"That still doesn"t explain the blind date," Sam said as he took another sip from his wine.
"The thing is, even Grivon knows this and he is completely freaking out on this matter. When I am still present in the clan, I can try my best to stop it from happening. But sooner or later, I would have to move out of the clan.
As I said, I don"t want to be another small part of this clan"s legacy. But once I am gone, things wouldn"t be the same. She would lose her one main support which is me. I wouldn"t have much say in the clan"s operations once I am out of here.
And that time would still be soon for Grivon to have any real power. The most that could happen is that he would be next in line which is still a lot less compared to the power of the rest of the elders and the clan"s head.
Even his parents" support and the grandfather"s support are completely useless if the clan really pushes the marriage. After all, the parents mostly deal with external stuff and wouldn"t have much say internally. And the grandfather is still only one grand elder. The other four would simply outnumber him.
So, if I have a choice, I would rather send her away with someone powerful, smart, capable and on top of all that, someone she likes. So, I try my best to let her meet some plausible candidates."
"Really? And how many candidates are there?"
"Including you? Only one. None of the other guys didn"t really cross my threshold."
"That must be a pretty tough standard. Anyway, I am not really interested in settling down."
As he finished his words, they suddenly heard an extremely melodious tune from far away.
"It seems like they went to the pond. Let"s go there."
Giyon said and both of them walked deeper into the estate where they soon reached the pond.
Jyon is sitting on a large rock on the bank of the pond while Grivon is looking at her while sitting on the bank of the pond with his legs in the water.
He is enjoying the music.
Sam looked at Jyon as she played the flute. She had her eyes closed and the water in the pond is reacting to her music. But not too dramatically. A small quant.i.ty on the topmost layer of the pond turned into droplets as they danced to her tune gently creating ripples all around.
As they moved upwards, they created a beautiful scene under the moonlight.
Sam was really impressed.
As he listened to the gentle music, he suddenly felt unburdened. He felt like forgetting all the possible troubles that are coming at him from all sides and just wanted to be stuck at that moment forever.
After coming to this life, the best musician Sam had ever met is actually Gaana, the young master of the Merene family. But now he was beaten completely.
Jyon just played for a few minutes and he is sure that she is better than Gaana Merene.
As he was lost in the music.
The spirit of the emerald flute came out and merged with the water droplets.
The water droplets started converging as they formed the silhouette of a beautiful woman who started dancing on the pond.
Sam took a refreshing breath and relaxed for a movement. He couldn"t help but feel light.
Giyon looked at Sam and whispered.
"You see, she is great. Why don"t you give it a try?"
Sam didn"t answer her question and just stood there as he looked at the dance of the spirit on the water. After a few more minutes, Jyon finally stopped playing and looked at both Sam and Giyon in surprise.
But her gaze lingered on Sam more as if she is looking at someone completely different.
Grivon and Giyon were surprised by her looking at Sam weirdly.
Sam ignored her looks and turned Giyon. Thanks for the dinner Miss Giyon. If you don"t mind, I would like to take my leave now."
Grivon also stood up and said.
"Yes, Sister Giyon. I would also go. I still didn"t find that rat. I still have a lot to do."
Sam turned to Giyon one more time and said.
"Think about my proposal Ms. Giyon. Meanwhile, I will proceed with making more decoys. But I think it would be better for us if we proceed with my new plan. I don"t want to put Grivon in the spotlight before he fully matured."
"I will think about it. I will send the ten kids to you tomorrow. You also think about my proposal."
Sam smiled and said.
"That is an impossible scenario. Please don"t waste your time thinking about it."
With that Grivon and Sam walked away.
"What proposal are you guys talking about? You are not thinking of ditching me and joining her are you?" He joked.
Sam chuckled and explained the whole plan.
"But wouldn"t that put me in too much of a pa.s.sive and hidden situation? The clan head would need to be more active."
"There would be a lot of time for you to be active. You don"t need to worry about it too much. An organization like your clan will care more about results than the image you garner over the years. As long you benefit the clan most, they don"t care if you are a genocidal pedophile. They would still make you sit on the chair."
Grivon was dumbfounded for a moment and reb.u.t.ted.
"That is my clan you are talking about. Can you at least have a better opinion of them? Our clan is not the one that is hunting you down is it? We are much better than Mari Clan."
"Really? Better than Mari Clan? That is not much a high standard. A rapist in the slums is better than the Mari clan when it comes to moral integrity. Come on Grivon, you and I both know what your clan cares about the most. It is benefits and legacy.
You guys are not some bunch of saints trying to make this world a better place."
Grivon didn"t have an answer for that.
"Anyway, your sister will send ten kids tomorrow. Arrange their residence within your personal property. Don"t bring them into the stray realm. I would be staying with them for a while. You also need to stay with me sometimes, so that you can learn the concept of what I am trying to do."
"You are selling my sister this whole thing. Why don"t you do the same to me?"
"It is not the same. Your sister is still establishing a proper organization. She is currently spread all over the place and is trying to gain power and foothold in different places. But you are different. You would be gaining an organization that already has its foundation laid, it is already a fixed one.
You cannot change it completely, but you need to modify the existing practices with what I am about to teach you."
"Are you that confident that I would become the Clan"s head?"
"It is only a matter of time. The one thing you have and the rest of the candidates don"t have is self-awareness. You know what you are good at and what you are not good at, you know when to ask for help and when to take responsibility yourself. You are eager to learn and know when to give credit to others.
You are a good leader and have great qualities, but you just don"t have any skills on the other side of the coin which you are going to learn from me.
From what I saw until now, the rest of the candidates are extremely in over their heads and they wholeheartedly believe that they deserve the position of clan"s head for some reason. On the other hand, you are trying to be the deserving candidate for the position.
You are the better option no matter how I see it. The only opponents you have are the successor candidates from Giyon"s generation and I will help you deal with them too.
Anyway, we have a lot to do."
That night, Sam felt at peace. Jyon"s music really worked wonders on him. His brain is clear after a long time and new ideas are popping inside his head.
He couldn"t wait till he tinkered with the simulator once again and with specter"s help, he worked through it the whole night.
He was done with most of the process. The next day, Grivon got the news about the guy that spread their information. He was not from the third planet and they also found out which planet he originally came from.
On the third planet, instead of staying in an inn, he stayed with a friend, and once the guards managed to catch that friend, the rest of the information flowed out.
They went to look for that guy on that planet.
And by afternoon, Giyon sent the kids to Grivon"s personal residence within the clan grounds, where Sam went to receive them.. But the person that accompanied the ten kids surprised him.