The Young Duke's Arrival

'.....'

Shui was speechless. Each question that Alex asked was more difficult to answer than the previous one, but this went too far. Shui knew that he had absolutely nothing to feel guilty about, but he couldn't help but wonder why Alex was okay with asking this.

"What does that have to do with getting to know me?" Shui asked.

Without a hint of shame on his face, Alex replied, "Hmm? Well obviously I want to know if a little shi-, gentleman like yourself has laid his fil-, entered physical relations with my sister."

Shui wondered if he was being serious, but seeing how his true thoughts were starting to leak out, it was clear that this question wasn't just about getting to know him.

"Personally I don't mind telling you, but shouldn't you ask your sister about this?"

"Why? Do you have something to hide?"

"No but-"

"Then there should be no problem with you telling me."

"Why don't you ask your sister?"

"Why don't you answer the question?"

"I just don't see the reason why I have to tell you."

"I'm her brother, that's all the reason you need!"

Right after he declared such a thing with a straight face, a certain girl inquired after suddenly appearing, "Is that so, Dear Brother?"

Alex's eyes widened as he slowly turned towards the source of that question. He didn't want to believe it, but it was exactly who he thought it was, approaching from behind Shui. He gulped to suppress his fear as he tried to confront her.

"D-d-dear Sister, d-didn't you say that you wouldn't interfere?"

"Yes, that was the plan, but I'm glad I came to check on how things were going. You were saying something rather, amusing, Dear Brother. Do you remember what it was?"

"Hahaha, I'm not sure actually," said Alex with an awkward laugh as his eyes darted about.

Watching as Alex desperately tried to placate his sister almost made Shui feel sorry for him. He was wearing such a serious face throughout their conversation but that face was gone the moment his sister appeared.

'What can I say, he did this to himself.'

"Then I'll tell you. I was very surprised you know. After all, I didn't recall that my brother had the absolute right to stick his nose into my relationships."

"No, you have it wrong Alicia. I was just worri-"

"Shut up."

Immediately after Alicia said so, Alex went silent. He clenched his fists on top of his knees but he didn't dare disobey her order.

"Wait outside. I'll speak with you when we get back to the inn."

With great reluctance on his face, Alex got up and dragged his feet out of the room. When he heard the door close, Shui breathed a sigh of relief.

"Whew, thanks for coming, Alicia."

"No, I should apologize. I thought I could trust him, but if it wasn't for your call my brother would have caused you more trouble than he already did."

'Yeah, and I already get enough trouble from you.'

Shui had pardoned the first three questions, but once he heard that last one, he secretly contacted Alicia with the communication terminal she gave him. He didn't have a problem with answering, but he had a feeling things would just get worse if he let Alex have his way.

"No, that's his fault not yours. Besides, you came here in the middle of the night, that's more than enough to make up for it," Shui said.

In response, Alicia chuckled, "Fufu, I don't mind running over at any time if it's for you."

"Uh, is, that so?"

Satisfied by the conflicted look on Shui's face, Alicia went towards the door, but stopped right before opening it.

"Still, I wish the next time you call is for something more, personal. Okay?"

"We'll see."

Once Alicia left, Shui hung his head. He should have expected it, but he ended up being teased by that girl. In many ways, she was more difficult to deal with than her brother.

'Gosh, what a troublesome pair of-'

Suddenly, he sensed it. Like a jolt of electric current, a signal from Dull Harmony reached him. He didn't want to be too overprotective, but he added a feature that allowed him to be notified if the artifact's self-defence mechanism activated.

Naturally, he had faith in the artifact he crafted, but there were several ways to overcome its self-defence mechanism so Shui rushed towards the source of the signal. Fortunately, there was only one corpse in the room, and it didn't belong to Emily. There were also faint traces of an accomplice, but at the moment they couldn't be found.

'Multiple assassins are coming after her, that means whoever wants her head must know that the previous attack failed.'

With his spiritual sense, Shui scanned the dead man's corpse and found evidence to support his guess.

"As I thought, looks like I'll need to find the employer."

Once he found the black seal of the Tower of Killers, that was all he needed. The organization itself would never try to avenge one of its members, but as long as the payment gradually increased in line with the number of causalities, an endless supply of assassins would follow. In other words, it was imperative that he find the one sending them and take care of that person.

'I have a good idea on how to find them, but I can't make a move until I'm certain.'

Emily was like a little sister to him, so he would definitely make sure to tear away any malicious hands that tried to stain her. Even if she trusted the ones with those hands.

This day wasn't supposed to be special in any way, but the arrival of one person changed that. In a carriage that was like a small mobile house, pulled by high beasts and guarded by elite Sky Realm experts, the youngest son and potential successor of Duke Eclair, arrived along with his guardian. If the exterior wasn't enough proof to show how valued this son was, his guardian was a Master that served as his father's right hand.

Although Duke Eclair said that he would choose the most excellent of his children to succeed him, everyone knew that the youngest was especially favoured. Within the large carriage, a young man who wore a silver robe that was a defensive artifact, in addition to several other expensive items, sat with a proud expression and to his left, was a stern middle-aged man. The young man felt good as he thought of being bathed in the admiring gazes of the peasants, but his guardian continued to advise him.

"Young Lord, please remember that although we've come to an agreement with the Array Association, you have to show a sufficient amount of skill in order for everyone to acknowledge you."

"I know, Uncle. At the end of the day I'm still a tier 3 array master. Even if I'm not better than the current rankers, it's only a matter of time before I surpass them."

The young duke had only started learning array techniques five years ago, so it wouldn't be wrong to say that he had talent in the field, but any true array master would tell him to know his place. After all, there was a reason why there was a difference between array masters of tiers 1-3 and 4-6.