The pair watched the class being led away by Bak Stah’Ber and just stood in silence. A silence that lasted far longer than anyone would find comfortable till Alex finally broke it.

“Was the dance show really necessary?”

“Human, I think you will find it was very necessary. I have a reputation to keep up, and while the news may not be the best, I have a way to give it.”

“Best?” Alex echoed. “You told her her parents are dead and dying, and you did so with pyrotechnics and a dance number.”

“Well, when you put it like that, it makes me seem a bit heartless. Regardless what is done is done. Now human, I kept you back for a specific reason.”

“Lady Plutarchie, I know you know my name.”

“That I do, but you are a debtor to me. Till you repay it, your name will never leave my lips.”

“Yet the debt I have can never be repaid.”

“Yes, that very much is what it seems. You are too much like my one true love. How is he, by the way?”

“Sloth?”

“Yes, he is the only one I would abandon my ways for. The heart yearns, as they say.”

“He is his usual self. Focusing on random research.”

“Still up to mischief?”

“Not nearly as much as you’d think,” Lust seemed to slump at Alex’s reply.

“He has always been an odd duck. But he was meant to be my odd duck… you know you remind me of him when he was young.”

“I’ve been told I am very much like he was.”

“Yes, too much. Had he not still existed in this realm, I would’ve assumed you to be his reincarnation. Human… I can already see the divergence; you achieved what we could not.”

“What’s that?”

“You were able to become one with your love… Yes, I am Lady Lust, but that sexy beast of a man that is Sloth is… well, I won’t say more.” Alex decidedly held his tongue about the phrase sexy beast. His master was the source for the image of a mad researcher. Beast is probably the only word that could ever be attributed by anyone else.

“Why don’t you go ahead and marry him?”

“Oh, that ship has long sailed. Way back when my grandfather founded this domain and joined forces with Lord Hades… I hoped to bond with Victor's domain. But it was forbidden by my father, and I was bound by a soul contract never to do such a thing. It is a tragedy to lose one's love. It is why I don’t go after those whose hearts are already claimed.”

“Regardless, I take it you didn’t ask me to remain just to talk about my master?”

“Yes… I assume you can tell why I asked you to remain?”

“To not pursue this?” Lust nodded.

“Yes, I am at this moment giving you an order as a debtor. You are not to pursue this situation yourself. If you proceed to do so, you will be in breach of contract.”

“That seems fair.”

“I am aware it is fair… I need you to confirm you accept the order human. You will not hide yourself behind wordplay with me. Any loophole in an agreement is only there because I left it there. Now confirm you accept my order.”

“I accept your order.”

“To?”

“I accept your order not to pursue this situation regarding Daisy’s parents myself.” As Alex finished saying these words, his entire being glowed faintly for a few seconds.

“Good, the agreement is set… now human, read these,” Lust said as she took a bundle of documents from a servant and handed them to him.

“These are?”

“Reports of the investigation.”

“But you just ordered-?”

“Human, I ordered you not to pursue it yourself. I am commissioning you to study these. The orders may overlap, but there is no contradiction. I cannot have one with your power running free to seek revenge. We are on the brink of war. We cannot leave openings. Now read through the documents and accounts. I know you ‘researchers’ are good at picking up on information between the lines. Now begone, I have a ‘party’ with several lords from Greed’s domain to see to.”

Accepting the bundle of documents, Alex followed a now-returned Bak Stah’Ber out of the throne room towards the bedrooms where the class had been taken.

“How are they?” Alex asked.

Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.

“They are currently stressing over how to approach the young lady. The young lady herself is currently in her room with a strangely small dragon wearing what looks like a metallic slime for armour.” As with many royal estates, this one had an array built into the structure that would allow the head servant to be aware of the status of its guests. The moment they wanted food, it would already be on its way.

Alex, however, momentarily paused midstep upon hearing that. He had suspected one of them had ‘adopted’ a duck-sized dragon. It was a bit hard not to hear the little yaps when the baggage was being loaded. But he had suspected either Bea or maybe Tasha. Daisy would’ve been one of his last guesses.

“Here is your room, sir. The young lady is in that room there,” Bak Stah’Ber said, gesturing to a pair of doors slightly further down the hallway. Thanking the butler, Alex settled into his room and began reading the investigation documents.

The documents were quite a read in of themselves. He could already identify a near dozen people embezzling funds. But of the names he had identified, nine were already listed as identified. Scribbling the extra names onto the list, Alex continued through the provided documents and ledgers.

Of all the criminal activity contained within the documents provided, the vast majority were within what was considered acceptable corruption. The thing is that there was always someone going to skim something. Sometimes graft was needed to enable the smooth running of the system. It was unfortunate, but despite his eccentricity, Alex was a pragmatist.

It was as he went further into the documents he began to see four names stick out more and more. There was Stephano, a merchant from Greed's domain. He was one of the merchant guild's wealthiest members, and with a new Greed transfer upcoming, he would need that final push to put him into the spot of richest.

Despite the hidden trap of the seat of Greed, it was still a seat of incredible power and influence. The ability to help govern the trade of the entire continent was such that even the relative poverty of the position would not stop someone ambitious enough.

The next name that popped out to him was Septus. The man held considerable authority over the military of the royal domain. He held command over the city's entire military forces and was someone gunning for the seat of Envy. A seat that only respected military ability, something he had little chance to display. But with all his actions, there was the chance of a criminal gang war starting out in the capital. Something he would benefit significantly from.

The next name was Lux Lightbringer. Someone Alex had only heard rumours about, but none of the rumours were pleasant. Most worryingly for this one was payments inked to the Bertolini Trade company. A company that had come under recent suspicion after he had destroyed a fortress of slavers and documents discovered showed they had links.

The last name was a woman named Gabriella. In his recollection, she was a minor functionary within the court of Crozonia. But she had leveraged every benefit to give herself a lavish lifestyle. However, her abilities were lacking, and she was on the verge of having her nobility revoked.

Four names and four possibilities as to who was responsible for the Haemont assault. The merchant desperately scrambling for the seat of greed, the commander without any accolades, A merchant and possible slave trader or a noble on the verge of losing everything.

He had to admit even with these possibilities laid out before him; he couldn’t identify who had been behind it. Septus seemed likely as the guard were behind the attack. But he would be the obvious suspect, and the guard wasn’t exactly hard to bribe.

The best he could do for now would be to pass on what his analysis had discovered and pass it back to Lust. But part of him hesitated; he had seen the fiery rage that had taken hold of Daisy’s heart. It was a flame he recognised all too well.

Even now, with all his power and influence, he couldn’t lie to himself. He knew he was still that scared and angry eight-year-old that ran away from the burning remains of his village. It was why he so desperately held onto everyone he made bonds with.

“I’d like some cleaning alcohol, please,” he said aloud.

As he waited for the product to arrive, he was left with his own thoughts. He could so easily hunt these people down and be done with it. But he was now bound by an agreement he had made with lust. Before he could get lost in his thoughts, a knock at the door came.

“I have the cleaning alcohol, sir, and a tankard as was requested.” Alex smiled as he took the bottle and mug from Bak Stah’Ber. He hadn’t even mentioned a tankard, but the butler had intuited his desire.

“Is everything ok, sir? You seem troubled.”

“It’s this whole situation.”

“Yes, nasty business that. Shame that you yourself cannot pursue it without mine lady's order.”

“Yes…” Alex agreed as he sipped his drink. To anyone else, this would’ve felt like burning, but to him and Yuu it was a light tickle. But as the drink trickled down his throat, a thought struck him.

“Thank you, Bak Stah’Ber,” the butler nodded and left the room.

He now could see how it could proceed forwards… but it would be tricky, and he was loathe to put the kids into a truly dangerous situation. But he supposed that protecting his charges would take precedence over not pursuing. Especially if it wasn’t him himself pursuing the situation.

“Sir?” a voice from the door asked.

“Come in, Bea,” The door opened, and Bea walked in and settled into the seat across from him.

“How can I help?”

“We want to get revenge for Daisy.”

“I can’t,” Alex replied with a shake of his head.

“But sir, we have seen you-”

“I am bound not to pursue this,” Alex said as he gestured to the documents still on the table.

“I cannot go rampaging around Hades Seat killing without cause or reason. Especially as we don’t know which of these four did it,” Alex explained as he moved a few pages around to make sure she could see the names he had circled.

“They’re a dangerous bunch, and someone like me who draws a lot of attention would be a hindrance in finding the real culprit,” Bea nodded in response to this observation. Alex was grateful it was Bea who had come.

Tasha would’ve taken his words at face value. Maxwell was already dealing with a lot of family stuff, so he would’ve been too distracted to read the subtext. While likely reading the subtext, Kline and Gunter would’ve hesitated to act on it. Daisy was the only one he wouldn’t have even attempted this with. He knew that fire needed friends to keep it controlled. He couldn’t let Daisy become a monster.

“I hope you understand, Bea. I will not pursue anything to do with this and will pass these names on to Lady Lust this evening. But we still have some time to stay in the capital, so I hope you can try your best to cheer up Daisy while the real culprit is found out.”

“Understood, sir… Have a good evening; sorry for intruding,” Bea rose from her seat, pausing only to glance one more time at the circled names while Alex very conspicuously tilted his head back to drink.

“Have a good evening, Bea… also could you get the guys to check up on Daisy… I’m sure she could really use friends right about now.”

“Message is loud and clear, sir. I’ll see if we can get a load of booze and get her so drunk she doesn’t care.”

“That’s… That’s a plan, I suppose.” With a final goodbye, the door closed behind Bea, leaving Alex all alone once more.

“I hope I’ve done the right thing,” he muttered, thinking about what Lust had said. That any loophole there is because she left it there.