Leah
"Your Majesty, do we need to send someone to search for Mr. Lin? We believe that he would not leave the imperial capital. As long as we find him, he will come back," carefully opined the head lady-in-waiting, who stood behind Sisi.
"I told you already. You opened the cage. Have you ever seen a bird fly back into its cage after leaving it? Birds prefer the more expansive blue sky over the tiny cage. I was just one step away from plucking all of his fur! Damn Edward! I warned him not to provoke him over and over and over again!"
Sisi spun around and threw a letter at the head lady-in-waiting. Angry, she ordered, "Take this letter to the elven lands. I don't care who goes. Of course, it's not for Lucilia but Veirya. I need to inform Veirya to avoid his rage burning even me. Dongqing can squash Edward without me lifting a finger."
"Your Majesty… are… you really going to let him… run amok here?"
"This isn't a joke. Even if he can't kill Edward, I will kill him," raged Sisi, rising to her feet as she spoke.
***
"My Lord, we have done what we can; what is our next step?" asked Ross, who stood next to me.
I stared at the fire in silence for a brief moment before answering, "Wait."
"We just need to wait?"
Ross seemed to be under the impression that the operation was a bit too simple. After all, I only asked him to complete an insurance deal. Then, I sold the papers to Achilles' company. I now had a total of thirty five thousand gold coins on me. I arranged the invoices and handed them to Ross.
"Take five thousand gold coins to the largest bank tomorrow. Have whoever is in charge add it to part of my repayments. Although it's not enough to repay the entire debt, it's enough to prove that I have the ability to repay the loan and, therefore, can avoid them selling Leah. Remember: tell them that I'm still on the verge of bankruptcy. I don't have any remaining assets. Don't let them think that I'm back. We just need to hang onto the remaining forty five thousand and wait."
"My Lord, you can repay the debt now?' inquired Ross, in awe. "You made thirty five thousand gold coins without doing anything. I think Mr. Edward would have accepted one hundred thousand if we asked for it. That way, we could repay your debt and pick up Miss Leah to leave."
"My goal isn't to repay my loan; I don't plan to repay it, either. They deceived me, hurt Veirya and still want me to pay them? This is merely to prevent Leah from being sold," I explained to Ross, with a squint. "My goal is to body Edward. What I'm doing isn't to repay but to earn money. This is all meaningless to me. I want to destroy Edward and everything he has. He made me bankrupt, so I'll give him a taste of his own medicine. It's not just him, though. Every single businessman in this entire imperial capital will pay the price. I'll destroy all business in the entire imperial capital. I'm going to let them know what happens when they trigger me."
I decided not to go after Sis because I couldn't do anything to her despite knowing that she was the mastermind. If I did something to her, she could just turn around and kill me. The incident taught me that Sisi wasn't a kind and merciful Queen; even I wouldn't be spared. If I made an enemy out of her, I'd be making an enemy out of all of humanity. What would I be able to do if I offended Sisi? What, flee to the elves? Humanity was only defeated last time due to their internal turmoil. If Sisi waged another war on the elves, it'd be hard to say who comes out on top.
As long as I didn't stand in opposition to Sisi, she wouldn't stop me. She was going to have to get involved after my plan imploded whether she wanted to or not, having said that. All businesses in the entire imperial capital will have their foundations quaking. Once the bomb drops… why was it my problem again?
Ross handed me my cloak once I took to my feet.
"Ross, stay here. I'm going for a walk outside."
"Lord Lin, I think it is dangerous for you to walk outside on your own. I think you best avoid walking around outside at night."
"It'll be fine. I'm now just a failed and bankrupt businessman. Why would anyone want to harm me? Sisi knows that it's pointless to search for me when I've chosen to leave. I never did anything wrong, so capturing me back would only take points off my fondness for her. She won't be that stupid, so don't worry, Ross."
"Then… take care, Lord Lin." Ross was still worried. Nevertheless, he could only take my word for it.
The place Ross and I stayed at was seriously excessively simple. I didn't ask for premium living conditions, obviously. The owner was nodding off at the counter. There were a few people still drinking and quietly chatting in the main hall. I pushed the door open and woke the owner up. I told him, "I'm heading out for some fun, so don't worry."
"Ah, oh, sure."
Truth be told, the owner didn't want to let his customers go out. The law in the imperial capital states that, if customers go out at night without the owner's knowledge, the owner still has to be responsible. That was why owners waited at night.
After Queen Sisi returned to the throne, the imperial capital became the city that never slept again. Maybe it was because there was now another item women liked that the men liked to come out at night to engage in some small stone trades. The stones were practically found everywhere to the people originally from further North, yet it had become worth so much money in the imperial capital.
The thought of using the stones to make money never crossed my mind. My goal was merely to crush Edward, full stop.
I felt that the booming brothel was where the majority of the stones were at. I noticed some succubi with the puny gems around the necks of the succubi clinging to the arms of men. The men should've been aware that succubi weren't wife material; splurging to make the succubi happy was a pointless endeavour. Anyhow, I went over and asked, "Leah around?"
"Ah!" exclaimed the surprised succubi. They fearfully and softly replied, "Miss Leah is upstairs, but Madam Sophia would like to see you first."
"Yeah…?"
Sophia met me at the entrance with an indescribable smile and queried, "Lord Lin, have you already paid your debt and can rightfully pick up Miss Leah?"
"… Sorry, I haven't repaid it yet."
"I cannot allow you to take her, then. Miss Leah is our family member and our leader. I cannot hand her to you in your current state. She would be sold off, otherwise. Surely you understand where I am coming from."
It would be dangerous to keep Leah with me since everyone else saw her as my asset. I took in a deep breath and explained, "I came here just to prove that I could come and pick her up. Please, do not let her leave with Edward, though. I beg you. Please protect Leah."
Sophia narrowed her eyes: "Are you jealous? I really want to know how you see Miss Leah."
"Leah is my daughter I care most about regardless of what happens. She's my family. I care about her."
"Do you? Daughter, did you say?" sarcastically asked Sophia, with a chuckle. "So, I just want to ask. This is a hypothetical question: if Lord Veirya did not make it, would you consider making Miss Leah your partner? She possesses beauty that does not pale in comparison to Lord Veirya and loves you as much as Lord Veirya does. Would you consider her?"
"What sort of question is that? It's impossible to begin with. How could I lust for my own daughter? She's my daughter, isn't she?!" I righteously chided.
"She's not your biological daughter. Have you forgotten how Miss Leah joined you?"
I suddenly lost my voice as I realised, "Yeah… since when did I have a daughter… Leah… just… calls me her papa…"
"I… I'm leaving for now."
"No. No. Absolutely. No… Absolutely no… How can I have such dangerous ideas? Leah is my daughter, not my wife…" I reminded myself.
Anybody watching me would've assumed I was fleeing from something…