The Young Master in the Shadows

Chapter 194: Monica (2)

The study was extra lavish as expected. From the dark wooden floor to the gold-framed photos of Dave handshaking many presidents and dignitaries sprinkled all over the room. As if to show the world how important Dave was.

Victor didn’t care about that, he was interested in a black slab of granite being used as a base for a golden-rimmed vase displayed in one corner.

This must have belonged to Monica’s mother… NO. To her family. Monica probably belonged to an ancient family that lost its power. It was similar to the one Windy got. Declining ancient families tended to store their secrets in those stones in case the family could revive one day.

Victor realized that as he sat down on a leather sofa, letting Margret sit beside him, and began to act like a slut as Clint sat on the opposing side with Dave who was wondering whose side he should pick. He was right when he didn’t dispose of Monica as a baby, he expected her to be a beauty like her mother, a beauty that can be sold for a lot of benefits.

“Let’s make this clear. I have this letter here. It was written by Lady Kate twenty years ago to my late mother who was her best friend, promising that if their first born babies were of the same gender they would be siblings, and if they were of opposite genders they would be a husband and wife.”

“Can I see the letter?” Victor asked after hitting Margret’s hand away. She began to act naughty.

Clint gave the letter to him with a confident smile and watched as Victor read it while nodding repeatedly. It was very convincing.

“I don’t care.” He said after finishing, shredding the fake letter in a blink of an eye.

“You… What are you doing!” Clint angrily yelled. He intended to stand up and make trouble. but was caught by Dave who gestured to him to calm down. The letter was not important. He had the final say in this matter, not his dead wife.

“What is the meaning of this young master Victor?” Dave asked.

“Just making my point. Monica is mine. My friends are already envious of jealousy. What would they say if I lost her to a shrimp that climbed out of his grandfather’s hole?” Victor said, making Clint angrier. But Dave’s confident hand catching him, made him keep his cool.

“Master Victor… Do you have something to ‘Prove’ Your love for her?” Dave asked, making Clint quickly pull his hand that Dave was still holding. He was getting really pissed.

“You bastard, I already gave you one of the army's new weapon development deals!” Clint barked at Dave who just glared at Victor as if asking “Can you beat that?”

Victor had other thoughts… He was wondering would this bastard consider Monica this important, he was now sure that something was fishy. The letter was a very good imitation, but it could never escape his eyes. It was recently made, he could easily see that.

“Oh… Let’s see… I have a new construction project in New waterfall city… A huge resort with toilets overlooking the city… How about I give it to Mr. Dave?” Victor asked, making Dave look at him for a few seconds… Toilets? Nevermind.

“Oh… I am not that into construction, young master Victor… Your offer is not that interesting to me.” Dave said wanting something better, 

Clint looked smug at Victor… He was also challenging him. He was sure that he can easily outbid this Victor with the help of his master.

Before Victor could say anymore, the door knocked and Monica shyly walked in with a bottle of vintage wine with a few glasses on a gilded tray, giving Victor a good idea.

“Let’s drink something and cool our heads,” Dave said, watching that Victor was hesitating.

“This is a 1754 Wiren Wine. It was produced in the last years of the principality. A truly great drink that can only be drunk over great deals!” Dave said proudly.

“What kind of garbage is that?” Victor scolded “Keep this sh*t water to yourself, Margret, get me the bottle I wanted to give Master Dave… Let him taste the true taste of aristocracy.” Victor said, making Margret who also felt the weirdness of the situation blink. She quickly put her hand in her bag and used it as a cover to pull a Soul Wine bottle from her ring.

“This is?” Dave asked with narrowed eyes as he looked at the strange bottle. He could have sworn that the wine shined for a moment there. He slowly licked his lips, He had only two hobbies, Wine and women… Due to overtaxing himself in his youth he could no longer do women, so only wine was left for him. And he had never seen a wine like this, which made him very curious.

“This is one of the most amazing wines that ever existed… Monica, prepare the glasses!” Victor ordered as he looked at Clint.

“How about this, let’s drink and cool our heads, then see what you can give me…”

“Give you?” Clint asked.

“Yeah, for a certain price. I might be tempted to reluctantly allow Monica to escape with you.” He said, making both Clint and Dave realize that this one was a snake more venomous than both of them, he also wants benefits.

Monica was surprised… So he didn’t care for her after all… Would that Tom do the same? She hid her sadness and stood to the side, waiting for their decision.

“I heard that the Von Geldstadt family would host an auction in a few days. “ Victor said as he sipped some wine from his glass. Margret did the same tune her eyes became dreamy for a second.

“Yes… Would young master Victor need some treasure from it? Master Clint might be able to help you” Dave said as he tasted the wine… Wow, This thing was amazing.

Clint was annoyed by what Dave said, he was expelled from his family and couldn't even get a cockroach from the auction toilets, let alone a treasure, But Seeing the look on Dave's face as he drank the wine he tasted it too… Not bad. But… Not amazing either, for a semi-player from an aristocratic family that specializes in trading this was pretty normal. Unique, but normal.

Could that strange taste be poison? He didn’t care as he didn’t fear any poison as he had three S-grade pills in his ring. They were given to him by his master just in case.

Clint slowly sipped on his drink and began to feel a little drunk… His head was a little heavy. He also began to feel a little foggy, so he stealthy took an antidote pill that didn’t work at all.

“Oh… Then how about you two answer some of my questions.” Victor asked suddenly.

“Please go ahead, young master,” Dave said as his head also began to feel a little foggy.

“Master Clint, Why do you want to marry Monica?” Victor asked Clint as Margret slowly stood up and blocked the door to keep away from interfering with the target's interrogation, and so that no one could enter the room in case of any incident.

“My master told me to do so...” Clint said proudly as he relaxed in his seat.

“So you don’t like her?” Victor asked while gesturing to the frowning Monica to sit by his side.

“She is pretty sure but too short for me. I like tall girls. I am short too, you see, I usually wear those elevated shoes to appear taller.” Clint confessed pointing to his shoes, 

“I don’t like short girls either.” Dave suddenly interjected. “If it were not for Kate’s money I wouldn’t have even looked at her in the street. Let alone fake a kidnapping operation then rescue her to get her heart.” He confessed as Monica put her hands on her mouth and gasped in shock… What the F*ck was going on in here?

“You didn’t have to suffer a lot staying with her though…” Victor asked with concern.

“No… I used the opportunity of her being weak after birth and strangled her… That bitch deserved this being all bossy.” He said, making Monica gasp looking at Dave who was patting his belly with a greedy smile… She looked at Victor after that. What was going on here?

Victor pointed to the wine, making her realize something… There is something in the wine… A truth serum?

“After that, you married your current wife?” Victor asked.

“Nah. We were already married, the whole operation with Kate was her idea. A very smart woman.” He said as he began to do dirty things while thinking about his wife. 

Victor ignored him. Now he had a good idea of how the soul wine worked. It simply numbed the soul, making people stop thinking about the consequences… Though it might not work if someone questioned others directly, so he should ask in a roundabout way. Like Margret manipulated the poor Villagers to sell the mountain.

It works to limit the drinker's sense of danger and loosen all the limiters on their tongues.

Victor didn’t know its side effects and didn’t care… No one would leave this mansion alive beside him and his girls today.

“But why are you so harsh on Monica, I heard you prefer your other son, despite his incompetence,” Victor said.

“Incompetent he might be, but he is my son. Monica was never my daughter, That b*tch Kate was pregnant when she married me. She used me as a shield." He yelled angrily. "She thought I didn’t know, but I was the one tricking her… Now I will sell her daughter to the highest bidder.” Dave chuckled coldly as if Monica was not sitting in shock opposing him.

“Would you do the same to Monica?” Victor asked Clint.

“Probably… But I might not even get to touch her. My master wants her to breed a few warriors out of her. But he promised to allow me to have her once… Not that I am into that. But I would love to see her squeal under me… He he he..” Clint laughed as Monica's eyes turned red, only to feel Victor’s arm hug her waist tightly.

“Your master sounds amazing… “ Victor paused, allowing Clint to continue on his own.

“Yeah… Master Swartwood is one of the five elders of the Dark Chamber. My granduncle Kolmir introduced me to him about a year ago after that accident. He said they might help me get a better position in the family. Comparable to that of Charlotte and that bastard Alfred. My master also promised that once we get the Von Blue lost bloodline He will make me a full player!” he said, nearly causing Victor to yell in surprise. Dark chamber? He didn’t expect that the Von Geldstadt family would be infiltrated like his own.

“Now really… Was your master the one who gave you that ring?” Victor asked,

“Yeah… It’s a storage ring… Amazing hah… “ He said proudly.

“Wow… Can I see it… Such a treasure…” Victor asked with an amazed expression.

“No… My master told me not to let anyone near it.” Clint said stubbornly.

"Where did you meet your master then?" Victor asked.

"I can't tell you that," Clint Exclaimed... Failure again.

“I see… How is your position in the Von Geldstadt family?” Victor asked to change the subject after seeing the frown on Clint’s face. He shouldn’t corner him as the wine was not very effective on players. And the deep secrets should be made to float on their own.

“Those bastards wanted me to be a normal clerk after my ceremony… Damn them. But I had revenge… I stole the family’s heirloom secretly when they punished me for cleaning the ancestral hall after throwing up there during the ceremony… HE he he… ” He said, making Victor gasp for a second time.

“What heirloom? Did you show it to your master?” Victor asked with a whisper as he bowed closer to Clint as if he would keep his secret forever.

“He he he.” Clint chuckled as he looked at both his sides, making sure no one was listening… Dave was listening though, but he didn’t care.

“No…” He smiled sneakily. “Not even the family knows about this, but while I was cleaning I knocked over a very ancient vase, making it shatter on the floor… The elder scolded me and went to call the cleaning crew… At that time I noticed a jewel that was flung to the side. It was hidden in the vase and only appeared when it shattered… So I quickly stuck it in my pants before I was thrown out of the hall… Damn him… For just a damn Vase, I was kicked out of the family… Luckily my Granduncle covered for me and gave me some money then  introduced me to the dark chamber… When I return to the family I will get my revenge… Then marry my pretty cousin Charlotte and do her 10 times every day… He he he..” Clint slowly drowned in his filthy desires

Victor didn’t care about that, he was checking the Jewel in Clint's hand which he had unconsciously taken out of his ring.

Sh*t this was an X-ranked artifact! Victor had never heard of it, Maybe not even Von Geldstadt knew of its existence… NO… He read once that Tom met a goddess and “convinced her” to control the weather to save a village from drought. He read that in his published autobiography book 4. It was not a goddess, after all, just an X-ranked artifact. 

Tom would use this power multiple times later, each time he would call loudly for the goddess's favor reminding her of their time in bed together. He must realize how precious this thing is and make that trick to hide it and increase his reputation at the same time. 

“You bastard… You didn’t tell me that you were kicked out of your family.” Dave, who heard the last sentence, got angry suddenly and pointed at Clint with the awl in his filthy hand.

“Why should I tell a greedy man like you… You only want to sell your little b*tch!... And I only want to scam you! Wait, why am I telling you this?” Clint replied, He was getting angry, but his mind was clearing out.

“I bet he wants to get all your money and then kill you.” Victor quickly told Dave in a scared tone. “Be careful, he has a knife.” Victor suddenly warned and pushed the confused Clint on Dave. 

Victor was never in the position they perceived him to be in, he had already circled the room twice as he questioned the two fools while using his disguise to make them think he was sitting and drinking. Even Monica never realized that he was never at her side.

Dave was startled seeing Clint jumping on him like this. Fearing the supposed knife, he could only use the awl in his hand to stab Clint, who turned into a green goo a moment later under Monica’s surprised eyes. She didn’t see the goo, she just saw Clint attack Dave and Dave taking out an awl and stabbing Clint in his heart.

Monica gasped as she saw her father commit murder, but that only lasted for a second as Victor silently knocked her out. Then laid her slowly on the couch before looking at the confused Dave.

“That awl is really pointy. You should check it for damage.” Victor told Dave, who looked at the weapon in his hand in shock… When did he get this? Pointy... He touched the tip with his finger and turned into a green goo too.

“Wouldn’t killing them get us in trouble?” Margret, who was watching the show from the side, asked Victor.

“I was planning to let someone else do it. But I really needed this thing. And I am not afraid of trouble.” He said as he slowly took the ring and the jewel from Clint's severed hand. He cut it at the moment he threw him at Dave. After quickly inspecting the ring, Victor stored it in his ring with the jewel after placing a talisman on it.

After that he carefully stored the awl in his ring, he was the one who placed it secretly in the drunk Dave’s hand a moment earlier.

Victor didn’t want proof that he was the killer. The Von Geldstadt family might suspect something, but without proof, they can’t do a thing as his family would protect him. And Clint was kicked out, so they had no incentive to make trouble.

As for the dark chamber, they would not be sure he did it too. But Victor just wanted them to make some moves. The scariest enemies were those in the darkness, and he wanted them to show some trail.