"Lady Eliza is obviously much more experienced than us in matters like these, and I'm fully aware that she's fully capable of handling everything on her own, and likely much more effectively. However, if I may, I'd like to be a bit selfish and request to come with you. I see this as a great opportunity to learn from someone as knowledgeable as Lady Eliza, and I wouldn't want to miss it."
Seraphina bowed her head as she requested respectfully.
Eliza stared at the girl standing in front of her for a while, then,
"Do you know where all their branches are?"
She questioned.
"I know a few, but not all. I can figure it out within 4 days if you give me a chance." Seraphina replied.
"That is not needed.
You will be coming with me, take us to there main base first, then from there, we will be visiting all their bases one by one."
"Yes, I understand. I will be ready to leave whenever you want me to." Seraphina bowed her head again.
"What do you mean?
We are leaving right now." She clarified.
"I will give you 15 minutes, prepare whatever you need, you will be staying with me for the next 2 days." Saying those words, Eliza and the two mages following her moved away.
"I am grateful for your consideration, Lady Eliza."
Seraphina nodded, then, she turned toward her Father and requested for his help. Anderson understood what his daughter wanted, he quickly bowed his head as he excused himself.
Seraphina, on the other hand, walked towards Vaan and,
"I will try to win her favor and direct her into Young Master Vaan's faction, though I doubt it would work since she is not easy to deal with." She whispered.
"Oh? You are already getting on to the work?" Vaan questioned as he raised his eyebrow in curiosity.
"Was calling the Core Vesta Mages here not your way to intimidate me and show me how much power you hold? I understand that, and as I said, I will devote myself to working for you. I am doing just that."
Seraphina replied.
Vaan tilted his head.
Well, he wasn't really trying to intimidate her by calling them here, heck, he doesn't even have the power to 'call' mages like them here. Those mages were working on his mother's order.
As he requested, Astra gave him some time before she acted on the Dreamweave case, and now that Vaan had achieved what he wanted,
Astra didn't wish to wait for even a second longer and catch all the culprits.
This was the reason why someone like Eliza was sent here. The time she had lost because of her son's request, Astra was planning to make up for it by sending the best mage under her command.
Anyways, Vaan didn't try to clear Seraphina's misunderstanding. He knew it wouldn't work anyway, the process of actually getting Seraphina on his side without intimidation, it would take a while and he knew it.
"That is just what I wanted." Vaan nodded with a big smile on his face.
"Anyways, report to me once you return, there are still a lot of things I need you to do.
After all, you still need to prove your worth.
You need to prove that excusing 1,000,000 Elemental Stones in exchange of getting you to serve me for 50 years was worth it."
"…" Seraphina stared at Vaan for a while, nobody knew what she was thinking.
Soon, Anderson returned, in his hand was a small bag that he had servants prepare for her daughter. Of course, since she was going with Eliza Vesta, Anderson made sure to keep the bag as small and light as possible.
"Thank you, Father." Seraphina expressed her gratitude.
"Take care of yourself." Anderson nodded.
"Are you done with your preparations?" Eliza questioned.
"Yes, I am ready." Seraphina spoke as she turned towards Eliza.
"Then let's go."
Eliza waved her hand, Black Smoke covered Seraphina's body, then, with Eliza and the two other mages, Seraphina disappeared as well.
"Well, since I am done here, I will return as well." Vaan rubbed the back of his neck as he walked towards his carriage, completely ignoring Anderson's presence. Of course, the Family Head couldn't do anything other than just wait till Vaan's carriage left, but then,
Vaan took his head out of the carriage window as he glanced at Anderson and,
"I forgot to mention, that maid, Anna, be sure she is treated well. I know it won't look like that to you that way, but, that woman saved your family. Treat her like you would normally do, because if I hear her complain, I will take action,"
"…"
Anderson clenched his fists as he glared at Vaan, then, his body just loosened up and,
"I understand, Young Master Vaan." He spoke.
Vaan nodded, sitting back inside the carriage, the carriage finally left and Anderson returned to his mansion with a face that seemed like it had aged by 20 years.
…
Vaan returned to his Mansion, then, just as he was about to walk into his room, he heard a voice.
"Did it go like how you predicted?"
"Mother." Vaan smiled as he turned around and greeted his mother. Astra smiled.
Vaan then opened the doors of his room and,
"Please come in, Mother."
Astra nodded, walking into Vaan's room.
"So? How did it go?" she questioned again as she sat on the bed.
Vaan sat next to her before placing his head on her lap and, "It went well of course, how could your son fail?"
Astra smiled as she started ruffling her son's hair, "Are you sure about this? That woman is quite cunning you know?"
"She maybe cunning, but she has one big weakness."
"Oh? What is that?"
"Her mother is not the strongest mage in the world."
Vaan replied with a big smile on his face.
"Guess you have an advantage in that matter, huh." Astra smiled.
"Of course, I may say I am doing all this independently, but in the end, having Astra Vesta in the end of my name already makes me different from the rest of the people.
No matter how cunning Seraphina is, without a proper force to support her, she could only play childish games with some foolish 20-year-old boys at best.
If she wishes to step into the actual world, the only way for her to do that is to find a force that could support her, a strong thigh she could hug, without that, those geezers with actual power won't even look at her no matter how 'heavenly beautiful' she is.
And only by serving and being loyal to me could she get a thigh she could hug and actually help her family and herself."
"What if she tries to find another thigh to hug using the connections, she would be open to through you? She is a competent woman, and once she proves her competence to others, there will be people eyeing her, what if she tries to use those people to stand on her own in the future?
I doubt 1,000,000 Elemental Stones of debt would stop the actual strong forces from acting up." Astra questioned as she glanced at her child with a curious look on her face.
"Mother, she is competent but that doesn't mean she is better than me. No force in their right mind would offend the future Head of the Vesta Family for a woman with a slightly bigger head than others."
"Future Head of the Family huh? You sure sound confident."
"Again, I have Astra in my name, your son's destiny was predetermined."
"You're working on your flattery skills quite a lot." Astra commented.
"I only say the truth." Vaan simply made himself comfortable on his mother's lap and closed his eyes.
"Also, I won't be opening up the entire world for Seraphina yet, first, I would use her to the point where I get back everything she owed me, I would work her to the bone for the first few years, and only then would I actually give her the stage to make some actual connections.
If after that, she still manages to impress someone to the point they are willing to pay 1,000,000 Elemental Stones for her 'release', then I won't really mind that extra cash."
"1,000,000 Elemental Stone is not a small amount, yes.
Especially when it is coming out of a random number you came up with."
Astra nodded.
Vaan smiled.
Then, as if she remembered something, Astra spoke up,
"I actually came here for something else."
"Hmm? What is it?" Vaan questioned as he opened his eyes.
"Roland woke up." Astra informed.
"The Simp General is awake?"
"I don't know what that word means, but yes, he is awake.
What do you want to do?"
Astra questioned, looking at Vaan with a curious look on her face.
Vaan thought about it for a while, then, he just closed his eyes again,
"Meh, it is not as fun anymore."
"Hmm?"
"Who would want to fight a druggie? I'll kill him when I get the chance later. For now, I want to stay like this.
I also have a training session with Elara later as well."
"Oh, your date?"
"Training Session."
"Yes, of course, 'training session'."
