The Young Master in the Shadows

Chapter 284: Plans revealed

The mall was crowded when a group of ten pretty girls in casual clothing made their way inside… Not precisely, there was an Alex among them.

Many brave young men wanted to try and strike up a conversation with them, but sadly, the girls were surrounded by twenty bald burly men in black suits. So no one dared to approach, especially as the men used an electrical taser to vaporize the balls of a thug who wanted to try his luck.

The girls casually made their way into the VIP elevator where they headed to the off limits 7th floor, to a private studio where Madam Turquoise, the legendary seamstress was waiting. Originally she came here to supervise the preparation of a fashion show that was planned for next week, but a sudden call yesterday changed her schedule. It made her super happy, especially when she heard that the enormous bill would be paid by the famous Theodore White.

At the wooden door of the private studio, there was a girl making trouble.

“I said, I want to meet Madam Turquoise!”

“Miss, you need an appointment…” a stern assistant who had ambiguous gender replied.

“Fuck! I am the one who invited her to Vein city, to begin with!” the girl scolded.

“Oh… You are Miss Mia… Sorry but The Madam had to change her plans, she will meet you tomorrow. Today she has an appointment with some VIPs!”

“What VIPs?” she asked just as the girls stepped into the floor making her turn and look at them in surprise. She recognized some of the girls, especially Mira and Margret. Are those girls the VIPs? Was that evil guy Victor with them?

“Oh, Mia! You are here too!” Margret said, “Did you also come here to order a wedding dress?” she asked then frowned, “Aren't you too young to marry?”

“What wedding dress? I am here for the fashion show… You were the ones meeting with madam Turquoise?” Mia replied with a frown as she sighed in relief that Victor was not there. Ever since he strangled her that day in waterfall town, she was a little afraid of him.

“Yeah… the young master is planning to marry us…. most of us, in one big wedding!” Margret corrected herself as she glared at Alex. “So we are here to take our measurements… Madam Turquoise would be doing the dresses by herself!” she added. “Is the madam ready for us?” Margret turned and asked the assistant at the door.

“Yes… this way…” the assistant said with a shallow smile.

Mia watched in shock as the girls entered one by one while looking at her apologizingly.

“You're a male, you can’t enter!” the assistant suddenly yelled, stopping Alex.

“It’s ok, the young master requested a dress for him too!” Margret explained, pulling the poor Alex in under the astonished eyes of Mia and the assistant!

Watching the studio doors close behind the girls, Mia turned around and then dashed toward the eighth floor where she pushed the office door open, startling her sister Iris who was relaxing and sipping some coffee as she reviewed some business papers.

“MIA! Didn’t I tell you to knock first!” Iris scolded as she took a silky napkin and wiped the coffee that spilled on her skirt.

“Sorry, sis… But…” Mia tried hard to catch her breath… “Victor… that … bastard…. He is holding a mass wedding!”

“Watch your words! And yes! I already know that he will be marrying two girls at the same time,” Iris said with some annoyance. She was not yet used to the family way of doing things. “Such things are possible for nobles…” she explained.

“It is not just two!” Mia yelled. “He is marrying 10!... No 9….” she corrected herself. “The girls are downstairs in Madam Torques's studio to take their measurements for the dresses!” she said, making Iris shocked.

“What? Let’s go and have a look…” Iris said as she quickly stood up and then dashed out of the office... she needed to confirm this.

…

It was in the morning… No, it was late afternoon when Victor woke up, he was alone in bed. He remembered Lily saying something about leaving with the girls, but he was too sleepy to care. He didn’t get much sleep in the last couple of weeks and it all came crashing last night.

Looking at the time on his phone, Victor decided it was not really worth it to get up now. Wait… There were a few missed calls from his father.

He sighed then pressed the call button… This was going to be troublesome.

“VICTOR YOU PIECE OF SHIT!”

“Oh… hi daddy…” Victor said awkwardly.

“DADDY YOUR OWN SHIT, YOU BASTARD!” Theodore cursed. “ARE YOU PLANNING A MASS WEDDING?”

“...Who told you?” Victor faked a shock.

“Iris! Did you forget that the White mall belonged to her now?” Theodore said, “She met your girls who were shopping for some ‘custom’ bridal dresses!”

“Oh… Well, I am planning a ceremonial wedding…” Victor said awkwardly as if he had no idea that his plan would be uncovered so soon. “It is because we had a little problem…”

“What ‘little’ problem makes you marry 10… no 9 girls at once?”

“Well… I didn’t want to tell you before but… You see… It is Nova… When I went to propose, I discovered that she had escaped the prior day!” Victor said after some hesitation, “Feeling pressured by all of the journalists outside the house that day. I decided to marry her regardless. I gave her parents until the wedding to get her back or I would marry her by using a double! I already announced to the world about the wedding after all… You can ask Mike, he was there!”

“So if Nova is not found, you plan to replace the bride and marry Nova in name only?” Theodore quickly got his son’s plan.

“Yes! We will have all the time to find her after that!”

“What does this have to do with the mass wedding?” Theodore asked, he was not fooled. “You plan to use the chaos to marry Lily in secret right? Didn’t I warn you to delay this? It is not the right time!”

“This has nothing to do with Lily…” Victor lied, “It’s about Nova… In a ceremonial wedding, the brides will all wear ceremonial masks. Replacing her would be much easier!”

“That’s a good excuse, and a very convincing one too. But I don’t believe you… What else are you hiding?”

“...”

“Speak!”

“Well, I didn't want to scare you…. But I am afraid that Caspian might come…”

“Caspian? Who is Caspian?”

“The one from the Heavenly Sect. “

“You mean Alice’s old fiance? The son of the Heavenly sect’s patriarch?”

“YES! He might have a secret relationship with Nova! So according to Alice, he might come to the wedding…”

“WHAT! We have to cancel the wedding!” Theodore gasped. He was usually easy to disturb, but this was really troublesome.

“It is already too late, father… We already announced this to the world! If we cancel it now the Von Astrom family would start accusing us of breaking the deal. We would definitely be punished by the elder’s council if the wedding was canceled… They will use it against you and brother Mike even if it is not our fault!” Victor stated the facts. “This might even ruin our relationship with the Von Rosen family!”

“As if Caspian breaking into your wedding would be any better!... What is your plan?” Theodore sighed, Victor was right! In the family, someone was definitely working against him in the dark, and no matter whose fault it was, they would use this against him! They would not accept any excuses!

“Simple, If the wedding was ruined then, it would not be our fault… And a mass wedding would easily go on, even if one bride was not there!” Victor explained. “And I already prepared a counter measurement for Caspian!”

“What?”

“Even if the real Nova was found, I will replace her on stage regardless. If my guess is correct, Caspian will not start a thing, I believe he will just show up and let Nova beg for him to take her away!” Victor explained, “He will not dare to ruin the reputation of the Heavenly sect after all! And even if he did, the fake Nova would just curse at him forcing him to leave!”

“Makes sense, but what if Caspian decided to play rogue and kidnapped ‘NOVA’ anyway?“ Theodore said.

“He will not do it! But I will be prepared if that happens. I ordered some shapeshifting pills!… So by the time, Caspian figures out that he has a fake, it will all be over!” Victor said.

“Oh… This might work. But I am not convinced… What else!” Theodore was not easy to fool.

"That's it..."

"YOU FUCKING ORDERED 11 WEDDING DRESSES! SPEAK!" Theodore began to scold.

Victor hesitated as he delivered the next piece of news, “Oh… Well… The truth is…. I made a secret deal with Gary Von Geldstadt. I will also be marrying his sister Elise. It would be easy to add an unannounced bride to a mass wedding… One more would not hurt!”

“WHAT?” Theodore asked. “When did that happen? Why didn’t you tell me? And I have never heard of a girl named Elise in the Von Geldstadt family!”

“She is Valerie’s illegitimate half-sister… It was at the auction. I was scheming to marry Valerie, but that old fox Harvey scammed me and made me sign a pledge to marry his other granddaughter…”

“What? You met Harvey too!” Theodore was shocked, his son had surpassed his every expectation of him. At this moment he was sure that Victor was hiding his true powers. He felt both proud and a little conflicted.

“Yeah… I was not sure if she would be attending the wedding at first, but a week ago, Gary sent me a message telling me that they would attend the wedding and entrust Elise to me afterward… That’s when I decided to hold a mass wedding! I plan to surprise even them and marry Elise at that moment before anyone in the family can interfere and try to change the groom! At that point, even if all hell breaks lose, I can use the face of the Von Geldstadt family so that the wedding will go on!”

“Oh…This sounds convincing….” Theodore posed… “ That is if I am an idiot! Do you think I am an idiot?” he asked coldly.

“No dad…” Victor said, realizing that his father was not fooled. His excuses were good but not solid enough!

“You are making excuses here… Although marrying Elise is a good thing, You could have done it differently…. What are you truly planning? What are you after?”

“I can’t tell you!“ Victor finally told the truth.

“Oh…” Theodore paused in surprise,

“Sorry…” Victor apologized as his father kept his silence for a few moments.

“Who will the brides be?” Theodore asked solemnly.

“Lin, Nova, Aria, Mira, Monica, Mana, Mina, Margret and Elise…. “

“Oh… what are you cooking here? What’s wrong with Lily?” Theodore asked again. He already knew the list from Iris, but he just wanted to make sure…. He was just wondering why Lily was not on the list. Was it because of his warning? Not likely as Victor was already marrying Mina and Mana who were lowly maids and Margret that slut…. Something didn’t add up.

“No reply…”

“... You know what… I will trust you for once… “ Theodore finally said, “But you better not disappoint me or I will make sure to break every bone in your sorry body!“ Theodore said.

“I understand…” Victor said.

“I hope you do… And take care of Aria, although she is not my daughter, I will always consider her one! If you make her suffer, I will make you feel the same!” Theodore threw one last wanting then hung up. He was extra annoyed, but from Victor's tone, he realized that this must be something very important, so he decided to trust his son this time… Not really, he quickly called Mike after that to confirm Victor’s story about Elise… After that he would have to break the news of the mass wedding to Elena… that would be troublesome!

…

Victor sighed as he looked at the ceiling… Should he go find something to eat downstairs? Nah, he was too lazy for that, so he just took an energy bar from his ring and began to eat it as he closed his eyes again and began to inspect his blood slaves… Totally disguising the bar’s taste.

The first was Tom…

He was busy accompanying teacher Isabella shopping for some sneaking gear... That girl Naomi was with them too, and she was still wearing nothing. Wasn't she afraid of being discovered? Or was she wishing for it?

Victor didn’t care for now… Tom’s ‘appointment’ with him was tomorrow, so he needed to prepare the stage for the play.

Next was Poe… no, his name was Paul now.

He was still at the hospital, but he requested to be transferred to the family island. Victor planned to wait and watch what this demon was planning to do for now. Maybe he can lead him to other demons!

After that was Alex.

She was secretly trying on a cute dress in the mall… it looked good on her. She seemed happy… NO! Victor quickly messaged Margret to find her and ruin her day! Happiness was not allowed at such a delicate time!

Finally, Rita!

She had finally finished her soul training, and it was time for her to act! The Von Zwei will be moving soon probably!