Sunday, January 27th, 2041
Demiliore Manor, Sameran City, Netheria.
{The House of Governors is now conducting a vote on the Bill proposed by the Deputy Governor General of Internal Affairs, Winsten Arkinson, which will see segregation of five Major Provinces of the Netherian Federation in light of the rising Population and for better Administration and Economic Development. The five Provinces are Arcadia, Cintarania, Helles, Macedia, and Victoria.} The anchor on the television informed her audience. {For the Bill to pass, it requires the vote of a two-thirds majority in the House of Governors, 275 Votes. However, if more than half of the House votes in its favour, the Speaker and the Governor General can utilize their right to Authorize the Bill.}
The screen showed the proceedings of the House of Governors, and Diana Demiliore could be seen officiating the voting procedure.
This was the first time in the last three decades that a Bill asking for segregation or the formation of a province had been proposed in the House of Governors. However, it was something that had been on the horizon for the last decade.
In case the Bill passed, the Province of Arcadia would be divided into two, and a new Province by the name of Agnolia would be formed with Sameran City as its Capital City, and Rosewich City will remain the Capital of Arcadia.
Sebastian was visibly quite excited as his smile brightened up with the rising number of votes in the bill's favour. It was the same for Rebecca, who was tightly hugging Keith's arm.
As soon as the number of votes passed the 275 mark for the Segregation of Arcadia, everyone loudly cheered.
"Yes!" Rebecca laughed merrily and hugged Keith with all her might.
Caesar, May, and Sebastian happily congratulated each other, and only Venessa and Amelia seemed calm as ever. They stepped forward to hug Keith when Rebecca let go of him, and then Rebecca instructed Viola to get them a couple of bottles of the Cloud's Blood Wine.
Keith sighed when he heard her ask for the wine. She was mostly looking for a chance to celebrate something and drink it, and she now had a good reason for it.
The Annual Conference continued until 5 pm, and at the end of it, the Speaker of the House, Diana Demiliore, addressed the people present in the Imperial Chamber.
She instructed the Federal Governors to finalize every detail of the formation of new Provinces by January 31st and declared February 1st, 2041 as the Official date of the Formation of new Provinces.
"Sameran is now the Captial of Agnolia, and it will call for expansion of the City. A new Military District will be built around the new House of the Provincial Governor. The southwestern part of the city is likely to be the site..."
"South." Keith shook his head and cut off Sebastian. "The New Military District will be built in the south of Sameran, 5 Kilometres from the Ashton Bridge. Right before the Springfields."
"Isn't that right next to the land we secured from that failing Real Estate company?" Sebastian looked at him in surprise, and then his heart thumped hard against his chest as the realization hit him. "Oh..."
"Yes." Keith brightly laughed. "And you know what that place is perfect for?"
"A new Metro Station." May looked at the Map on her phone and answered him. "So that's why Lady Amelia has been busy designing a Metro Station."
"We own the land, and we can easily secure the project when the Goverment contacts us." Amelia smiled and informed May. "As for the area surrounding it, the City Management will push for a few Housing Societies as well as a Market. The land we own will have the Metro Station, and around it, we will build a new Shopping District as well as a Housing Society. Since City Management will support us wholeheartedly, we will get a little relaxation on taxes as well."
"What numbers are we expecting?" Sebastian apprehensively asked.
"Around a profit of 9 Billion Neris in 3 years' time."
Sebastian hissed when Amelia informed him about their projected profit, and his agitation rose.
"And for the other land that we have purchased?" He felt that there was something behind it as well and curiously looked at Keith.
The other 164km² of land that Keith was so adamant about buying was quite far away from the main city, and if the development of the City was going southward, their land in the East was not going to see any significant rise in value.
"About that..." Keith smiled and checked his watch. "We will get another good news at exactly 6:05 pm. Keep the Netherian State Television on."
"You will need around 1.5 Billion Neris if you want to construct a Market and a Housing Society on this land," Venessa spoke after she talked with Amelia and May. "Do you have that money on you?"
"Yes." He nodded to her. "We can easily cover the costs of these projects."
His mother meaningfully looked him in the eyes, but she decided to not ask him where he got all the money from.
Only Rebecca knew that Keith had way more money than he needed for these projects since he had earned 6 Billion Euros, which were equivalent to 2.5 Billion Neris, just by selling a piece of information to the City of Sin.
She was about to hand him a glass of wine when his phone suddenly rang and a bright smile bloomed on his face.
"Keith!" An excited and cheerful voice called out to him.
"Yes, Kiara?"
"Did you watch it live?!"
"Yes, I did." He answered her, and then calmly listened to the excited narration of her experience in the Imperial Chamber. "So, I suppose you had lots of fun?"
"Of course!" She merrily said. "We are on our way to see the Eden Falls now. Mother says that it looks even more stunning at the sunset."
"You will love it." He gently said and chuckled when he heard Qingyue call Kiara over. "Go, now. And be safe!"
"We will be back tomorrow!" She promised and ended the call.
"Here!" Rebecca offered him a glass of wine after he placed the phone back on the table.
"Thank you!" He said to her and then sipped on his wine whilst he talked to Sebastian about the last three days.
Nothing much had happened since the return of Anthony Falken, but things were in progress. The Falkens were truly hard-pressed right now. And their hardships were only going to increase.
"Is everything ready?" Keith asked when Sebastian talked about Christian Falken.
The tall man seemed a little uneasy to speak about things in front of Rebecca, but since Keith had asked about it, he revealed everything.
"We will secretly publish the recording on the Internet tonight, and the News Channels will pick it up tomorrow morning. Our men in the Police Force are already investigating the matter, and all the evidence that we had gathered has been submitted to them."
"Okay." He nodded to his words and then thoughtfully looked at his glass of wine. "Protect the girl. Falkens will try to get rid of her."
"As you say, Young Master." Sebastian did not question Keith's sudden instructions and stood up to make arrangements right away.
"What recording were you talking about?" Rebecca curiously asked after Sebastian left the room.
Keith did not answer her but picked up his phone and showed her the evidence that they had gathered on the death of the girl named Gloria.
After Rebecca listened to the call that was recorded by Gloria, where she was begging Christian to take responsibility for the child, she was visibly disgusted. And once she watched the video that Gloria had recorded right before she committed suicide, in which she revealed everything that happened to her, the blonde girl handed him back his phone and silently drank her wine.
She did not ask or say anything, but it was quite clear that she was very disturbed by what she had just watched.
"Croquettes are here!" Venessa brightly said when Minami entered the lounge, dragging a trolley of food.
The cute little Maid bowed to them before she picked up the bowl full of Croquettes that she had prepared and walked over to place them on the table, but suddenly, she tripped when she stepped on the single stair and May loudly gasped out in worry.
However, to the shock of everyone, the little girl froze in a free-fall, and even the croquettes and the bowl that was falling stopped in the air, and then all its content returned to it before the bowl floated its way onto the table.
<Hey!> Keith lightly hugged the little girl who came floating into his lap, and he brightly smiled at her. <It's okay!> He assured her through the signs before he nudged her nose.
Minami burned in a scarlet blush before she escaped his lap and started bowing to everyone to apologise for her clumsiness. However, no one was really paying attention to her as their eyes were boring into Keith.
"What was that?" Rebecca was the first to raise the question, and she was visibly quite excited just as much as she was curious.
"What was what?" He raised his brow at her and feigned confusion.
"How did you do it?" She excitedly asked and grabbed his shoulder.
"Not telling you!" He smirked at her and then poured himself some more wine.
"Young Master..."
"No, Aunt May. I am not an Esper." He shook his head and answered the question she was about to ask.
May only nodded to him and did not ask anything more, but Amelia and Venessa were still intently looking at him.
Keith simply refrained from revealing anything to them right now and accepted the small bowl full of croquettes that Minami handed to him.
<Thank you!> He said to her before starting munching on them.
A few minutes later, Sebastian returned and was quite confused by how everyone was looking at Keith. Even the little Maid that his Young Master had brought home was curiously looking at her Master.
"Is everything okay?" He could not help but ask.
"Everything's fine." Keith smiled at him. "Sit." He said and then looked at the screen where News was being broadcasted.
At exactly 6:05 pm, on January 27th, a news came out that shook the entire world.
The ninth Princess of the Kingdom of Persia, the richest Country in the world, had decided to follow in the footsteps of her Aunt and build another Business and Entertainment City, Noxville.
Noxville was a project that was counted amongst the modern wonders of the world. There were already three such cities in the world, with one in Persia, the second in France, and the third in Russia. And now, a fourth city was going to be built in Netheria.
{Princess Leilah Bint-e-Maryam of the House of Varzaak, will arrive in Netheria tomorrow evening with her entourage, and she is going to be received by Deputy Governor General, Winsten Arkinson.}
The picture on the screen showed an enchantingly beautiful face of a young lady with a headscarf, which was captured at the Dubai World Cup, last year.
"Young Master..." Sebastian was up on his feet with his body visibly shaking. "Is Noxville..."
"We own half of the land where Princess Leilah intends to build her City of Night." Keith calmly said, but everyone who listened to his words found their hearts thumping against their chests. But then he said something that shocked them even more. "Aunt May, the people from Government and her entourage will soon contact you, and I want you to refuse on selling the land we own."
"Would that be okay?" She worriedly asked. "Are you intending on delaying time to make the most profit?" She guessed his thoughts and asked.
"Not really. I am just not selling my land." He shrugged and said.
"This..." She worriedly looked at Venessa, but once the Lady of the Demiliore Family nodded her head, she calmed down.
"I will do as you say, Young Master." She promised him.
