The Assassin's Seven Principles of Manipulation

Chapter 339: Chapter 334 — Human

”Who gives a shit?” Garrick’s eyes remained cold. ”If those cocksuckers have forgotten who the fuck we are, I’d be delighted to remind them.”

Then, as he turned towards Zephyrion, the coldness in his eyes immediately softened. ”But don’t you worry about any of that, my beautiful boy. Your wonderful Uncle Garrick will handle anyone stupid enough to come after you.”

He walked over and placed both hands on Zephyrion’s shoulders.

”I’m not worried.”

Zephyrion shrugged them off. Garrick grinned, and somehow, the complete lack of concern only made his eyes shine with even more pride.

Truth was, Zephyrion had already achieved what he wanted from this meeting: make a strong impression on the dynasty heads.

He wanted them to understand that he wasn’t simply some child they could easily squash, and by withstanding Cassian’s killing intent and refusing to bow his head to Severin, he’d passed that message across quite clearly.

Of course, this also meant he’d earned Severin’s ire, and by extension, that of the Sarakhel Dynasty and the Ferran Church.

But Zephyrion had learned a long time ago that trying to make everyone like you was simply a stupid thing to do. Some people would hate you regardless. It was natural. The important thing was to focus on your goals and make sure whatever enemies you gained along the way were worth gaining.

Besides, Severin was unlikely to ever become his ally in the first place, so this development had cost him practically nothing. In fact...

’I’d say it was a good trade.’

Zephyrion glanced towards Torvak Kharadun, who was watching him with a faint twinkle of interest in his eyes.

”Will you stop slobbering all over the boy so we can get on with business?” Garaxe said. ”Some of us actually have things to do with our lives.”

”Oh, please. It’s not my fault you don’t know how to appreciate greatness when it’s standing right in front of you.” Garrick cleared his throat, then casually glanced around the room before pausing when he noticed the intense look Kastor was giving him.

More specifically, Kastor was staring directly at the arm Garrick had once again draped over Zephyrion’s shoulder.

Garrick’s lips slowly curled into a grin.

Then, without breaking eye contact with Kastor, he began affectionately rubbing Zephyrion’s shoulder.

The air around them immediately grew heavier.

Garrick’s grin only widened.

”What are you doing?”

Eventually, Zephyrion pulled away and gave Garrick a strange look. His uncle merely smiled and shook his head.

”Nothing, nothing. Thought I felt the air getting a little tense there.” Garrick chuckled, then casually moved on as though nothing had happened. ”Anyways! I have wonderful news for you. You remember that tiny little bet involving one thousand high-grade elixirs, right?”

Zephyrion nodded.

”...Well, your brilliant uncle may have made another wager or two.”

Zephyrion frowned. ”The gold coins?”

”No, no, that’s a completely different act of financial genius.” Grinning, Garrick turned towards Cassian.

The king had been staring at Zephyrion with a strangely dazed look on his face, seemingly lost in thought. The moment everyone’s attention shifted towards him, he jolted slightly and cleared his throat.

”Hm? Oh, right. That.” He nodded. ”A bet’s a bet. I’ll show you the Eryndor rune art.”

’The Eryndor rune art?’

Zephyrion’s eyes narrowed. He turned towards his uncle, who was grinning from ear to ear, then towards Garaxe and Kastor, neither of whom seemed the least bit surprised by the revelation. Then, suddenly, something clicked.

’Wait... then they know. Or at least they suspect I can copy rune arts.’

Zephyrion had expected this development eventually, just not in this form. After copying so many high house rune arts during the Proving, it was only natural that they would begin to suspect something.

Still, he’d expected probing questions, spying, or some other attempt to uncover his secret, not for them to literally arrange an opportunity for him to copy a dynasty rune art.

’And if I copy this after seeing it once, there’ll be nothing left to suspect.’

Unlike those of the high houses, the Eryndor rune art was a dynasty art. Its complexity and learning curve couldn’t even be compared. If Zephyrion managed to copy something of that level after seeing it only once, whatever doubts they still had would most likely disappear.

’Doesn’t matter. I’m still doing it.’

There was simply no way he would pass up such a valuable art just to protect a secret they already mostly suspected, especially after witnessing what the art could do himself. For once, Zephyrion was extremely glad Demorian had chosen the perfect time to wake up.

”However...” Cassian continued, his expression turning stern. ”I’m showing it to Zephyrion and Zephyrion alone. The rest of you aren’t seeing a damn thing.”

The three brothers exchanged a glance before nodding, and Zephyrion understood the condition perfectly well.

Allowing a group of Dominion ranks to comfortably observe a dynasty rune art was practically begging for parts of it to be stolen, even if they couldn’t reproduce the entire thing.

”Good. We’ll be back in a moment.”

Cassian casually waved his hand, and in the next moment, darkness swallowed Zephyrion’s vision.

...

Zephyrion opened his eyes to find Cassian’s face barely an inch from his own. He instinctively tried to pull back, only to realize that his entire body was locked in place by an overwhelming force.

”You...” Cassian stared directly into his eyes, his expression filled with a strange mixture of confusion and fascination. ”Just what the hell are you?”

”...You know I can’t move, right?”

”I’ve been thinking about it ever since that fight, and it makes no fucking sense.” Cassian continued as though he hadn’t heard him. ”How the hell is your physique stronger than my Arcturus? How do you move like that? And that last art, what the hell even was that? None of it should be possible for someone your age, but you just keep...” His eyes narrowed as he studied Zephyrion’s face.

”Seriously, what the hell are you?”

The fact that neither Kastor nor Garrick had interfered was most likely because they believed Cassian bore no ill will towards him. Which meant...

’So I’m safe.’

Zephyrion calmly met Cassian’s eyes and answered, ”Human.”