Chapter 1.28

The waiter pointed to the lady's table and then bowed.

"You look beautiful, Lady de Wolfe," said Louie and bowed politely.

"Mr. de Brenyi, you flatter me," she replied.

"Not at all," Louie disagreed. "You are one of the most beautiful women I have ever met."

Louie pulled back a chair for her and gestured for her to take a seat.

"Thank you," she said, taking a seat.

"I'm very glad you accepted my invitation," Louie said, taking a seat as well.

"How could I," she smiled. "You wrote so mysteriously. I just couldn't refuse you."

"I hope I don't disappoint you."

"Me too," she said, and then with her hand called for a waiter.

When the waiter came over, she asked Louie.

"Have you placed your order yet?"

"Yes. I dared to order in advance. I hope it won't disappoint you."

"Then you can bring it in," she told the waiter.

Not a couple of minutes later, the first change of dishes was brought to them.

The first meal consisted of bird soup with herbs and potatoes in ceramic pots with a lid. It was served hot. And also marinated red fish, sliced into small pieces on an oval plate garnished with herbs. Janine recognized the fish almost immediately. It was native to the southern coast of the continent and was rare in the dark empire.

White wine from the northern regions of the Dark Empire was poured into glasses for the first meal.

Then the second course was served. It consisted of deer meat from the western forests of the light empire, sliced thinly and fried in butter and flour. A spicy red sauce in a small saucepan. A large salad of various finely chopped vegetables seasoned with vegetable oil. And brackish fish roe from the east coast of the continent in a small bowl.

To this change of dishes was served Red Monastery wine from the southwestern plains of the Holy Empire.

And for the third course, for dessert, various fruits from the southern part of the continent were served, cut into slices and sweet rolls with various fillings.

Each course change was accompanied by its own cutlery.

"What an extravagant table dear Louie," Janine said with a smile when the appetizers alone were left on the table. "I'm impressed."

"You flatter me, my lady," Louie replied. "It's only a small gratitude for the sake of our mutually beneficial partnership."

"Don't cheapen yourself, Louie," Janine smiled. "Not only are the ingredients for these dishes from all over the continent, but they're also magic-ranked. Fish with the magic of water and nature. Vegetables and fruit with the magic of earth and nature. Bird in soup with the magic of nature. Deer meat with earth magic."

Janine looked at Louie in surprise.

"White wine with water magic, red wine with nature magic. And these grapes," Janine plucked from a cluster of large black grapes on the table, "they're with earth magic, and grow, if I'm right, in Artea in the middle of the continent."

Louie smiled, realizing that she had figured out his little ploy.

"All three elements are water, earth, and nature. You know my three main elements of magic!" exclaimed Janine. "How do you know them?"

"Dear Janine, it is not such a great mystery," Louie assured her. "Knowing the right people, you can find all the information you need. And if you're famous, too…"

"You surprised me greatly, Louie," Janine smiled. "And I'm even more surprised that you have the same three elements of magic. Aren't you?"

"Yes, you're right. I possess those elements."

"You've shown me that you possess extensive connections and some capabilities, but I'm in the dark. It's not just to impress me, is it?"

"You're right," Louie smiled at her.

Next to him on a separate chair was his leather handbag. From there he pulled out a crystal tablet and handed it to Janine. She looked at him in surprise.

"Activate it," he said. "The first thing you will see will be information of interest to you. The second part will be information of interest to me."

Janine took the tablet and quickly activated it. Several times she looked at Louie in surprise. It took her quite a while to go through all the information. And in the meantime, Louie had even ordered a second dessert for them consisting of cream cakes and a hot coffee drink from far away.

"Amazing. There's a lot of useful information to work with," she finally said, tearing herself away from the tablet. "Very valuable information. And fresh, like on Michael de Graaf. How did you manage that?"

"A secret, dear Janine."

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"Ah, I'd give anything to know your secret Louie," she said with a sigh.

"You don't need to give up all of it. What's in the second part is enough."

"I wish I could remember all this information."

"That won't be necessary. I'll leave you the crystal tablet."

"What?" She marveled. "It's… As an advance, I take it?"

"Among other things," he replied.

Janine re-activated the crystal tablet and quickly found the second part Louis was talking about. As soon as she read the first lines, her eyes widened in shock. She instantly rushed to the center of the table and activated the private mode around their table. Immediately all the music and the voices of the performers on stage disappeared. And an opaque screen formed around their table. The activation of the screen certainly drew the attention of the customers sitting around it, but it was not unusual in this restaurant. It was, after all, one of the special features of this restaurant.

Janine stared at Louie, unable to believe her eyes what she had just read.

"You're not kidding?" She asked him after a long pause. "Or is this such a joke?"

"A costly joke, don't you think so sweet Janine?" Louie asked instead of answering.

"But if anyone finds out about it…"

"Nothing will happen," he ended for her.

"But why would you want to do this?"

"That's a strange question. You already know the answer to that. I can assure you that for me it is only business and nothing more."

"Business?" She marveled, "You mean these numbers next to each item…"

"That's the amount in gold."

"Wow," Janine wondered. "That's for how many pieces?"

"For one," Louie replied.

"You do realize that I can't deal with such matters alone. At the very least I need a consultation with Thomas de Wolfe, my grandfather."

"You don't trust your father?"

"For some reason," Janine sighed and looked away.

"Can you arrange for me to meet your grandfather?"

"I think yes. But we'll have to discuss the details, dear Louie."

"Let's do the discussion, then."

"Not here… We need a more int... private setting," she smiled, almost saying too much.

"So, what are we waiting for?" asked Louie, rising from his seat and giving Janine a hand.

Colonel Tirel stepped off the carriage. Eric Stoff came down next.

"It's been a long time since I've been here. How long has it been? Fifteen years, maybe," the Colonel said, looking at the house in front of them.

"What's next, sir?" Eric, standing next to him, asked.

"You and I go inside. And the rest of us," he turned back. There were four more of the colonel's men standing near the carriage. "Drive the carriage farther down the street, but not far, across the house."

"Sir, wouldn't it be better to take at least one more with us for backup."

"Why?" He wondered. "You don't think we can handle servants who don't have magic?"

"No, sir. Of that I am certain. I mean, Catherine de Graaf is going to release Michael today, and he's coming home."

"Eric, are you afraid of Michael?" Tyrell wondered.

"No. That's not it," Eric Shtof answered evasively. "What if he's not coming back alone?"

"That with whom, for instance? With Catherine? Do you think we can handle her? She'll tear this whole town apart without even breaking a sweat. That old hag is a natural monster."

"But if he comes back with her..."

"All the easier it will be to persuade Michael if anything goes wrong with us before then."

"Goes wrong? I thought you said it would go easy."

"That's not what I meant at all," the colonel said evasively.

Tirel waited until his carriage pulled away and stood two houses away from them. Satisfied, he turned toward the house and headed for the entrance. He went to the door and rang the bell. After a short time, the door opened. On the doorstep stood Martha, followed by Doran.

When she saw the colonel, she changed her face.

" Mr. de Graaf," she bowed when she recognized him. "I did not expect to see you here. Have you come because of the young master?"

"Yes, Martha, I came because of Michael. May I come in?" Asked the Colonel.

"Yes, of course," she said, letting them inside the house.

In the hall, the colonel stopped, waiting for Martha to close the doors.

"Do you know anything about him? Is he uninjured? Where is he?" Martha bombarded Tirel with questions.

"I'll tell you all about it now," Tirel raised his hand and stopped her further questions. "Alive and well is your Michael. Arrested for the murder of a Capital guard."

"How can it be... It just can't be...", Martha couldn't believe the words.

"It can," he confirmed. "I saw him yesterday and talked to him."

"But it's unthinkable...," Martha's legs began to buckle from the news and Doran had to support her so she wouldn't collapse.

Doran took Martha to the nearest padded sofa, several of which were in the hall. Seating Martha, he looked at Tirel.

"The young lord was leaving unarmed that day. How could he have killed anyone."

"He's good with magic," Eric said.

"But to kill the capital's guard? Why would he do that?"

"How the demon should I know,'" Eric brushed the question aside.

"Michael said it was self-defense," Tirel replied. "But the facts of his case say otherwise."

"So, what happens now?" Martha asked quietly.

"A trial," Tirel answered briefly.

"Will he be released?" She asked hopefully.

"It is unlikely."

Upon hearing this answer, tears appeared in Martha's eyes and she began to sob softly.

"Then why are you here, Mr. de Graaf?" asked Doran.

"Following the law, I will conduct your interrogation and search of the house," replied Tirel. "While captain Eric Shtof conducts the interrogation, I will inspect the house. No objections, I hope?"

While Eric recorded Martha and Doran's statements, Colonel Tirel took a quick walk around the first floor of the house. Not noticing anything of interest thereafter, he ascended to the second floor. The right wing of the floor was completely empty. It was obvious that only occasional visitors came in here. The left wing already showed signs of being inhabited, though very sparse by Tirel's standards. He found some of Mike's clothes and shoes in the bedroom and a half-empty bookcase in his office. There were a lot of papers on the desk, mostly correspondence. Nothing on the desk was work-related or what the colonel wanted to find. Not a trace of magical artifacts or weapons could he find. Even applying his magical vision, he found nothing. There was nothing left to do but go down the hall.

"Do you have a basement in this house?" Asked the question to Martha.

"Yes, Mr. de Graaf. There's an entrance to the basement behind the stairs," she said, pointing with her hand. "The entrance is always open."

The colonel quickly found his way down to the basement. The basement in the house was thorough, nearly the entire house, and had a dozen rooms. Tirel was excited to find what he was interested in here. But he was greatly disappointed. Half the rooms were empty and there was not a trace of magic in them. Some of the rooms were filled with household goods and partly with supplies. The only thing he found unusual was the water tanks. They stood in the first room. In all, Tirel counted eight tanks. They were tall at one and a half meters and three-quarters of a meter wide. But most importantly they were movable on rollers. The colonel had no idea what they were for. In another room, he found several bags of clean river sand and broken quartz.

Disappointed and a little irritated, he returned to the hall. By this time Eric had finished recording Martha and Doran's statements.

"Where's his lab?" Tirel asked in a rush.

"His who?" Martha didn't understand.

"Where is Michael's lab?" The colonel repeated the question.

Martha pointed her hand down below his feet.

"I was in the basement. There's nothing there," Tirel said irritably.

"You misunderstand, Mr. de Graaf. It is not in the basement. It is right under your feet."

Tirel and Eric looked beneath their feet, but all they saw there was the wide woven carpet that could be found in most houses in the capital. Quickly figuring out what was wrong, the two of them rolled it aside. Underneath it, they saw a huge pentagram drawing inscribed in a ring with various writings with a diameter of almost three meters.

"Wow," Eric involuntarily exclaimed in surprise.

Tirel looked angrily at Martha.

"Why didn't you say so at first!"

"Well, you didn't ask."