Wraith family head

Within a nearby city, the Wraith family mansion

A man sat at his desk going over documents as another man was on his knees on the other side of the room.

The man ignored him and went back to reading calmly. "Give up. I cannot afford to help you right now."

The person kneeling down stayed in place as he had done for almost half a day but he received no words of approval but in his desperation to complete his masters mission he stayed and endured.

The family head of the Wraith family looked at him for a moment and then got lost in his thoughts.

His family were used to enduring for their family to be able to wait until the time was right and come out on top.

An example of this was their plan to infiltrate the north and build power there with their branch family.

Unfortunately that plan went poorly and they all suffered many losses over the years even after constantly displaying their loyalty to the unorthodox alliance master.

Even if one was loyal, in a place full of ruthless criminals and murderers there was always going to be big punishments for mistakes made.

He had lost his heir and the other children he could use to replace them along with some of his daughters through kidnapping or assassination which made him lose some bargaining chips to exchange for more favours or power.

He had to endure it all and come up with new ways to overcome the crisis, his wife no longer showed signs of being fit to produce another child so he had no choice but to go behind her back no matter what would happen to him.

He no longer had the elders to support him or other high ranking members so he could only rely on himself and the families secret stashes to keep the family going until it is no longer being attacked.

For the first year he remained quiet with his wife in the mansion to avoid being exposed to dangers and hired trustworthy people to help keep the remains of the family safe for their revival and then he would begin to try to work out the next steps.

After the year he had begun his frequent trips to the brothel as he had done in his youth, as the saying goes…. Old habits die hard.

He picked up a couple of women and used some secret and old family residences to keep these women from the eyes of his enemies and his wife.

One or two were discovered over time and were killed before they could give birth by either his enemies or his wife's people but thanks to not putting his trust in one plan he was able to avoid having to repeat his plan once again.

Two women gave birth to daughters which made him angry and then abandoned then coldly but he made sure that the daughters and mothers could not leave the residence as he may have a use for them later.

Not long ago he had produced a son and as his underground connections and power began to increase once again but he was still not in a position to be able to help others, especially when it was across the border where he had no power of his own and the branch family were the ones that had wasted what he had given them many years ago.

The man still knelt down and spoke. "Sir but the person is rumoured to be the Bombyx families next successor. What if they wish to take revenge? Can you just leave us all to die? If they have someone working for them that could protect their heir in secret and could also wipe out our strongest people then what is stopping them from sending them to us?"

The family head however ignored him. "Even if that is true… what has that got to do with me? If you had just waited and seen how things would of played out then maybe we would of made another friend in the north but now you have made an enemy of them. Was it your greed that led you fools to this decision or were you just being careless?"

Deep inside the man's head he was screaming. 'But you left us all to fend for ourselves for years without even the bare minimum of support. You even took back some of your people so we have grown weaker just so that you can survive!'

As for who was right or wrong, it did not matter.

The whole Wraith family may look like a regular noble family of the northern parts of the central lands but they were all crooked and selfish people who exploited others and coveted power and wealth.

The family head spoke up once more as he raised his voice. "No matter if it is the Bombyx family or another force protecting their heir it does not matter. It is not something I have the power to investigate right now."

The man lowered his head in thought and then came up with a solution. "What about the Unorthadox Alliance?"

The family head shook his head and sighed. "Our position has fallen so we can no longer ask for favours from them anymore. It is already a mercy that the family still remains as it is."

The man contemplated over it for a while and then spoke. "What if we could offer something in return? Isn't it enough just to put a target on the Bombyx families back? If they are busy protecting their heir then how can they possibly use their remaining strength to protect their business interests?"

The family heads eyes lit up as he thought. 'Indeed… that family is old so it should have a large inheritance left over and their family has been expanding well over the years. If we can find a way to gain from this then I may be able to rise again but also earn back the trust from the Alliance leader.'

The family head looked down and spoke. "Give me some time to ponder over this. If we do this then we need a plan that can made us benefit well from it. You may leave but come back to the mansion at dark when nobody is around."

The man stood up and then left after bowing. "Yes master! Thank you master."

As they both left each others sights a scheming look appeared in both of the mens eyes which showed that those of the same family bloodline were truly similar to each other.

One was bowing and acting like a slave so that they can overcome their crisis even if it meant dragging their main supporter down with them and then there is the master who only prioritised the main family and thought of the branch family as pawns that he could abandon until they showed him their worth.

To them the Bombyx family was a juicy piece of meat that was waiting to be devoured once their protectors were away and if they did not wish to leave then they could take another way and begin to attack their supply and transportation routes.

Little did they know that the Bombyx family were already growing beyond what they could guess and they could not possibly know that Ki had killed all of their men on her own without any assistance.

However if the Unorthadox Alliance was involved then things would become dangerous for the family and their businesses.

Sadly for them various forces were moving in the dark right at this moment because Ki who was an evil individual in her previous life could easily predict their thoughts and actions because it would be something that she would come up with as a scheme to defeat her opponents that she could not overcome on her own.

The best way to defeat an enemy is to find someone stronger and find a way to dig into what they need or desire that would make them want to attack someone else for her or she could just weaken them by offering some aid to their enemies so that a conflict can break out between the two and then she can sweep up the spoils of war.

Guessing their possible course of action was easy for her so she knew that this was not something to be ignored once she found out who was supporting behind the scenes.