After talking with Count Grant for a while, Vicente was much calmer about his situation and felt that he could escape this estate without fighting and still with a very relevant contact.
He had nothing to do with any of Dryhaven's powers at the moment. But after this unexpected meeting with Count Grant, he felt he could turn it into income for his family, maybe even start operating locally.
However, not everything would go so simple for him there!
As he finished talking to the Count, he heard footsteps coming from the hallway of the large living room where he was with Count Grant, just before Livia and Nicolas' voices reached his ear.
"We need to deal with Shelby and frame her as being connected to Cesar Mazzanti. If we do that, we'll be better able to protect our position."
"Don't worry, I've already sent people to start the job... Now, let's see who's with my father."
"Father, I heard that you're with an old acquaintance. Is that true?" Nicolas' voice rang out as Livia, and he appeared side by side.
"We were passing by and got curious after hearing..." Livia was speaking when her eyes fell on Vicente, and she immediately stopped.
Count Grant understood that these two had probably heard from his men that he was dealing with an old rival and immediately interrupted Livia.
"Livia and Nicolas, forget what you heard. It was a misunderstanding. This one here is Vicente Fuller, a young merchant from Saltstar City. I thought he was an old acquaintance, but he's quite an interesting fellow. Come and say hello." He said aloud as he stood up and motioned for the two to come and talk to Vice.
Vicente felt his heart in his throat. He did not like this meeting with these two at all. 'Fuck! There was no point in me hiding earlier!' He cursed the Count for wanting to introduce him to these two.
"Vicente Fuller?" Nicolas asked, feeling like he had heard that name before.
Nicolas would have remembered it instantly if the Count had said Vicente Fuller of Millfall. But since his father's phrasing was a little different and Nicolas had only thought of Vicente that day at the Symons family funeral, he didn't remember right away.
But Livia recognized Vicente immediately when she saw her husband greeting the young man with long black hair sitting on a large sofa.
'That person... Isn't he Shelby's friend?' She thought, feeling that something wasn't right with Vicente. 'That Magic Gem's shape... That's not his gen. Why is he hiding it?'
As Vicente greeted Nicolas, he noticed Livia's eyes on him. He felt his senses warning him that this woman had remembered him.
'It looks like you're going to be a problem...' His eyes met hers, and he suspected she would realize everything and cause him problems.
At the same time, Livia struggled to remember Vicente's Magic Gem, which was the last thing he wanted to happen.
Gulp!
'It can't be...'
"It's a pleasure to meet you, Miss Livia Norris." He said as he greeted her, quickly taking something out of his spatial ring to give to her. "Please accept these earrings. Consider them a token of my respect for the Grant family, your husband and father-in-law."
Count Grant didn't think Vicente's behavior was bad, as this young man knew how to please and deal with the most diverse situations.
He had been brought there not knowing what would happen, but he had made an angry man change his mood and even look upon him favorably.
The Count was sad to hear of Kate's death, but he was happy that the woman had raised a young man like Vicente so well.
That obviously couldn't be Andrew's doing, he thought...
As for Nicolas, he didn't find Vicente's gift strange. It was common for new contacts to give each other gifts to build stronger relationships.
Livia was suspicious, but she received the earrings.
The moment she touched them, she felt something strange in her being.
'Cesar!' She finally remembered Vicente's Magic Gem and connected it to the wanted poster associated with Cesar Mazzanti.
'I didn't expect to get caught like this, Miss Norris.' Vicente told her, using his mental power like he had with Ronan.
The Count and Nicolas were weaker than Vicente, so neither of them noticed what this young man was doing to Livia while they were talking.
'What do you want? What are you doing, Cesar?' She asked, feeling her heart pounding in her chest. 'I tried to approach you earlier so that we could have a friendly relationship. I don't want to irritate you.'
'I hope not; otherwise, I'll have to act.' Vicente said to her as he continued his conversation with the Count and Nicolas, Livia smiling all the while. 'If you value your life or the lives of these two, you'll have to give up your freedoms and serve me.
If you're not willing, I'm afraid I'll have to complicate things for all of us here.'
She felt on the edge of a precipice, fully aware that if this person was indeed Cesar Mazzanti, as Sovereign Adams had suspected before his death, then this family was in danger.
Cesar could easily kill the three of them!
Thinking of Cesar's terrible powers that had made him capable of killing even a Sovereign, Livia feared the worst and agreed without much hesitation.
'I'll do anything. Just don't hurt us. We have nothing against you!'
'I hope not. The Count doesn't know my identity, but your husband might find out for himself. I want you to convince him to make a deal with me later. I'll let you live if you both promise never to tell the truth about me and agree to work for me.'
'How am I supposed to do that? If I tell him who you are, he'll want to go straight to the barracks!'
'Leave your bedroom window open tonight, and don't tell him anything until then. I'll come to you, and then you'll convince him. I'll show up at the right time with your two agreements.'
'All right. I'll do what you want.' She said as Vicente's mental power began to fade.
'Perfect. Remember, if you betray me, I'll kill you all. The Grant and Norris families will suffer the same fate as the Symons family. Even if you give me trouble, I'll still manage to do all this before any Sovereign gets to me.'
Livia knew this very well and could only agree to Vicente's wishes.
So Vicente, Nicolas, and Count Grant spent the next few minutes chatting casually, with only Livia aware of who was standing between them and the danger of being killed at any moment.
Eventually, it would be time for Vicente to leave. Still, he would keep an eye on Livia, putting aside his affairs with Nova for the rest of the day to keep an eye on this person.
