***

Lucy looked at the elderly man before her and sighed.

"What is wrong?" she asked.

"My lady, the professor has been arrested. He is to be executed in three days," the man said.

"What happened?" Lucy asked.

"He took one of the king's nephews to use for his experiments," the man said and Lucy waved him away.

"Go and bring him. I have a lab rat for him," Lucy said and the man faded away.

Lord Morge and Lord of Merve were guarded since the man came. They knew that the lady had a lot of powerful people in her arsenal, but they had never seen a man that powerful.

"Why have you come?" Lucy turned to the two lords who seemed to sigh a relief the moment the man had disappeared.

"I wonder if you would not mind meeting Lady Steinhouse," Lord Morge asked.

"What happened," she asked.

"She has been on our necks about where Walter is. She wishes to meet you," Lord of Merve said.

"Are you asking for permission to have her come, or are you begging me to meet with her?" Lucy asked.

"She won't let it go," Lord Morge said. He was tired; they both were. Lady Steinhouse approached them at least four times a day; asking them about Walter, complaining about her clan's rude behaviour and how when Walter comes back, he will get rid of them. They could not take it anymore and told her that only Lady Wickshire could bring him back, as she is the only person that knows where he went; saying that even they are not allowed such knowledge.

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"She asked to meet you...Just because she is worried about Walter," Lord of Merve said.

"And not because you pushed responsibility unto me?" Lucy asked leisurely and they froze.

"Well, she should be worried. I mean we know why he has gone and we are still worried," Lord Morge said.

"You don't think he is up to the task?" Lucy asked.

"I don't know much about his temperament or why you chose him," Lord Morge answered.

"You underestimate him, you know. Have I ever told you how we met?" Lucy said and the two lords glanced at each other.

"I saw fear in his eyes, but only for a second. Still, I found it amusing. People who don't know me don't get scared by a casual threat. No. Not like he did. It could be he was a coward or he was very perceptive. The other option could be that he knew who I was. But how could he truly know me? The fear in his eyes was not the kind my enemies throw at me, but that my allies give me. I had someone watch him for a while. He talked a man into killing himself once. Though everything he said to the man was utter rubbish, it was the way he said it," Lucy said as though thinking.

"He talked a Northern Lan guard into telling us everything when we went to retrieve Lady Teel in the dead of night. It was small but... there is something about the way he said it," Lord of Merve said as though remembering the scene.

"He has a flair for human nature. There is something about him that can't help fiddling with people's weaknesses. It makes one wonder if he can see all weaknesses. Is it a gift? Is he guessing? When he talked the minister of finance into a corner to help the king, I knew his strength was in mental torture. It's the way he approaches the torture. The way he starts to scare you, it's a gift. I'm still messing around with the possibility of his gifts," Lucy said.

"I dare not imagine what you actually saw, as I cannot understand how something so small represents his ability," Lord Morge said.

"It represents what his ability could be. It made me wonder, should I twig him a bit?" Lucy said with a small smile and they shivered.