Chapter V

What's going on?

Seriously, what is happening right now? Sitting across the Duke infront of a table filled to the edge in his office certainly was not on Inaya's 20XX bingo. But transmigration? It was definitely the first thing on her list. So when she found herself invited to an audience personally by the Duke himself was a surprise. She stared across the table, at the man who picked on the dessert on his plate, uninterested.

Hey Duke! If you're not gonna eat all this, can I at least take it with me? Inaya held her tongue if she didn't want it gone. Even so, Inaya expected that she'd at least take a few more chapters before she would even come face to face with Jayus. Jayus Malevos, is a main character in God's Thread, and Hera's love interest. Jayus, with his sharp lashes that complimented his indifferent ruby red eyes, dark skin, tall, and messy brown hair that burned gold underneath the sun. From one glance alone, people would think he was favored by god, and perhaps he is. This man was gorgeous through and through. In the novel, he acted harshly every time he would come in contact or just even interact with Hera, then would become a nonchalant person with the rest. It was an easy assumption that the Duke would live a lonely life in solitude with no one by his side.

But what the hell is up with this awkward atmosphere? For such a chilly room, Inaya was sweating bullets. Fork in one hand, she desperately begged for someone to save her in this awkward silence. Dear Fork God, please do something. Anything! Tears falling drastically from her eyes, she desperately cried as much as possible before the Duke could even notice.

"Please, have some," Jayus spoke in a nonchalant voice as he insisted for Inaya to take a bite, for a second she sat frozen. Grey eyes dashing from Jayus and to the desert on her plate back and forth, a nervous smile never once leaving her face the moment she was dragged here. Was this a trap? Was the first question in Inaya's mind. She's read something like this on other novels before, where someone takes food from a nobles table and then they were sentenced to life in prison, or worse- death! Inaya seemed to love overthinking a lot. The Duke had no clue what was going on inside the kid's head, however, he knew that kid's love sweet things. Which made him confused as to why Inaya did not seem thrilled to be handed all these desserts. He had a different conclusion in mind as he burrowed his eyebrows in confusion.

"....It's not poisoned," The Duke said, hands crossed in front of him as he leaned back on the chair. Maybe if he acted more relax, the other person would also relax a bit, is what he thought in that moment. Jayus was quite aware he was not good with people, he was also aware he did not have a good reputation in society due to his indifferent personality. Jayus, to many surprises, held an adoration for kids. The way they held the world in high regards, and their limitless hope, the way they would be so careless and joyful- Jayus admired all that since he never got to enjoy his own childhood. So he made a promise to protect every child's childhood as much as he could. Going as far as letting everyone in the residence go home as much as possible to spend time with their own family, but Jayus was a walking repellent to all living things. He wondered if it had something to do with him being Duke, unaware of the scary look he had on his face whenever he interacted with anyone.

Jayus was also an overthinker.

Two overthinkers in one room was definitely a warzone.

Inaya finally held up her fork and took a slice of the cake, shoving it in her mouth, she never once thought the cake was poisoned from the start, so she ate to her heart's content. And lo and behold, she was not poisoned. The cake was soft and dissolved immediately as soon as it reached her tongue. This might be her second ascension to heaven. Seeing her happily dig into the desserts as one by one each plate started to empty out made Jayus pleased as he sipped into his tea. So this was Rosia's daughter, she didn't look completely like Rosia, nor did she act like it, but who was Jayus to judge? It's not like he had any idea what a family would look like anyways.

In the midst of now a perfect silence came the sound of knocking on the door followed with Hera's muffled voice.

"Your Grace, may I speak with you for a moment?" Hera spoke from behind the door and Inaya almost choked. Oh, this will be a nice show to behold. First class seats with the main characters interaction! Let's see how this goes.

"Come in," Jayus replied, sipping on his tea before setting it down as soon as Hera came walking in. The man at the door froze at the scenery in front of him. He was aware of Jayus' fond behaviour towards kids more than anyone in the whole residence, but what baffled him was who the kid sat in front of Jayus was. Inaya couldn't help but let out a devious smile towards the ex-prince. She couldn't see his eyes through his blindfold but his displeasure towards her appearance in the duke's office, sitting leisurely and enjoying tea time in the presence of the duke, was clear through the crease on the cloth of his fold.

You better not have said anything to him. Hera glared, despite the lack of words, Inaya could immediately guess what was on his mind as she sipped tea, to mock him.

What will you do about it? She grinned behind her cup.

"What's your purpose here, Hera?" Like a switch, Jayus calm demeanor from earlier dissipated into air as ruby eyes glared at the third person who arrived. Hera did not once flinch at those eyes, still he bowed respectfully as he spoke.

"Count Escaben requests for an audience, he's waiting at the lobby as we speak," Hera said. Inaya was not an expert on courtesy and proper procedures on things but weren't you suppose to send a letter first before randomly making a random appearance in someone else's home? As if to confirm her thoughts, Jayus scoffed.

"Does he not know it's rude to suddenly barge in to someone else's home unexpected?" Both person did not dare answer his question. Count Escaben- from what Inaya recalls, was a Count from a nearby land. Count Escaben from the story had an older brother whom messed up a negotiation and was affiliated with a rather brute group. Having run away and leaving his younger brother with a large debt, Count Escaben was left with nothing but a negative decline on his name. From what Inaya guesses, he would be here to ask a favor from the Duke to take in his daughter. The brute group- rather, The Darisees, is an organization that deals with the black market. Which means Count Escaben's older brother was part of a dark association, now living with debt, fled away and left his brother burdened with his responsibility. Inaya took a sip of her tea as she began to be lost in thought. They most likely won't stop until they run the Count dry. But the count has a daughter, and they won't just stop for his money...

Jayus sighs and stands up, his ruby red tassel dangles from his side.

"Inaya," He turned towards Inaya who stopped in the middle of shoving an entire slice of cake in her face. From the corner of her eye, she could make out Hera's face twist in disbelief, Jayus on the other hand seemed unfazed. Word must spread fast in this place because everyone seemed to know Inaya's name already.

"...continue what you were doing," and with that the Duke left.

The two of them stayed still as they were left inside the room.

...1

...2

...3

"What are you doing here?!" Inaya blinked, in one second, Hera was already at her face, bloated with cake in her mouth. She almost spat out the cake she was eating as Hera suddenly grabbed her by the collar. Does this guy have an obsession with grabbing collars or something? Inaya made sure to note not to wear shirts with collars around him anymore. And to answer his question- What was she doing here? Eating cake of course! How she ended up eating cake here? Well she's the wrong person to ask since how she ended up there did not matter anymore. In her position in this place, it would be most unlikely shed enjoy a dessert like this in a long while. From her place where she was held still, she stretched her hand as far as she could and stabbed another piece of cake before eating that too. Hera couldn't control his face anymore and just scrunched his face in disgust.

"Hey, control your expressions better. It's rude," Hera was more honest than a Fiddle lead fig.

"And to answer your question, his grace asked me to be here. I was just sweeping the floor," Inaya replied. Then her eyes widened as she felt the hand on her collar loosen and drop her back on the couch.

"...You didn't say anything about me to his grace, did you?" For a moment, Hera sounded anxious and hopeful at the same time. Inaya could have sworn she saw anticipation on his face. Was he hoping she would sing his praise in front of his grace?

"Is that what you want me to do?" Even though Inaya had other plans in mind to get them together, if Hera asked, she'd exaggerat everything she'd say to Jayus. However, the dark haired man merely sighed, running a hand through his hair before bringing it to his face, aggressively rubbing his face as he spared the kid a glance. He shook his head defeated before taking the spot next to her on the couch. She glared at him as he continued to take up most space on the couch.

You're lucky the Duke left me all these treats or else I would have poked your eyes through that cloth.

"It's hopeless," Hera leaned on his hand against the arm chair, head slightly turned towards the kid beside him. "You saw his face when he saw me, did you?"

Inaya did. Jayus's immediate demeanor turning stiff the moment he heard Hera's voice, eyes shifting side to side as he ignored Hera's presence, hands tightening on his crossed arms. Inaya nodded in agreement, face gleaming in excitement.

"He definitely likes you back!"

Sat in another room across each other, Jayus and Count Escaben remained quiet. The latter seeming very intimidated and nervous to be in the presence of the duke. Although, both parties have only interacted once, never on a serious occasion, it was not entirely a friendly meeting either way. Count Escaben spared a glance towards the duke who continued to enjoy his brand new tea before he fixed his gaze on his shoes. He has no other choice left. If he doesn't run to his grace right now, his daughter could be in danger the more she stayed with him. Count Escaben bit back a snarl. Damn his cursed brother-! He shouldn't have helped him to begin with, now his name, wealth and family were going to be taken away from him.

Oh dear Camilla, I'm sorry I let this happen. There was no point begging his late wife for forgiveness. Right now, he could only focus on his daughter... That's right, his sweet Yvette. She doesn't deserve to be dragged into her father's disgrace. That's why, with his head now held strong and high, he faces the so-called Cold duke in the eyes.

"Count Escaben, how have you been doing lately? You wouldn't believe how fast word spreads in these areas," Jayus spoke up first, catching the Count off-guard as he began to stammer out a response. Still, sharp red eyes kept his mouth shut as Jayus spared him little to no glance. A warning "Best to choose your words wisely," as if he did not guide the Count to Death's door himself with that gaze, he continued to enjoy his tea.

"Uh- yes...! Thank you for your kind consideration, Your Grace-" Count Escaben stared at his reflection on his tea which he left untouched, he best gather his courage now, "Since the Duke already seems to be aware of my situation, then I would like to request an Oath,"

This was certainly something, for a moment, Jayus seemed to stay still, but whatever hesitation he showed, he immediately hid behind the tea cup in his hand.

An Oath, huh. Oaths were contracts of favors between two parties binded with divine magic by the Goddess. If the oath was broken by one party, that party would receive divine punishment- where as that divine punishment would be Death. If one party dies before fulfilling the terms of the Oath, then that Oath would be passed to the next of kin. If there was no next of kin, then the Oath would dissipate. In short, the oath is just a legal contract, only with relations to magic. Most oaths were done rarely, in very important transactions. Otherwise, most procedures would just go through legal contracts. Ruby red eyes stared at the Count infront of him. Oaths were difficult to get rid of once it was set into the blood of both parties, and then death would be the only way to get rid of it. An Oath was also what brought downfall to the Count's brother. Now he was also getting into one himself.

"Let's hear it first, Count." If it was cold before, it was definitely winter now. The Count stayed brave. If only for his daughter. For his Yvette.

"Well, Your Grace. I must thank you for hearing me out at least- It has something to do in regards to my brother's foolish actions. As you can see, he took an Oath with one of the members of The Darisees. Unable to pay his debt, he killed himself... As opposed to what people know as him running away," Unable to bare himself, he took a deep breath to compose.

"My condolences, Count." Jayus could only give his sympathy after hearing that. The Count shook his head, letting Jayus know that his brother only brought his demise to himself.

"As Oaths do, Oaths will act. Unfortunately, since my brother has no children nor wife..." Count Escaben's voice grew quiet with each word. Eyes staring into nothing but air.

"You're currently holding his part of the Oath," Jayus blurted out the last part that the Count could not say. At this, Count could only laugh. The only thing this pathetic man could do. "Yes," Count Escaben said, rather quietly, with the only breath left in his lungs.

"If I do not fulfill this Oath before my last breath, I'm afraid this Oath will go to my Yvette. I can't let that happen before hand, Duke." His Yvette, the last thing he has in this world after having sold his name, lands, and house which still was not enough to pay off his stupid brother's debt.

"Are you here to ask for money through an Oath too, like your older brother?" Jayus asked, just as he was about to ask how much, he was met with surprise as Count Escaben declined his offer with a chuckle.

"No, I am not so foolish as to create the same mistake as my brother, Duke. Believe me," Count Escaben sounded rather tired to this point. Jayus raised a brow at the Count, if not this then what?

"I would like to make an Oath in regards to my daughter. Duke, I do not have any friends left. They have all turned a blind eye to my situation... To my daughter. Believe it or not, the duke is the first to grace me with his presence," Exhaustion was already getting to the Count's head. He didn't care about being careful with his words anymore.

"Your Grace, please spare a room in this place for my daughter."