January 24, 2021: Luftschloss

"Mr Brecheisen, I have a favour to ask of you."

"What is it?"

"You know a man named Larry Herse, right? He's the current COO of Lim Holdings."

"And what of him?"

"Well, this man is kind of obsessed with Syn."

Konrad had just arrived at his office and was starting his routine of probing the documents that were sent to him for approval. A visitor came in at the early stage of his work, so he opted to listen all the while going over the first pile of papers.

Although when he heard the lady's name emerge in the conversation, Konrad immediately lifted his head to look at Tristan, who was standing in front of his desk. He dropped the pen that he was holding on top of its case, then leaned on the backrest of his seat.

"What? Is he coercing you to do anything?" Konrad asked as he studied the expression that was displayed on Tristan's visage.

At the same time, he was pondering on his own, 'This might be related to what Larry did to Miss Rosenfeldt earlier. Still, I won't tell Mr O' Connor anything about our meeting.'

"That's not exactly the case, but almost. He wants me to transfer half of my shares in Eddinu under his name in exchange for stopping the atrocities that he's doing to Syn." Tristan uttered his reasoning, but his visage was devoid of any perturbation despite knowing the effect that Larry had on Syn.

Perhaps it was because he had a premonition that the matter would be solved soon, so he discarded any of his worries.

"Then, what do you want me to do?"

Tristan inwardly groaned at Konrad's inquiry, since for him, it was the type of question that was the most difficult to answer.

"Well, I was hoping that you could deal with him."

"Deal with him? On what grounds?" Konrad queried once more. After all, he could see no merit it acceding to the request.

O' Connor hurriedly pondered on anything valuable that he could put on the table, yet it was proving harder than he initially thought. It was not the case that he wasn't aware of one. Withal, if he offered the available choices, he would be suffering some great losses. Furthermore, the top on the list was not something that he was willing to surrender.

"What do you want, Mr Brecheisen?" Tristan elected for the easiest approach, to seek for an answer directly from the man himself.

Upon perceiving Tristan's response, Konrad simply stared back at him, curious why his prideful subordinate was inclined to go to such lengths. Accordingly, he contemplated for a few seconds before he uttered his rejoinder.

"I know that you're wary that I'll ask for Miss Rosenfeldt's company. However, I will digress from that."

Somehow, relief washed over Tristan's tensed nerves once he heeded Konrad's statement.

"What I want you to work on is to solicit a three-year immunity from the Police force and the Supreme Court - One that could pardon all of my dealings. Simple enough, isn't it?"

Despite the fact that O' Connor could do just that by pulling a few strings amongst his family, the extent of the conditions that he should fulfil to acquire such immunity was suffocating.

"That's almost the same as parting with Syn." Tristan retorted, his eyebrows slightly furrowed.

To his irritation, a rather malicious smile partnered with the equally malevolent glints that were swimming in his eyes was what's visible on Konrad's countenance.

"If you don't want to get married to someone that your parents arranged for you, then don't. I could care less regarding the methods that you would utilize. Choose your poison, Tristan."

"But-"

"You can deal with Mr Herse yourself, yet you're passing on the responsibility to me. That only means that you want to get rid of him completely. Tell me, am I mistaken?" Konrad began his interrogation, the look of amusement on his face long gone.

At that moment, Tristan knew that there was the path he could take in order to help Syn were limited to a handful of troublesome ones.

"What else can you do, Tristan, when you refuse to dirty your own hands?"

"It's easy for you to say that, Mr Brecheisen. You're aware that I'm doing this for Syn, but you're keen on separating us with your request alone."

Konrad didn't appreciate Tristan's declaration. Withal, he dismissed the rant that was insignificant at most for him.

"If you aren't willing to go through this deal, then you're free to leave. I'm quite occupied since I have to finish signing these papers by the end of the day." The man uttered as he returned his attention to the myriads of stacks that riddled the top of his desk.

O' Connor debated on the repercussions of his choice - If it was really worth it to sacrifice a portion of his life for Syn's safety. In the end, he decided to discard the matter because his relationship with Syn wasn't that intimate yet.

"I will try what I can do for now. I will come back if I'm in a situation that I won't be able to solve by myself. Thank you for your time, Mr Brecheisen." Tristan said his final words as he started his amble towards the door.

Still and all, in the midst of his saunter, the phone in the right pocket of his trousers began to vibrate. He halted his steps and brought out the phone. When he saw that an unknown number was calling him, he answered it on the spot, absent the qualms of the caller's identity.

"Hello? Who is this?" Tristan spoke, but the person on the other line didn't respond as to a grunt. Thus, he took his turn to talk again, "Who is this? Do you have any business with me?"

As soon as he was done speaking, a laugh - airy and boisterous - resounded in the call. Tristan felt as if he was being mocked by the mere tone of the guffaw.

"What seems to be yo-"

{{ "Tristan, oh Tristan, I've been waiting for your resolution for too long. I was too impatient, so accept my apologies." }}

On that occasion, an evident frown could now be seen on Tristan's visage. Be that as it may, he retained his calm, leery of showing his emotions.

"Mr Herse, how unprofessional of you. You did give me a day to decide."

{{ "No no no, Tristan, here, I'm not prompting you to act quickly. You can take your time." }}

"If that's the case, why did you even call me?"

{{ "Aha! Right, right, thank you for reminding me. I was just notified that Syn was shot? Poor her. I wonder who did it?" }}