Chapter 396 Making Contact During the Funeral ??
"Who is this person?" Livia asked her advisor, who was already familiar enough with the local situation in Millfall, to talk about important local figures.
"That person?" Her old advisor looked at Vicente, concentrating on this young man's Magic Gem since Vice's appearance didn't resemble that of anyone locally important.
He said after a long sigh. "I don't know him."
"Find out who he is. Shelby obviously has an unusual interest in him." Livia said as she watched Vicente talking to some local Barons while Shelby watched him from time to time.
Men wouldn't notice the way Shelby looked at Vicente. But Livia was different. She could see that her rival was interested in the black-haired young man.
Then Nicolas muttered. "I heard some rumors while I was offering my condolences to Shelby earlier. It seems that she and this boy are quite close. There was a strange rumor before the auction about them that even embarrassed young master Symons."
"Oh?" A smile broke out on Livia's face. "Don't tell me Shelby is that kind of woman? But that wouldn't be strange. Someone like that would rather have adventures with her chosen ones than stay with a single man to help her family. She's very selfish!"
Nicolas laughed but said nothing. He preferred women like his Livia, but he didn't care how other people lived their lives.
But Livia wanted to find a way to hurt Shelby. "I'm going to approach him. I want to see if he lets anything slip." She walked toward Vicente, leaving her fiancé and her advisors behind.
"That's..." The old advisor started to follow her but felt a hand on his shoulder.
"Let's wait. Livia likes to play, but she's no fool." Nicolas said quietly to the Mid-level Mage.
"But young master Grant... I thought we were leaving tonight. We've already stayed in this city longer than we should."
"I know. I promise we won't be here until dawn. But for now, let Livia have some fun. She won't have that opportunity when we return for a long time."
Meanwhile, Livia arrived, where Vicente talked to some of his local noble partners. Among them was Baron Irwin, with whom he had continued to do business even after the previous robbery.
Vicente had attacked the Irwin family for two reasons. The first was raising money for his house, which had worked out well for him. The second was to prevent a force that could destroy him from learning of his actions against one of the family's children and taking action against him.
The Irwin family still existed but had lost any ability to harm Vicente's group. They had lost much of their power after the last raid and had stopped investigating the death of the young man Vice had killed in Martell Village.
Meanwhile, the Mazzanti family had grown considerably and had overtaken such a local noble house entirely.
Therefore, even though he hadn't destroyed this family, Vicente had succeeded in his first two goals, and he was currently using this family through his agreement with Baron Irwin.
But if this family showed any strange thoughts towards him one day, he would mercilessly destroy them!
While he was talking to Baron Irwin and another local Baron about the tragedy of that night and what would happen with the succession of power, a tall, beautiful woman with green hair approached them.
"My friends, I am sorry to interrupt your conversation. I would like to talk to this young man. Could I borrow him for a moment?" Livia approached them with a smile that quickly made the nobles understand who she was.
The only one who didn't know where she came from was Vicente, so the nobles talking to him immediately greeted her and moved away from the black-haired young man dressed in an all-black outfit.
Vicente looked at the Low-level Mage curiously but let her say what was on her mind.
"What's your name, my friend?"
"Vicente Fuller, and you?"
She laughed when she realized he didn't know who she was and said. "I'm Livia Norris from Dryhaven."
"Norris? Of the Norris family?" Vicente didn't know who Livia was, but he knew the names of all the noble families in the province. "Miss Norris, meeting someone of your stature is a pleasure." He made an immediate gesture of greeting. "I didn't expect your family to have ties to House Symons..."
"And we don't." She grinned, fascinated by the gem on Vicente's forehead. "I'm here for an old friend. Shelby and I went to the same academy at Ironcrest."
"Oh?" He looked at Shelby and immediately saw that this woman was looking at them.
"Anyway, I feel we have a friend in common, don't you? I heard you were close, so I was interested in meeting you. Where are you really from, Vice? Are you related to the Fullers of Chilldale?" She asked him with curiosity to find out if this young man was an ordinary person or a member of an ancient family of soldiers of the kingdom.
Not every family with the potential to become noble earned titles. Some of the most powerful families in the kingdom were families of soldiers who, over the generations, sent many of their members to serve in the king's army.
That was the case with the Fuller family that Livia had in mind, a family that until recently had several soldiers in the army, some of them with the considerable rank of Colonel.
Such a family was not a noble power, but it was stronger than some Count families!
'If you're from that family, it makes sense that Shelby would be interested in you...'
Vicente was interested in what this woman knew and said. "The Fullers of Chilldale? I really don't know, Miss Norris. I lost my parents very young. What family is that? I've never heard of them."
She sighed when she saw he wasn't from that family and said. "This is a family from the Diamond Province. Chilldale is the third largest city in this province and the closest city to the kingdom's capital. As for the Fuller family, it is a house of soldiers, or rather, a house of knights of the empire. They have served the royal family for over a thousand years."
Vicente found this interesting. "I see... It looks like an impressive family. But I don't think I'm related to them. My father was just a merchant."
"And what about your relationship with Shelby? How long have you known each other?"
"A few months. We're business partners. I'm a merchant like my father was."
She pulled out what looked like a card and handed it to him. "If that's the case, don't hesitate to look me up in Dryhaven if you're passing through in the future. If you have business with Shelby, I might be interested in doing business with you as well."
"Of course." Vicente didn't refuse and quickly put the item away in his storage.
Livia saw that Shelby was watching them and asked. "Vicente, do you have some time now? My group is leaving Millfall tonight, so why don't we talk some more in a more private place? We could go to a restaurant."
He looked at her and then in the direction she had pointed, where Nicolas and the old Mid-level Mage were.
"I appreciate the invitation, but I have an appointment today. Besides being a merchant, I'm also a blacksmith. I have a dispute at the association tonight, and I intend to spend the rest of the afternoon preparing myself for it."
Vicente was under no obligation to explain himself to Livia. But this woman was stronger than him; she was a noble family member, and she wasn't rude to him. So he didn't refuse her request without giving her a good reason.
He was a merchant. He couldn't close a door that opened for him without a good reason!
Livia's eyes lit up with this information. "Then I won't bother you anymore. Good luck with your dispute."
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