Chapter 98 (2 of 2) Secret Spy Service

At Aeron’s request, they left the Count’s bedroom and went to a sitting room nearby. The knights of the Lunitidal Order stared at Lucille as she went by, and she gave them cheery smiles, ignoring their dumfounded expressions. Aeron shut the door behind them, once they were in private again, and crossed her arms as she leaned against the double doors, as if preventing anyone from barging in... or Lucille from getting out.

“Do you no longer care about your dear father?” Lucy asked, casually taking a seat in the main armchair.

“I trust my knights,” Aeron replied curtly.

“Not enough to leave them to guard the Count overnight though,” Lucille quipped.

The woman ignored her to stand on the other side of the table between them, refusing to take a seat. “I want you to help me cure my father.”

“Beginning bold, I see.” Lucille took out a mug and her drink artifact to pour some coffee. She kicked her feet onto the table, ignoring the twitching of Aeron’s eyelid. “But why should I?”

“Why shouldn’t you?” Aeron shot back. “Curing my father will place the Head of Alichanteu into your debt and finally unite Alichanteu for your goals, putting aside this ridiculous succession battle. You’ll receive the full support of one of the Commission’s four Counties. None will question your place as Head of the Aurelian Commission.”

Lucille leaned back and put an arm behind her head, smiling at Aeron over the edge of her cup. “You can’t have learnt much about me while away from home if you believe Alichanteu showing such blatant support for me is a... tempting proposition.”

The knight gritted her teeth, proving Lucy correct. Aeron could only blindly guess at what Lucy may want. Lucille put her legs down and sat up, intertwining her fingers. “Furthermore, ‘debt’ is a transactional term. What happens when this debt is paid back?”

“I-”

“And, most importantly...” Lucille smirked and rested her chin on her hand. “I’m perfectly fine with how Alichanteu is right now.”

Minus a few greedy outside forces sticking their rotten noses in where it doesn’t belong.

“The two brothers are distracted with out-performing each other...” Lucy began, listing reasons on her fingers, “They both aspire to get in my good graces and be seen as influential in my inner circle, the bedridden Count doesn’t have enough power to affect the voting amongst all the other Counts, and all in all...” Lucille spread her hands. “I can influence Alichanteu as much as I want, if I so much as point my mind to it. Can you say the same? I’m sure those elders of yours will give you much difficulty tomorrow.”

Aeron gripped the back of her chair. Her knuckles were white. “Then is there anything I can do to persuade you?” she hissed, eyes wide with desperation.

Feeling a mild sense of pity for the girl, Lucille pointed at her. “Well, Aeron Daybell Alichanteu, you are very lucky that there is something I want from you.” She covered her mouth and studied the knight. “But finding a cure for your father is far too uneven a trade for this.”

“Ha.” The blue-haired woman seemed to give up, flopping down in the chair. “I don’t want anything else but for my father to recover his health.”

If only she knew that he’s the epitome of health right now.

“Captain Aeron, there’s a dilemma.” Lucille tilted her head. “See, you seem to believe I can actually cure your father, but how do you expect me to do that? Personally? I’m not exactly a healer. Do you want me to leverage my connections to the Citadel? But I don’t believe either of us should trust them. And the Prophetess is hardly a healer by the common definition.”

“C-Citadel? I- what, no.” Aeron shook her head. “I-I just assumed you could use your authority to locate someone...”

“Fine. Imagine I did have a way to cure him. What if, in the end, he dies anyway?” Lucy shrugged. “We come to agreement, but he’s assassinated the next day. Or, I discover how to cure him, but it’s too late by then. Alternatively, after years of hunting, I’ve located every healer in the entire Tower, but nobody can help him recover. What then?”

Aeron fell silent.

Lucille clicked her tongue. “This is my issue. You need assurance that I can help him recover, but I need assurance that this is a risk worth taking – an opportunity worth investing in. We need to balance these uneven scales.”

“...I have nothing to offer though,” the woman replied, despondent.

Lucy glanced at her and stood up, walking over to a window to gaze at the garden below. “Ultimately, my main issue is this: how can I be sure that whatever promises you make on behalf of the Count – he will honour them?” She looked over her shoulder. “You’re not your father. No matter what anyone says, I cannot trust that everything will be carried out.”

She turned around and crossed her arms. “So then, Aeron Alichanteu, what can you offer me?”

The blue-haired knight sat in silence. Slowly, she stood up, and gave Lucy a solemn Empire salute, an armoured hand on her chest. “I have nothing to offer you but myself and my sword,” she announced wearily. “Is this- Am I something you can use, Count Goldcroft?”

Lucille grinned. She had achieved what she wanted. She walked forward and placed a hand on Aeron’s shoulder. “Indeed it is. People are the most valuable of resources, Knight Aeron.” She stepped back and chuckled. “My apologies, Captain Aeron. The Lunitidal Order is just as much of value to me as you.”

Aeron frowned. “They follow me because of our cause and my heritage. I can’t decide anything on their behalf.”

“I assumed as much.” Lucille put a hand on her chin as she looked out the window. “They follow you because of the Count, correct? Then I can assume they’ll be invested in following me after my proposition to you.”

“How-” The knight hesitated. “Do you... have a plan to save my father?” she slowly asked, her voice trembling slightly.

“Now, when it comes to an abnormal situation like this, information about the ‘symptoms’ and ‘causes’ are just as important as the situation itself,” Lucy murmured, ignoring Aeron’s question. “If I am to find a culprit or.. possibly and the cure, I need information above all things. Kozzazan informed be that I can begin, and this will be the first step to properly uncover what convoluted politics have infested the Commission.”

She spun around to stare at Aeron, surprising the woman. “Have you heard that I’m planning to arrange for an investigation department under my control in the Commission?”

“I- what?” The knight blinked, nonplussed.

“If you hadn’t, then now you know.” Lucy gestured to her. “And you’re going to be the first officer in charge of it. After all...” She gained an evil grin. “To discover who or what caused your father’s state, we’ll need to uncover everything every noble in the Commission has to hide. You’ll be making many enemies among those you’ve grown up with, but...” Lucy put a hand on her hip. “We have a chance to find out why your father is comatose. With that information, even if I cannot cure him...” Her expression grew grave. “I can at least offer you the identities of his murderers for you to avenge your father.”

Aeron’s eyes widened at Lucille’s final words. Then she kneeled down, head bowed. “I will do as you wish, Count Goldcroft.”

“Perfect. That’s all sorted then.” Lucille smiled and sat back down. “Now, for your second task, I want you to convince as many members of the Lunitidal Order as possible to come to my side and become members of my new department. Just don’t lie to them. I’m serious about you making a lot of enemies among the Commission’s nobility. I’ll write up an official magical contract for our deal tomorrow.”

“If that’s the second task...” Aeron queried. “Then what’s the first?”

“To put those pompous ‘elders’ in their places,” Lucille announced brightly. “I have my suspicions that several of them can be considered traitors to the Commission, and I want to see them get their just deserts.” She paused before raising a finger. “Also, I’m vindictive and have a grudge. I’m quite sick of all these central faction shenanigans interrupting my plans, so I’m going to deal with all of them in Alichanteu in one fell swoop.”

The blue-haired knight kept staring at her. Lucy winked and walked to leave the room. “Here’s to hoping we have a wonderful partnership, Lady Aeron.”

“W-Wait!” The knight rushed to hold the door open to speak. “What can I do about the elders tomorrow?”

“You don’t have to do anything,” Lucille replied sweetly. “Because they’ll be too busy dealing with me to even think about you.”

...

In the morning at a much better hour for conversation, four people were sitting in the guest quarters. Lucille, Scytale, Vincent and... a fourth unfamiliar figure. Or unfamiliar to Vincent at the very least.

Vincent observed the newcomer with a strange expression. He turned to his superior, who had showcased no signs of surprise at the sudden visitor and was leisurely drinking her morning cup of coffee. “I can’t say I’m too familiar with his kind, but this man isn’t... exactly living, is he?”

“I’m just as alive as those beings of mana you call elementals, thank you very much,” Kozzazan retorted with crossed arms. “It just so happens that I’m made of the element of ‘death’ instead.”

“...I-I see....” Vincent hesitated. “But... you’re from Tartarus.”

The phantom of the death race huffed and looked away, being uncooperative due to his unexpected early summons.

Lucille gave the dark-haired man a flat look, making him scowl. “Don’t disrespect my aide. He’ll be the next person you answer directly to, after me.”

‘Hey, I’m the bond here!’ Scytale complained, sticking his head out of the glass vase he had chosen to test he could climb into. ‘He should be answering to me next!’

“Ah, but I’m taking into account the actual likelihood of you having an official request for him, which is zero, therefore your importance level is nil,” Lucy deadpanned. She turned to the new ‘subordinate’ Lucius had dumped in her lap. “Regardless of your upset, you should at least introduce yourself to Vincent.”

He sighed and bowed to Vincent with one hand on his chest. “Kozzazan of the House of Wordless Observers at your service, Sir Evisenhardt. I am here on behalf of my organisation to obey the commands of Count Goldcroft which I belatedly discovered...” – He shot her a glare – “At 6:59 am this morning, when I just arrived at Gilded Seat after recovering my strength in Tartarus overnight.” He slumped, looking defeated. “There is... no way for me to manage another realm transfer to recover in my state... but what can I do? My superiors ordered me to obey the Aurelian Commission Head...”

His visage seemed to flicker for a brief moment, as if he was a semi-translucent shadow with only a vague humanoid outline. Vincent watched him with mild worry.

Lucy rolled her eyes, well aware he was playing it up for her aide. She stood up from the couch. “If you’re struggling so much, get in my shadow. Regardless, I can’t have Alichanteu summoning the Citadel to exorcize an ‘undead’ before they realise what you are when you’re wandering aimlessly around.”

“I’m not some lethally armed carry-on luggage for you to take around everywhere,” Kozzazan replied with snark.

She glared at him. “And you’re too full of yourself if you believe I’d want you floating about in my shadow like some failed parasite whose only racial talents involve being overly vocal and pathetically skittish around any undead stronger than him.” As if her whole personality had been replaced, her demeanour switched while she beamed. “It’s either my shadow or my dimensional briefcase. If you rest in the briefcase and you’re just lucky enough, I may remember to open it in three weeks’ time. Possibly two.”

Kozzazan huffed but collapsed into a shadowy figure, sliding across the floor to enter her shadow. His presence disappeared from the room entirely.

“Well...” Lucy’s silver-haired aide coughed. “I did want to get you up to speed on what Arwen revealed to me, but I fear we don’t have the liberty of doing so if we wish to make it to the meeting with the Elders’ on time-”

“Why wouldn’t we have time?” Lucy faked a yawn and kicked her legs up. “We have all morning. I am the Head of the Aurelian Commission. They should be waiting for me, not the other way around.”

‘Fine By ME!’ Scytale agreed, leaping out of the vase and plopping himself down on a couch.

“...wait.” Vincent stared at her. “You’re truly planning to remain here until after they meeting begins?”

She cracked open a violet eye. “Of course. 10am is far too early a meeting time when it comes to dealing with those old men and women. It’s not my fault they’re that old and have to have their little afternoon naps to keep their energy up.” She clicked her tongue. “I guess that’s what happens when you age. Thank goodness that’ll never happen to me.”

“...not even you can remain young forever, Lucille,” Vincent replied with bemusement.

She smirked. “Try me. Give it ten years and I’ll still look exactly the same, I assure you.”

Vincent shook his head and checked his watch. “If you’re planning to stay here for whatever strange plan you have in mind, then fine. I, however, will be leaving to keep up appearances-” He tried the doorknob to find it locked from the outside and immediately became suspicious. He turned to stare at her.

“Before I forget-” Lucille lazily raised a finger. “Vincent, by the command of your Commission Head, you are not to leave these quarters until I do so too.”

“Ha.” He shook his head and sat back down on a couch. “Poor Miss Aeron... she’s being used as a sacrifice by you, isn’t she?”

Lucy smiled and sat up. “Just wait. The Elders need to become confident that I won’t turn up. It’s only then that they’ll beginning trying to pin the blame on Aeron and her brothers. Then I can make my move.”

“Hmm...” Vincent considered it. “I understand where you’re coming from but...” He looked around and scratched his neck. “...what should I do to keep myself occupied?”

Lucille held up the pack of cards she prepared earlier. “Up for a game?”

“...sure, why not.”

Scytale slithered over and held the pile of cards she had dealt out for him with his tail, baring his fangs in a silent evil laugh.

Lucy looked down at her shadow. “How about you, Kozzazan?”

Two pairs of eyes opened in the dark, squinting at the fourth pile of cards. After a moment, a shadowy hand slipped out to pick up the cards and retract them into the shadow.

Lucille smiled. “First person to win gets one wish from another player they choose.”

_____________________________________________________________

“Hm...” A white-haired man holding a cane stroked his bearded chin. “It appears that the Commission Head finds this meeting a waste of her time...”

Sitting in one of the three chairs on the front stage, reserved for the children of Alichanteu, Aeron Alichanteu gripped the cloth of her trousers, colour bleaching from her fingers.

Where is she? She said I didn’t have to worry about anything!

Her older brother leaned to the side to whisper to her. “Aeron... Count Goldcroft specifically said she’d be coming to this meeting... right? You didn’t mishear her did you?”

“I know what I heard,” Aeron stated, expression grave.

There was a scoff from her right, and she looked to see Arwen crossing his arms with a frown. “Not surprised that she threw you to these wolves with no hesitation. She’s self-serving, with no care for those she considers unworthy of her attention-”

“Silence,” Aeron hissed. “Do not make unjustified claims about her ladyship. None of us can take responsibility for the consequences.” Arwen grimaced and she sighed. “It’s been an hour that we’ve had to listen to the Elders berate and interrogate us, so I understand your scepticism, but can we at least agree that, no matter our difference in opinions, all three of us were trying to protect out County from the people in front of us?”

They all looked at the tiered seats filled with roughly thirty people excluding subordinates, distant relatives and descendants of the siblings of prior Counts. Most headed branch families of the County... and nearly all were jealous of the power held by the Count and Count alone.

Arwen gulped. Artair sighed and let out a soft, self-pitying chuckle. “Somehow, I don’t believe any of us three are worthy of being the next Count. How could we deal with this lot every single day for the rest of our lives?”

The Assembly of the Elders, having finished conversing amongst themselves, completely ignoring and disrespecting the voices of the Alichanteu direct descendants, finally noticed the siblings talking between themselves.

“It appears that the young ones have complaints to make about our ruling,” a grey-haired woman announced, eyeing the siblings over the edge of her silver-trimmed fan. She shut it with a snap and rested it on her lap to glare at them. “Have they never been taught to respect the wisdom of their elders?”

“Wisdom? Wisdom?! You suggested that we be relieved of our duties to serve in the Army for twenty years before returning to the- mmph!” Arwen flinched when Aeron’s hand suddenly covered his mouth.

She silently shook her head, then turned to look at the woman. She stepped forward and bowed deeply. “I beg for your forgiveness on behalf of my brother, Madame Summerson. Rest assured that we have truly taken your suggestions to heart to think deeply on them.”

“Ha.” ‘Madame Summerson’ turned away. “I have nothing to say to the shame of a woman who parades herself around as if she were a man, pretending to be part of some knightly order. We of the Eternal Empire don’t partake in the savage lifestyles led by the women of the lesser empires. You are a failure of the family.”

Aeron closed her eyes and said nothing.

“Hahaha, come now, Velinda!” A stout man let out a belly roar with his arms spread wide. “The Empire is a nation of change! Why, even the lesser empires, savage as they may be, have their talents.” He grinned toothily and looked down at Aeron. “I’m sure there are many fine men in the Empire who’re willing to accept Aeron, nonetheless. Girl, just come to me. I have the perfect person in mind, an old friend – a relative of an Eternal Duchy, and barely three hundred years older to boot-”

“Silence.”

The sound of a cane striking the floor shut everyone up. The grey-haired man who had initially spoke stood up, looking down at the siblings sitting before them with steely, cold eyes. “This is not what we came here for. But, as I see it, this meeting has no more purpose to us. It is clear now that the current ‘heirs’ of the Alichanteu County are useless when it comes to dealing with the responsibilities of this family.” The man stopped to scoff. “Just as useless as that new so-called ‘Commission Head’ of ours too, though I digress – as the brother of the deceased prior Count and their Grand Uncle, I will take it upon myself to-”

The doors burst open with a clang and fell of their hinges, hitting the floor. Loud laughter echoed through the hall as a new figure entered, silver-haired aide and winged serpent in tow.

“Hello, hello, hello!” Lucille announced, beaming at everyone. “I’m not too late to the party now, am I?”

“...Count Goldcroft.” The grey-haired man studied her and deferentially bowed his head. “...what has made you grace us with your presence?”

 “Hm? Well...” She marched over to the podium on the stage and kicked it over with one foot, placing a boot down on top of it and digging a finger into her ear. “I heard someone talking smack about me, you see? It wasn’t you, was it?”

Before the old man could answer, she smirked and crossed her arms. “I guess we’ll find out now. But first, I need to announce something.” She spread her arms wide. “I hereby accuse everyone here of being accomplices to the kidnapping of Sedric Ferin, the partial destruction of the Headquarters, and potential attempted assassination of the Commission Head at Gilded Seat.” She unfurled a long document, and narrowed her eyes as she smiled. “Therefore, everyone here is now a suspect. You may be silent, but if you speak, everything can and will be used against you in the Court of Me, Myself and I.”

Lucille smiled wickedly. “Shall we begin?”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I'm not sure I've mentioned this, or maybe Patreon told you itself, but... because of Apple being stupid, all the Patreon subscriptions are like $2-3 more expensive in the app. I don't get any of the money. So, uh... don't use the app. Use the website so it's cheaper.