Lucian paused. They just snatched her under his nose, and he just let it happen. Not because he wanted to, but because he couldn't do anything about it.
'Increasing my sparring session?'
'I will need a whole damn army at this rate.'
He returned to the windows, feeling like a wife waiting for her husband's return from the battlefield. He watched as the servants slowly returned and went to their positions. 'She's still not here.'
Not even after a whole week...
There weren't any restrictions on Lucian's movement anymore. He was given princess treatment by the staff, fattened up with food and drinks, while his head was filled with compliments and flattery.
It was like a fake heaven, with all the people smiling at him and the servants ready to tend to his every need. He could take a walk in the gardens, ride a horse, swim in the lake, play chess, borrow books, and even leave the estate if he wanted to.
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Lucian returned to the city to have a meeting with his people on the second floor of his shop, to get informed about the current situation on the Marindale coast.
He needed to build a larger force and start expanding his influence beyond his business. The first step was to get the support of the people. People of Marindale needed to see him as their hero, as someone who cares about them and their well-being. Charity would not suffice. Working conditions, housing, safety, health... all of it needed an improvement, and he needed to be the one who provided that for them.
"Maintain peace in the streets," Lucian said, not sure if his people would be able to take over the role of the guards, especially when such roles could get them killed by the local gangs, "Our goal is to gain the support of the people, not to be killed in a street fight. We don't have the resources to fight against the underground organizations, but we have the resources to become their clients."
The men looked at each other, "How do you become a protector and a scum at the same time, Boss?"
"By helping the scums first," Lucian said, going through a few profiles, "With the same currency that they are using. Money and power." He placed the profiles down, pointing at each name, "These are the ones to start with. Offer smuggling of their products through our clean businesses. Give them access to our legal channels. Offer to help them hide their tracks, and to get their product sold at a better price. Don't mention my involvement in it. You bunch just decided to betray me and turn to the dark side, and you will use my resources to do so."
"..." the group of men exchanged looks, "Are we going to be your baits again, Boss? We thought we were past that..."
"I can always save your backs when you get caught," Lucian said, "And if not, you'll get a nice funeral service, and I'll take care of your family. What more do you want? You can't have a better deal than this. If you worked under my name, my name will go down with you, and who will save you then? No one, that's who."
Lucian didn't look at the men and wrote down numbers next to each of the names, "If you manage to climb the ranks in the organization, and get into the good graces of the people in charge, the better the rewards. I will oversee the results and reward you accordingly. If you fail, you will be on your own, and I will not acknowledge you or the fact that you ever existed."
"Yes! Boss!" The men saluted, and Lucian dismissed them. He overheard a bit of their conversation as they closed the door behind them. He caught it before it clicked shut, and peeked outside.
"Boss seems in a bad mood," Al whispered to Jax, "What happened to him?"
"He's been like this for the past week," Jaxon whispered back, "Ever since he returned from his engagement trip, and now he's back to his old ways of working himself to death."
"Should we drag Lady Bianca here to cheer him up?" Al suggested.
"Nah. There's no way a woman would make him this angry," Jax said, "Women don't even register in his head. The last time he was in a foul mood was when his cousin came to visit and trashed this whole place."
"Someone dares to trash our Boss's place?" AL exclaimed, "And lives? Or?"
"Still alive, the last time I checked," Jax said, "He was the city guard at that time, so there was nothing much Boss could do to him. Lucky bastard became a knight and left the city before Boss could make a move on him."
Lucian cleared his throat, and the two men jumped, turning around to look at him. They saluted immediately.
"If you want to gossip, at least do it in a language that I don't understand," Lucian said, crossing his arms over his chest, a smile tugging at the corners of his lips, "I'm curious to know what makes you think that I'm in a bad mood."
AL tried to describe his aura without using the words 'bad mood' and ended up describing it as a 'slightly agitated state' and 'slightly murderous intent' and 'a desire to strangle someone to death.'
Lucian looked around himself, "I don't see any corpses, so I don't think I'm in that much of a bad mood," he said, "You can stop tiptoeing around me as if I was going to snap your necks at any moment." He passed by them, patting their backs, "I'm not that scary, am I?"
"..." Al and Jax looked at each other and shrugged. He didn't look scary, no. But he was.
Lucian followed the stairs down to the first floor, wondering when he had started instilling fear in others. He was friendly most of the time and even joked around with them. He didn't treat them badly either, and everyone was paid on time for their work. He wanted their respect, not fear.
Fear was not good. It made people want to escape, or rebel, or even worse, plot against him.