289 A Letter Of Warning
Lucius met with Countess Lita in her personal study alongside with Kiana. She sat with the letter placed on her desk and she had an expression of someone eager to check out its contents.
“Thank you for waiting, mother.” Lucius said as he joined her at the desk. “I’ve heard that there was a letter from father?”
“It’s addressed to you. It seems like my husband is a bit too busy to write to his wife.” Countess Lita said, but she didn’t look at all put out. “I hope that he’ll inform you of what happened to him for the past days.”
“Of course, I’m sure that you are in his thoughts.” Lucius said and quickly took the letter and scanned it as Kiana and the Countess waited.
Once Lucius put down the letter, he had a thoughtful expression on his face.
“What did the Count say?” Kiana asked.
Contrary to expectations, Lita was actually used with the sudden urgency of matters due to their station and knew that something had happened which explained why Gabriel had yet to return.
Asher’s mother was just glad that the Count was finally able to send a letter at last.
“As the reasons why father has been unable to return right away, it is because the king has summoned him to directly inquire into the war.” Lucius said. “And it was addressed to me to warn that others might take this chance to take advantage of us.”
Countess Lita and Kiana’s expression sharpen slightly at those words.
“There’s no doubt that everyone will be informed that the Count’s return is to be delayed.” Kiana said.
“And as much as I would like to avoid it, your father is correct. There’s a high chance that someone will try to do something now.” Countess Lita said. “People were probably unwilling to attempt anything since they believe that your father is nearby, just dealing with Viscount Drew’s territory but this changes things.”
“Shall I increase the patrols of the guards, Madam?” Kiana asked then turned to Lucius. “What do you think we should do, Asher?”
“I’d feel much more comfortable if there was at least a guard with us at all times, in case anyone tries anything but there’s also a chance that they might try other methods.” Countess Lita pursed her lips. “Poisoning, and the like might happen. We have to take measures against that as well.”
All of them remembered the way that Viscount Drew died was through the simple ingesting of what seemed like safe and harmless meals.
Now, Kiana doubted that there’d be someone as intelligent as Asher who’d be able to calculate something like that and do the assignments to ensure the meals combined would produce nasty effects, but it was better to be safe than sorry.
“Asher?” Kiana turned to Lucius who had been quiet all this time.
“Yes?” Lucius raised a brow.
“What do you think of the plans? Should we do something else?” Kiana asked.
“Lieutenant John takes care of the brewery’s security, but I think he’ll be willing to take some time away to guard the Inanis mansion until the Count returns at least.”
“It’s imperative that we take measures to protect ourselves.” Countess Lita repeated. “Your father has warned us to be careful, so it really means that he thinks something might happen.”
“Hmmm, I think it’s all good.” Lucius nodded. “Let us go with whatever you and father do whenever there is a chance for danger. I have faith that our countermeasures will prevent most if not all troubles.”
“Thank you.” Countess Lita smiled.
Truth be told, Lucius was curious about whether anything would happen… and if something came up, it would be much better to capture the perpetrators than anything else.
Of course, Lucius couldn’t say that out loud as both Kiana and the Countess would give him grievances over something like this, as it would endanger the safety of the Inanis Family.
But it was actually a good idea.
The people who wished to harm the Inanis Family proved themselves capable of hiding themselves, like June and the Arkaves mercenary group was mostly untouchable due to their lack of a base.
However, if someone was coming up to them… well, that granted Lucius a lot more opportunity. Of course, Lucius didn’t know when or how they would attack, but it didn’t mean that he couldn’t be prepared.
Or that he couldn’t do things that might allow for the perpetrators to target a certain individual over the other. After his conversation with the Countess and Kiana, Lucius ended up having a separate conversation with Kiana altogether.
As expected, the idea was met with a lot of resistance.
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“That’s a little unnecessary now.” Lucius said. “I’m more open to the idea of having Neta sit outside of my room for example. If anything, you’re better off watching the Countess instead. She needs it more than me.”
Kiana’s expression shifted and she wished that she had something to say, but Asher was actually right. Even in the past, it was Kiana who tended to stay at her aunt’s side when it came to situations like this one.
Since Kiana had a powerful gift, even when it was still Stone Shooter in the past, the Count actually trusted that she’d be able to keep the Countess safe when all else failed.
“Alright… but pleasure make sure that you keep yourself safe, Asher.” Kiana said. “What if you actually had some of the Masked Legion come here and stand guard? That’s how you captured June right?”
“I’ve already thought about that, Kiana.” Lucius said. “No need to worry about me. Everything will go smoothly.”
“Okay, I trust you.” Kiana said. She didn’t need to worry since she knew how powerful even one Lost was, and with all of them, Asher was untouchable.
The next two days soon passed for the Inanis Family without anything happening, but on the third night, something did.