Later that day, Vicente broke into Livia and Nicolas' house after watching them for hours to make sure neither of them would talk about their identities.
Livia had been too afraid of him doing anything against her to do anything dangerous, having tried to focus on other things while waiting for the deal with Vicente.
With the deal, she and her husband could go on with their lives without too much worry, knowing exactly what they had to do and the dangers involved.
Nicolas hadn't realized that Vicente was the same young man he'd seen at the Symons family funeral, let alone that he was connected to the army's Magic Gem wanted for escaping from Long Bay Correctional Facility.
So when Vicente broke into their home that night, he didn't get too rough with them. He made them sign Magic Agreements promising not to reveal his identity, not to mention the name Cesar, and to work for him in Dryhaven.
The Grant family was one of the most powerful in the area, but it wasn't just because of their noble position. They were behind every kind of illegal operation in and around the city.
After hearing this from these two, Vicente wanted them to work for him to get the Mazzanti family involved in these arrangements!
With that settled, he left the two in peace, having also made them forget their old problems with Shelby because, from now on, they were part of the same team.
...
After returning to the Bain estate, Vicente met with Nova's father after talking a lot with his in-laws at the dinner, to which he arrived a little late.
Even though he was late, he managed to arrive in time to sit through Nova's father's "interrogation," answering a series of questions and occasionally hearing his father-in-law's threats.
Vicente took it all in stride, and after a few hours, he was lying with Nova on her old bed in the house.
"Sigh... I didn't think such trouble would catch up with you." She commented after hearing what had happened since they had separated earlier. "Who would have thought you would be mistaken for your father and then almost be found out?"
Vicente laughed bitterly. "Something like that has a high chance of happening to me. I'm not very lucky. You should be prepared for that."
"I know..." She sighed, having already noticed that for herself. "Anyway, do you think the local situation is resolved? You've been through a challenging time today. It would have been enough for Livia to say something strange, and everything would have turned out differently."
"I know. Luckily, she was so afraid of me that she decided not to do anything. But things are settled now. The Grant family doesn't know anything about me, and those two won't be able to betray me.
But even though I was almost forced to kill that family, it all ended well. With Nicolas and Livia's help, I will be able to bring the family to Dryhaven, but not only that, I'll have their direction to help me improve my shady business."
Nova knew how important it was for Vicente to dominate the province. That was no mere whim of a power-seeker, but rather the level he needed to achieve certain goals.
As one grew, the need for resources increased exponentially. To meet the needs of Mages or Sovereigns, one would need to have a business the size of a province or even a kingdom.
If you couldn't grow your business in such a way, sooner or later, you would face the problem that most magicians in the world faced: bottlenecks that kept them at the same level for too long.
You might think that Vicente and his family were cultivating too fast. But no, they cultivated according to what anyone with similar talents and resources could cultivate. The difference was that most of the key people in the family had good quality resources in a steady stream.
That didn't exist in other forces of equal or greater size than the Mazzanit family. The result was simple: people like Snow Claw, Adams, and many others would cultivate quickly at the beginning of their journey and then stay within a certain power range for a long time.
Vicente didn't want to go through that because he wanted to be able to take revenge and rescue Lauren as soon as possible. To do that, he needed an organization that could cover his needs for resources and those of some of his companions.
He was fully aware that he might not be able to do everything he planned on his own. Therefore, he intended to nurture his companions and thus gain powerful allies for the future.
Besides, he wanted Nina to have the chance to grow up in a place dominated by him before she left for the 'outside' world.
That's why it was important for him to dominate the Scott Province and make deals like the one he made today!
Nova already knew all this and asked. "How big is the family in Scott Province? Now that the Mazzanti family has become invisible, I can't analyze it myself anymore."
He smiled and said. "We are in four cities at the moment. But with Livia and Nicolas at my side, we'll soon be in Dryhaven."
"What about Saltstar City?"
"Saltstar City is our home. We won't act until the ancient underworld powers of this area undermine each other's strength." He smiled at her. "But that won't take long, hehe. I won't give The Ruby Devils six months to fall from their position."
"Oh? That's better. As long as you're the hand behind the shadows, your business will be protected. Acting in public is bad. Anyone who wanted to be in your position would end up targeting you, trying to cause trouble, etc.... The best thing is to have power but also the freedom to act like an ordinary person.
You'll become more powerful than the king if you can do that without too much trouble." She commented, using her own experience with Cesar to come to this conclusion.
After that, they talked about trivial matters until they had satisfied each other's wishes before bedding.
...
The next day, Vicente and Nova would have no problems to worry about and would spend most of the day enjoying themselves in Dryhaven, with her showing him places in her city.
They would shop for the Fuller family and Nina, an opportunity for them since Vicente normally couldn't show much buying power in Saltstar City.
But since they were away from their current home, they could shop without attracting unnecessary attention.
So the two of them would continue their stay in this city peacefully, with the day soon coming when they would return to the local Hogan family for the promised dinner while they already had their departure in mind.
