In the end, the Lesser family backed down and agreed to compensate the Clavenna family.
This matter quickly caused a huge stir within noble circles and began spreading wildly.
But aside from the families directly involved, not a single person knew the truth behind it.
The Lesser family kept their mouths shut about the incident and simply agreed to the demands put forward by the Clavenna family.
Many people who were waiting for follow-up news after the incident had no way of getting any information at all.
But soon, another piece of news came out and drew the public's attention away.
Not long after returning to the royal capital, the First Prince, Aubenni, announced to the public that he would once again lead the army back to the south.
People immediately began to speculate.
The Second Prince had already led troops to the far north early on to investigate matters related to demons.
And now the First Prince was also taking his army back to the southern lands.
This sparked suspicion among many.
No matter how much news spread, no matter how chaotic it became, the royal family seemed completely unaffected and began to act.
And the root cause of all these events was entirely connected to the man entangled in this series of incidents.
Viktor Clavenna.
———
Three days later, a group of horse-drawn carts loaded with heavy cargo slowly stopped in front of the Clavenna estate.
Liya had already been standing at the gate early on, arms crossed over her chest, a smile on her face, as she had people begin checking the goods delivered in advance.
She lifted the burlap coverings, revealing nothing but blades gleaming with cold light and brightly polished armor.
The blades curved slightly at the guard. Their long, slender, lightweight bodies instead sent a chill down one's spine.
They were like weapons carved out of ice itself, as if a streak of crimson flame flowed within them.
The armor was piled into a small mountain. Sharp spikes were embedded in the shoulders, and monster bones had been fused beneath the double-layered iron walls. They looked incredibly light, yet constantly emitted an intimidating aura.
In addition, a massive sum of five hundred million Geo had already been transferred into the account within the Clavenna territory.
Liya had been a merchant for over ten years.
Until today, she had never seen so much money.
Strings of numbers flowed endlessly through the account, nearly dazzling her eyes.
"The Lesser family really is rich. They sent over all this stuff without saying a word."
Looking at the cargo filling the carts to the brim, Liya felt overjoyed.
The Lesser family servants delivering the goods clenched their teeth when they heard Liya's words, yet dared not say anything, only swallowing their anger in silence.
Even Lady Cassandra had already taken the initiative to soften toward the Viktor family. What could servants like them possibly say?
Suddenly, a swirl of air rose from the ground.
Faint blue light particles drifted through the air. Thousands of tiny blue glimmers slowly descended from the sky like liquid, surging and circling a few times before landing on the ground.
Viktor's form gradually solidified.
The air current tugged violently at his coat as he slowly appeared beside Liya.
Liya was startled and was about to say something, but when she saw Viktor carefully examining the equipment on the carts, she closed her mouth and didn't disturb him.
"Send all of this to the basement."
"All of it?"
Viktor nodded lightly and turned to walk toward the massive estate.
Liya was still a little confused, but soon she heard Viktor's voice drifting back leisurely.
"Just a reminder, those funds might all get spent by me."
Liya blinked as she listened to Viktor's words.
"Huh?"
Her brain immediately froze for a moment, and she couldn't help shouting loudly, "Viktor! What are you planning to do that could spend five hundred million?!"
"Explain it to me!"
Viktor didn't bother explaining further and kept walking forward, his figure gradually fading away.
After a long while, the basement door creaked open.
A damp, cold, rotten smell rushed out.
Vanilla slowly walked in, her tail gently swaying behind her.
The single-wheel carts behind her, guided by magic, entered the room in orderly fashion.
They nearly filled the entire basement.
After finishing everything, she turned to the man behind her and bowed gracefully.
"Master, everything is ready."
Viktor reached out and gently rubbed Vanilla's head.
She clearly enjoyed the warmth of his hand and couldn't help narrowing her eyes.
Her ears stood upright and moved inward, and her tail wagged even faster.
"You're improving quickly."
"That's thanks to Miss Henny's teaching."
Viktor withdrew his hand. Feeling the warmth leave, Vanilla felt a trace of disappointment.
"You can go rest now."
"Yes."
"If you need anything, please call for me at any time, Master."
She bowed slightly, turned, and left the basement, disappearing into the dark corridor.
Viktor watched her leave. Meanwhile, Vega on his shoulder shot him a glance.
"What, can't bear to part with her?"
"I heard they have barbs on their tongues. Is that true?"
Viktor glanced at Vega coldly, "Where did you hear that?"
"Storybooks. They write all kinds of exciting stuff in there. Want to read them together?"
Vega giggled, but Viktor no longer paid it any attention and said calmly, "A demi-human mage, how far do you think one can grow? Aren't you interested?"
"Tsk, I only care about myself."
Vega sounded disdainful and turned its bird head away.
Even if that was its believer, Vega followed the principle of accepting believers without taking responsibility.
As long as it brought power, that was enough.
Viktor walked deeper into the basement without lifting his head.
"Read less of that kind of storybook in the future."
"Why?"
"It's bad for your brain."
Creak~
The heavy wooden basement door slowly closed in the darkness.
———
Henny lay sprawled on her desk, eyes lowered, letting sunlight fall across her expressionless face, giving her a somewhat melancholy look.
She held a pen, writing and sketching in a massive notebook.
Although her old notes had been destroyed, the knowledge she could recite by heart would never be forgotten.
When she had nothing to do, she often rewrote that knowledge by hand.
While she was writing in the notebook, someone knocked on the door.
Knock! Knock!
Henny felt a bit puzzled, but still pushed back her chair, stood up, and opened the door.
The moment she opened it, a little cat girl in a black-and-white maid outfit stood before her.
Her petite body paired with the slightly oversized maid uniform looked a bit mismatched.
But her gentle aura wasn't hidden by the outfit at all.
Vanilla placed her hands over her chest and bowed deeply to Henny.
"Miss Henny."
"Oh, it's Vanilla."
Seeing her, Henny wasn't surprised.
The professor had said that Vanilla was the new maid in their household, with a very special identity, a demi-human.
Henny knew how much unfair discrimination demi-humans suffered in human society.
Although they were different from humans, kind-hearted as she was, she still opposed excluding demi-humans.
When she learned that Vanilla had been captured, she felt even more sympathy for her.
So she took extra care of her.
That was why she taught Vanilla some magic every day.
Because for a long time, Henny had been unable to become a mage, and at the academy she was often met with cold stares and bullying.
Every time she saw Vanilla, she would think of those unpleasant experiences.
She didn't want those bad experiences to repeat themselves on Vanilla.
So she was always extremely patient when teaching her.
As for why it was Henny teaching instead of Korkott, who was clearly far superior to her in both magical knowledge and strength, even Henny knew how lazy that elf was. Asking her to teach was simply too much.
"Come in!"
Henny ushered Vanilla into her bedroom.
Inside the room, Henny sat on the bed and looked at Vanilla beside her, asking, "How did your practice with the telekinesis spell go?"
Vanilla didn't say much. She simply clasped her hands behind her back, her slender tail swaying slightly.
On the desk opposite her, a red flowerpot slowly glowed with green light and floated into the air.
After spinning twice in midair, it gently landed back in its original spot on the desk.
Seeing Vanilla's telekinesis, Henny couldn't help feeling a little surprised.
"Such amazing talent. You only started learning this spell yesterday."
"Although telekinesis is a commonly used first-tier spell, being able to use it to this level already means you're very skilled."
Hearing Henny's praise, Vanilla's tail swayed nonstop, clearly very happy.
"You flatter me."
"Hm, looks like I'll have to increase the difficulty a bit for you."
Henny turned around and began flipping through the first few pages of her thick notebook, focusing intently on finding even more basic spells.
As she moved, the black robe she wore swayed dramatically.
Vanilla looked at Henny's obviously ill-fitting clothes and couldn't help feeling curious.
"Um, Miss Henny, please forgive my rudeness in asking."
"Why do you always wear such a loose robe?"
Henny turned back and looked down at her clothes.
"Oh, this?"
She reached out and tugged at the wide collar, then said, "The professor gave this to me and told me to wear it properly at all times, or it would cause trouble for others."
Vanilla tilted her head.
"Cause trouble?"
She didn't quite understand.
"I don't really get it, but… could you take it off and let me see?"
"Th-This…"
Henny looked aside, feeling a bit conflicted.
But when she saw the anticipation in Vanilla's eyes, her heart softened a little.
After all… they were both girls. It should be fine, right?
Thinking that, Henny unbuttoned the buttons on her chest.
The loose black robe slowly slipped off.
Suddenly, Vanilla froze in place.
Under the robe was just a perfectly normal outfit, a brown top and loose beige trousers, that looked unexpectedly harmonious.
And very big.
Her figure was full and well-proportioned. Even in ordinary clothes, it was displayed vividly.
Not much skin was exposed, but it seemed as if some kind of magic enhancement was at work, making it faintly glow.
An inexplicable sense of temptation drew Vanilla in.
The small cat girl kept staring, her eyes growing hazy, her cheeks flushing red.
The air seemed to heat up. Her tail shot straight up, frozen stiff in midair.
Suddenly, a sharp, slightly unpleasant cat cry escaped from Vanilla's throat.
"Meow~"
Almost immediately, she froze.
Henny froze as well.
With their eyes meeting, Vanilla's face turned extremely red, like a fully ripened apple.
She jumped to her feet, pushed the door open, and hurriedly rushed down the stairs, running away.
Henny, meanwhile, remained standing there, as if realizing something, a sentence slipping out unconsciously, "That just now was…"
"A female cat in .....?"
═❀═❀═❀═❀═❀═❀═
[email protected]/XenosX
🥳Joining P@treon keeps me motivated and eager to work diligently, so please consider joining.🥰