, a sword will pop out.

Returning the Marquis' courtesy, His Highness the Prince praised his patriotism with tonnes of great admiration. Then, he had a long talk, topics ranging from the histories of the Southern Nobles to the stories of heroes warring against armed bandits. The Southern people present in the hall were touched by the Prince's speech and the looks the girls gave the Prince turned heated.

When the ball ended, it was already ten o'clock at night. The boisterous Serevan Palace quieted down, only the lights in the compound remained lively.

As a great miracle in the Westland's construction history, the air-conditioning system of Serevan Palace worked endlessly to supply cool air to all the room in the entire palace through brass pipes. His Highness the Prince and Princess' bedroom was a spacious room on the top floor meant for the Emperor. As the Majesty had not visited the palace since years, the manager of Serevan Palace gave the luxurious bedroom to the Emperor's daughter and son-in-law instead. He hoped that the big bed would not be left unused again.

Recalling his conversation with Oscar 13 years back, he once informed that the palace of the East Dynasty was managed by a group of special 'men'. It was only after Oscar had grown into an adult that he comprehended what 'castration' meant. "That's just too cruel!" the conversation between the Prince of and manager of Serevan Palace was somehow led back to their previous topic.

Polygamy was widely practiced in the East, which was similar to the Andrew family. However, the Andrews only intended to ensure the continuity of family line. Unlike the Andrews whereby only the family head was granted the privilege of polygamy, the Eastern people had no regulations of any sort, especially their Emperor!

From what the King of Assassins had said, the harem of the East Emperor had countless women! As a man, Oscar was slightly jealous but still opined that the East Emperor's actions were incomprehensible. The two women by the Imperial Prince's side gave him enough trouble! Oh heavens! What would happen if he had countless women instead of just two? He would rather be killed.

Princess Alanis did not spend the night in the palace as she was invited by the relatives of a royal family. The Princess knew exactly what was happening, activities like these were pretty widespread, even more so when the Emperor was away. 

Under normal circumstances, female relatives who often accompanied the Emperor on his outings would then be isolated by the officers which presented opportunities to the ill-intentioned fellows. Although the tradition was lower than low, everyone did it secretly. They thought that they ought to at least have a taste of the Emperor's possessions as he was the noblest existence of an empire.

As the most favored son-in-law of the Emperor, O'Neil Andrew Morisette thought that it was perfectly reasonable for him to accept the local arrangements of attendant ladies. He belonged to the noblest royalties and had been granted the highest power in the South by the Emperor. Most importantly, his wife cooperatively kept herself away from the palace. Thus, on the night of Church's year 798, the sixth day of the eighth month, Oscar started an hour-long selection of his favored ladies while comfortably resting on his bed.

The ladies lined up outside of the Prince's room, waiting for their turns. Knowing what would happen, the ladies all faked their tears. Regardless of how much they liked it on the bed, they would have to feign they dignity by demonstrating reluctance. To their dismay, not a single of them was chosen by His Highness the Prince! It was simply difficult for them to accept the fact that they had lost their chance of success, and their parents who sent them into the palace with high hopes would be utterly ashamed.

"Are they all Nobles?" Oscar widened his eyes in disbelief.

"Your Highness, of course!" Rowel nodded in affirmation. As the Manager of Serevan Palace, he had no intentions of losing his face in front of his guest, "Shall I recommend you a good one?"

Oscar could not grasp the situation, "Why are they like this? What I meant was… are they all willing to do this?"

"Almost all of them are willing! But of course, there will always be those who are reluctant, but their families want this for them!" Although it was Rowel's first time explaining it, he knew the details well.

"In most cases, these girls aren't of Noble backgrounds! Their parents are all from the lower tiers of Nobles and are living hard lives. However, the situation will be different if their daughters happen to be adored by the Emperor, or even Your Highness! This is because the court will pair up these girls who have accompanied the Emperor with suitable marriage candidates, and the candidates are usually not too bad! For example, there are the old Marquises who lost their partners, the old Counts with great wealth…"

"You're telling me this isn't too bad?" Oscar interrupted the Court Manager. He finally knew the reason as to how the old fellows were able to have such young and beautiful wives, so it had been the Imperial Secretariat pulling strings the whole time!

"Rowel! Thank you for your offers but things must end here! First of all, I'm not Your Majesty; secondly, these things bring cruelty and great damage to those girls, I can't bear to practice this local tradition of yours!"

Rowel nodded in understanding, "How about this! The truth is… you're aware that Alfa III His Majesty and his people had never visited the Serevan Palace. When it was my first time inviting the girls for these matters… to be honest! It was so awkward for me!"

Oscar's impression of the bald Court Manager turned better.

"However…" Rowel seemed to be unable of finishing his words, "The ones you've met are not all, there's still one last lady!"

"Oh! Not again!" Oscar signed in defeat, he could not understand why the Court Manager was being so insistent on the matter.

"Your Highness, please listen to my explanation!" Rowel fetched a chair and sat next to the Prince's bed, "Her lovely voice and pretty face are what Vielonna holds the proudest of! I was also in shock when I saw her just now in the palace! She isn't supposed to be here as there are no reasons for her to be attending to you. If she is willing, it's possible for her to be a Duchess!"

"No reasons to attend to me?" Oscar sized up Rowel, it would be such a waste for him not to be a pint. The Prince admitted that the Court Manager managed to arouse his curiosity with just a single sentence.

"What's her name?"

"Elizabeth Kate!"

Elizabeth Kate walked past the crowd of gossiping ladies and stopped at the door. The eliminated ladies had yet to leave as they wanted to know who would emerge victorious. However, for the lady in a blue-laced dress to be Elizabeth Kate? Wasn't it too much? The Elizabeth Kate, who was adored by numerous men of great status and power, was lining up for the man's screening, just like the pitiable bunch? This was out of their imaginations, and most definitely out of their scope of comprehension!

Elizabeth Kate took a few deep breathes, her chest perking through the blue laces of her dress. Her eyebrows were slightly enhanced with black powder and her eyes were touched up with blue eyeliner. Her curly blond hair made her green eyes even more striking, her physical appeals were overwhelming, like a raging volcano.

The people of Vielonna strongly believed that there was nothing on Elizabeth Kate that was not seducing! Oozing beauty and sexiness, her appearance instantly brightened up the dark hallways. With a slight curl of her lips and the warmth of her innocent smile, she had overwritten the legends following the Titan Beauty. Since the very start, no one had taken her lightly as a normal person. Performing on stage at the age of nine and conquering the hearts of people at twenty, nobody could be just as lucky.

"But… is she really that Elizabeth Kate?" the ladies debated.

"Yes!" Elizabeth suddenly turned around and directed a gorgeous smile at the shy lady.

"I'm the Elizabeth Kate!"

"So you're Elizabeth Kate?" Oscar sized up the beauty before him nonchalantly while wearing his ridiculous pajamas and feigning casualty on the bed.

This man's gaze is so complicated! This was Elizabeth Kate's first impression of O'Neil Andrew Morisette. If it was possible for one to be mesmerized by a mere gaze, this was it. Elizabeth felt as she was being undressed by the Prince's heated looks. Although the heated stares were common across all men, the Prince was different. His gaze conveyed his messages with clarity, that he would not allow nudity, her bra must be left for him to see!

"I'm the person you're speaking of!" Elizabeth lowered her head and started to untie the knots behind her dress.

"Is this your first time?" Elizabeth exposed her chest and exactly like how the people had described, her whole being radiated like she was a Goddess. But it was only O'Neil Andrew Morisette who had truly witnessed it with the others merely living in their fantasies.

"Wait! Wait!" Oscar stopped, "I don't think I've said that I want you! What's the rush? Or you are simply this... with men?"

It might be due to the natural evil tendencies of males that made Oscar have the urge to destroy the Goddess' illusionary clothes with the most insulting words, effectively exposing her naked body to the chilly air and disdained looks.

"You're saying that… I can leave?" Elizabeth stopped her actions. She seemed to hesitate if she should refasten the loose dress.

"Hehehe!" Oscar laughed, but this laughter was full of chill. This woman before was, without a doubt, the most alluring lady he had met thus far, not only was she drop-dead gorgeous, she was also extremely intelligent and knew that the Prince would never just give away his chance of ravishing her.

Oscar replied softly, "No," and continued, "you can carry on!"

Elizabeth shed her long blue lacy dress, leaving her with only a one-piece underwear with a whalebone support.

"Stop!" Oscar shouted abruptly. Elizabeth dropped her hand and stood silently beside the man by the bedside.

"This will do!" Oscar surveyed the female body before him with concentrated looks just like how a greedy farmer would observe his new horses.

The lady asked, "Just like this?" She blushed and her legs shivered.

"I'm saying… to take it slower."

Elizabeth was very obedient and did not feel the suffocating shame anymore. At the very least, this man did not jump on her and enter her insanely like how she had expected him to be.

Staring at the woman peacefully and calmly undressing her bra, Oscar finally let out a sigh of satisfaction. He had no words to describe the body before him and only noticed that her nipples were as red as her face, or rather, her face was as red as her nipples.

"Okay! Tell me! What do you want me to do?"

Elizabeth looked at the carefree Prince with unease. She had forgotten her nude state and could not wrap her head around the meanings of the man's words, things were not like how she expected! Could it be that… Were her charms not sufficient to conquer the man? Upon this line of thought, Elizabeth Kate was utterly embarrassed, Oh God of Light! She was naked!

The woman's perfect breasts and light golden hair were blocked by her arms and palms, "I'm cold!"

Oscar nodded. He opened up the blanket and the women got under the covers swiftly. In fact, His Highness the Prince was also puzzled by his behaviors, why had he not jumped on her and entered her madly? It could be that his curiosity of the woman had washed away his desires.

"Tell me! What do you wish for me to do for you? Isn't this why you're here?"

"Must you know? Right now?"

Oscar flipped the lady's face to him and felt the powers of the innocent looks from her eyes. He finally felt surges of desire toward the woman beside him, and the desires overwhelmed him like waves as vicious as the mighty ocean! Yet, Oscar had never seen an ocean, he could only picture his desires like lightning strikes.

"Oh heavens! Hurry up and tell me! I won't hurt you, but I think I can't hold it for long!"

Elizabeth Kate hugged the covers and smiled, she did not know why but she smiled. The man might have tried really hard to feign his indifference but still failed in the end! He was no different with all those hypocrites, but the woman seemed to like him a little. As usual, her grin shone with her flushed cheeks.

"Kill someone!"

"Who?"

Oscar inquired without hesitation! His hand had already traced her body lines and was moving up to a smooth, soft and large mound of a breast. He noticed the woman responding with a slight jump of her eyebrows.

"A person whom only you can, and dare to kill!"

With a turn of his body, Oscar trapped the woman under him and gripped her waist tight. The woman seemed to be affected by his burning stick and struggled lightly whereas the man kept on massaging her hips. His Highness the Prince cursed internally, damn it! This pajamas of mine were getting is my way!

The desires can no longer be restrained. Elizabeth Kate's body was just like opium, or fire oil; all that was left was to ignite her fire.

"Quick! Hurry up and tell me the person's name!" Oscar pressed his whole weight onto the woman's body. He was just like an impatient customer, erratically discarding his pants under the irresistible charms of a prostitute.

"Not just one! But everyone with the surname of Manzonola!"

Oscar cleared his mind. He had heard of the name of Manzonola.

"Your appetite is so big!" the Prince stared closely at the woman under him.

Elizabeth extended her hand and started caressing the man's burning stick. Although this was her first time being naked with a man, she had witnessed the male organ when she was fifteen. In the beginning, she had only thought of it as ugly,

as ugly, soft and grown with scary senile plaques and dark hair. However, she was starting to develop feelings for the man including his weapon, young and strong! To be holding it in her hands made her feel as if she was an almighty helmsman in control of the paddle, and off she sailed along the mysterious and exciting waters!

The woman cried as if a cat had its tail had been stepped on while Oscar was drenched in sweat, his saliva dripping onto her chest. He did not understand how the woman with such wide hips could have such a small opening.

Scream woman, scream! Cry it all out! Oscar thought to himself. He adjusted his position and placed his lips close to her ears. While pushing forward, he said to her,

"Those Manzonola people are dead… I don't know why… But… they're dead for sure!"

Elizabeth Kate was in great pain! It was as if she was penetrated by a scorching hot iron rod! She screamed loudly and bit the man with all her might, but she was still obedient and excited! She had waited for this day since ages! To further instill the promise made by the man, she started accommodating to him more fiercely. She wanted to let him know that Elizabeth Kate was now all his! She desired to surrender her virginity to the man whom she just met, and not the disgusting old fart!

The joys brought by the betrayal delighted Elizabeth even more! She was now a complete woman! She might just be a pretty toy in the eyes of Prince Oscar, but at the very least the young man could bless her with temporary oblivion, and make her stretch open her legs like the lowest whore, crying "Ha… ha… ha!"

That night, Elizabeth Kate cried "ha" non-stop, not minding the slightest that the man had moved her into all sorts of shameful positions: up, down, front, left, right and lastly entering her from the back. The man seemed to have infinite energy until the chirping melodies of birds were heard, and until her mind went blank after his most powerful release.

The sun shone on Vielonna, showering the Serevan Palace with shades of gold. The statue of the first Emperor of the Morisette's ruling stood proudly in the center of the town square with the emperor donned in his armors, riding his horse with a long trident in his hands. The unfamiliar people would have mistaken him as the Sea Emperor of the myths.

To the right of the palace, Broken Dream Avenue had been bustling since the morning. Not even the lazy sun could stop the hustling people and the gold rush. With a myth-like exterior, marble staircases and thirteen pillars, the Vielonna Trading Hall sat on the end of the avenue.

Among the bustling streets and never-ending trades, the Vielonna Trading Hall earned its name as the Titan Empire's resource distribution and trading center. The infamous black wall of the trading hall could only be described with the name "Broken Dream", of which its origin could be explained fairly easily. While the trading hall brought success to countless wealthy businessmen, the line of people who had lost everything in front of the black stone wall could queue up to Dulin.

Up the stairs and into the entrance, you would enter the trading hall and find busy crowds and the infamous wall right before your eyes. Upon the commencement of operations on seven o'clock, the trading hall would be filled with bustling people and the shouts of traders and hustlers outside the wall.

Trading in the hall was easy, the name "Broken Dream' encompassed all the elements. The marble wall was carved with the names of various objects ranging from nail clippers to ships. Behind every name would be a piece of wood with the corresponding immediate price written on it. Although there were goods with constant prices in the Titan Empire, for instance, gold, the prices had begun to fluctuate on the international stage as the Westland's economy boomed.

It was the same principle! Every item had its own immediate price and the traders milked their profits by locking down the difference between the immediate price and purchase cost. These differences were not small numbers as the Vielonna Trading Hall only accepted trades above the one thousand Golden Ti threshold! Whenever there were changes in prices, there would always be a commotion. They would stare at the new labels in anticipation and calculate if they were entitled to a profit or loss with their possessions.

"Label change for wheat!" a trader peeked from the main counter behind the wall. Then, another trader at the front positioned the movable ladder, ascended and took off the price label of wheat from the wood.

"29 Ti Coins and 6 Copper Coins per thousand grams!"

Upon receiving the new information, the trader quickly wrote down the price on the wood with a chalk.

At that moment, the crowd started cheering, wheat is rising! Flour will rise too! And eventually, the prices of all livelihood items would be on the rise.

"29 Ti Coins and 6 Copper Coins! Five thousand kilograms of wheat, buyer 13299!"

The trader at the main counter found the buyer among the crowd and proceeded to shout with a raised voice at the cash desk,

"29 Ti Coins and 6 Copper Coins! 13299 had bought 5000 kilograms of wheat!"

The cashier at the cash desk recorded the trade accurately and handed the receipt to the opposite banker. The banker received the receipt, found the account numbered 13299 from the stack, and proceeded to record the trade in the said account. In the end, the bank's cashier would calculate the account's profit or loss during the closing.

Georgio Verones was a regular customer of the trading hall. People called him Master Geo, meaning that he was a Noble, also the son of Count Verones. Count Verones had a town in Burton Province which was named after his surname. If the Count was willing, he could transform the small town to fortress with a gigantic castle because he had a good son! According to some of the elder businessmen, Master Geo, who possessed extraordinary skills in business affairs and fraud identification, would be the future director of the trading hall.

Georgio was the owner of the account numbered 13299. He knew that in the next day or the day after, the price of wheat would still be on the rise, but there was no saying what would happen after that! The commotions in the South had distorted the prices of many goods from their real value. The crazy trades would come to a stop eventually, but the key lay in how the Prince from the Capital would stabilize the scenes. Without a clear reason, Georgio himself was confident in this O'Neil Andrew Morisette whom he had never met.

The young Master directed his line of sight to the hall entrance which had quieted down. If there was anyone who could silence the rowdy hall, that person would definitely be one of the financial powerhouses.

Hehe! Georgio's guess was right on target. The person was RuPaul Roy, a jerk who made a fortune by reselling spices. Although the guy was a hunch-back bastard, Georgio still bowed when RuPaul Roy walked past him.

The spices merchant waved the young Noble away. He looked to be in a rush and did not even spare a glance.

"Hmph! Damn that guy!" Georgio stared hard at the merchant's back and cursed lowly. He could not help but wonder why even the Nobles had to treat businessmen with respect.

RuPaul Roy was really like a dog. He might be old and ugly, but his mind and sense of smell had always remained alert! Other than that, he was a loyal dog to the Manzonola family and understood each and every meaning of his owner's look. However, now he was beginning to doubt his understanding of his owner. From what he could recall, there Director of Vielonna Trading Hall had yet to show any expressions of a man who had lost his son.

Irut Manzonola and his twin brother Hubel Manzonola looked like they had just encountered ghosts. The elder brother sat on the sofa made of leopard leather while the younger brother Hubel stood by his side. Although the two old folks resembled each other, neither one other, neither one would admit their mistake.

"What happened? You wanted to see me in such a hurry!" RuPaul Roy bowed deeply at the old man on the sofa.

"You're here! Have a seat!" Irut hit his cane against the floor, donned in a golden robe and gestured at the seat opposite him.

"What's wrong? Did you not sleep last night?" RuPaul Roy noticed that old man's dark eye circles.

As the Directors of Vielonna Trading Hall, the Manzonola brothers had long stopped calculating their wealth with numbers, they had been calling the coin 'that thing' and the trading hall 'that palace'. And without doubt, they are the kings of that palace.

"Have you seen my cat? She's gone! For the whole day and night!" old Irut hit his cane on the floor again and seemed to enjoy the sound.

"Your cat?" RuPaul Roy was bewildered. However, he noticed that the Director used the pronoun of 'she', "Are you talking about Miss Elizabeth? Did she disappear? How could this be!"

Old Irut nodded in agreement, "That's right! How could this happen!"

RuPaul Roy did not dare to answer, nor could he. The people of higher status in Vielonna all knew the identity of old Irut's cat, and it was also the reason why the famed Elizabeth Kate had not married into any one of wealthy families even to this date. The woman was old Irut's pet and no one was allowed to touch her.

"Did you try to find her?"

"It's impossible!" the younger brother spoke, "We've searched around for the whole day and night! Vielonna was neither big nor small and we've searched all over it. But there's one place left!"

"Where?" RuPaul Roy was puzzled, was there anywhere in Vielonna which the Manzonola brothers did not dare to lay their touch on?

"Serevan Palace!"

The younger brother said the name with caution. It was only then that he realized that Serevan Palace was the true palace, sacred and unreachable!

"Oh…" realization dawned on RuPaul Roy, it was no wonder that the director had been asking to see him with such urgency. He and the Manager of Serevan Palace were old friends.

"But… will Miss Elizabeth be there? I remember clearly that there wasn't any singer invited to the ball."

The younger Manzonola seemed as if he had more to say, but his brother knocked his cane again.

"She's there! She must be there!" the old man's eyes were overflown with rage. He had lost his dear pet cat and it was possible for his cat to be on the bed of others, meowing!

"Are you sure?" RuPaul Roy asked with widened eyes.

Old Irut's cane trembled, "These few days, the Court Manager had been contacting those fallen Noble families, he had been looking for women for the little master of Dulin."

"I'm aware! A few days ago, a Noble family requested me to recommend their daughter to the Court Manager as well." RuPaul Roy nodded. "But does this concern Miss Elizabeth?"

"Of course! I've only realized it after I found out that something went missing with her!" old Irut's gaze was fixed on the patterns on the leopard leather sofa.

"What… what is it?" RuPaul Roy, being a sharp loyal dog, felt ominous.

"Our account book!" the younger brother sighed. He and his brother completed each other's sentences.

"Account book?" RuPaul Roy jumped from his seat in shock like a mad hunting dog. He wanted to ask if it was one with all the dirty trades, but he did not dare to. He could only inquire, "Is it the one wrapped in black leather?"

"Yes! That's it!" the younger Manzonola nodded.

"I don't mean to complain, but how did the account book vanish along with Miss Elizabeth?" RuPaul Roy was getting more confused.

"Because the Serevan Palace's guest is none other than O'Neil Andrew Morisette! He's the Imperial commissioner, consultant of the South's Five Province battle, and the Chief of the Military Intelligence Bureau!" old Irut answered.

"Alright… I've understood!" RuPaul Roy was genuinely concerned. O'Neil Andrew Morisette was a person who had his ways with everyone.

"I'll be contacting the Manager of Serevan Palace right now, please wait for my news patiently." RuPaul Roy put his hat back on as he finished his words. Anyone could see that he was quick to act.

Staring at RuPaul Roy who had left in a haste, the younger Manzonola sighed, "Is this even necessary? If Elizabeth was not intentional…"

"No!" old Irut hit his cane hard. "Elizabeth did not do it on purpose, my cat was just being mischievous! She's so cute that I'll definitely forgive her!"

"But…"

"Go do what you have to do!" old Irut cut off his brother's words, "Go and assemble our partners! Don't ever think that we're going down! This is Vielonna, and our days are still long!"

"On the other hand…" the old man's demeanor transformed to one of a predator again, "O'Neil Andrew Morisette touched my cat, his days are up!"

Hubel Manzonola looked like he had more to say to his brother, but he could not open his mouth. It had always been his brother who called the shots and he had never doubted his decisions. Although things were different now, he still exited the director's office in silence.

Staring up at the skies, the weather seemed great! But there were chills in the air!

The younger Manzonola mumbled, "… are we going down?"

Chapter end