色戒无删除版

King Orpheus nodded and dismissed them all. It was no use if they already agreed not to dwell on it but he still needed to warn Acasia to be careful with the Ginehart family. The Hero Association was a valuable resource so he couldn\'t afford to lose it just because the man didn\'t want anything to do with those soldiers.

"President Acasia," one of the servants called out to the man who was about to leave the room, "the king wants a private audience with you."

The association\'s president led to a door on the side of the throne room which led to a private room that the king uses to entertain his guests. Arc couldn\'t help himself from looking at the disappearing back of the man until they were out of the throne room. Ulysses also saw that Acasia was escorted to a private room.

"You don\'t have to worry about that man for now." Ulysses patted the lieutenant\'s shoulder as they walked away.

Even though the duke was sure that nothing would happen for now, they still needed to prepare for the worst-case scenario. Once the king decided to move, their movements would be limited and Rigel\'s identity might be exposed. If that time comes, they need a way out and to wash off their hands from him.

"He might blacken again the name of Young Master Rigel," the lieutenant frowned. He just managed to clear the name of the general and the young master.

"That man won\'t dare. Instead, he would be the one getting reprimanded." Ulysses laughed then grinned at the lieutenant. "Instead of worrying about him, I wanted to know how my children are. Ever since he left Blackwell, I haven\'t seen Rigel."

-

"They are both doing fine and I\'ve heard that they will both return here once the outpost is done." The lieutenant informed the general as he rummaged through the documents that were in his hands.

He just remembered that the general had written a letter for the duke. When he found it, he gave it to the duke. Ulysses was surprised to even receive a letter from his son. It was rare for him to do so, so he suspected that Linius might have something important written in there.

"Thank you and when you return there, come by the manor and get something for the two of them," Ulysses kept the letter in the inside pocket of his black blazer.

"I understand, general." The lieutenant gave the man a salute and left for the opposite direction where he will go and meet the Minister of Personnel to secure the manpower they\'ll need to build the outpost.

Ulysses also returned to the manor where he immediately opened the letter and read what was written inside. After reading the letter\'s contents, he didn\'t know if he should be happy or be glad of what had happened. Rigel had added another deity into his group which he didn\'t know if it was good news or not. He could only sigh and let it be at least his son still informed him of that information.

At the same time, Acasia was sitting calmly inside the private room as he waited for the king to come. He sighed and clenched his fist because of that lieutenant. He thought that he could report to the king about the expedition alone and yet that man appeared. He did not even know that General Linius sent back his lieutenant at the same time as them.

The door to the room opened and the king entered. Acasia stood up and bowed to the king once again. Orphes gestured for him to sit again as he too took the seat in front of the president. He even poured tea for himself without speaking.

After two sips, the king finally looked at the man and talked. "You\'ve been doing some unnecessary things again."

The statement took Acasia by surprise. He didn\'t expect that the king would speak in that kind of tone. He forced himself to smile despite the apprehension he was feeling because of those words.

"Your majesty, I know that you\'ve become suspicious of me, but I have not done anything behind your back." He calmed himself and refuted the king\'s statement.

"I\'ve told you before that you can\'t go against the Gineharts or any of the duchies because you\'ll be ruining our chances of bringing them down." The king was not happy with what he witnessed and if Acasia wasn\'t warned he might do something stupid that would actually ruin his plans.

"I apologize. I was just momentarily blinded by anger that I did those things," Acasia bowed his head once again. If not for the lieutenant provoking him, he would have remained silent.

"If you have any misunderstanding between General Linius, I suggest that you don\'t let it interfere with my plans. I don\'t want it getting ruined just because of one mistake that you might commit in the future." Orpheus placed the cup of tea on the table and looked at the man\'s eyes.

Acasia couldn\'t help but shiver because of how the king was looking at him. He was not glaring and yet he still could feel the pressure coming from it. He gulped and nodded at the king\'s words. Their talk did not last for even an hour before Acasia left.

Glass wares and books from his table started to fly around the room after Acasia returned to the main headquarters of the Hero Association in the capital. He was pissed off because the king thought of him as an imbecile. He was clearly belittling him just because he did not have any magical or physical ability that could save him. He was frustrated because they were all looking at him like he was incompetent.

"What are you planning to do right now sir?" A voice from the shadows asked after the man finally calmed down from throwing things inside study.

"We will still move as planned. Just be wary of the king\'s spies that he sent to watch all of my movements. Let\'s just act like everything is all normal. I won\'t let that person control me forever," Acasia answered as he narrowed his eyes at nothing in particular.

Lieutenant Lisbon remained in the capital for a few more days before he finally got the complete number of people the Minister of Personnel sent. Before they departed for the new territory under the kingdom, Lisbon checked all of their documents to make sure that all of them were legit workers. After everything was finalized and checked, they moved out.

After the long journey they finally reached their destination where the soldiers were waiting for them. The workers were fed and told to rest before they started their work. Lisbon on the other hand was busy informing the general of what happened while he was in the capital.

"He was really cunning. I made the right decision to send you back too but I don\'t think that it would just end like that. I\'ll just prepare myself once we return to the capital." LInius shook his head before he laughed and calmed down in the end.

"Should I let Young Master Rigel know about this?" Lisbon asked. Rigel was involved so he thought that it was also imperative that they inform him of what happened.

"No need. I\'m sure that he already knew what happened. Instead, let\'s focus on the construction of the outpost first and let the people of the capital deal with whatever happens from now." Linius shook his head. There was no need to let the master know because he was sure that he was already informed.

For the next few days, Linius made sure that the workers were doing their jobs properly before he decided that they should return to the capital. He assigned one of his captains to look after them and report to him once every week. He looked at the master and gave him a nod.

"Will you be returning with me?" He asked. It would be best if they return first to the capital because he had a feeling that something happened there.

"Yes," was his simple answer.

Linius couldn\'t help but frown because of how fast the master answered. He narrowed his eyes and looked at the master\'s face to look for any clue that might give him a hint as to what he was thinking but the master\'s face did not even twitch. The general finally gave up and went back to his tent to pack up his things.