The sound of horse hooves grinding against gravel could be heard as a carriage came to a stop. The carriage was standing in front of a large mansion that was none other than the Inanis mansion.

Lucius and the rest had left the Dowland City in the afternoon and it had taken them seven hours to reach here. It was already night time and everyone was tired by now. Their caged 'canary' was also asleep due to being exhausted and did not wake even when the carriage came to a stop.

~Creak~

The door of the carriage peopled and out came Lucius. He felt like his body had gone sore from sitting the entire time. Even if the seats were comfortable to sit on, after a certain period of item anyone would feel stiff.

Another thing that happened was that it was raining the entire time during the journey and thus they could not stop and walk around to stretch their legs either. Doing so would only result in them getting wet.

The rain was also the reason why they had to slow down the journey a bit and took them an extra hour to reach the city. But now that they were finally here they could relax for the time being.

Lucius looked at the second carriage in which Bethany was kept and spoke.

"Take her to the room which has been prepared," Lucius ordered.

"Yes, my lord!" The guards that were there replied hurriedly before opening the door of the secure carriage.

A few maids also came and woke up Bethany before taking her away to the room that had been assigned to her. Even if she was a prisoner, she was a noble and thus a certain level of decorum would have to be followed.

If they did not do so, the things would only become more problematic. Lucius wanted the upper hand in the negations and would not allow anything that could affect his chances to happen now. That was the reason why he had written all that was needed in the letter he sent to Count Gabriel.

"What will you do now?" Kiana asked.

"Hmm… I'll take a bath first and change my clothes before coming for dinner. As for what to do after that… I believe father and mother will be there for it." Lucius replied.

"Alright. I'll get the servants to draw up the bath and go inform the Count and countess we have arrived officially." Kiana replied before leaving.

Lucius on the other hand removed his outer cape and robes before handing them to the servants. He then walked into the bathroom and washed his body clean of the sweat and grime it had accumulated over the two days.

The hot water soothed his sore body and relaxed him. This gave him a good time to think of what he needed to do next. Once he was done with the bath, he quickly got dressed and headed to the dining hall.

"There you are," Lita spoke upon seeing Lucius enter the hall.

"Yes, mother. Forgive me if it took too long." Lucius replied politely.

"No, no, no. It's all fine. Though… certain people have definitely overstepped their boundaries." Lita said with a smile on her face. But if one looked in her eyes they would see the concealed fury.

It was evident that she had already learned all that had happened till now. When Lucius had written a letter it was addressed to Count Gabriel and not Lita, it was probably Kiana who had told her everything.

Even in the letter, Lucius had only mentioned the important parts of the entire incident, telling the Count to focus on what was needed to be done now, rather than what had already occurred in the past.

Lucius looked around and saw that Gabriel was not here in the dining hall, although everything was already set up.

"I guess so, mother. Though where is father?" Lucius questioned.

"He has gone to take care of something that will be needed soon. You should eat for now, he should arrive by the time you are done." Lita replied.

Lucius understood the tone of her voice and guessed that she was not in a good mood. He silently ate the food that the servants brought and was done in about twenty minutes.

~step~

~step~

~step~

Soon the sound of metal boots hitting the floor could be heard as someone appeared in the archway.

"Greetings Father," Lucius greeted quickly.

Gabriel had a still expression on his face but internally he was seething.

"Are you fine?" The Count asked.

"Yes, I am completely fine," Lucius answered.

~Phew~

"Then it's all good. If you are fine then it is time to serve some justice." Gabriel said with flames in his eyes.

"Yes. Seems like we have been polite for far too long, such that even a Baron's heiress thinks she can attack my son!" Lita said, anger fully visible on her face now.

No longer was there a smile on her face and it looked like she had been suppressing this for a long time now already.

"Father, mother. I understand you two must be displeased, but we must not act hastily." Lucius spoke in a calm tone.

Lita and Gabriel looked at his expression and sighed to themselves. 

"Mmm… Lucius is right. We need to think clearly and not with the anger in our minds." Gabriel greeted.

~huu~

Lita took a deep breath and forcibly calmed herself down as well.

"Now that you two are relaxed, let me tell you what we should do. I had plenty of time to think and I know how we can turn all of this to our advantage." Lucius spoke.

"Our advantage? How?" Gabriel questioned

"Did you get everything I asked you in the letter ready?" Lucius asked.

"Yes, most of the things are ready. As for the people that are needed for the latter parts, they will be ready by tomorrow." Gabriel answered.

"Good… now listen to my plan carefully…"