Chương 242: Chapter 225. Candid Discussion

I'm currently debating whether it would be a good idea to crash at a Demon Noble's castle for around 4 days or not. Lord Byron hasn't broken eye contact with me as he awaited my answer." Is there something that would displease you about staying here, Marquess Drake?" With a piercing glare, Lady Cindy spoke to me. Her eyes seemed to be filled with an emotion that I'm not sure I deserved currently. She was looking at me like I offended her somehow?

It was unlike the look that the rest of the residents of Zana had looked at me with. It felt almost "personal" or something." Cin, it's a lot to take in. He has to think about a lot of different things." Lord Byron turned and defended me from his sister's words. He then turned back to me and began to speak." Marquess Drake, I apologize for my Sister's attitude. I'd also like to add that our Staff will look after your horses and there will be rooms for your Servants.

Take all the time you need to figure out what you'd like to do, we can also find an unused house and clean it up for you if you'd like, but that will most likely take a day or 2 to do." Lord Byron was acting extremely accommodating to me for some reason. This made me somewhat curious about these siblings. Also, I wondered about their father." Lord Byron. Would you mind tossing Noble Titles aside and speaking candidly with me?"" By all means, Marquess Drake." His sister isn't taking my idea well."

Lord Byron, I'm being serious. Tell me your real thoughts."" Allow me!" While Lord Byron seemed resistant to the idea, Lady Cindy seemed more than happy to. I'm actually thankful about this." My Brother's been working himself ragged trying to run this Town and make sure our Father's party isn't a complete embarrassment and now you've arrived at our doorstep with such a problem that now we're even considering allowing a Human to stay in our Ancestral Home!

Let alone the fact you never sent a message back saying that you were coming or how many people you'd bring! And yet you need time? To decide if that's the right thing to do!? How dare you!?" PRESSURE!

"!"" CIN!? Marquess Drake! Please, she's not in her right mind!"" Sarah! Anna! Calm down! She's not wrong to be angry! Listen to her words, they mostly aren't insulting me!" I turned because I could sense that Sarah and Anna had reached their boiling points in terms of listening to people discriminate against me." Huh?" In unison, Lord Byron and I seemed to be in the process of trying to calm down our respective family down. We turned and said the same thing. This caused us to chuckle."

Okay, let's talk candidly, Mr. Drake."" Please, my father is Mr. Drake. Just call me Matthew for now, Byron." Suddenly it seemed like a weight was lifted off of Byron's shoulders. It seems that I was right about this guy. He's going through the same stuff I did when I just began to manage Paradise. Only he didn't have Sarah and Anna to rely on and to help out. After we calmed down the 3 women in the room, we all sat down and began to talk.

Granted, Sarah, Anna and Lady Cindy were still in a somewhat bad mood, but Byron and I were able to speak now. So, I began with a simple question." Byron, how tired are you right now?"" What's sleep, again?" I hold my hand out and channel my mana." Holy Heal."" What are you doing!?" Despite Lady Cindy's scream, my Spell sank into Byron's body and his eyes became sharper and more alive. Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings." What... did you do?"

Byron blinked his eyes as he adjusted to the returned vigor he probably had now." I used the Paladin Healing Spell called Holy Heal. From a moment of being overwhelmed by the work of a Lord, I ended up using it on myself. Specifically, I used it a few times when I had to pull all-nighters for work. With this, you could think of sleep deprivation as a Status Ailment like Poison or Confusion. With Holy Heal I can heal that. I wouldn't rely on this though, a person's brain needs sleep to function correctly.""

Wow, thanks, I might just be able to get a sizable portion of work done now. But anyways, what did you want to talk about candidly, Matthew?"" Well, I've found it extremely strange that I was invited here. I understand that you're extremely busy, but I have the understanding that surrounding Nobles are meant to visit newly appointed Nobles in their territory as a sign of respect. To not do that, especially for a Noble that Outranks you, is seen as disrespectful and in very poor taste.

Now, while I can understand your father and the other Counts doing this because I'm a Human, I wonder why it is that I was then invited to his birthday party? Not to sound extremely rude, but if this is one big attempt to belittle me in front of a crowd... Well, I don't think I'll be willing or able to hold back my Wives' displeasure. And as you could see, just from the way the civilians have treated me and then Lady Cindy now, they were ready to fight."

Byron took in my words, and it seems that Lady Cindy thought that I had said these things as a threat. While I didn't mean it to be, I can't help how some people may take them. I have people I've sworn to protect myself after all. Not just my Wives, but all of our People as well. Byron spoke to me after thinking about my words for a few minutes." While I can understand your worries, I don't really have an answer for you. My Father has barely said a word to me in a year's time.

As I said earlier, he's the one who invited you. As for my Sister and me. Well, my Sister is annoyed at the problems you're bound to bring. While I'm sure you can understand that, seeing as you've seen what our Townspeople and even some of our Staff's attitude that they've no doubt given you."" What about you, Byron?" He seemed to finish his thought, but he didn't mention anything about himself. Byron took a moment to think about what he wanted to say. He shrugged his shoulders and began to talk."

Well, if I'm being candid with you, Matthew. When you first arrived here in Diablos, and we were told you would fight the Hero from Promethia. I had hoped that you Humans would kill each other and save us any trouble." Pressure...

"!" Grip! Grip! pressure... Sarah and Anna weren't happy to hear this. I gripped their hands as they were sitting side by side with me to calm them somewhat. It seemed to work somewhat and then Byron continued his thoughts." However, with time, I thought more about your plight. Yes, you married one of our Princesses. Each of them being the dream partner of many a young Nobleman. All of the scrutiny you would receive as a Human who stole our Princess would rightly be yours to bear, in my opinion. But the...

"situation" of your marriage never made sense to me. Would King Warrick and Queen Aqua truly allow a Human to just up and marry one their daughters without reason? The way I've always read King Warrick and Queen Aqua... It always seemed to me that their biggest intention has always been to "care" about Diablos and Her People. Would these people really just fall to the demands of a Human?" Byron shook his head slowly to say no." Thinking about it, it becomes clear.

Either you were both in love, or Princess Sarah loved you and wanted you for herself. While many Noblemen haven't figured this out, quite a few Noblewomen who've seen you two together seem to corroborate that you're both in love with each other. Also, that you love Lady Anna. So, there goes one reason for anger gone. The true reason is that I feel... A sense of pity for you."" Pity?"" Yes, pity. Sympathy... Maybe some other word. But when I put myself in your shoes...

Young, everyone wants you gone and divorced from your wives. Then you receive Paradise as your estate. As a fellow young Nobleman working to keep a land from falling into ruins... Your current situation... It... just seemed like a lot. I thought it best to take a stance of non-interference regarding you to be honest, Matthew. While I wouldn't offer much help besides the rations that My Ancestors swore to bring to our Neighbors during times of strife... I thought it be best to keep you at arm's length.

Then, imagine my surprise when my Father, who barely leaves his room or joins us for a meal... Suddenly requests for you to appear at his birthday. It was strange. I honestly just hoped you would keep your head down and you'd enjoy the banquet we had planned. And I would follow the proper decorum befitting of a Count inviting a Marquess into his lands for a celebration. That about sums it up."" I see, you've been put into quite the difficult position. I appreciate the honesty, Byron.

Not many Demons that I've run into have actually told me their perspective, they'd rather glare and jeer. Might I ask what it is that has your head so wrapped up in thought for the birthday?" Byron chuckled for a moment and then grabbed a paper on his desk and handed it to me. I began to read it." Cucumber and tomato salad, soups... Pork... Chicken... It's a menu?"" Yes, but you see... I'm missing something important."" Desserts?" Byron nodded his head." There are no Bakers in Zana?"" Believe it or not, no.

Not now at least. Due to mismanaging my requests as a Lord. All the Bakers have actually gone on vacation to the South. It gets cold here in Zana, they prefer to work their Trades in warmer climates it seems."" I see..." squeeze... squeeze... It's almost too perfect... I chuckle lightly as Sarah and Anna squeeze my hands in excitement." What? What is it, Matthew?"" How about I help you with this in exchange for allowing us to stay here?"" What do you mean?"

Byron and Lady Cindy both looked at me with confusion on their faces. Who would've thought I wouldn't need to trick anyone in order to have a memorable debut?