After their brief husband and wife conversation, the couple left their residence and headed toward the patriarch's house.

Halfway to that place, they met Annaliese, who was already waiting for them to join the rest of her family.

"Lothur, that old man from the association came to deliver your things, but he didn't give them to me. Can you believe it?" She said as she walked beside her sister and him.

"Hmm, I already talked to him, so I believe you..."

Before Annaliese could say anything more, Viktoria looked at her and asked. "Are you and Lothur, girlfriend, and boyfriend now, Anna?"

"What?" She immediately turned red with embarrassment, afraid that her sister had discovered everything.

Lothur then quickly said. "That fellow has confused Viktoria and you, Anna..."

"Oh?" She realized that it was not what she was thinking. "About that, sister, I just used a little lie to keep an annoying person away. What's wrong with that?"

Viktoria then said. "You better think of different excuses. The way you and Lothur are close, someone might think something like that is true."

Gulp!

The two swallowed their saliva, while Viktoria had no idea what she was talking about.

"But wouldn't that be interesting? Just imagine you, Anna, and I living together... It would be great fun, dear." Lothur suggested, only to probe how hard it would be for them to convince this woman to accept the whole thing.

Annaliese avoided looking at Lothur after those words as her sister intensely looked at him. "Don't talk nonsense. That would be a taboo... Anyway, let's see my parents right away. The family event is already about to start."

The two nodded in agreement with her while keeping their thoughts in check.

...

As the three entered the patriarch's house, two people dressed in servants' clothing, a man and a woman, stood at the front door of that residence.

The two welcomed the family members who arrived to hear Aiken's words before leaving for the Province Conference's opening ceremony.

But from time to time, when no one passed by them, the two would exchange glances and comment on their plans in low voices.

"So, is everything ready?" The woman asked as she disguised herself so as not to look at her accomplice.

He did the same as he looked at the front of that house, watching the people moving down the street where the patriarch's house was.

The Frost family estate was quite large, similar to condominiums of houses on the place from where Lothur had come. So there was not just one building but many facilities, with even streets wide enough for two carriages to pass side by side.

Some buildings were individual residences, such as the patriarch's, but others were collective or even administrative edifices. In the case of the collective ones, such places were not so different from the academy dormitory, one of which was where Lothur had a room on this estate.

Anyway, that man then answered his accomplice. "Yes. Earlier today, I talked to our friend in this family, and our targets have already been neutralized. So now he and his group will only need a little effort to do the rest of the work."

"Excellent!"

"With these arrangements, this family will have no way of keeping some royal concessions and will lose a lot more of their powers!" She commented in an excited tone but still restrained to avoid attracting attention.

The Province Conference was a competition that distributed benefits in the province. Thus, besides giving opportunities for land exploitation and tax discounts, such an event was also crucial for maintaining old privileges.

A past winner could eventually lose his land, for example, if he could not maintain a good performance.

'When this family comes in last place, they will gain no benefits and lose more of their mining areas, which will lead to them having another crisis on their hands...' The man smiled. 'The economic crisis!'

As the two reviewed their plans in their minds, a tall, thin man with a mustache the same color as his hair and eyes, brown, walked past the two waving at them, smiling.

"Beautiful day today, isn't it?" This well-dressed figure asked them.

"Yes, Master Simon." The two said simultaneously, unable to stop looking at each other.

After that, Tobias, who had had a great love disappointment a few minutes ago, followed behind that man, quickly approaching him.

"Father, is everything ready? Shall we start our project today?" He asked while having a determined look on his face.

Simon Frost, Aiken's uncle, looked at his son, curious about this fellow's sudden interest. But his son already knew about part of his plans, so he replied. "Yes. Just stay calm and get on with your responsibilities. In a short time, we will have our results."

"Great!"

"I can't wait to teach a lesson to that good-for-nothing!" He commented with a murderous glint in his eyes.

But his father laughed and said. "Well, I don't think you'll get the chance ..."

...

While father and son were talking as they entered the entrance hall of the patriarch's house, Lothur and his two women arrived where Aiken and Mabel were.

That was a critical situation for the two, so both tolerated each other's presence, even considering their recent troubles.

Lothur then greeted his father-in-law, taking Mabel aside, while this woman looked seriously at Viktoria.

"It's good that you got here in time, Lothur." Aiken clapped one of his hands on his son-in-law's left shoulder, feeling a little nervous as it was time for him to find out about his family's traitor.

As Lothur exchanged a few words with Aiken, Mabel asked Viktoria, while she had a strange expression on her face due to the smell of her daughter. "Are you ready for the competition? I hope you are not wasting too much time on things you shouldn't..."

Viktoria bitterly laughed and said. "Believe me, mother, I'm better than ever. Although Lothur has his quirks, he does me a lot of good."

'That is to be expected...' Annaliese thought, looking down at the floor.

Mabel felt a little disgusted hearing that, but she knew what Viktoria was talking about.

She did not do much of that with Aiken anymore due to their circumstances, always too busy and tired to think about such things.

Not only that, even though she still had an extra breath for moments like this, her husband hardly thought about it anymore. All he could think about when he lay in his bed at night was lying down and sleeping.

Hence, she had not done anything of the sort for some time.

But still, this woman had her past experiences with Aiken and knew how satisfying well-done sex could be. "I don't doubt it. But try to control yourself. Despite the good moments, there is also a bit of physical exhaustion involved."

"For a warrior like you, that could be the difference between victory and defeat!"

Viktoria nodded to her mother, even though she considered that woman to be wrong, 'What nonsense. I feel much more up for fights after being with Lothur than when I keep myself...'

'Sigh...'

'Mother doesn't know what she's talking about.' Annaliese sighed in silence.

After that, Aiken said. "Come on. Time to talk to the family's core about the conference!"

...

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