"Are you the son of the sky?"
Marcus, who was writing, paused as he recalled this question.
The person's voice also came into view.
With a frustrated grunt, he dropped his pen and looked to his side to glare at Bradley who was also busy writing.
The ball was three nights ago, and Marcus still hasn't been able to forget what happened there due to three reasons.
The first being Maney. The man had stayed true to his words and actually sent a carriage carrying ten thousand gold coins to Marcus's mansion the next day.
At first, Marcus thought that a curse had been placed on the gold coins, so he used his [Inspect] to investigate the coins.
However, he was only able to see that they were gold coins, true and true.
They weren't sacrificial tokens or bribery.
Though Marcus was certain that this was blood money, he still didn't hesitate to use it.
The second was the cross-dresser, Veronica, who had piqued his curiosity.
Why was she pretending to be a guy, even going as far as using illusion spells to perfect her presence?
How had it worked on so many people that they couldn't tell that she was a girl?
If she had come from a less prominent family, this would have been understandable, however, her family is well known.
Secrets in families like hers rarely stay hidden for long.
Marcus had thought of investigating a bit, but he left it at that.
The third reason… he was looking at him.
How dare you try to matchmake me? When did I say that I was looking for a wife?
The scenes where Marcus had to refuse a lady firmly resurfaced in his mind.
Embarrassed and furious, she tried to slap Marcus only to be stopped by Brown.
Because Bradley was at fault, he didn't do anything to the Lady, letting her off.
If you want to matchmake, at least don't make foolish promises to the other party next time!
Marcus thought as he watched Bradley focus on his punishment. He suddenly felt as though the punishment of making a dozen copies of the book he wrote wasn't enough.
As for Bradley, he didn't see this as a punishment, it was his work. The young had received an anonymous donation and had brought their plans of educating the masses forward.
In fact, the masons were already working on building a learning center.
So making copies of these books didn't fill him with discomfort.
His only regret…
Was Lady Sheila not his type? I've been with the young master for so long, I know what he likes and dislikes. He must have been too shy and embarrassed. That must be it. I'll have to write a letter to Lady Sheila explaining the young lord's reasons.
As Bradley's thoughts spiraled, a smile curved on his lips, and Marcus caught it.
"I knew it! This isn't enough punishment for you!" As though he had caught Bradley in the act.
"Huh?! No Milord, I'm already tired as is. We've been writing books non-stop over the past two days!" Bradley feigned exhaustion.
"Liar! I just saw you smiling."
"Me?"
Right before Marcus could push on, a knock fell on his office door.
Brown stepped in and took in the sight of several books stacked on the floor. "Milord, you have visitors from Ulha Academy."
"What for?"
"They said something about investigating the battle site…"
"Oh," Marcus had forgotten about this. He too had figured that the Royal Council had sent these students to Agard for a reason.
He cleared his throat and adjusted his clothes.
Just as he was about to step out, he turned and faced Bradley, "You're not needed for this. Stay and continue making copies of the books." With that, he closed the door behind him.
Bradley sighed and slumped back into his chair. He couldn't help but chuckle.
The young lord is loosening up a bit since his recovery.
Since Marcus reawakened, he has had an unfamiliarity about him, and this worried Bradley a bit. Especially since he kept on coming up with new and unconventional things.
He even feared that Marcus had died and was possessed by a devious actor.
But recently, his worries had subsided.
"The young lord is still as playful and mischievous. He must have been acting all grown up because of his age and responsibilities…"
Looking at what he was copying down, Bradley couldn't fathom how this young lord of his knew so much. "Fine, I'll continue writing some more." He muttered.
...
Arriving in his guest parlor, Marcus stepped in to see four students seated, and waiting. The moment the door opened, their eyes all dropped on the door.
One of the guests, he recognized.
The girl-boy came too.
"Wow, quite the number of guests." Marcus smiled.
Three of them stood up to get Marcus, and of the three, only one bowed.
Veronica was the only one who remained sitting.
When it comes to customs, normally, she without an official title is meant to display respect to someone like Marcus.
But her family's name was more than enough to waive such customs for her.
And as for the three who stood up, two of them were from Marquis families, they didn't need to bow to Marcus.
The one who bowed couldn't avoid it.
Such is the dynamics of noble customs.
"Please, sit," Marcus said. "I apologize for not having drinks to offer you guys. But as you can see, my mansion isn't exactly… welcoming." He took his seat.
"Not at all, Lord Governor." A handsome young man said, one of the two who didn't bow. "My name is Zach, Zach Van Halen."
Hmm, a Van? Marcus noted.
"Eddy Lawfy." The second, who also didn't bow, said dryly.
"Sam Jefferson, Milord." The young man who bowed added.
Everyone turned and looked at Veronica, waiting for her to introduce herself, but she remained silent, folding her hands over her chest and ignoring their looks.
"Forgive his attitude, Lord Governor. That's Ron El Salvador, a member of the Twelve Strong, just like us, and his people's skills are bad." Zach quickly chipped in.
"No offense taken." Marcus waved it off, ignoring the young girl.
"Thank you. I have to say, we were all wondering what sort of man you were when we saw all that was happening around the premises of your estate." Zach said.
"Oh, that's flattering to hear, but it's something overdue. I had been sick for a long time and left my people to starve."
"I believe that if you were well, you would have turned this place into something else over the last decade."
"Perhaps," Marcus smiled. "So tell me, why have four members of the Twelve Strong come to visit me?"
"Well, our main objective had to do with the recent report you sent to the Royal Council about suspected cult activities."
"Oh, I had thought the Royal Council didn't care when my man returned without a formal word from them."
Zach chuckled. "Apologies, Lord Governor. You should understand the power struggles that occur in such a political council. The council doesn't play around when it comes to such things. Even though there was no evidence, they still sent us to confirm."
Marcus arched a brow and said lightly, "I didn't know that students of Ulha Academy are not considered Inspectors."
"We're not, but we've been trained in tracking cultists and can easily identify their ways," Zach said.
Marcus paused and looked at the rest of the students. There was confidence in their gaze.
To him, it would be easy to catch these youngsters in a lie.
"Okay. What do you think? You must have passed the site when coming here, right?"
Two of them nodded. Eddy and Veronica remained as they were.
"I'm afraid to say, without a doubt, that there are indeed cultists in Agard. And their operations aren't small. Not only the battle site, but we have sensed devilish intents in several other places." Zach revealed solemnly.
This revelation made Marcus frown, his fingers slowly tapped the armrest of his chair. "Devilish Intent? Kindly elaborate on that."
Zach was a bit surprised that Marcus didn't know what that term was.
"He never got the chance to be formally educated, what do you expect?" Eddy uttered. "Only his older siblings attended the academy and they too dropped out before graduation. It wouldn't be wrong to call them illiterates."
The entire room turned to look at Eddy.
Brown and Joshua who were in the room stared daggers at this young man.
Was he here seeking death?
Such a blatant insult could cost him his head.
However, contrary to how everyone thought Marcus would react, the young lord chuckled. "True, I was home-schooled. I was too troublesome to have been enrolled in any school."
Zach faced Eddy and said with a glare. "Don't speak if you're not going to say anything good."
Eddy rolled his eyes and looked elsewhere, finally noticing the glares he was receiving from the two knights in the room.
At first, he wanted to ignore them, but his senses screamed danger. As though he was being stared down by two beasts.
That can't be. Are they Tidal Wave Knights too? But that's not enough to make me feel this way.
"Devilish Intent refers to the evil aura that permeates our dimension when beings from other dimensions are involved," Zach explained. "No matter how silent they are, as long as they act and draw upon power from dimensional beings, traces of devilish Intent would appear."
Marcus nodded in understanding. "I see… where else did you say you found such intents?"
"Everywhere but the Eastern District."