The Young Master in the Shadows

Chapter 297: The Promise

The tavern was the one that had both the worst atmosphere and the best dwarfish mead you could buy in the entirety of the imperial capital.

The only reason it was not popular was that all of the waitresses were middle-aged dwarvish women with large thick beards.

Most of the customers, who lost their way and passed through the obscure alley this place was in, preferred to go and try the tavern next door that had elven maids, but that could not be said for everyone.

Two very suspicious-looking guys were sitting at a bronze-inlaid wooden table between two heaps of empty copper mugs.

The two didn’t look similar at all, One was a scarred middle-aged man with gray short hair wearing a scholar uniform, and the other was a handsome young man with dark black silky hair wearing a custom-made purple imperial knight’s suit that was so disheveled it could have been stuck in pigs butt before he wore it.

“You know Victor… I must confess…hiccup… Although I banged a lot of ladies throughout the years, few are the ones I really liked!” the young man said before drowning another cup of mead in his throat.

“Easy on the drinks, Yulian!” Victor, who was still sipping on his first cup, said. “It is not the end of the world being rejected for once! It happens to all of us,” Victor encouraged his friend.

“Not for me! I'm usually the one rejecting girls, not the other way around!” Yulian banged the sturdy table.

"Then you shouldn't have tried to sneak into her bedroom. And if you wanted to do it, you should have done it right instead of ending up in her maid’s room! That poor maid was more than glad to offer herself to you, but you had to go and refuse, saying that you don’t date ugly girls!”

“That is a fact! And she was a little on the fat side…”

“Regardless! You deserve to get your ass kicked! That princess is from a hidden dragon lineage! Those guys are very picky about their partners and guests… They don’t even meet with people who do not have bloodlines like myself!” Victor explained, “I tried to get an appointment to ask her a few things… But I rudely got rejected by that fat maid!”

“See! I told you she was fat! And yeah you are right… Her family is very snobbish like the entirety of the Dragon race!.“

“Ahm…. I think they are not that bad… Just very conservative…” Victor said awkwardly.

“Yeah right! If I didn’t see her highness the dragon princess flash her butt for my brother to seduce him I would have believed you…” Yulian said sarcastically, interrupting Victor. “It’s a good thing he didn’t like her…”

“He has some sense at least! That girl is not suited for you… And your father had already ordered you to keep a low profile for a few years until ‘that’ accident got forgotten!” Victor said lightly. Yulian’s reputation became the worst in the entire Imperial city after a certain smuggling accident involving purple Lamias. Now, only gold diggers and hillbilly girls, who had no idea what they were going into, sleep with him.

“Yah I know, I know… But that chick is really pretty… And I am really into that purple hair of hers. It is nearly the perfect shade!” Yulian said with dreamy eyes.

“Most of the girls in your harem have purple hair!” Victor criticized.

“How do you know that? Are you spying on my harem?” the drunk Yulian suddenly snapped and asked angrily as he reached out for his sword.

“I was at your weddings… all of them…” Victor said without even flinching. Yulian didn’t have his sword. Victor made sure to give it to the tavern owner before they sat down. It was one of the owner’s conditions for allowing Yulian here after the mess he made the last time. This guy was not good at drinking.

“Oh… That’s right!” Yulian nodded as he sat down again after gesturing to a flirty waitress for a few more cups. “Now… Where were we?”

“Your girls' purple hair…”

“Yeah… Most of them are just dyeing it to my liking… They thought I didn’t know, but I always do! Natural purple hair is a different thing!” Yulian stated. His regeneration skill had already neutralized most of the alcohol, so he quickly drowned another cup that had just arrived.

“Princess Puipui’s hair was a dark shade of pink not purple though…” Victor said. “It just looks purple under certain lights…”

“It is close enough!” Yulian flared again the quilted down and looked around to make sure no one was listening, no was was, the table had an engraved sound isolation array. Dwarven technology.

“Listen… I will tell you a secret!” Yulian said.

“What…” Victor asked without care as he looked at his mug which was still half full. Most of Yulian’s secrets were plain stupid.

“It’s about a crush I had!” Yulian said, “The first girl I had a crush on… Hiccup… She was a trans…”

“You already told me that before… She crushed your heart when she turned into a lesbian after a night with you… What does this have to do with our conversation?” Victor asked dismissively.

“It's not about her, but about the second girl I fell in love with… No… Was it the third or the fourth?”

“And how should I know? You fall in love once or twice every month!” Victor sighed and took a sip from his mug. Too bad he had very low alcohol tolerance after losing his bloodline, and couldn't really enjoy this thing.

“True… Anyway… hiccup… that girl… She was perfect!”

“Why didn’t you grab her then?” Victor asked.

“My mother refused… You know my mother…”

“Yeah, yeah… But when did that ever stop you? You could have gotten her secretly…”

“Impossible… Alice Von Weise was not someone I could get easily back then… My father was not the emperor at that time!”

“...” Victor almost gasped.

“Too bad that sneaky bastard Caspain went ahead and burnt her alive to please the young Light Lord… “

“Aha…” Victor pinched his calf under the table to stay calm. He only had one secret hidden from Yulian, and it was his true identity!

“Serves him well, getting cut into pieces after that… What a waste… I knew she was a pervert, but so what, aren't we all? I should have found a way to convince my mother to accept her…” Yulian said with a sigh, totally oblivious to his drinking partner’s complex emotions.

“...It’s not your fault…. But I do remember seeing her photo somewhere… That girl was really hot. If she was my sister, I would have betrothed her to you…” Victor said after some awkward silence. Yulian would have protected her well. Maybe he was getting drunk, this stuff was strong.

“I know, I know… I would also betroth my sister to you… You are my best friend, you know!”

“Don’t speak too loudly…” Victor said as he ducked his head and looked around in fear, “Do you know how many times I would die if that bitch heard you?”

“My mother would only flog you… And I know she is nasty, but you shouldn’t be calling her a bitch… Only my imperial father can do that… It was one of his first decrees you know…”

“I meant Tulip! Why would I want to marry that arrogant piece of....” Victor held his words and looked around again, making sure that the table’s sound isolation array was functioning well.

“I didn’t mean that arrogant bitch… You just presumed that…” Yulian said, making his friend glare at him. “I meant my other sister… the one we buried together…” he corrected.

“Oh… Sorry…” Victor said with a complex tone.

“It’s ok… I am already reconciled with that… I couldn’t have done anything to help back then…. It was all those traitors' fault!” Yulian said hatefully not noticing Victor’s guilty expression, “But still, it would have been cool if we were brothers-in-law!” he told Victor as he leaned back on his chair and looked up. He could see under the skirts of the waitresses on the second floor from his position… It was hairy.

“I already consider you my brothers…” Victor said with a guilty conscience. Yulian truly saved his life many times.

“I do too…” Yulian said. “If only that stupid book of time worked as promised… I would have returned in time and made things right!” he added.

“You still didn’t figure it out?”

“Nah… It is as good as my father’s biography… Only good for swatting mosquitoes.”

“You promised to take me to have a look at it…” Victor said.

“Yeah… I know, but those bitches from the Fate sect are still drooling over it… It is about time they realized that it is useless…” Yulian said with a drowsy tone before he finally passed out, forcing Victor to foot the bill and then drag his sorry ass back to the imperial palace.

…

Victor woke up abruptly. Looking around he sighed in relief when he noticed Lili who was using him as her pillow and drooling all over his chest.

It was just an old memory from his past life.

Looking at the clock, it was 5.00 Am, and he only got three hours of sleep after placing Lara in her bed, but they were sufficient.

“Lily… I know you are awake,” Victor said, poking the sleepy girl’s cheek. “Get a little sleep, then catch up with me at the hotel after having breakfast with the girls… Make sure to bring Lara, she should wake up by then.”

“Um... Lara is already awake… I heard her walking out with El half an hour ago.” Lily who opened her eyes said.

“Oh… She should be going to do her training!“ he said.

“Probably. Are you going to the hotel to supervise the preparation?” Lily asked.

“Yes, I need to prepare the defense array!” he said then frowned, “Can you let go of me now I need to get dressed?”

“Tell me first about the girl you met yesterday… No, it was the day before…” she said as she sniffed him a little while strengthening her grip.

“Oh… I met a lot of girls… Why are you asking?” he asked.

“There is one strange smell … It is like Yulian’s but stronger….”

“Oh… I just met a girl that I believe might be your sister…” Victor said.

“WHAT?” She sat up immediately and looked her young master in the eye. “What happened?”

“I was scamming someone to ‘borrow’ an artifact. And that girl appeared out of nowhere and started throwing attacks at me while acting arrogantly. I barely escaped.” he sighed, “Thankfully, I managed to hide my identity or I am sure she would have followed me here!”

“Why are you saying that she ‘might’ be my sister?”

“...I will tell you at the right time…” Victor said mysteriously as he escaped from bed.

Lily, who realized he escaped her grasp, puffed her cheeks and threw a punch at a poor pillow making it explode… Why couldn’t her young master be more honest?

…

After getting ready and managing to escape his room in one piece, Victor quickly headed toward Lara’s usual practicing spot where she was swinging her spear with El.

Alex would have been training with them if she was not getting questioned by Nova’s mother, Luliana in a very dim basement at the moment. Regardless…

“Esteemed brother!” Lara exclaimed as soon as she saw Victor.

“Who are you feeling today?” Victor nodded to El, making her relax a bit.

“Amazing!” Lara exclaimed as she held her spear and made her twirl around her then grabbed it in one smooth movement. “I have gotten stronger! Brother… Thank you…” she added with a slight blush. El told her most of what happened yesterday after she lost consciousness.

“Good… “ Victor nodded. Her mysterious bloodline had stopped at 5%. “Carefully explore your potential, and if you feel anything strange feel free to tell me,” he said.

“I will… ah... There is one thing!” she said, making Victor frown.

“What?” he asked.

“I seem to be stumbling a lot today… Could it be that I have not been cured?” she asked nervously.

“Oh… No, you are good… The pill was very effective in curing all your problems, so naturally, you have just gotten a little taller…” Victor said as he relaxed.

“What?”

“It’s nothing major… you will get used to…”

“Ahhhh… The dress will not fit now!” Lara said as she finally realized that she had truly grown taller. No wonder the spear felt a little shorter!

She quickly bowed to her esteemed brother and then ran to her room in distress to check on her dress for the wedding without waiting for Victor to say anything.

“Didn’t you tell her that I already told Hilda to modify her dress?” he asked El.

“You didn’t tell me about that…” El said as she ran after her little mistress.

“No… I did… You were there....” Victor frowned… He perfectly remembers telling Hilda with El before last night. Was she playing dumb? If it was any other day he would have assumed that, but today was not any other day!

He carefully inspected El who was running, but her status didn’t have anything strange.

Weird.

Just to make sure, he ran back to the mansion and headed to the kitchen where Hilda was singing some stupid tone as she prepared a light breakfast for the girls.

“Hilda… Do you remember what I told you yesterday?” He asked as soon as he ran through the door.

“About Lara’s dress? I already fixed it!” she said dismissively, making him sigh in relief.

“Was El there when I told you about it yesterday?” he asked just to make sure.

“Yeah! You told her that Lara had gotten a little taller and asked her to inform her when she woke up … She replied with ‘AFFIRMATIVE’ ” Hilda said, imitating El’s tone. She was in a good mood.

Victor was not. He frowned… He was right, something was wrong with El. This better not be what he was assuming. He quickly inspected his system Log, but there was nothing there.

Was it El alone?... No, This might be only affecting non-players?

“When did Monica go to sleep last night? I remember the girls planning to sleep together…”

“Exactly… She was with the twins in her room gossiping all night! I had to scold them to go to bed after finishing with the dress…” she said, but no one was listening as Victor had already dashed upstairs.

He quickly reached Monica's room then pushed the door and walked inside without knocking.

“KYAAA…. Oh, it is you, young master!” Mina who was standing in her underwear said with a blush. He surprised her.

“Where is Monica?”

“In the bathroom with Mana… Wait a moment…” Mana said as she ran to the side bathroom connected to the bedroom then returned a moment later without even caring to cover herself…She looked good!

“She will be right here…” Mana said as she crossed her hands under her chest, puffing it a little. She was displaying her body to him on purpose. He could tell from her blushing face. Was she trying to seduce him to take her first tonight? Probably. But she was destined to be disappointed.

“You slept here with Monica and Mana last night?”

“Yes… We were discussing some womanly things…” she said with a blush.

“Oh… Did you notice anything strange about Monika this morning?”

“Not …no… Ah… Probably… but it’s nothing…”

“What?”

“It’s Just Monica acting like a klutz and forgetting what we agreed on last night…” she said puffing her cheek. It took them an entire hour to convince her of their planned play last night!

“And that is?”

“... It’s a secret…” she would never tell Victor that... What would he think of them?

“I see…” Victor said as he squinted his eyes, just as Monica walked out of the bath warped in a pink towel followed by Mana who was helping her.

“I am here…Did you want to see me?” Monica said with a blush, then began to hyperventilate as usual when she saw Victor looking at her with an inspecting gaze.

“You…” he said as walked close to her and then began to sniff her before he walked behind her and then pulled her towel to check her butt.

It was so fast that her mind didn’t register what happened until he said “Thankfully it is not that!” and returned the towel to her.

“Kyaa…” She screamed, “Not what? What's wrong?” She asked nervously after putting the towel back on while squeezing her legs together. She was trying hard to convince herself that the liquid dripping on her thigh was just water… normal water…

“A brain-eating worm…” he sighed in relief as he put his hand on her head and brushed her wet hair with his finger, making sure that there was nothing up there. ”You and El have memory gaps since last night… probably after 12… So I thought that you might be infected… Thankfully you are not!” he said, making the girls look at each other with a frown.

“What do you mean memory gaps?” the twins asked. Monica didn’t. She was suffering from a brain meltdown at the moment… It was dripping to the floor. Literally.

“What did you talk with the girls about last night?” Victor asked Monica… She didn’t respond. He had to snap his finger a couple of times in front of her face for her to return to earth.

“Ah… What?

“What did you talk about yesterday with the girls?” he repeated.

“ Talk? Nothing really, we just went to sleep…”

“Are you telling the truth?” Victor asked, putting his hand on her bare shoulder.

“Um…” She nodded as she began to wiggle her butt. She was definitely not lying.

“See!” he told the shocked twins. “Did you feel anything strange yesterday before you slept? Around 12…” he asked.

“No… on the contrary, it was a very peaceful night…”

“Oh…” he said with a frown. He found nothing… that only left one possibility…. No, two to be exact.

He looked at Monica and activated his fate vision paying 10 Order points.

Interesting… Was he technically cuckolding Tom by marrying Monica? Yeah, Definitely!

Regardless, Victor wondered. Would this fate affect the wedding?

He shook his head, deciding to focus on the important things at hand. There were no strange fates.

This leaves one possibility…

He sighed in relief, he could fix this.

“What?” Monica asked as she saw him look at her for a long time.

“Nothing… Get dressed and meet me in the dining room!” he said as he turned around and ran downstairs without an explanation.

“I need to take a quick shower first…” Monica said in a low voice then ran back to the bathroom.