The Young Master in the Shadows

Chapter 221: Negotiations (2)

“Two extra conditions? I am all ears.” Victor said as he looked at Harvey who desperately wanted the negotiations to be under his control.

“The first condition is that you marry a girl from the Von Geldstadt family.” He said as he watched Victor’s reaction carefully,

“Mmmm… “ Victor frowned and pondered, “Plausible… I don’t mind adding another girl to my collection. But only as a concubine.” Victor said after pausing for a moment. He had to use all the will he had to stop himself from overreacting. This was a chance… A huge freakin’ chance. He didn’t expect to get an opportunity to scam that gem out of their hands this early. He wanted to get her through Gary once he became good friends with him.

Harvey didn’t suspect anything when he noticed Victor’s sparkling eyes. Not realizing that he was making the biggest mistake in his life, He smiled because he had long predicted that Victor, as an elite Von Weise heir, would not refuse a marriage offer.

“I have a girl in mind… I will contact your father to talk about it. We will work out an agreement.” Harvey said with an evil smile,

“No, That’s unnecessary… We already have Gary here!” Victor said cryptically as he looked at Gary, who straightened in his seat and closed his legs, feeling that his chastity was in grave danger. No wonder he felt that Victor was acting weird yesterday. He was not aiming for April, but for him!

“Oh…” Harvey raised an eyebrow.

“I am not gay! And I already have a girl I like.” Gary said firmly. His grandfather was looking at him with very dangerous eyes. He was considering selling him.

“I didn’t mean that,” Victor said with a chuckle. “What I meant is that if I let Master Harvey pick my bride later, I am sure I would end up with a very pretty, yet dangerous spy in my bed,” Victor said, making Harvey smile.

“So?” Harvey asked, not annoyed at all by Victor’s comment because it was 100% right. He wanted to put a girl from his family next to Victor, not only as a spy but also so that in case the Von Weise family was destroyed, she would be able to drag Victor and all his wealth to their side.

“I meant that Gary must be the one who will choose the bride for me… And he will choose her right now, right here, without consulting anyone… And she would be a legitimate girl from Master Harveyʼs descendants….. “ Victor stated his condition rapidly. He had a good idea of who Gary would choose. He didn’t leave him a choice anyway, as Harvey only has 5+1 legitimate granddaughters.

The Von Geldstadt family had a different system from the other families. Every heir can only have one main wife who would give birth to direct heirs. All children from other women would be considered illegitimate no matter how gifted they were and they can only find an heir to work for. This system was designed to avoid internal struggles and keep the power hierarchy.

They had no need to care for the purity of their bloodline, as, unlike the Von Weise, theirs was easily transferable. All their descendants had it to a certain degree of purity.

“Oh… You are making this very hard…” Harvey said as he squinted his eyes, seemingly thinking.

“It has to be…” Victor said, “And I almost forgot, You can’t nominate that slut Charlotte! That b*tch tried to seduce that Dark Chamber agent.” Victor stated as if he could see through Harvey.

“Oh… ” Harvey pondered, “I will agree …. But you will also have to accept Gary’s choice, No matter what, you can’t change it later.” He declared, believing that he read through Victor’s plan. Hopefully, Gary will not fall for it.

“As long as she is pretty!” Victor stated another condition as he licked his lips.

“Oh…Ok then! Gary, nominate one of your cousins to be young Victor’s future concubine…. She must be PRETTY.” He emphasized, causing Gary to curse at both Victor and his grandfather.

No matter what girl he chose he would be in deep trouble because her parents would hate him for causing her to marry a pervert like Victor.

“I…” He hesitated, thinking about the possibilities. He really wanted to nominate Charlotte, to get rid of her, but Victor clearly stated that she was not an option.

If he chose one of his cousins his uncles would definitely kill him… One was married, and another was only 5 years old. The last one was ugly. Too ugly… And she didn’t like men anyway.

That leaves one possibility. His big sister Valerie. She was now an elite disciple of the Heavenly Sect. If she knew he was the one who married her off, she would surely cripple him. Damn it. Victor was aiming for her! Gary opened his eyes wide when he realized that.

But Valery was very important to the family. She can’t be married as a concubine! He knew that better than anyone! She was already secretly engaged to the holy son of the Heavenly sect!

But they can’t reveal that yet…

Gary looked at his grandfather for help. Harvey winked at him… Gary didn’t get it.

Harvey silently cursed as he stepped on his stupid grandson’s foot, nearly breaking it…

“Ah…” Gary finally got it! His grandfather said “Cousins”! So he must have meant that cripple! She was a little young, but marrying Victor might be good for her. This might even save her life by eliminating her from the competition for the next family head position.

“What?” Victor frowned and asked as if he didn’t know what they were conspiring about.

“Ahhh…. How about my younger cousin Elise?” Gary asked his grandfather after some hesitation, making Harvey look at him with contentment. He got it right!

“Yes… No wait …. WHAT? Elise? Not Valerie? I never heard of that girl!” Victor asked with a frown as if this was not the answer he expected,

“She is also my granddaughter, the daughter of my late daughter… Very pretty. She is a little sick though, that’s why you never heard of her.” Harvey said,

“Are you scamming me? What about Valerie?” Victor asked, making Gary smile, thankfully his grandfather warned him, or he would have fallen into Victor’s trap.

“I am telling the truth! Young Master Victor, Gary had already chosen…There is no going back. Now let’s carry on with our deal.” Harvey said coldly, striking the coffee table with his palm.

Victor frowned as if his plan was discovered.

“But….”

“No buts, Valerie is not an option… Her marriage decision is up to her sect, not the family.” Harvey stated, “You must know, your sister Alice is the same.” He added,

“I didn’t know about that.…” Victor hesitated, “Fine then, what is your second condition?.” he said reluctantly after a moment as if he miscalculated.

“You must not tell anyone about the fact that I was cured,” Harvey said with a triumphant smile. Victor was still too young to negotiate with him.

“I never intended to… So we have a deal?” Victor asked,

“Yes, shall I call a contract maker?” Harvey nodded.

“No need,” Victor said, making a golden contract form in front of him out of thin air. It caused both Harvey and Gary to be surprised… This was a high-ranking contracting skill.

After cursing silently, Harvey watched Victor lay the newly minted contract on the table. He wanted to invite his contract maker who might be able to sneak in some evil clauses, But Victor made sure to write the clauses in the contract one by one very clearly… No!.. This bastard!

“Write Elise’s name in the contract,” Harvey demanded, making Victor curse and reluctantly add it.

“Do you have the pill now?” Harvey asked angrily, 

“Sign first!” Victor said,

Harvey reread the contract three times and then signed it with his blood. Victor followed quickly as if he was afraid Harvey would change his mind.

“All good,” Victor said as the contract burned in a gray flame that left a mark on both his and Harveyʼs souls.

“The pill?” Harvey asked,

“You first. A list of the names of the spies and a way to control them.” Victor demanded.

Harvey clapped his hand, making an assistant come in with a thick briefcase.

“All you need is inside,” Harvey said, placing the briefcase on the table. “The spies are being controlled by the servitude contracts in the bag, make sure to keep it safe,” Harvey said,

Victor nodded, then took out a bottle containing a shiny white pill.

“When I cured my grandmother’s poisoning, the bottle I bought happened to have two pills, so I pocketed one.” Victor lied as he gave Harvey the bottle. Such things were rare but happened before, as the description of the store does not always indicate the number of pills.

Harvey quickly took it, and after a quick inspection nodded and stood up.

“Thanks for the opportunity, young master Victor. I hope we will have the chance to do business again… Now, I have other things to do, so I will excuse myself.” He said as he left the room in a hurry.

Victor knew that he was going to inspect the pill using an artifact, then take it.

Victor chuckled then took the briefcase. After a quick look inside, he put it in his ring. He will review it later. It had a lot of papers.

“B… Brother Victor… Do you need anything else from me?” Gary asked nervously.

“Why are you so tense?” Victor asked, “ I just want to do you a favor.” He added as he took a scroll and placed it on the table.

“This is?” Gary asked,

“Awakening Scroll, for April.” He said, making Gary open his eyes wide.

“What! Is this real?” He asked as he checked it…

“100%” Victor stated, “You can make a trusted appraiser check it.”

“What do you want in exchange for it?” Gary asked, trying to appear like his grandfather… He really wanted this thing, the familyʼs awakening method only works on their family members.

He was sure that his father would oppose their marriage, as she was a mortal and an orphan with no family power. But Gary wanted her to be his main wife. If she was a player, that would make things much easier.

“Nothing… Just don’t tell anyone that you got it from me. April saved my life once, this is my way of repaying her” Victor said as he stood up, making Gary surprised. He would have to investigate that.

“Don’t worry about unnecessary things,” Victor said as he adjusted his jacket. “Consider it proof that I really want to be your friend.” He added, making Gary really believe him this time. This thing would cause a war if it were revealed.

“Oh…” Gary sighed,  “Sorry about earlier…I know you wanted Valerie… But my grandfather would never agree.” He said, feeling guilty.

“I don’t mind, you and your grandfather were playing according to my plan anyway,” Victor said as he stepped out of the room, leaving Gary wondering what he meant.

…

“Boss, the target hasnʼt appeared yet!” One man said,

“I know you, idiot.” The boss scolded as he used his binoculars to scout the highway from his hiding place.

“Remember everyone, our main assignment is to kill everyone, that young master and his maids. Especially the youngest one, our employer wants proof of her death.” He said as his men watched a recording on his phone. It was for Victor and the maid-dressed girls entering the auction house.

“But boss… What if that young master had guards?” A smart man asked,

“Our employer had already looked into it. That young master only had two girls. And we have guns anyway, we can easily subdue them.” The boss said in excitement.

“Boss… Can we use the girls a little before killing them, they look too hot.” A fat bald man said, liking his filthy lips

“... We will see…” The boss said. He wanted to taste them too. Especially that loli.

“Boss! I don’t want any girls. Just give me that young master... Look at his handsome face... Look at that ass…. I promise to kill him after I finish.” A skinny man sitting at the back said, forcing a shiver through his colleaguesʼ spines.

“... You can have him.” The boss said, while silently cursing. If this sick pervert was not his wifeʼs cousin he would have killed him long ago… Wait!

“Paul! Didn’t I forbid you from sitting in the back behind the men! “ He yelled, “Go sit in the front now!” He yelled, That bastard had been checking on their asses this entire time!