An Enticing Offer

While Raymond was discussing business with Arlo, Elder Snowfang was busy reporting his findings to Celestia.

"My Lady, I have some disturbing news to report. I am afraid it will ruin your day," said Elder Snowfang, appearing quite sullen.

"Nothing can ruin my mood today. Go ahead and say what you want, Elder Snowfang." Celestia replied quite confidently.

Everything was going according to her calculations. Her lord would be bursting through the door any minute now and demand an exorbitant price.

Celestia was counting on him to do just that. If everything transpired smoothly after that, she would be spending most of her time with her lord for the next few days, probably weeks– alone.

"Uhm, My Lady, as per your order, I went to Mist Village this morning and investigated Elion's death. What Ray said seems to be true and multiple witnesses can verify that Elion was deranged and went on a killing spree before he finally attacked Ray in a fit of rage."

"Strange! Why would Elion let anger control him?" Celestia asked.

"My Lady, this is where things get worse. I had the same question as you, so I went ahead and searched his house and… and I found 'Rave Spirit' in his bedroom…" Elder Snowfang was struggling to say it out loud. "I found several vials filled with that cursed powder!"

"What?" Celestia banged her fist on the table. "How did he get his hands on that? Didn't we put a ban on that stuff? How is it still circulating among our populace?"

"My Lady, what we found last time during the raid was just one of their hideouts! There are still dregs who are producing and selling this behind our back!"

"Hah. It's one problem after another. Elder Snowfang, take Elder Silvershade with you and launch a full-scale search through the surrounding forest. Destroy anything remotely related to this drug racket." Celestia ordered.

The Puppet Maker was a big headache in and of itself, she had no time to spare for these idiots who fell for the false promise of euphoria.

"As for anyone involved in production or distribution…" Celestia lowered her voice just so that only Elder Snowfang could hear. "Make sure they meet an accident when transferring them to prison."

"My Lady, that's a bit extrem—"

"No, Elder! I am done playing their games. Either they stop this nonsense or I will have to eradicate them from my land!" Celestia had no authority to decide the life and death of more than one elf at a time.

However, she did not care. Anything that stopped her from spending time with her lord needs to be removed from the face of this world. Finally, after waiting for so long, he was within her reach and these problems started popping out to distract her from her real goal.

It was like the whole world was against her. Celestia wouldn't hesitate to take extreme measures to make sure that she achieved her goals, even if it involved the lives of those she deemed insignificant.

"I…uh, I understand." Elder Snowfang nodded helplessly. Despite his beliefs, he was not a person who disobeyed orders. If push comes to shove, he would always choose to obey the orders disregarding his personal opinion.

-Thud!

"Ahh. He is here. We will talk about this later." Celestia smirked and gestured for Elder Snowfang to remain quiet.

***

Raymond stormed into the meeting hall with Arlo in tow— both of them bristling in anger. Raymond was furious for almost being scammed of his money and Arlo was furious on behalf of his lord.

"You shouldn't have lied about the price!" Raymond snarled. "Forget ever getting your hands on these leaves again!"

"Raymond? When did I lie to you?" Celestia pretended to be shocked. "Please calm down. If you don't find the deal to be favourable, then we can discuss it further."

"Ohh, I will sit down, alright? But tell me, do you think this is worth only three gold coins?" Raymond glared at Celestia.

He almost thought of her as a nice person. How very wrong he was!

"As I have mentioned before, three per leaf is a fair price," Celestia replied coolly.

"Fair my ass!"

"Ohh, I know that~"

A shiver went up his spine at her words. A predatory light flickered in her eyes for a second which didn't go unnoticed by Raymond.

"You! Crazy stalker! Wh-what are you saying?" He sputtered, finding himself at a loss for words.

"Did I say something wrong? I think three coins per leaf is fair." Celestia tilted her head to the side cluelessly and warned him. "Please do not use such derogatory terms in this sacred place."

They both eyeballed each other for a few seconds, neither willing to back down. Raymond was sure she was using wordplay to mess with him but he couldn't brush off the feeling that she had seen him in his private moments.

Her innocent face told him otherwise, that she was completely unaware of the hidden meaning behind what she had said before.

"Hmph! Enough with your games. I demand 30 gold coins per leaf. Take it or leave it." Raymond was quite eager to close the deal and get the hell out of there.

"5 gold coins is the maximum we can afford to pay."

"Then I am afraid we can't have this deal. I will find some other buyers!" Raymond said hotly. "Arlo, let's go!"

He had Arlo, surely, with his contacts, it wouldn't be hard to find some rich customers who were willing to pay sky-high prices for this treasure.

"Ahh, such a pity. I wanted to teach you how to control your mana to compensate for the price difference!" Celestia shook her head dramatically. "Never mind then, if you feel it is unfair, then I won't force you."

Raymond, who had reached the door, stood rooted to the place as if struck by thunder. He mechanically turned around and flared his nose.

"I wanted to teach you how to control your mana?" Raymond parroted. "Did I hear it correctly?"

"Arlo, did I hear it clearly?"

"Yes, My Lord. That's what she said." Arlo confirmed and found that his lord was no longer with him, instead, he found him sitting on the chair in front of the High Priestess while looking at her intently.

Raymond's eyes were practically glittering as he stared at her without blinking.

"Care to repeat what you just said? I think I heard it wrong!"

"No, you didn't. I wanted to train you on how to control and do something much more than what you're doing with that precious mana of yours." Celestia appeared calm and collected but she was exulting in her mind.

"It's such a pity… You have the purest mana I have seen in anyone and yet, you don't know what to do with it! Ohh, the things I could do if I had such a fine quality of mana in my core!"

Celestia appeared quite heartbroken at the unfairness of the world, making Raymond perk up even more.

Every nerve in his body was screaming at him to accept her deal. What was the thing he most desired in his life— even above wealth and status?

It was magic. Raymond could go to hell and back if he could learn how to control his mana. He almost agreed on the spot if not for his wives.

He knew, once he started training, he knew how it would go. He wouldn't be able to look after them. Raymond was sobered up by the thought of leaving them unprotected in the enemy territory.

He couldn't trust the elves to stay away from his wives and he did not want to lock them up inside the Sacred Chamber all the time.

Just as he was about to decline her offer, a sudden thought struck him.

What if he held her hostage?

Raymond mentally patted himself on the back and flashed a blinding smile at Celestia.

"Haha, you're good!" Raymond praised her. "You almost got me with that one! But I am afraid I will have to decline. I can't trust you, what if you taught me something that would be detrimental in the long run? You could literally teach me something that would make me blow myself up and I would still be none the wiser."

"Ohh, come on. Why would I do that? It's not like I don't know the consequences of messing with you! Do you think something like that can harm you?"

"Nah, I can't just take your word for it." Raymond shook his head.

"Fine. I will swear on the heavens. How about it?"

"That's not enough. I do that all the time. I need something more concrete. Something that would risk your life if you go back on your word."

Celestia wanted to dance. If she was alone, she would've done so already.

"I am at a loss here. I don't know how to gain your trust otherwise."

"You know, there is a simple way. You're going to stay with me for the duration of this training. If I am going to explode by any mishaps, then I am going to take you down with me!"

"Impudent!" Elder Snowfang was quietly listening from the side so far, but he could no longer tolerate this. "How can you even suggest such a thing?"

"Oh, it's alright, Elder." Celestia was quick to stop him. She couldn't afford any interference at this moment. "He is not suggesting that I live with him." Celestia almost slipped and her voice was tinged with regret but she quickly managed to compose herself.

"Ahem, he has a hard time trusting us and then there are his wives. Surely, he can't leave them alone without any insurance while he is busy training, isn't that right, Raymond?"

'Damn! Is she reading my mind?' Raymond was ready to believe it with how accurate she was.

"We can do it this way! Elder Clearmoon will keep them company while I am training you. This way we can ensure that neither party does something out of the line. What do you think?" She asked with a curious voice.

"Is Elder Clearmoon that lady I threw yesterday?" Raymond guessed.

"Yes."

"Then… I can agree." Raymond, after a bit of thinking, agreed.

"Haha, don't worry, Elder Clearmoon has a few spells related to gravity in her family library." Celestia hit the nail on the head. "I can ask her to give it to your maid if you agree to three coins per leaf."

Celestia knew she was touching his reverse scale every time she talked about reducing the price, but she couldn't care any less. After all, she was going to offer everything inside the WhisperMoon forest to him when the time came.

She couldn't pay anything more than that without receiving a severe backlash from other Elders, but everything, including herself, would belong to him one day. Celestia would make sure of it.

For now, she was just happy to spend her days with him in solitude and maybe teach him a few things about being a ruler and its benefits while she was there.