Aero is looking at the woman sleeping soundly on his bed. Looking at her like she looks innocent."Sleeping she does look like an innocent little girl" Aero thought to himself.
Who would have thought such girl is an a.s.sa.s.sin? And not just any run of the mill a.s.sa.s.sin but someone from the Blood Brotherhood.
The report about her is on the bedtable.
After reading the reports from the Captain of the Guard, Aero found out they did not know anything about her.
Where she came from, when did she join the Blood Brotherhood, who ordered the a.s.sa.s.sination.
Nothing.
That is very impressive. Even after all that torture she didn"t open her mouth an inch.
"It would be a mistake to think of this girl as a weak person" Aero thought
Aero is standing guard beside her, looking at her as he reminisces something.
But that is not the only reason he was beside her.
Because judging by her conditions that is patching up nicely, Aero predicted that in a couple of hours she may wake up from her sleep.
She sometimes whimpers in her sleep and that tugged Aero heartstring. Sometimes she sweats and screams.
"It must be a bad dream. A nightmare"
Outside of the room, other guards are stationed. They are full of vigilance and ready to subdue her if she tries to escape.
Aero could not help but thought as long as he is in here, there is no chance for this woman to escape.
Waiting and waiting. Aero sat beside her, looking like he was lost in a thought. Then finally, after hours of waiting her fingers twitched.
And her eyes fluttered and she slowly begins opening her eyes. The first thing she sees is Aero. And unsurprisingly, she is confused.
Aero only smile and said
"Finally you woke up. We have a lot to talk about" The moment she realizes where she is a look of horror flashed on her face for a split second.
Immediately she tried to move back as far away as possible from Aero
Aero understand her confusion so he just let her.
"Where am I?" she said looking left and right. Aero smirks as he saw she look to the windows.
"What is it about this girl and windows?" Aero thought to himself.
Fortunately, he had already barred the windows, worried that she will try to jump from the window to escape.
She is a treasure trove of information and she is in no condition to escape. Aero could get some information about the elusive Blood Brotherhood and also his enemies.
"You"re in my room" and he gestured for her to see the room. She calmed down and look around her and finally she nodded.
She then checked her body. She looked at her body that is covered up with blankets, looking whether anything indecent is done towards her.
Comforted that she was not violated when she was unconscious, she heaved a sigh of relief.
Because she realized she was clothed. Seeing this Aero was amused
Did she think I did anything to her? Aero think to himself. Then he said to the woman
"I"m insulted. You think I would touch a lady when she is unconscious?" Aero said showing an expression of hurt.
"I"m no lady" she said sternly
"Yes, of course. I stand corrected. You"re an a.s.sa.s.sin" And Aero flashed a grin. The woman looks at Aero with a glare but Aero did not budge even an inch
"What do you want?" she asked, her eyes were fiercely looking at Aero. On the other hand, Aero is still calm and unfazed by the glare at all.
"I want you to name the perpetrators who ordered you to kill me"
"Or what? You"ll torture me again?"
Aero shook his head in regret
"I never intended to torture you. Antilus…..misunderstood my order."
Then for a moment there is a brief silence in Aero bedroom
She is trying to a.s.sess whether he is speaking the truth. She looked at his eyes.
Her mentor always tells her "Look into their eyes. And then you will see"
And she would always ask, see what?
Everything, her mentor said.
And looking at the Chancellor face. He doesn"t seem like he is lying. Or if he is lying he is too good of a liar.
"Alright, maybe you didn"t order the torture, so what? What now?" she asks. Aero then clicked his tongue and then said
"To be honest, I was thinking of offering you more money than the person who hired you. I might have even conferred to you a t.i.tle of n.o.bility or some hedge knight. But that was before I read the report about you. You will never go back against your word once you decided on a target."
"That"s true" This time it"s her time to grin.
Aero still looks calm.
His hazel eyes scanned Tatiana gauging her abilities.
Then he smiled and said
"You will find me hard to kill" He said confidently while tilting his head back
"Want to bet?" She challenged. Aero could not believe what he just heard. So, he broke into laughter.
"Fine, let"s bet. How about this? I will give you three days to kill me. In that span of time, you will live here. You can try to kill me in that span of time and if you succeed I promise you with my authority as the Chancellor I will write you a letter of pardon just before I die."
Then with a hint of smile, he continued
"However if you fail to kill me in that span of time, you will abandon the Blood Brotherhood and join me" Aero declared.
Aero knows many influential people and his reputation itself is known as good.
But he understands the need to sometimes plot the death of your rival.
If he wants to survive in the Court at least he needs to have that kind of contingency plan.
If he could persuade this girl to serve him, this would save him a lot of trouble. He doesn"t need to employ the Blood Brotherhood and sully his own reputation.
"Agreed?" Aero asked.
Tatiana is thinking. She is thinking about this matter deeply.
She looks at Aero and saw the confident smile on his face. This makes her feel suspicious about the bet
She looked at the door but she could sense the guards outside.
Running from this place would prove to be hard. No, she thinks again. It would be impossible now considering that she already exposed herself.
There will be surely guards posted on every watchtower, lookouts of this residence.
Even if she manages to get out of this room, she still had to contend with the many guards outside.
It was hard enough even when no one knew she was here. Now that they knew, it surely will become harder.
But she just kept thinking that if she accepts the bet, she would fall into a trap. The Chancellor confidence unnerves her.
This is the first time she met someone who was not afraid at all when faced with the prospect of Death.
It was almost like he knew she can"t kill him. But that is impossible right? After all, everyone dies.
Even Adventurers dies.
Looking at that arrogant grin on the Chancellor face, she felt provoked. She has proved many people wrong before.
He will be only one of many.
"Adventurers always have this kind of arrogance. Thinking that they are better than us" Tatiana thought to herself
"Fine, I"ll accept the bet" she replied. Aero chuckles and his eyes is mischievous.
It was so easy Aero thought. He digs the hole and he didn"t even have to push the person into the hole.
The person seems enthusiastic enough of jumping into it willingly.
Of course she didn"t know that she just jumped into a hole.
"Then, I would like to make an acquaintance of the person that might kill me" Aero said still smiling.
"Tatiana" she said curtly
"Tatiana" Aero repeated.
It"s a strong name. A good name. Aero thought to himself. Then he said
"Then, Tatiana please sleep in the guest room" Aero said.
Tatiana seems confused. Aero looking at Tatiana confused face found the right moment to tease this a.s.sa.s.sin.
"Oh, did I miss the signals? Do you want to sleep with me per chance?" Aero said clearly joking.
Flushed, Tatiana quickly jumped out of the bed.
This just made it worse.
She was wearing very thin clothing.
Her curves could easily be seen. Her supple breast, her sweaty collarbones, her entire body could seduce any men
Aero coughed but he did not stop looking.
She finally realized what the Chancellor is looking at and took the blanket with her out of the room.
Her face is red with embarra.s.sment as she was escorted to the guest room
So is Aero"s. He sent his servant to bring Tatiana a change of clothes
So, the a.s.sa.s.sin and her target finally live together in the same place.
That night, Aero was in his bed chuckling.
That night knowing that Tatiana would surely come for his life, he prepares himself.
He asked for a metal boot from the armory. Holt quickly rushed out from the Chancellor residence and found one of the best metal boot from the armory to give to Aero.
Aero look at the metal boot and started thinking to himself.
This is all a precaution. Just in case. I don"t think she will know the story of the River Styx. But precaution must be made.
He also wrote an order to the Scouts of the Army to find a man for him.
A man named Deria.
After the Underworld escape, he did not hear any story of Deria.
And after busy handling state affairs he kind of forgot. There is also his visit to Karak that kept him occupied.
Right now, he needs someone he can trust.
Deria has proven himself to him as a loyal and honorable. He also has the sense when to not let his mouth run.
Dan on the other hand?
Destroyed his effort in just one month.
Aero knew what he needed. He needed Deria. And he needed him in the court with him to be his ally.
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There is more I think