After discussing her plan, Sia proceeded with her normal course of surgeries until late afternoon and prepared for Mr. Jason"s surgery only in the evening. They couldn"t delay the surgery for any longer as his fainting episodes had become too frequent. Moreover, even though he didn"t say anything, it was clear that they were trying to hide the news of his surgery, or else he wouldn"t use a public hospital. Whoever they were hiding the news from, would never think that they would use the public hospital services as it would be the last place the most influential man in the world would seek help from. So, when they heard her suggestion to do it at night when there were much fewer people, they were more than happy to comply.--
- Hidden manor. Country F -
"Oh, I wouldn"t expect to meet my dear Dragon here."
The blonde man was probably the only one who dared use such a provocative tone to talk to Cain. Every time they met he wanted to break his indifferent mask. But alas, this time too Cain stayed as expressionless as ever, only sparing the man a glance before shifting his attention back to the door.
Soon a middle-aged man came out and escorted them in. As they arrived, they were greeted by a young vibrant man in his mid-twenties. The man had a peculiar style with his eye-catching red suit and cherry coloured hair. As soon as he noticed the people that entered, he stood up and enthusiastically greeted them:
"I can"t believe I am so lucky as to host both the Lion and the Dragon in my humble abode. And even your right-hand men are here! Why are you standing there, come sit!"
The men greeted and shook hands with him. However, deep down, Cain was a bit worried at the sight of the man and the situation they were facing. However, Luke actually was the first one to voice out his doubts.
"I hope nothing had happened to the family head for the second young master to come here personally."
Luke"s lips were pulled into a lopsided smile, and with his resting posture on the armchair he looked carefree and harmless. Only, the people inside knew that his words carried heavy weight, afterall, the family head was the one to make the final decision and him not being here could not be a simple matter.
"The Lion is unnecessarily worried. My dad has just decided to go on one of his travels around the world with my older brother. Well, the man really doesn"t like all the small troubles with the emperor selection so he left the decision making to me."
The young man had a radiant and youthful aura about him. He was relaxed and didn"t fl.u.s.ter at all when replying. He took out a token and started playing with it while looking at the men in front of him. Of course those people understood what this gesture meant: the token represented the power to make decisions in the family, meaning that he was now in power. Moreover, his statement clearly indicated that his dad basically couldn"t be bothered by the emperor selection so he left this "trifling" matter in his hands.
"That"s sad. And here I was hoping to finally see the ever so mysterious man."
Luke smiled. Even though the young master explained his dad"s absence, Luke was still not convinced. This family might be powerful, but it didn"t mean it was invincible and didn"t have enemies. And his family was the leading one among those. His insider sources informed him that the head hadn"t been showing himself much lately, leaving all the decision-making processes to his two sons, in the name of training and testing their abilities. But, the man wasn"t even so old himself: why would he be in such a hurry to train his heirs? If the family truly lacked their formidable head they would be at their most vulnerable state right now: the perfect time to strike.
Luke wasn"t the only one with insider information: Cain knew all of this too. And, similarly, he believed that something might be the matter with the head. And if the rumours were confirmed, this emperor selection might turn much more complicated and b.l.o.o.d.y than it was supposed to. After all, the old foxes of the underworld had long wanted to get rid of this family"s influence, and might want to use the opportunity to go against them. The royal family now were the Vallauris who had a deep feud with them. There was always a final test in the selection that was decided by the current emperor, and it wasn"t impossible for him to task them with the extermination of this family. Even if they weren"t his friends, they were still his enemy"s enemy, so he could not let the Vallauris take them out of underworld powers. What he needed to do was to make sure this family was not inflicted as they represented the most rational voice in the underworld. Thinking this far, he finally talked with a slight smile tugged on his lips,
"No wonder he was so busy the last time we met."
The young man was momentarily stunned, but his expression did not reveal any of his thoughts at all. He realised what Cain was trying to do and he was truly grateful for him. However, he knew that they could not be too obvious about it so he decided just to humour him with a nod of his head.
However, Luke was not convinced yet. He was here to probe the waters. If the Greydales truly allied with this family the situation would turn too sticky.
"Oh, really? And where and when did you manage to meet him?"
Cain raised an eyebrow. Even though the head hid his tracks too well with the help of his first-rate hackers, they still couldn"t hide from Cain"s radar. He wasn"t the first for no reason. He had a plan but it was too risky. However, it would help shoot two birds with a single arrow. With an apathetic face he turned to Luke,
"And why should I answer you?"
"Because I am really curious?"
Cain gave him a mocking smile and turned to look at the young man, as if to discuss whether to disclose the location or not. The young man knew that there had been no meeting between his dad and Cain, and that Cain wouldn"t have taken action without any plan in mind. So, he shrugged his shoulders, as if he couldn"t care less.
Luke was observing these two: they were most probably trying to fool him but they could also be speaking the truth indicating him that they already had an alliance with each other. If this was the case, going against these two families would be truly too much. Moreover, that old man was known for his eccentricity and he also had some rough clues to his latest movements. So it was possible that they were telling the truth. For now he would only observe the dragon and the little master play a bit more before coming to a conclusion.
"Ribekia is truly a good place for a holiday break."
Cain"s words took everyone in the room by surprise. Even the young master was surprised: did Cain truly know about his dad? Wasn"t he basically telling the Lion about his dad"s secret?
Cain actually had his reasons for this: he knew that Luke had caught wind of him being in Ribekia and he couldn"t risk exposing Siana. He also knew that a few days before his arrival the old head had arrived there and if Luke tried hard enough he could find clues about the man"s location. This way Luke would believe that they were there to form an alliance and wouldn"t recklessly plan against both families. More importantly, he would divert Luke"s attention from Sia to the old man.
Luke"s gaze turned much darker: of course he knew about Cain being in Ribekia, but he never expected that he was there to meet the foggy of the Herondales. He recalled the clues he had about the man"s location and it seemed plausible for him to be in Ribekia.
Cain"s statement seemed to openly warn the Vallauris with the alliance between the Herondales and Greydales. If so, it seemed like they had been too careless this time.