"Master, if you want to do it, then I can—" Walking behind Avendial while holding her sword, Rivia, with a calm voice and without a hint of hesitation, tried to propose acting as a substitute for fulfilling his desires but halted as her gaze met Avendial''s.
"Rivia, did you forget your mistake?" Avendial paused at the doorway, ncing into the corridor where a handful of servants were present. He directed a serious look at Rivia, subtly pointing out her error and making it clear that it was entirely her responsibility.
"I-I am sorry, Master." Due to being in the princess''s pce, Rivia didn''t show any expression on her face, yet inside her, she really wanted to cry, begging him to forgive her for what she had done. But right now, the most she could do was tighten her grip as, seeing how Avendial continued his walk, she followed behind.
''Katheria will not sit idle.'' Walking through the corridor, Avendial thought about the chances and the possibility of Katheria trying to dig into the matter and find out what might have happened for him to request such an outrageous and wrong thing.
Given the information he had about her, he was well aware that, in contrast to his usual appearance and behavior until now, where he always sought to invest in profit without caring about where he was investing, for a case like the Sertsul business, which was, in very simple terms, straight prostitution, yet he invested due to profit.
He gave a clear hint to Princess Katheria that he wanted to have profit in that outrageous deal.
Avendial appreciated smart people like Princess Katheria, given the fact that they were easy to fool by providing logical hints to make them distract from their path simply because of their ability to trust their mind instead of just believing things that are not possible.
After all, in the end, when things that aren''t logically possible came into existence, the smarter ones mostly suffer due to their brains wanting to know the reasoning, just like how the Tower appeared—though smarter ones caught up, those who were mediocre and less intelligent always engaged in stories and games, were the first to catch the essence of the Tower and understanding about different species like Elves, Goblins, etc.
Smarter ones keep thinking about how these races will behave differently than what is shown in the stories, while non-smarter ones only believe their guts, like considering elves prideful, dwarves hating them being called dwarves, and several stereotypes.
Though, of course, there were several different races that were never mentioned and only needed smart people to handle them. But even for the fleeting moment, a very important lesson was given to the whole world: Your field of work doesn''t define your capabilities; it''s simply that the area you''re involved in doesn''t meet the standards of your expertise.
For Avendial, who saw the future, he had seen things that a normal human could never believe. Though, of course, he neither cared to make them believe this, prompting him to start leaving breadcrumbs for Princess Katheria to get distracted from her path, just in case she tried to know why he wanted to sleep with different women.
"Rivia, you will return to Croceaus territory and kill a few people there." Upon leaving the pce and stepping onto the lengthy path that stretched toward the main gate, they found a small golf cart ready to take them the half-mile journey from the pce gate to the main entrance, and both promptly settled into their seats.
"I-I..." Seated inside the vehicle as it moved, Rivia felt her lips parting to utter the words, but she pursed them tightly, avoiding his gaze, knowing that she might cross the line, hardly controlling her tears at seeing how her master was now making excuses to abandon her.
Having been with Avendial since childhood, she had seen his behavior of always giving her a task whenever he wanted to be left alone and keep a distance from her.
So, hearing his words, it was clear that he wanted to abandon her.
''Should I kill myself?'' With her fingers wrapped tightly around each other, filled with calluses and faint scars, resting just above the fabric of her pants, she was overwhelmed by guilt that had transformed into deep remorse and despair for never being able to see him again, all because of her momentary greed.
"Please, this way, Marquess." A chauffeur emerged from a Rolls Royce limousine, nked by several bodyguards who stood in formation to greet their master. Following him was a woman who grasped a sword with one hand, while the other rested on her elbow, her gaze downcast as she walked quietly alongside him, both making their way into the vehicle.
"Where are you sitting?" Avendial noticed that, as always, Rivia was attempting to take the front row seat in the limousine. He asked her while gripping the hilt of her sword''s sheath, which gleamed with ck and amethyst hues. She nced back at him, her eyes welling up with tears as soon as their gazes locked.
"Sigh,e here, you idiot." As he spoke, Avendial yanked the sword''s sheath, causing Rivia to copse onto him, her body sliding from the seat. He wrapped his arms around her head and shoulders, pulling her to rest against his abdomen as shended on the car''s floor.
''?!''
"I-I," As Rivia felt her face pressed against his abdomen, she fought to hold back her tears. Desperately, she thought about pushing him to leave her alone before shepletely copsed. But as soon as she sensed his hand cradling her head, the sword slipped from her grasp and ttered to the car''s floor. She then wrapped her arms around him and began to sob, "Heuk...! M-Master... sniff...
sob, I am s-sorry, p-plea—"
"I will forgive you, okay?" Seeing how she was hugging him back, he ruffled her hair, feeling itpletely silky and without any resistance as his hand could easilyb it. He slightly leaned down, a smile forming, while she kept wailing and crying. In a very whisper, with a devilish tone, he said, "But I have a condition; will you follow it, dear Rivia?"