53 The Lady in Grey
(A/N: So while I was rereading some of my chapters, I realized that it was still supposed to be winter in the story. I just kind of forgot because, well, it's been half a year since I wrote those chapter back when it was cold. So now I had to edit some of the previous chapters to keep it consistent.
Don't worry, nothing much changed from the story so you don't have to go out of your way to reread the last chapter. Anyways that's all.)
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At the Incaross' estate in Wargvel, two weeks before Maelriel arrived in the city.
I was sitting in a seat before a round table in the balcony. The first rays of the sun were just peeking from the horizon, and the cold residue left by the night still was gnawing at the atmoshpere.
"I didn't hear any announcements that you were coming back, Aerin" a woman's voice sounded, refined and polished, like every tone and stress points have been practiced to a T.
I was sipping my warm tea in peace, something I hadn't had the chance to do in quite some time. This small moment of sipping tea was a sweet serenity, a rare luxury, a chance to bring myself in this blessed moment of peace. It would've been good if the drink's quality lived up to expectations.
"Haaaa…" I sighed in regret. After all these years, I still couldn't find the appeal of green tea. I couldn't help but think that I should've just stuck with coffee.
"You really should respond when someone's talking to you, you know?" the woman spoke out, her voice still as refined and polished as it had ever been
"Morning, Laurel. I haven't seen you in quite a while" It was only then that I finally turned to the woman who was probably getting more and more incensed every passing second. Giving her a smile, I said "I didn't expect you to go out of your way looking for me, Laurel."
"..."
Seeing me act like nothing happened, I've known her long enough to know that she was irritated. Her silence was the only confirmation I needed. She could be wearing the gentlest of smiles or speaking the kindest words, but I knew all of them meant less than air. It would take a LOT more than a simple provocation if someone wanted to, at least, glimpse a crack on the thick layer of mask that is her manners and etiquette.
Not that it bothered me though. Seeing her so quiet, I went back to sipping my cup of tea. I was wondering how much time I had left before seven. So from my pocket, I took out a certain pocket watch and opened it to check the time.
'Still an hour and a half.' still quite some time before my scheduled departure for the city. Without much to do, I looked at the ticking hands of the gold-plated pocket watch. While it wasn't as extravagant as my other possessions, it was quite to my liking.
Twisting the little key-like handle at the back, a melodious tune started playing. The tune was something I've only heard once before, it was the original composition of my student. It sounded very lovely and endearing, just like the person who made it.
"I've heard that you've been playing around lately..." Only then did Laurel speak again and the smile that unknowingly crept up my lips disappeared.
"Hm?" I raised my brows at her remark, I was slightly peeved and irritated to find out that she was snooping in on my actions lately. As if noticing my irritation, she sat her butt down directly on the table before looking down at me.
"I heard that you had a girl enrolled into the War Academy." She said while twirling her hair around her fingers "So I decided to look into it, to the girl that got Aerin's attention, of all people."
"While doing so, I found something interesting." Laurel seems to have thought that I've taken interest on Celine, while that was fine. I was also interested in what was it that she found out, "Celine Rosenbaum, four and a half elven years, 23 by the empire's standards. Displayed extreme skills when it comes to magic proficiency and hand-to-hand combat, at least according to my reports."
"Sounds pretty standard, that's why the school director didn't make that much of a fuss when heard our recommendations." I said
"You're right about that. But it's her family that interested me" Hearing her words, I narrowed my eyes. This girl was deep in the inner workings of the country and if Maelriel somehow caught her attention then I'll have to put her in her place.
"Her mother actually fought during the southern conquests a few decades ago and was an officer of the late emperor's imperial guards." Laurel said as if she found something amusing before continuing "Before the tragedy of Fort Viota, one of the marshals died, so the emperor verbally promoted one of his officers to replace him and it just so happened to be her."
"Of course, the emperor later died during the siege, so the promotion only remained verbal and wasn't officially stamped. But the empress was very kind to her husband's generals and asked if she wanted the position after the peace treaties had been signed, but she apparently declined and went off to retire in peace."
Well, that was news to me as well. I've seen Riel's mother and it didn't cross my mind that she was kicking it back on her youth.
"So?" I asked the woman how exactly was that important? It doesn't matter what position she had before, the woman was retired and had two kids in some faraway village. I knew she was paranoid but to feel threatened by a housewife was just pathetic.
"I'm just checking if you knew about it beforehand." She shrugged off my question before saying "But it seems like you don't, so there's no problem. I was just wondering if you were trying to stir something up."
"Unlike you, I don't have the time for pointless schemes." I sighed again, but inside I felt relieved that Riel went under her radar. "So is that all?"
"Not really, Reports have told me that some people were able to get their hands on Cacao through foreign markets and are selling it here below the market price." Laurel spoke out the main reason she came to talk to me in the first place "The exact details are written in a report in our mansion at the capital. You should know what to do by now"
"I got it, no need to disturb me." I waved her off telling that I already understood, it was just another job of the many I've taken. Instead my precious morning tea time is being interrupted
"Also try to finish it as quickly as possible, we don't want them influencing the market too much now, don't we?" She just couldn't leave me alone, could she? "Oh and another thing."
"What now?" I was already feeling pretty impatient.
"Where'd you get that watch? You've been looking at it for quite some time now." Laurel asked and hearing that I smiled boastfully before saying,
"It's a treasure."
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…
Two weeks had passed since then and I am currently reading the written report organized by Laurel.
Apparently some merchants have gotten ahold of a sizable amount of Cacao beans through a supply chain from a supply chain from the Principality of Valia down in the south. While the cost of transport was high, since it was passing through two countries, it was just enough to be lower than the current market prices in Elban while still making profits.
It was a problem because currently, the Incaross family holds a monopoly of the Cocoa production within the Empire. As the Wargvel Duchy is the southernmost territory of the empire, plus the recent expansion in the south brought upon the last war a few decades ago. We've gained access to a very lucrative market in Elban.
Chocolate was a good product up in the north, because it can be both a common sweet or a luxury treat depending on how you sell it. Cacao can only grow in select areas in our territory thus we own every Cacao plantation inside Elban's borders, because of that every locally produced cocoa powder has to be bought from us. And when it comes to outside sources, since very few people can match the money of Incaross, we also buy the ones from different countries in slightly higher prices making us the most attractive partners when selling Cacao to Elban.
When it comes to selling these, we have to be slightly more subtle about it. We have a lot of dummy companies under different names that sells chocolates with varying prices and quality, all aimed at different markets. Most of them belongs 'in-name' to different people, some to our vassals, some to lower ranking nobles. But make no mistake, all of them belongs to us. Thus the majority of them are meant and sold to the upper-class as luxury products, people living in the inner walls of the city, where we can raise the prices even more.
Of course, we can't talk to every cacao farmer nor can we control them in the world so sometimes a few people manage to get a hold of supply chains from other countries. So we have these people who thinks they've struck gold by realizing how overly priced these products were at here and selling these supposed-to-be expensive products at a cheaper price to the populace, hoping to strike it big.
And that's were my job lies, as the prime intelligencer of the Incaross, it is my job to remove everything that works against the family's interest, to "solve" these kinds of problems. For this one in particular, it was important I finish it as fast as possible.
Usually we track down their supplier and have them sell it to us instead, but if they're a little more stubborn, a few tragic accidents may happen here and there, and the supplier will no longer have someone to supply.
Judging from the report, it doesn't seem like they have any major backing, just a bunch of foolish merchants trying to get rich.
"Evelyn, give me a glass, make it cold." I told my subordinate who was in the carriage with me before taking out a pocket watch as I looked at the time. I've never been as attentive to time as I've been now, lately. Twisting the key-like handle and a melodious tune rang out again and that was able to put my mind at ease.
It's been two days since I've arrived at Lograth and I was currently on a carriage, driving through the shopping district in the western quadrant of the inner city. I was just back from the initial investigation and is on my way back to the mansion.
"Here, Miss." my assistant intelligencer brought me an iced glass of wine
"Have you found who their supplier exactly is?" I asked before taking the glass to my lips "Bleugh, what's this?" I frowned at the taste, it wasn't bad but it wasn't to my liking
"No, Miss. They were pretty tight-lipped about it and that is Château Angelus, Miss Laurel left it unopened and was the last one to ride in the carriage" Evelyn answered both questions calmly and in an organized manner
"No wonder I don't like it" Hearing that Laurel liked this, I immediately understood why. We had opposing tastes when it comes to multiple things, whether it was on purpose or not was up to debate.
I was just about to look in the nearby stores when I saw something else that caught my attention. At a distance, I saw two people walking while they were talking to each other. Maybe because I was looking at the pocket watch he gave me just now, but I was able to recognize his back figure even from a distance. Looking to his side, I also recognized it was his sister.
"Eve, tell the chauffeur to stop by the two siblings walking at the front. The one with silver and black hair." I commanded. "Also put these away for now" I said as I gave the wine glass and the written report to Eve.
He told me that they were moving to the capital, but I didn't expect to see sweetie this early. Maybe the goddesses saw me working hard and decided to bless me with some stress relief for today. It was last year that I last saw Riel, so maybe he missed his favorite teacher.
Once we stopped by them, I called out to him. "Oh my, I didn't expect to see you here, sweetie."
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-Maelriel POV-
When we finally entered Aerin's carriage, surprisingly she was a lot more reserved that I expected. I thought she would be a lot more doting and because of that I was worried because Celine was sitting with me. But fortunately, she didn't do anything.
"Celine, your school is set to start in Autumn so I didn't expect to see you guys in here this early." Aerin said as she crossed her legs
"We wanted to move early, so we could get used to the surroundings faster." Celine quickly replied
Aerin wasn't wearing any fancy dress like the ones we saw earlier, but was instead on a grey coat with a white undershirt adorned with a ruffle neck tie. Rather than a skirt, she was wearing similarly matching grey pants paired with a pair of black buckle knee-high boots.
Rather than a frail maiden, she looked like she'd be the one to ask you for a dance and sweep you off your feet. It was my first time seeing Aerin dressed in this particular manner, usually she looks rather carefree and bright. This time she looked stoic, not dark, but let's just say grey.
"I see, since you're going home, I might as well give you a ride back." she said as she asked for where our home was. Celine looked like she didn't want to tell Aerin, but I told her anyways so Aerin had her servants tell the Chauffeur to change directions.
On the way home, nothing much really happened. She asked pretty much all the standard questions, how was I doing? What happened during the new years, and so on. I thought Celine would show any signs of annoyance or spite, but she was pretty calm throughout the entirety of it.
Once we arrived at our home, Aerin took a close look on our house. As if committing to her memory what it looked like and its address. And just as we were about to leave, Aerin tapped my shoulder for a little bit and when I turned around I saw her holding the pocket watch I gave her, before blowing me a kiss.
"Goodbye♥~" she giggled as she said her farewells, "You'll see me again, don't worry" and with those words the Silverwing raptors took off to the road.
"Home at last~" Celine spoke out as she stretched her back, she was still holding her newly bought piece of clothing with her
"Oh, you two are back." Mom greeted us when we were at the door, before asking "How was your trip?"
Once we came home, Mom already had dinner prepared and we were able to eat before retiring to bed. Of course, I was sleeping with Mom because 'unfortunately' there were only two beds in the house. One for Celine and a large one for Mom.
"I'll take a bath first, dear." Mom said as she locked the bedroom door, before heading into the bathroom.
One thing I noticed is that in the layout of the house, Mom's room and Celine's room were quite the distance apart. So unlike in our home back in the village, certain noises wouldn't be heard if let's say, Mom was moaning for some reason then Celine wouldn't be able to hear it. Unless of course, Celine REALLY decides to eaves drop and put all her focus in her hearing. But there wouldn't be a reason for her to do that.
With that in mind, once I heard mother take a dip in the bath, I then took my clothes off before going inside quietly. With all the physical training she gave me, I had enough skills to walk completely silently, to lower my presence just enough so that even Mom wouldn't notice me.
Once inside, I saw Mom standing at the pool. Rather than a bath tub, the bath here was like a small pool that was dug out from the floor. It was in the second floor, but the were able to make it work.
Anyways I saw Mom, standing at the bath with her back turned towards me. She was first dousing herself with water. Her body was dripping with water and her beautiful round ass were there for all to see, like peaches waiting to be tasted. Seeing that, I had no hesitation as I snuck up behind her.
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After a round of fun times with Mom, we both retired to the bed. But I still had some thoughts in my mind. Mom was laying naked on the side besides me, and I could see her pussy had some traces of the creampie I gave her earlier. It was a very nice and satisfying feeling, but maybe because I've been doing it a lot recently. I've been wanting more.
Just for the fun of it, I decided to give her ass a spank. "Mmmh♥~" was all that I received. Mom didn't complain as her son just hit her butt. After that I decided to spread her ass cheeks, and I was able to see my cum dripping out of her pussy.
I've fucked Mom and Celine multiple times, in the last few months. It was still very pleasurable everytime we do it, but while it was good. I still feel like it could be better. Maybe in my previous life, I would've thought 'Isn't this enough?'.
I was already able to do what for many people could only be their wildest fantasies. I could wake up either Mom or Celine while they were sleeping by fucking them and they wouldn't mind at all, hell, Mom wouldn't even mind if I fucked her right now while she was asleep. After all, sometimes I wake up with Mom soothing my morning wood.
But I feel like, I could still do more. I already was given this second chance and I'll make sure I use it to its fullest. Instead of just having Mom sleeping with me here, why can't I have both Mom and Sister in here with me. Both of them recently creampied and sleeping naked besides me. I want to take things further, but I had some problems.
Celine was pretty serious about our relationship, and I don't think Mom would agree to me fucking my Sister. If I really wanted to get the mother-sister threesome that I wanted, I'd have to put in a lot of work for it. I don't think its something that could be done in just a short amount of time, even if this was my second life, I only had one chance. If I fuck it up, everything that I've done will go down the drain.
"Haaa..." giving Mom another spank, I laid down the bed. It's not like a threesome was the only fantasy I have. In the meantime, I can also introduce a lot more kinkier stuff to my lovely family.
There was another thing in my mind, in some of the reincarnation novels that I've read. I can faintly remember that some of them used their modern-day knowledge to get rich. But unfortunately, I don't know how to make jack shit. I was already being considered a genius by Aerin, because I was just copying famous musical pieces from my previous life. So maybe I could do something with that.
