Mr. Hendrickson took the cane that was prepped by the right side of the armchair. Then tried to support his weight on it to stand up. His right leg seemed stuck in a bending position. It acquired him a huge effort to move it.

After a few steps, his movements became facile and the first blockage in his articulations disappeared. He sought the entrance of the hall and before he departed, he looked in the direction of the doctor and said while giving him an apologetic smile " Excuse me, doctor… I don't want you to take this little conversation between the two of us to your heart, I witched for us to have another talk, under a different circumstance.

He stood there for a few moments, attempting to observe the impact his elaborated apology had on the doctor. He got relieved when he didn't see the disdain or hate on his face. But, for some reason, Nicolai had the impression that this person didn't really appreciate his own life as much as he wanted to show off in their first meeting, or this was the impression he got from him.

When the doctor looked in his direction, he quickly shifted his head away. He didn't want to get got staring. This was totally not a gentleman's manner.

The first unpleasant face he encountered in the hallway was that of the Magus butler, who was halted next to a shattered statue made from marble. Nicolai stopped near him and tried to pick one of the broken pieces. From inspecting this peace, Nicolai confirmed this statue was a gift to his person from a dear friend.

He was still kneeling on one leg when he raised his face slowly to take a clear look at the butler. His gaze was sharp and penetrating, like a fast blow from a trained soldier. Yet, he oppressively blocked his anger, taking a deep breath when he heard the approaching steps.

He stood supporting his weight using his cane, then he directed his concern to the forthcoming echoes. And as he assumed, his maid Be-an had come back from the errand that he had assigned to her. She was waddling when she approached them. Her face was covered by dirt, her clothes were torn and when she bowed to give him the small glass bottle she was holding, she lost her balance and fell down.

Nicolai stared at the hairy face. Anger ignited from his deep dark eyes, vein-popping up from the back of his hand as he gripped his cane handle with extra force. Nicolai felt the man smirk as he turned and left. He shut his eyes, calming the rage before he watched his maid's sorry state, then asked her: "Why didn't you find yourself?"

The maid bowed slightly: "Master, the last time I fended myself, it only weighed on you."

"Be-an don't ever hold back and let them miss treat you for my sake." He said while he took his handkerchief and proceeded to clean her face.

***

"So, is this our plan now? What is in your thoughts about the outcome?" Francis asked after he finished reading an open letter that he was holding in his right hand, while the free one was on the desk supporting his weight. He was talking to Nicolai, who was sitting on the sofa, stretching his aching leg and deep in his reflections. He could hear the question of Francis as a faded away sound without deciphering its meaning. He didn't concentrate till he saw a flying paper descending into his lap. He raised his head to see the Count's unpleasing face repeating the same question: "Is this our plan now? For how much you think it will work?"

"Yes, if you want to avoid a direct confrontation, but I have an unpleasant feeling about the whole matter." He replied as he folded the letter with a caring touch. He knew that Francis wanted more explanation, yet he decided to wait for his inquiries to be voiced before he will give out more of the pieces of information he held.

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Information was the only available weapon he had left, for the time being, especially the difficult bad state his maid Be-an was in.

He needed to use this card well and if the Count got what he needed from him easily, how he will bargain about his freedom later?

As for now, His first and most priority was to make himself reliable as much as he can, so he won't face a sudden elimination. Of course, he also needed to find a way to protect Be-an, and what's better than sending her out of this village.

It will be a huge loss for him. As well as he will be defenseless against the direct attacks of the butler. Thus came into his mind an idea, better than calling it a gamble to exploit the confused mental state of that albino.

"Explain more?" Francis said, cutting Nicolai's trails of thought.

And that was the exact question Nicolai had needed from the Count to ask after all Francis didn't change from the time he remembered him. Friendly to the individual he respected, compulsive when he is pressured, and sometimes astonishingly calculating.

How he is going to answer now? Perhaps he needed to make things look complicated a little to give his services more credit.

"There are two possibilities I perceived from the whole situation. The first one: why did the clan authority choose this time, in particular, to wage an attack to get back to this farm. As I told you before, maybe the territorial conflict ended in their favor, but this is just speculation by me and doesn't reflect the reality of what truly had happened, so we still need to be careful in communicating with them. Thus, it brings us to the second possibility. The handwriting of the person who wrote the threatening message sadly wasn't the same person I worked with before? The only explanation I could think of is maybe there is a shift in power and responsibilities within the Crocotta clan."

"And that's mean our hope for a peaceful negotiation has vaporized." Francis Paused then added: "I must start preparing for a fight... At least to secure an escape road. "

Nicolai was observing the reaction of the count, depicting any change in his character. He was puzzled by his rapid pessimistic view as if it was imperative to solve this issue in a short period. And when someone became inpatient, he became also careless.

Nicolai took his cane and struggled to stand as he said: "No, I think you still have a chance for peaceful negotiation since they have sent you the letter that's mean that they have sacrificed an opportunity for a surprise attack in favor of negotiation."

"Mm, looking at the matter from this angle, you are right. If they didn't wish for a peaceful settlement, they will never send that letter even it had a harsh tone. But How we are going to accomplish that? Surely sending them a reply won't be sufficient?"

Nicolai felt the count's eyes fixating on him. It was just for a few seconds, yet he completely understood the meaning of this foresight. And he himself wasn't willing to back down. He was sure that his answer to this question will determine the degree of his safety in the next few days. Thus, he replied without hesitation: "We should not make any move that will stimulate their threshold."

Francis immediately understood that Nicolai was to his butler Seaben. As if he was saying, you should monitor your that magus, so he won't make any trouble. An uncontrolled smile fled his lips before he eluded: "And?"

"Better than a reply, you shall send them an invitation."

"We send them an invitation through that albino."

"No, better, you send them an invitation and let Be-an deliver it. First, it is more agreeable and respectful. Second, they are familiar with her hence she won't face any difficulty roaming their territory."

Francis was full of doubt. He didn't understand Nicolai's true agenda. By sending that combat maid of his way, he will be defenseless. But most importantly, he asked: "And what we are going to do with that albino since you didn't want me to make a move that threatened them."

"Nothing, we leave him..."

"What?"

"An informer fails when he gets himself exposed. You will gain more if you let him be. By doing so, you will make your enemy relaxed by thinking that he had the upper hand against you."

Actually, Francis didn't get completely convinced by Nicolai's last approach. Generally, he was right. This was a good advantage. However, he knew him for so long to believe all his talk. He must have some ulterior motive by letting that strange being free. However, small chaos may help his goal.