On the following days, we had many reunions to negotiate the terms of contract. Yuexi really liked Lawita and Cerys and decided to take them under her wing. They couldn’t ask for a better person. The Moonrise Caravan already decided they would leave with the Laukkanen family to the North to study the Northeastern creatures and think of the best strategy to deal with the monster waves. Yuexi was excited to find new research material; Naade didn’t express, but he was interest in cold resistant plants.  

Three days after the Moonrise Caravan arrived, my brother Llewelyn carriage parked outside. He came without father knowing, and all his servants were outside contractors that were dismissed in the entrance. We had already volunteered a group of maids and butlers to serve him during his stay. I was nervous if he would accept the conditions, but he came without many questions.  

“I salute the prince and princess of the Light Kingdom”. He bowed at us.  

“We salute you back, prospectus duke Llewelyn Shalhevet Conwenna”, Ewan answered back.  

He brought light baggage, for only a week. Cerys knew he would be coming but preferred not to see him. The Marquis and Marchioness Laukkanen even changed rooms so they wouldn’t meet the prospectus duke by chance.  

The maids sent him to the office. Before we could decide what to do during his stay, I needed to talk with him. I need to know his stance not only about the duchy succession, but also the royal family and the political and economic state of the country. Llewelyn was personally trained by duke Fursey Conwenna – an idiot. Still, mother always tried to keep Llewelyn close to her so he could be properly educated in other, more important, aspects of life. Now it was time to find out which education prevailed.  

As soon as we arrived in the office, Itzal brought us the tea and left. We were still quite wary regarding Llewlyn, so we had two guards positioned outside the room. Although the place was soundproof, we had a sign to alert the guards if anything happened.  

“Sister, I came here and fulfilled all your requests; still, you doubt me?” Those were my brother’s first words as the butler closed the doors.  

“Until we can verify your positioning, we need to proceed cautiously. A smart person as you would do the same, wouldn’t you?” 

“You know I'm not a smart person. If I was, I would not have agreed to come here”. 

“It’s a good thing that you have some understanding of your own condition”.  

“I’m not the smartest, the strongest or the most talented sibling. Still, I have father backing me to inherit the duchy. Isn’t it funny?” 

“I have no interest in inheriting the duchy”. 

“I believe that. You need to have some kind of aspiration to inherit the house. But you’re just a brat who was lucky to find a wealthy cripple to marry”.  

When he insulted Ewan, my blood began to boil, but Ewan held my hand and indicated for me to calm down.  

“Lord Conwenna, I advise you not to insult me. I decided to leave this discussion to my wife; yet I know her temper and that she will become impulsive at the smallest sign of a threat. I controlled her this time, but, as you said, I’m just a cripple and she is a strong woman well-versed in martial arts. Those guards outside are not to stop you from doing something against us, but us from doing something against you. Therefore, you better behave as a prospectus duke, instead of a spoiled brat”.  

When Ewan defends me like that, he convinces me even more that I made the right choice by marrying him.  

“Thanks, my prince”, I said looking him in his eyes. “Even if this poorly educated brother of mine doesn’t act as it fits his title, I’ll try not to break his neck. We still have some need for him”.  

“Alright, I understand. You’re two tigers and I’m your prey. No need to flash your aggressiveness. You’re still the same as you were as a child, Astrea”. 

“It’s good that you remember that. Has that knife wound I gave you fully healed?” 

“You know it didn’t. It scarred me a long time ago”. He sighed and looked at me. “Mother convinced me to come; if it wasn’t for her, I’d have completely ignored your request. She knows father isn’t the best person to guide me to be a good Duke. He wasn’t a good administrator and lost a lot of money to bad businesses. I won’t act like I don’t know that, so please don’t treat me as the likes of him”.  

It seems that mother still has a strong influence on him. This kid may not be a lost case.  

“You came because you think we can help you?” I asked.  

“No, I came because I know I can help you. I don’t know what your plan is, and why you’d invite me here. But I know Cerys is also in the mansion, and she is not the only one. She is probably avoiding me, which I think she should. I know how much misery I brought to her when she was still here. Not only to her”. 

“Are you going to apologize after acting high and mighty when you arrived. I don’t believe your words”. 

He laughed. I don’t know who he was lying to, but until he started being truthful for once, I could not trust him.  

“You’re still perceptive, little sister. Don’t blame me for trying to appease you. I really came under Mother advice, don’t get me wrong. The Duchess is smart, and she cares a lot about her only son. And you may be fierce, impulsive, and even violent; you may have even hurt me in the past, but the cut was superficial, and you tried to avoid any essential part. It doesn’t affect my life at all. And that husband of yours may have been a tiger once, but he is not even a kitten now”, as he spilled his nonsense, Ewan tightly hold my hand. I wanted to break his arms, but I knew I shouldn’t. “I know you are building something here. You got Cerys, who made the Marquis’ family prosperous after a few years as the house lady. Even Aunt Shalhevet is here with you. I may have hated you, because you were given a life, while I was trapped in that hellish mansion. But I never underestimated you. You tricked father and the king. Now you’re preparing for something even bigger. I want a piece of that cake. And you know that if I leave here, I can tell everyone about what I saw”. 

“And what did you see?” Ewan asked him. “You are talking too much for someone who came here without any escort. And don’t think about the mercenaries you arranged to follow you from afar, our team already caught them. There will be no surprise appearances. You had better take your time eating our food and enjoying our hospitality. Maybe your baggage won’t be enough. So, if you need, we’ll provide you with suitable clothes. And our guards are excited to work with you”.  

Translation: we’ll keep you here for as long as we want, because you’re no longer our guest, but our prisoner. Did I say how proud of my husband I’m? 

“What? I told you I would work with you”. He tried to argue back as the guards held him. 

“Sorry, but we have no interest in working with someone we don’t trust”. I said walking toward the door. “You’re lucky my husband prefers dealing with nuisances in his own manner, because I’m no longer the kid who was afraid of breaking some bones”.