Seeing Frank say nothing, Glen continued, "My family is even less of a match against the South Sea Crow. That's why we need the Lionhearts' help, or we'd suffer even more losses. I hope you can understand…""That's not necessary," Frank said naturally. "The South Sea Crow and I had an agreement. She won't come after you anymore.""What?!"The room was left in shock at Frank's words."Haha…" The Turnbull executive who mocked Frank earlier was silent for a moment but soon turned toward Glen. "I told you, Mr. Turnbull—he's with the South Sea Crow. See? He admitted as much to it now. Why else is he fine when we're all infected?""Yeah. He was close to the South Sea Crow when she charged at Zac as well. Why wasn't he hit?""Don't bother. He's definitely her ally!"The restless discussion around him left Frank scowling, even regretting asking his fellow apprentice to stay her hand from these people."The South Sea Crow isn't some monster. She's human—she can see reason!" He strode fo
"Who stands to gain the most?"Frank's question left the Turnbull executives thoughtful, though they were all soon trading shocked glances."I guess you know the answer."Frank snickered. "I wouldn't have bothered telling you, but since you insist on being fools, I guess I have to make things clear. The South Sea Crow was after you for two reasons—the first being her personal grudge, and the other because another major family hired her. As for which family it is, I know none of you are stupid enough to not know who they are.""Impossible!" A Turnbull executive sprang to his feet in retort. "The Lionhearts have been our family's allies over generations. Why would they conspire against us?" "Exactly! We are brothers-in-arms. They'd never do anything to hurt us!" "The way I see it, that brat is just trying to drive a wedge between us!"Even as the retorts grew and was soon deafening, Glen slammed a hand on his armchair rest. "Silence!" he bellowed before turning towards Frank w
However, the Turnbulls missed one thing—Frank's patience had its limits."Listen." He sneered, shaking his head when Glen offered him Vicky as a reward. "Since you and your family are so sure I was helping the South Sea Crow, I shouldn't have helped any of you."Pointing at Glen, he growled coolly, "Everyone here has been harassing me and mocking me ever since I came, and to be frank, I've had enough. However, I've endured it repeatedly for Vicky's sake."Snorting coolly, he continued, "This will be the last time. I'll find evidence that the Lionhearts are scheming against you. But in return, none of you get to negotiate—you will free Vicky unconditionally, or I'll turn against you. And you can trust me when I say that my methods are more brutal than the South Sea Crow's."Glen sighed lengthily at Frank's fearsome glare, knowing that Frank was really angry just then."If that's the last time, so be it," he muttered under his breath before looking up and saying, "You have my word.
"Titus," a crisp voice spoke just then.Titus turned just then to find Sif Lionheart striding toward him in a white dress. "You're here too, Sif?""Of course. It's my dear brother's wedding." She grinned from ear to ear. "And speaking of brothers, Ehud can't make it because he's training, but he sends his congratulations."He then took out a chest from her car and passed it to Titus. "Here. It's a Hyperion Root I bought for Ehud. It was too young when I bought it, but Hundred Bane Sect's had a method which quickened its growth, and now Ehud is giving it off to you for your big day.""Hahaha. Thanks." Titus laughed as he took the chest."Huh?" Sif unwittingly spotted a familiar face among the Turnbulls just then and snapped under her breath, "Frank Lawrence?! What is he doing here?!""What?" Titus exclaimed in surprise. "You know him, Sif?""That's an understatement." Sif snorted and told Titus about the grudge between herself and Frank.Titus scowled and growled through his t
"Don't think I don't know," Aesop growled coldly as he turned toward Frank, who was standing among the Turnbulls. "It's that brat who's been messing about and delaying the wedding, hasn't he? You Turnbulls can't even discipline your children, allowing Ms. Turnbull to mess around with some unruly brat! For shame!""That's right!"Titus strode up when he heard Glen and Aesop arguing. "Vicky is my fiancee, and there's no arguing about that. Not only did you Turnbulls fail to discipline her, but you allowed some stranger like him to show up on my wedding day too. This is a clear challenge to my family's honor! Should we take this as a declaration of war?!""A declaration of war?!"Everyone was silent at Titus' words, with every Turnbull gulping in the distance.They could not imagine war against the Lionhearts at all—it would be a massacre if they went all out.And the Lionhearts had sent over a hundred bodyguards, each of them bearing the brand of Volsung Sect, meaning that they wer
"Well, I'm relieved with your assurance, Mr. Turnbull." Aesop bowed his head at Glen before turning and beckoning at the procession. "Wrap it up—we're heading back now. We're coming back next week!""Yes, sir." Everyone answered at once.It was clear that Aesop held authority too—at his orders, even Sif and Titus kept quiet despite having something to say.All they could do was to grumpily return to their cars and head home.Along the way, Titus was resting his eyes at the backseat, whereas Sif was ranting relentlessly, telling Aesop everything about her beef with Frank."Hmph." Aesop snorted. "I'm surprised that the whippersnapper had it in him."Musing to himself for a moment, he then glanced between Titus and Sif. "Neither of you leaked our grand scheme, have you?""No way." Sif shook her head. "No more than a handful of us are aware of it. No one would catch on. And there's no way that mad witch would tell the Turnbulls a thing.""Well then, I'm relieved."Aesop nodded,
"Good," Titus growled, his eyes narrowing. "In a week, our people stationed across the country can start their hostile takeover as every Turnbull and family executive returns to their base."Turning toward Sif, he said, "You'll be in charge of dealing with Frank. The success of our plans hinges on what happened next week… we'll just have to resort to violence if there's any deviation again."After all, everything was Titus' idea, be it assimilating the Turnbulls or the Jankos. Even if he was less talented than his younger brother Ehud in martial arts, his mind was far more formidable.In fact, there was no chance that anyone could tell that his seething reaction back at Turnbull House was faked. Not even Frank could hope to read just what sinister intentions he harbored."Titus…" Sif frowned at him just then, asking tentatively, "Are you sure you don't want to punish Frank once I capture him? I mean, the things he and Vicky were doing—that's an insult to you. Are you really not u
Frank walked up to greet Ned and thanked him, but he soon received a surprise call from Gavin Lane, Helen Lane's eldest uncle.Gavin was a lot more cordial than Glen, asking politely after Frank answered, "Mr. Lawrence, may I ask how are things progressing with the farm? The financial statement is due in a little over a month. If you're in a bind, I could ask my father to give you an extension—""An extension?! Why do you always have to side with outsiders, Gavin?!" Jade Zahn could be heard snapping from the other end."Shut up. It's boy's talk!" Gavin snapped at her before telling Frank softly, "You can sell the land if push comes to shove. I'm sure my father won't argue as long as we recoup some of the costs."On the other end, Jade was still not letting up. "It's Frank and Helen who were boasting about making money from the farm. Why should we help them—""Jade!" Gavin barked, promptly silencing Jade."Ahem." He then cleared his throat. "Sorry about that, Mr. Lawrence.""It's