20 Chapter 19

"Was it that good?" asked the Commander of Wintern knights, as he held a report from the Black-Gold guild open in his hand, but paid neither mind nor attention to it.

He was sitting opposite to the second master of the Wintern estate and also the owner of the Black gold guild, Derek Wintern. Currently, they were both conversing on a topic, which they felt, was more important than the report discussing a rebellion plot in Estonia.

"Indeed. It was not only pleasing to the mouth but also succeeded in soothing my mind. Incredibly satisfying, I must say, as well as blooming an urge in you to never stop." Derek answered to the queries in the commander's mind, utterly composed and not even a hint of excitement to be seen on his face.

But for him to have so much to say about his night with Hansel, when he normally chose to ignore the responses which required him to say more than five words, he almost looked like a kid bragging about the new toy he got.

He continued speaking while the commander listened to him earnestly, "Watching his eyes get teary when I nipped his tender, red skin, feigning that I did it by a mistake as I ate the fruit kept on top of it...…it felt like I could get drunk on that expression alone. I mean, you know how much I hate sugar, but in that moment, I was in a danger of getting addicted to it instead."

"I want to try it too…I want to…" Fredrick chanted as if his soul was overtaken by evil desires, "But Leon would be sore from yesterday, so I must be mindful of his condition. Still, I want to try it…I think it would be alright as long as I don't exert Leon too much…yes! We will do it only once today. Okay! I have decided." He almost sent the papers in his hands, flying in the air in his excitement, "After hearing your words, I feel no remorse in saying that I want to try it on your brother too."

"I have no remorse listening to your words as well." Derek replied.

Whenever he wanted to punish his brother, he could always rely on the carnal desires of the commander of knights for the Duke. By feeding his mind vulgar ideas that aroused his curiosity, he could count on Fredrick for fulfilling his revenge for him.

Both the men had sinister smiles spread across their faces, thinking about their own selfish objectives that would be completed when the sky would become dark.

Meanwhile, the Duke of Wintern, who was enjoying the warmth from the sunlight which basked his back, as he sat in his chair reading the business ledgers, felt it was odd when he suddenly had shivers run down his spine. Though, without contemplating much on the matter, his focus was once again occupied by the stack of documents awaiting his evaluation on his desk.

"It seems like a rebellion awaits in the fate of Lativia." Fredrick had scrunched eyebrows, now that he was finally sparing a glance to the papers in his hands. "The commoners are upset that their sons are being forcefully recruited into the army and it seems like some of the noble families are not very happy as well, sending their only sons to war, that is."

"Is the king aware?" Derek asked, pondering on how he could use the fight for throne in Lativia in the favor of Estonia. It would be great if the king of Lativia was still unaware of it.

"I don't think so. There have been no movements in their royal palace regarding the matter, and it would be impossible not to know something about it, even if they were working inconspicuously." Fredrick gave a sly smile. They had people working for Black Gold guild planted even inside the Lativian kings' court. Though it had taken them years to do something like that but now there was no piece of ground in Lativia which did not have Estonian roots planted within them. Though their people could not monopolize a big country like that, they boasted having a hold on all sorts of information, no matter how trivial it was.

"Now that you say so, I remember something." Derek looked straight at Fredrick's face, "One of our spies was caught going through secret documents by Eugene Rayleigh a few days ago, but instead of arresting him, he ignored him and went away. And it doesn't look like he has any intention of pursuing the matter as well."

"The king's bastard…what is he planning?" Fredrick asked, not expecting any answer because Derek knew about this case just as much as he did.

"Don't you think he wants something from us? "Derek said, after much contemplation, "Getting rid of one spy won't affect his position in the Latsivian court anyway, so he's choosing the side which would be more beneficial to him when he wants to snatch that crown away."

"But a foreign country won't be of much help to him. Even if the Lativian king is a whimsical tyrant and a warmonger, Eugene won't get any support from the nobles and aristocrats of that country, no matter how talented he is, because he's a bastard."

"But the question remains, what does he wants from us?" The question was still haunting Derek.

"Whatever he wants, from not exposing us or from plotting that rebellion, he has to be quick. Looking at the exchanges happening between our countries, it's going to take the form of war soon. And I can't see how he would require support of a country he went to war with."

"Unless…" Fredrick unconsciously, had suddenly made him realize something. It would be foolish to pick up a country with an empty treasury after the war, if he has to spend his lifetime in refilling it, and Eugene Rayleigh was not a fool. What he wanted from Estonia was not support but assurance.

"You got something, didn't you?" Fredrick asked, seeing Derek's expressions change all of a sudden.

"I'm going to the Crown Prince's palace. I'll tell you about it when I return."

"Yeah, yeah. Whatever." Fredrick waved his hand at Derek who disappeared from his room in the blink of an eye. He slumped back in his chair and tossed the file aside. He felt exhausted suddenly, not wanting to take a step out of his room.

"On second thoughts," he whispered with a sly smile, "Let's go ask Charlie for one of his strawberry cakes!"