"Count Wiley… he is Dalton's maternal uncle." Flavia answered.
"Oh?" The revelation surprised Max. A moment later, however, he coldly laughed, "No wonder Dalton is so despicable. It turns out that it runs in their blood, huh?"
Seeing his reaction, Flavia panicked and hurriedly added, "Max, you can't take this lightly. Not only is count Wiley Dalton's uncle, he is also married to one of the royal princesses and thus, he is very close to both the Dalton and the Royal family. So, I'm afraid it won't be easy if you want to kill him."
Max frowned when he heard this and looked at Anna, who nodded at him, her expression grave, "Yes. If it wasn't for the Royal family's support, how could he have become a four-star mage before our father?"
Max went silent for a while and recalled what butler George had told him, how count Wiley had tried to kidnap his mother with two four-star mages and ten three-star mages.
'Butler George said that mother had killed 8 of the ten three-star mages and severely injured one four-star one. Where did he find two four-star mages and so many three-star ones to help him? Not to mention, he had more three-star mages to help him when father attacked him.
Did he get them from Dalton family or the Royal family? However, why would they give them to him without a reason? Moreover, how come he tried to steal the sword so many years after father and mother got married? He should've seen the mother using the sword before, right?'
Max furrowed his brows. He felt as if the whole count Wiley trying to steal his mother's sword thing wasn't as simple as it seemed.
'Could it be that it was Dalton or maybe the Royal family who wanted the sword and not count Wiley? Or maybe I am overthinking things? If it was Dalton or the Royal family, with their strength, they could've raged the Garfield family to the ground and could've easily gotten the sword?' He thought.
He glanced at Flavia and asked, "You told me that the Dalton family was one of the richest families of the Green leaf kingdom, right? How strong they are in terms of power? How many experts they have?"
Flavia nodded, "Yeah. Although the Dalton family is known for the financial strength, they aren't weak in terms of the strength. At the helm, they have a five-star mage who is Dalton's grandmother. She was rumored to have broken through almost a decade ago."
After a pause, she continued, "Apart from her, they have 7-8 people in the four-star realm if I'm not wrong. As for the three-star realm, there should be a few dozen. Apart from this, they also have some contracted mages."
"They… they are strong." Anna's complexion changed when she heard this. Gulping down her saliva in nervousness, she glanced at Max and opened her mouth to advise him against provoking them.
From the conversation earlier, she had realized that this Dalton guy was Max's enemy and Flavia seemed to have something to do with it.
But she wasn't too worried about it since Max was already very strong and from what she could gather, almost no one in the two-star realm could pose any threat to him. But after knowing Dalton's background, she became worried.
Sensing her worries, Max smiled reassuringly at her and held her hand, "Don't worry about it."
Flavia glanced at them locking their hands and felt the desire to do the same with him. When she realized this, she blushed.
Shaking her head, she took a deep breath, pushed the thought away and said, "Max, I won't say that you should forget your enmity with them no matter if it's Dalton or count Wiley but it would be best if you became a five-star mage first."
"That's right, Max. You should focus of becoming stronger first." Anna also nodded in agreement. In truth, after hearing about the prowess of the Dalton family, she thought it would be best if he forgot about their enmity completely.
Seeing the worry and concern in their eyes, Max chuckled, "Don't worry, I won't try my luck before I'm strong enough to uproot them completely."
"Mhm." Both girls nodded, feeling relieved.
After that, Anna told Flavia to wait for a while and started to prepare dinner for her.
"Um… Anna, it's alright, don't trouble yourself. I can eat out." Flavia said and stood up, intending to go out.
Whoosh!
But before she could take even a step away from the bed, Max grabbed her hand and made her sit again. He then gave her a charming smile. "There is no need to eat out. Anna has already prepared dinner for you."
Flavia glanced at her hand which he was holding and quietly nodded, "Okay."
Max didn't let go and instead, he started rubbing the back of her hand with his thumb. Instinctively, Flavia tried to move her hand away but Max didn't let her. He then leaned toward her and whispered in her ear, "Should I let go?"
"W-What?" Flavia became flustered when she felt his hot breathing on her neck and her heart started to beat faster.
"Your hand? Or can I keep holding it?" Max asked, smiling.
Gulp!
Flavia gulped down hard and nodded shyly, "Y-You can keep holding it if you want." As soon as she said this, she lowered her head and her face, the visible portion, ear and neck turned a tantalizing shade of red.
"That's good then." Max chuckled and locked his fingers with hers. Feeling her baby-like tender skin, he couldn't help but give her hand a gentle squeeze. It was as if this light squeeze sent an electric current rippling through her body, she trembled and her mind went blank.
Just a little while ago, she wanted him to hold her hand but now that he was holding it; she didn't know what to think or what to feel right now.
So, she panicked and hastily pulled her hand away. For a moment, Max didn't want to let go as the feeling of holding her hand was just too good but seeing how flustered she was, he reluctantly let go.
A moment later, Anna served Flavia dinner. Max sat back watched her eat which made her self-conscious and she couldn't help but squirm a little.
Seeing this, Anna frowned and angrily chided him, "Stop staring at her. You are making her nervous."
She didn't realize that her words made Flavia want to dig a hole and hide out of embarrassment.
Max couldn't help but smile awkwardly at this. Just as he was about to say something to relieve the awkward atmosphere, someone knocked on the door.
Knock! Knock!
Whoosh!
He immediately jumped down the bed and went to open the door and found a familiar lady in maid's uniform standing there.
"Hello, young master." The girl said. She was Jasmine's maid.
"Hello." Max nodded.
"My… my mistress heard you had returned. So, she wanted you to visit her if you have time." The maid informed.
'Oh, yeah. How could I forget that horny women?' Max almost wanted to facepalm himself. He had completely forgotten about her. That's why he told Belen and Leticia to wait for him tonight.
"Who is it, Max?" Anna walked out at this moment.
"Oh, it's nothing. An Elder wants to see me to discuss some things." Max said and then glanced at the maid, "I'll be there in a while. You can go."
"Yes." The maid promptly nodded, turned around and left.
