Chapter 317: Roping In From the Shadows

Scratching his head from the seemingly absurd request Vanadir gave to him, Dane looked through one of the large windows covering the pavilion, taking note of the current position of the sun. He then went silent for a bit, pondering over something before finally looking back at Vanadir and saying with a light sigh, "It's already a bit late in the afternoon, Your Highness. It'd be possible for us to arrive in front of the Astelia family household and get back to the capital before the sun sets if its proximity to the capital is somewhat close."

"But if it's as far away as the Arcenon family household, then it would be impossible for us to get back to the capital before sunset, Your Highness," he added. Surprisingly, the Ninth Prince listened to all of that without a frown on his face, as if he was expecting Dane to be against it in the first place. With a light smile plastered on his face, he said to Dane, "Now, what if I tell you that heading to the Astelia family household closer at night would be beneficial to our cause?"

"Is it?" Dane lightly shook his head, disbelieving of the prince's words. Nevertheless, he had to comply with Vanadir's wishes as he was, after all, his royal advisor. Asking the Ninth Prince to bring out the map he unfurled before they headed to the Arcenon family household, Dane went ahead and asked him, "So, where is the Astelia family household situated in this map, Your Highness?"

"Right here, the Duvir province," Vanadir hastily pointed at the rough location of the Astelia family household on the map, pointing towards one of the provinces that was closer to the capital. Inwardly letting out a sigh of relief, Dane lightly nodded as he said, "I see. I think we can get back to the capital before sunset if it's that close, Your Highness. Speaking of which, do you need to ask for permission from the king again since you're leaving once more?"

"I asked permission from the king if I could have the freedom to leave the palace the whole day, so it'll be fine," the Ninth Prince assured his royal advisor with a light smile on his face, only to recall a certain thing regarding the Astelia family not long after that. At that instant, he placed both of his hands on Dane's shoulders, making the latter wonder as to what was going on. With no choice but to look at Vanadir's face, he then asked, "What's wrong, Your Highness?"

"Let me ask you something, Dane," Vanadir responded in a slightly solemn tone. "Would you be willing to follow my every order, as long as it doesn't harm you in any way?"

"Why are you asking that same question agai—" Dane could not help but ask, only to stop at the very last moment as he wondered if the prince was intentionally choosing people with eccentric personalities. Although he had not met the person the Ninth Prince wanted to poach from the Astelia family before, after seeing Valentia and helping out satisfy her desires, he could not help but feel that the one from the Astelia family would turn out to be the same as her.

Making sure that his hunch was not wrong, he then asked, "Are you telling me that there's a possibility where there would be a surprise for me?"

"In a way, yes," Vanadir lightly nodded as he replied. "So, are you willing?"

"Well, my answer will have to wait for now, Your Highness. In any case, let us be on our way to the Astelia family household," Dane did not accept nor deny Vanadir's proposition, prompting the Ninth Prince to focus on what was most important, which was to get there.

With a light nod, Vanadir then walked closer to Dane, allowing the latter to conjure a magic circle that would envelop the two of them as they soon disappeared from the area not even a few seconds later.

…

XXXX Continent, Duvir Province, near the Astelia family household.

Whoosh!

Just like before with Valentia, the two of them appeared in a small forest not far away from the household where the Astelia family resided. Although Dane could teleport the two of them directly in front of the household, it would be unsightly in Dane's opinion for the royal advisor to be out of breath while accompanying the Ninth Prince. As for Vanadir, he couldn't care less as to whether Dane was tired or not, but he did appreciate what Dane was doing, knowing his intentions to help him look better in front of other people.

Taking a peek through the leaves that gave them shade against the scorching rays of the sun, Vanadir took a look at the current position of the sun, estimating that they had around half an hour to an hour of sunlight at most. As to why that was the case, Vanadir told Dane to take rests in between teleports, which Dane fortunately listened to this time around. Thanks to that small change, Dane only had to absorb energy from a few mana stones before returning to his peak condition.

After making sure that Dane had returned to his peak condition, Vanadir then asked Dane to cast a movement speed boosting spell on the two of them before heading to where the Astelia family household was at full speed. Around ten minutes later, the two of them had arrived at the entrance of the household, leaving those from the Astelia family household at a loss for words as they did not know these two people to arrive when it was close to nighttime.

Nevertheless, the word that the two of them were at the entrance of the Astelia family household still spread throughout the manor like a wildfire, causing some of the highly esteemed servants of the family to serve the two of them as one of them bowed in front of the two before asking, "May I ask what the two esteemed sirs are here for?"

As if their response to the question was planned from the start, Vanadir took a step forward before introducing themselves to the servants, saying, "I'm Vanadir Seraph, the Ninth Prince of the Seraph Kingdom. Behind me is my royal advisor, Dane Grossezauber. We are here in the Astelia family household to ask if the 'Great Fortress,' Griselle Astelia is inside the household as we want to talk with her."

"Ah." Listening to their intentions, the servant that asked them lightly nodded as he politely replied, "I understand. I will try to get Lady Griselle to come to you as soon as possible."

Fortunately for them, just as the servant was about to turn around and head into the household to call for the Griselle Astelia that Vanadir spoke of, the slim figure of a young woman came into view of the servants, as well as Vanadir and Dane at the very instant the servant was finished speaking.

Wearing a long-sleeved t-shirt made out of cotton that was light red, which was complemented by black pants that accentuated her beautiful legs, as well as black shoes that made sure to cover her feet, this woman with her silver hair tied into a ponytail looked at Vanadir and Dane with a solemn gaze before saying, "I already know of your intentions, Ninth Prince. In that case, I'm not willing to accept."

After saying those words, she then turned around and headed back into the insides of the Astelia family household, leaving the servants and the other people there at a loss for words as they knew that if she said those words to those people, then what she wanted to happen was for them to be escorted away. Usually, it would be easy for them to do so, but now that the two people she wanted to shoo away were the Ninth Prince and his royal advisor, then things became quite difficult for them.

Taking the initiative amidst the silent atmosphere in the surroundings, one of the servants stepped forward and looked at the two as she politely said, "Esteemed sirs, I would like to sincerely apologize on behalf of the Astelia family, but since our Lady Griselle told the two of you to leave the premises, then we…"

"Ah, we understand. We'll leave shortly," Vanadir responded to the servant's words with a light smile, knowing that she was just doing her job. While a dumbfounded expression was still plastered on Dane's face, Vanadir went ahead and grabbed him by the arm as they walked further and further away from the Astelia household, stopping at the small forest where they rested quite some time ago.

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"So, what do you think of her?" At the very instant the two of them had arrived at the small forest, Vanadir released his grip on Dane's arm and asked him with a light smile. In response, Dane looked at Vanadir with a weird expression, wondering why he was still smiling. Nonetheless, Dane responded with an honest answer as he said, "From the aura she was emitting a while ago, I could tell that she excels in the field of protection."

"Though I kind of dislike the fact that she rejected you in front of so many people," he added, prompting Vanadir to laugh out loud as he told him, "I told you I was just trying my luck."

"In any case, you should've told me that the guy from the Astelia family you were talking about was actually a she, Your Highness," Dane said with a light frown, to which the Ninth Prince let out a light chuckle as he replied, ���Can't reveal everything from the get-go, you know?"

"Anyways, what if I told you that there was a way for her to agree to my offer of joining my team?" he said not long after, eliciting a slightly curious expression to arise on Dane's face. Noticing this, Vanadir grinned as he moved closer to Dane as he said, "Alright. Here's the plan I have in mind. Although I'm not entirely sure that it would work, I'm at least sure that we would get out of this unscathed."

He then started to whisper the plan he had in mind into Dane's ear after that. At first, Dane's eyes widened at the sheer absurdity of the plan. But as time passed, that surprised expression was replaced with that of doubt as he felt that there was no way such a plan would work. Even after Vanadir was finished explaining the plan, an expression of doubt could be seen on Dane's face, wondering if the prince he was following now had a few screws loose.

"Oi, oi, oi. What's with the doubtful expression? You did tell me to inform you of things like these beforehand, right?" the Ninth Prince said not long after, dispelling the doubtful expression on Dane's face as he let out a sigh. Scratching his head as he tried to wrap his head around the plan, Dane looked at him and asked, "Is that why you asked me before we left if I would be willing to follow every order you make, as long as it doesn't harm me, Your Highness?"

"Uh-huh," Vanadir nodded as he replied. Seeing the adamant expression on his face, Dane went silent for a bit as he pondered over their chances of successfully roping someone like Griselle Astelia through that method. In the end, Dane let out a long sigh of annoyance as he said, "Ahhh…to hell with it!"

"Now that's the Dane I know," Vanadir laughed as the two of them went ahead and bided their time inside the forest, waiting for night to fall.

…

A few hours have passed since the two of them had arrived near the Astelia family household. Taking a gander at the moon that illuminated the night sky, Vanadir lightly nodded to himself as he felt that now was the right time to make a move. Tapping on Dane's shoulder, who was circulating the mana inside his body all this time, he then looked at him and said, "We're going to make our move."

With a nod, Dane stood up and dusted off his backside before going ahead and casting movement speed boosting spells to the two of them, as well as spells that removed their presence from onlookers. Ensuring that all of the spells had been successfully cast on them, the two then dashed towards the Astelia family household once more, this time with an eccentric plan in mind.

There was no surprise to the amount of time it took them to arrive at the household since they were using the same movement speed boosting spells. What was instead surprising was that they were still able to unleash such a level of speed even after not eating for so long. Then again, as long as one had reached a high enough class, one could forgo eating or drinking for longer durations, with those at the peak even being able to forgo eating and drinking altogether.

Just before they arrive at the entrance of the Astelia family household, the two of them hastily made a sharp turn as Vanadir asked Dane to utilize a detection spell, telling him to keep his senses peeled at the very instant he sensed Griselle's presence. After circling the perimeter of the household a few times, Dane's spell finally picked up the signs of Griselle's presence, prompting them to stop under a window that led to a room that was more or less lit.

The two of them looked at each other as they prepared themselves for what was about to come. With a nod, they then leaped into the window, entering the room uninvited as their sights were greeted by a silver-haired woman wearing comfortable nightwear.

"Eh? Aren't you two the two people I rejected earlie—!" Unfortunately for the silver-haired woman, just before she could finish her question, Dane hastily moved closer to her and gripped her by the neck before pushing her onto one of the walls. As for Vanadir, who watched all of this unfold from behind, he looked at the silver-haired woman and asked, "So, Lady Griselle. Let me ask you one more time. Are you willing to join my team?"

"Your Highness, there's no way this has got to work, right?" Before Griselle could even answer, Dane looked back at the Ninth Prince and asked, prompting the latter to let out a light chortle as he pointed at Griselle and said, "Take a look at her current expression and tell me if that's the case."

"What do you mean by—" Just before Dane could even finish his query, the current expression Griselle had on her face was a stark contrast to the Griselle that they had seen just a while ago. At this moment, her face was as red as a tomato, though it was not due to the grip Dane had over her neck. In fact, Dane did not even grip on her neck that hard at all. Nevertheless, ragged breathing filled with a hint of l.u.s.t could be heard coming out of Griselle's mouth as she looked at Dane with a gaze filled with desire.

Amidst her breathing, she maintained her calm as she looked at Vanadir and asked, "If I accept…can I…have my way…with this…fine man…?"

"Oh no," Dane instantly felt that something was amiss after listening to Griselle's words. Sadly for him, just before he could ask Vanadir to help him out, a grin could be seen on the Ninth Prince's face as he jumped through the window they entered from while replying, "Take as much as time you want."

Whoosh!

Since Dane and Griselle were the two ones left inside the room, and Vanadir seemed to have no intention of helping him out, Dane let out a light sigh in the end as he released his grip on her neck as he muttered to himself, "I don't know if I should hate you or love you, Your Highness."

"In any case, it's time to prepare for the battle in front of me."

"3rd Circle!"

"[Extreme Hardening]!"

"My vitality is seriously going to get siphoned at this rate…"

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