Aile noticed that Fiona was right. It did not matter that Emily was good at hiding her identity and working from the shadows. It was not something that he should give her to do.

Emily wanted to stop Fiona, but Aile beat her to it, "I am sorry Emily you should help Fiona. She has a lot of responsibilities, and once you are done with that, both of you can help Hazel."

Emily was confused as to why Aile changed his mind. After all, she was satisfied with the first job, she knew that she could do that easily.

Fiona snorted, "You better not do something like this again."

Aile nodded and said, "Thank you!"

Emily knew that it was due to her request that Aile asked her that in the first place, thus she interjected and said, "It is fine Fiona, I will do that. I think I will be able to handle it with ease."

Fiona shook her head and said, "There is no need to face that much danger, and live that kind of life, in fear." She then gave Aile an angry look and snorted.

Emily no longer wanted to reject it, as it seemed that both Fiona and Aile wanted her to help with the business's preparation for war. Then Fiona asked about some more details and how much she can spend. After making sure that she was on the same page as Aile. She said, "By the way, I will be taking in your new ladies with me and putting them to work."

Aile was confused, "Laila and Leia?"

"No, the ones you received as compensation," Fiona said with dissatisfaction.

Aile was still confused and looked at Fiona, expecting a joke or something.

Fiona said, "You said to collect all the treasures that those idiots up offered for their lives, yesterday."

"Oh, and you got the girls they promised me?"

"Yes," said Fiona, realizing that perhaps Aile did not want them.

"Just tell them to return or if they are useful, hire them. We will need a lot of new employees anyway."

Fiona said, "Yeah, a few of them seemed very promising, so I will take them." Her expression turned weird, as if she had done something wrong. Unconsciously she had brought her hands in front of her mouth, and her eyes were directed to the side.

Emily looked at Aile and asked, "Can I take a few too."

Aile nodded at her, but mentally, he was thinking of how he can create an underground presence. Since no one else was doing it, he should do it himself.

Emily replied, "Thank you." As she brought down Fiona's hand that was in front of her mouth. Realizing her action, Fiona immediately said she had to leave, and they will talk later.

Once Fiona was gone, Emily asked curiously, "Why did you change the plan?"

Aile looked at her and said in a calm tone, "I just realized that I have not been fair to you. I have put a lot of responsibilities that will make you detached and reserved. I am sorry..."

Emily shook her head, "I am good with those kinds of jobs, and I think I would be able to be more helpful that way."

This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

"But I do not want you to become more and more reclusive, threading this path will result in that. I really enjoy talking with you and getting your opinions, and if I am not around, I do not want you to be lonely. I am sure Fiona will appreciate your input too. I know that you still prefer to work from the dark and you can do that too. But I ask of you to also join in the cooperative projects."

Emily was very emotional and nodded at Aile.

To change the topic, Emily asked, "What are we going to do about the prisoners? You are not planning to just let them go, are you?"

Aile shook his head and said, "Of course not, they are deep underground. They do not know how much time passes. As far as they are concerned, the five years will never end."

Emily, "And what about the troublemakers?"

"We can check their gifts, the stingy ones will be punished."

Emily curiously looked at Aile.

"I want to do some experiments with the hallucinogenic mushroom and other poisons. We can mix it with the food of the ones who have not been generous, and we can call it a curse we placed on all of them. The more insincere they are, the more the curse will affect them."

Emily smirked and laughed. But soon a sense of melancholy replaced her expression.

Since they were done with the topic, Aile left to get started on the daily progress he needed to take over the body.

Emily was just standing there and thinking about what Aile had told him. A few minutes after, the door of the room opened, and Hazel entered. She noticed Emily in a half-crying state.

"Are you ok?" asked Hazel.

Emily nodded.

Hazel had a pondering expression. She was having a debate about something, and finally, she said, "I think you should leave."

Emily looked at Hazel in surprise, as tears built-up on her eyes.

After some time, Emily asked, "Why?"

Hazel looked at her and said, "I did not know why you came here? And I did not mind you staying here before, because of our deal. Here is the medallion that I got from you. With this back at your hand, I do not owe you anything. I do not want to go to this path anymore and do not worry, I will keep my end of the deal and still keep her protected."

Emily dejectedly looked at Hazel and said, "Why do you want me to leave now?"

Hazel said, "I owe Aile too much, and I do not want to leave a possible threat to him unattended. You are close to him now, and I feel that you have not revealed everything about yourself. I do not think you are willing to inform him about your true self either, so I think it would be better to leave."

Emily looked at Hazel and said, "And what if I tell him about myself, do you still want me to leave then?"

Hazel looked at her with a surprised gaze, "You traded that medallion just so I do not ask about your past, and now you are willing to tell him. Is he that important to you?"

Emily nodded.

Hazel sighed, "Why would I have a problem with it, then. Are you sure about this? You do not know much about Aile?"

Emily shook her head, "I was going to tell him about my past a while ago."

"What made you stop?"

"It is because I cannot tell him everything, and I do not want him to think that I do not trust him?"

Hazel curiously looked at her.

"I cannot tell him about the woman you are protecting and... I have already promised to keep them a secret unless..."

Hazel sighed and said, "You do not have to tell me if you do not want. We all have our secrets. I will be satisfied as long as Aile knows who and what he is dealing with..."

Soon after a maid came and informed Aile that Hazel was asking for him. Aile had not begun his training, so he did not mind, he got up and went to them. He entered the room and saw Emily's tearful eyes and Hazel there. He asked, "What happened?"

Emily said, "I think I should tell you about my past now."

Aile sighed, "Why do you seem so reluctant then?"

"I am sorry, but I-I cannot tell you everything. It is not because I do not trust you. It is..."

Aile looked at her and saw despair, "Can I ask you something?"

Emily nodded.

"If a situation happens that will not align your interest with mine, what would you do?"

"There is no place where our interest does not align. I will make sure it remains like that, so we never have to face such a situation."

"Is there anything from your past that will immediately negatively affect us?"

"No."

"Then, in that case, as long as you inform me about it before they affect our life, it is ok. I do not want to force you into doing anything. I trust you enough. So just tell me when you feel comfortable."

Emily nodded, "I promise to tell you on Sophie's 16th birthday."

Aile looked at Emily and nodded, he then said, "Make sure to help Fiona and Hazel."

Aile left. He knew that nothing good will come from such a forced reveal. He also knew that Emily had trusted him in many instances. She also had kept his interest above hers on many occasions. Putting this much of his faith on Emily was nothing compared to how much she trusted him.

As he predicted, Emily valued his faith much more this way.