What kind of secrets are you hiding? Drac thought as he stared at the red ring before him.
If he was right, then this ring could be thousands of years old, but he could not see any wear or tear on it. The thing was made with a jade-like material and was as smooth as if it had been made just yesterday. Since yesterday he had been sitting in his room, thinking about the possibilities and things that he should be looking at. And his thinking session did get him some clues.
The most important clue that he was able to come up with was the whole ballroom area. He was not an expert in stones or tiles, but he do know that if an explosion were to take place, then surely some of the tiles would have cracked. Or some sort of damage would have occurred to them. After all, the explosion was big enough to obliterate 15 inches-thick walls.
But yesterday, he didnt see any damaged tiles. It was like, those things were made up of some sort of indestructible material. He needs to investigate it further. Then comes the information of the Rose itself, and how the library of the Sumor Keep was useless in that context.
It meant that the information about the Rose was reserved for core members of the Family. Or it might be stored in a special place, or it has been erased from history.
There was also a chance that information had been passed down through the family verbally, just like the monster’s corpse in the Sumor Sanctuary. And for that, he would need a Sumor to help him investigate. He needed to train either Agatha or Helen to do his bidding. But that is easier said than done, as both daughter and mother duo might not be coming here.
If the soldier from the previous night was telling the truth, and truly either of the Sumor Sisters are coming here to live. They would be easier to manipulate. Both are the black sheeps of the family, and both have daddy issues.
There was also a chance that the secret information might not be passed on to them. Gregor made sure that Kaila wouldn't get information about Sumor Sanctuary, so it was highly unlikely that he would pass the information to his daughters…
The knock on the door interrupted his line of thought.
Drac opened the door to find a soldier standing outside, “Drac,” he had specifically instructed everyone to call him by his name, “There are people outside. Saying that they from the Captial manor,”
What a drag, he thought. “Let's go,” and they started heading outside.
When Drac got outside, he saw two carriages standing outside the castle gate. A shouting and profanity match is going on between two knights standing at the gate. He also saw the son of cook, Jina, sitting by the wall looking at the shouting show happening at the gate while eating soft corn.
Drac, cheekily took some corn from his plate, winking at him. The boy was around 6-7 years and hated him for some reason. So he likes to have fun with the boy. As he took the corn, the boy was fuming with rage, but didnt say anything as the boy was scared of him.
Walking down the paved road of the castle he made his way to the gate, only to see two armor knights arguing with each other. One of them was Greg, the other was a blond man with sly smug on his face…
“It is an order Greg,” the blond man said, “It’s an order,”
Greg was so angry that he could almost see smoke coming out of his nose, “I dont give a fuck about your order Gibson. I am not going back to pick up your slack,”
Drac spotted a man wearing a butler’s uniform like him standing at the back. The man was in his middle ages, beside him were two maids standing behind him with their heads down. That guy must be the butler from the capital manor.
According to the instructions given to him by Travis, this guy was supposed to help him with creating reports of the castle. But he received a letter from the man that he couldnt make it because of his foot injury, and he instructed him to create a report on his own. Drac didnt think much of it, and created the report and sent it to the capital.
But now that Travis would be visiting in a few days, that man was standing outside, in the flesh. It doesn't take a genius to realize what was happening here.
“Gibson, I am tired. I am going in to rest,” the man said and started walking towards him along with the maids.
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Drac thought that as the man would come to him, and introduce himself. But he didnt, he just walked past him as if he was no one. He didnt appreciate being ignored like that, but he was not the one to throw the first punch either. He then walked to Greg to understand what was happening there.
“Why are you yelling Greg?” he asked the man.
Greg pointed at the other knight, “One of the carriages that these guys were traveling broke down a few hours back. Now he is ordering me to get the carriage back,”
“As you should,” Gibson added.
Drac then turned towards Gibson, “Could you please enlighten me, why is it that Greg has to go?” he asked while eating the corn.
Gibson gave him a look, “Why would I have to enlighten you mongrel?”
He turned to Greg, “Could you please hold this,” he gave the man, the rest of his corn. He turned to Gibson and punched the man in his windpipe.
The knight went down, clutching his neck, struggling for every breath. The man following Gibson went for their blades, but he remained unfazed. Drac then nonchalantly took back the corn, and looked at the men before him, “Let me make myself very clear you dumb fucks.” He said, “In this castle, in the absence of Sumor’s or Travis, I am in charge. Not this guy,” he said while pointing at Gibson, “Not the old fuck that went inside.”
He then finished all the corns, and while eating and chewing the corns he spoke, “Also, if any of you ever put their hands on your blade ever again… I will not hesitate to kill you,” he then passed them a wild smile and turned towards Greg, “Send these men back to get the carriage. I will deal with the old fuck that went inside without permission,”
Greg nodded warily. The thing was, Greg was in charge of the castle in the true sense. Sumors sent him here to keep an eye on him, he didnt really have any power here. But that was something between him and Greg, no one else knew about it.
As he walked inside, he heard loud mumbling of the man, “Look at the state of the place, it is like they have not even started with anything… I tell you the younger generation is getting tool lazy…”
Drac didnt waste any time and immediately came and stood in front of the man, “Hello there,” he spoke with a fake smile on his face, “Can I help you with something?”
In anger, the man asked, “Yes you can help me, by telling me exactly what were you doing here for the past two weeks. The place had not been cleaned properly, and the servants were not even trained properly. They are not even greeting me,”
Unfazed, still with a big smile on his face, he said, “I can get who you are. But do you know who I am?”
The man got confused, but then with resolve, he spoke, “You are the butler who has not been doing his work,”
He nodded, “True. But I am also a mana wielder, who has completed his first circle,” the man took the information with surprise, “So I suggest that while talking to me you tone down the attitude. Otherwise, I might get angry,”
“YOU MONGREL!” someone shouted from behind, Drac turned around to see Gibson charging at him with his sword.
Sighing he turned his body to face his opponent. He was able to avoid the first swing of Gibson’s blade, but then landed a straight uppercut at Gibson’s chin, staggering the man.
He didnt waste any time there, with normal punches he started beating the shit out of Gibson, if it weren't for Greg and soldiers interference, he might not have stopped. Gibson had several of his teeth broken, and some cuts on his face. While Drac’s uniform on the other hand was covered with strands of blood, along with his face.
After he had gotten off of Gibson, he turned to face the butler once again, “Never make me angry,” he said with a fake smile on his face, making everyone in the room cover with fear…
***
It was important to set boundaries, because of which Drac acted in such a way. Now everyone in the castle was scared of him and had started giving him respect. Greg was still the same, keeping an eye on him, but the man also started respecting him from the day he beat Gibson.
Henry, the butler from the capital also fell in line, a few hours after the incident. That snake changed his demeanor and started sucking up to him. Because of this Drac gave most of the responsibility to the man, and with some authority, Henry started wreaking havoc over the castle. He started slaving the servants, making them clean sections of the castle twice and even sometimes thrice a day.
No one complained, as ultimately they were all scared of him.
Drac but also cautious at the same time. He had given the power-hungry Henry the power because he was wary of the response from the Sumor Family. He knew that they wouldn't get into the scuffle between the servants, but still, it didnt hurt to take some precautions.
At the same time, he was also wary of Henry as well. That man was sucking up to him too much, which made him think that maybe that man was up to something. The talk with Greg revealed what could be the plot of Henry, “… As it turns out, the rumors were true, Kaila and her sister are going to live here. But Lord Gregor is also going to shift here, as he doesn't like living in the capital that much,”
Upon further investigation, it was revealed that Henry and his family, the two maids that he came with, were the servants of the manor in the capital. When the previous owner sold the manor to Lord Gregor, they were transferred to his service. Now that Lord Gregor is going to shift here, they want to come and work under him. After all, there are many perks of working with a mana-wielding family, let alone a family as powerful as the Sumor.
Drac realized that in some way or form, Henry would try to show everyone that he would be a great match for the castle and its residents. He wouldn't have cared about it much if it weren't for the Rose. So now he faced a challenge, he had to not only undermine Henry but at the same time also showcase that he could be a good butler for the family…