A pleasant surprise (6)

Daniel James, also known as Baron James of Portola, was the God of his own dreams. It was similar to how people believe in the Creator according to their own Bibles. Everything the Creator was praised to have, every unimaginable power...in this dreamland, he had them all.

However, a creator unaware of his own creation and authority is nothing different from your average Joe. Not that anyone could blame him – different from their normal state, people's minds are hazy when they dream. They lose their sharpness.

Baron James, the current God of his own dream, had always been a devout, if not fanatic, believer of Goddess Avalina. To him, he was nothing but an insignificant insect compared to her dignified self.

'There's a Vietnamese proverb that basically says once you love someone, you love whatever that is related to them.'

Tears trickled down the Baron's face. His expression was hard even for Adelaide, who was getting the Full HD 4K view, to explain in words. With his slightly quivered lips and shining eyes, one could say he looked as if his very own reason for existence, the Goddess that represented his faith, was walking on land in the flesh and blessing him with her might.

'Or you could say he looks like one of those crazy teenager fans when they first saw their idol.'

As wrong as it may seem, Adelaide was loving the attention and special effects.

"May Goddess Avalina forgives your sins and leads you towards the light," Adelaide said, her face and identity still hidden behind the gray mist.

"I…I m-may have committed a sin, Your Excellency."

Tears streamed down endlessly as the sound of Baron Jame's sniffles continued to resound. He had heard the phrase "May Goddess Avalina forgives your sins and leads you towards the light" numerous times from the Church's pastors and fathers, but it was the first time he actually felt relieved.

Although the law separates politics from religions, nobles had never confessed anything highly confidential despite it being a sin. No matter how faithful they were, veteran nobles could not take the risk.

It was the same for Baron James. His family had been in a rather awkward position for centuries: their rankings should have prevented them from knowing too much, yet their history and precious territory's location said otherwise.

"What sins have you committed?" asked Adelaide in a low voice.

The Baron cried and ended up confessing everything.

Adelaide stayed quiet the entire time. Like how a holy figure should be, she sat down on a cloud made of white fog as elegant as possible.

'I wonder if the blood contract could take effect in this case. Maybe I found a loophole?'

Baron James confessed a lot of things, but they were mainly what she had already guessed. The parts where she was most concerned about, which was Avarua's standing in this whole thing, remained unanswered.

'At least I'm able to confirm my thoughts.'

The Baron did not know everything, and Adelaide could not take the risk of infiltrating the Rustwell Headquarters. Teleportation was never invincible.

'So he'll pull out once a civil war happens? But the siege is estimated to occur in at least five years.' Her thoughts ran wild while listening to the man's continued blabberings. 'the thing is, no matter when, as long as brother wants to take control of the duchy, conflicts will break out. The duke will never yield.'

'And as long as conflicts break out, that insanely handsome middle-aged man will strike.'

Adelaide felt a small headache coming. Taking advantage of your opponent's internal situation was something Alfred knew of for sure, but he would not know about the half-human knight order project.

She wanted to inform him, but how could she explain? At this stage, whatever Duke Rustwell was planning remained a conspiracy.

'Should I start gathering money and flee once things go awry?'

Dine and dash was a good plan, but that was the worst-case scenario. Adelaide hated being passive while knowing that there was something she could actually do. The Winford Duchy was too precious of an asset for her to throw away like that.

She tilted her head slightly. Apart from this long-term conspiracy, something felt strange since a while ago.

'I feel weird.'

"…and I know the Bible forbids believers from involving children in their road to success, but Your Excellency, my own children's fate lies in my hand. B-but the young lady is innocent…But if I don't do that, the James…At least she'll live if the marriage goes through…"

Baron James ended his long confession with a tear-stained face. He looked conflicted, being put in a hard place of choosing between the daughter of the duchy that his ancestors had served for centuries and his own children.

'Of course, he would choose his kids over me. But has he ever thought about…'

"My child, did you know that you betrayed your ancestors' most trusted alley by colluding with that duke, and also put your own family in danger?" Adelaide's voice was warm, but void of any other excessive emotions.

"Yes, I know…it was my fault, my greed. That one second of stupidity. But I swear, I swear in the name of my late father that I never intended to harm the lady."

"…"

'Ah please, not your late father. What's the point of swearing when he's already six feet underground?'

"I've gone too far. The Duke has involved in too deep. One misstep, one small speak of doubt, and he'll get rid of us all. All because of that one moment of hesitation."

'This fucking coward.'

It would be easy for Duke Rustwell to overturn things. Adelaide did not know the contents of the blood contract they signed, but she was sure if the Baron said that, there must be some way for the silver-haired to deal with them while not losing any of his precious organs.

For starters, since the facility was located within Baron James' territory, all primary faults would fall on him. And of course, he was Winford's vessel, so the duchy would also be somewhat responsible.

'Combined with the Esine bomb, this is nuts - Our family is a cannon fodder.'

"It is not your fault, my child," Adelaide spoke after a brief silence. What she said brought light into the Baron's dimmed eyes. "No one is perfect. You made a mistake, but remember it was not you, but influence from the devil's whispers."

"The devil…?"

"Yes. Politics is the gulf of all evilness. You either enlighten it, or be consumed by it."

"…"

"In order to get something, you must lose something. That is the law of balance. What you did was wrong, but redemption is possible. Remember…"

"…"

'What the fuck?'

Just then, Adelaide was hit with a wave of haziness.

"Your Excellency?"

"…"

'This is bad. Did I stay here for too long?'

Her mind lost its initial sharpness. Adelaide felt like her thoughts are slower than before. She had never tried doing drugs, but maybe this was what being 'high' felt like.

"What should I do? Please enlighten me…"

Adelaide felt like she was in heaven. The cloud cushion she sat on felt comfortable. She did not notice this before, but the authority she could wield inside this dreamwork was increasing.

Like an Almighty God.

So this was what being on the verge of addiction was like.

'I must get out.' Adelaide's face turned firm. She did not believe herself to be someone with a steel spirit that could get rid of all temptations.

"Your Excellency?"

"…" she wanted to say she was fine, but that sounded too human.

In the end, Adelaide decided to make her voice sound ethereal as if time was up.

"Remember, Daniel James. Second chances exist for a reason…"

Then, using more fog to cover her figure to the point of unrecognizable, Adelaide held the red string and got out of the dream, leaving Baron James and his perplexed expression behind.

ΘΘΘ

Two people woke up suddenly in the same room. One in the big closet, one on the bed. They both gasped greedily for air. Cold sweats ran down on both of their foreheads.

However, one was fascinated, while the other felt like she just passed a big ordeal.

"….real. Was this real…?" said Baron James in a shaking voice. His eyes shifted towards Avalina's symbol by the window with a complicated gaze.

"Fuck, I stayed here for two freaking hours." Adelaide murmured. She was so tired and exhausted from the eventful night, physically and mentally. She did not care, nor have the time to check on the Baron and his ridiculous fanatic acts.

All she wanted to do was lie on her comfortable bed and get some actual rest.

Without a sound, the girl disappeared immediately with the blood-stained hood in her hands. Her sleeping dress was, fortunately, still as clean as ever.