The Duke's Passion

685  Someone

"You have to come with me once you're done."

Stefan wiped the corner of his lips, hiding his satisfaction at eating proper food for the longest time. Lilou wasn't picky because she ate anything, but Stefan, who was born and raised as royalty, had a different taste bud. So today's breakfast was actually a treat.

Fabian was undeniably good with house chores and things like this. If only he was a little bit normal.

"No." He arched a brow at Samael's refusal. "Let's talk here."

When Stefan snuck a glance at Lilou, Samael added. "It's fine. There's nothing to hide from anyone since we're all involved."

"Do you always include everyone in your plans? Even the innocents?" Stefan looked up to ponder about it, only to figure out what sort of personality Samael had. He would even use children if he must.

"There's no point in keeping Lilou in the dark so she wouldn't get surprised if someone appeared in front of her to rip her heart out." Samael threw his head back, setting his eyes on Lilou, only to see her eyes go round. She had been oddly quiet, and even when he tried not to argue with Stefan, they couldn't help pressing each other's nerves when an opportunity arose.

"Is it that dangerous?" she blurted out.

"Did that sound dangerous for you?" he asked, warranting a look of dismay from her. "Well, people are targeting us. So, of course, it's dangerous."

Samael chuckled as if he hadn't had a broken heart last night, and picked up the pieces of his heart himself.

"So? What is it?" asked Samael, shifting his eyes back to Stefan. The latter kept quiet for a moment before a shallow breath slipped past his lips.

"Heliot agreed to assist me in my expedition to Spade. The recent movements of the Nightwalkers and the people on the mainland who were affiliated with the Von Stein alarmed him. Although he simply gave me the benefit of the doubt, it's still good news for us," Stefan explained solemnly, recalling his conversation with Heliot the previous night. "But since you brought your friends in here, he will be a little busy cleaning up your mess."

"He should just ask me for help."

"This is the reason he is unconcerned with you." Stefan's eyes glinted as his expression grew icy. "You brought your enemies here, hoping Heliot will ask you for help? Why would he ask for your help when it was your mess to begin with? You're fooling no one, brother."

"You always read on things too much, Stefan. I didn't deal with them because I am in a hurry to go here." Samael shrugged nonchalantly, as that was the truth. "It'll be easy to use darkfield and wipe them out, but we're conserving our energy. Knowing Zero and those damned hypocrites, their tactic is to exhaust us so they can strike and take the credit."

Stefan held his hand in front of him while Fabian took out the used plate in front of him. He glanced at the latter, only to see Fabian's smiling face as if he was just a butler who had nothing to do with this discussion.

"Make sense. Even so, Heliot's defense is he had nothing to do with this…" he sighed the more he thought Heliot was slightly close-minded as ever, who hated things that were going out of order. "The only good news for us is he left a room for negotiation. Once he took down all the rats you let inside Karo, I'm certain he will lead his men and surround this place."

"As I've said, Tilly will deal with him." Samael shrugged once again. "For now, we need to… uh, train Lilou to defend herself, and calm down someone."

Stefan's brows furrowed. "Someone?" he then glanced at the people in this dining hall. Aside from him, Tilly, Fabian, Samael, and Lilou were here with him. He knew Rufus hadn't arrived with Law, but they would be here anytime soon.

Samael wasn't the person who would address his people as merely 'someone.' They all had names, and they all took pride in it.

"Err… well…" Stefan's curiosity significantly increased when his brother scratched his temple as Samael pondered how to explain it to him. "Thing is…"

Samael huffed as he glanced at Fabian and then at Tilly. Fabian busied himself with cleaning the table, only to replace it with sweets. Samael was never fond of it since the only dessert he wanted was his wife. Tilly, on the other hand, was still being Tilly. But it was obvious she was purposely feigning ignorant, leaving the explanation on his shoulder.

"You should just check it yourself." In the end, Samael looked at Stefan helplessly.

"I don't like how that sounds like."

Stefan knew Samael quite well that he was familiar with his brother's shenanigans. And he was right. When Samael and Tilly led him outside, that 'someone' he was talking about was someone Stefan was very familiar with.

"Why… in the world did you bring him here?" he inquired in a dead tone, peeling his eyes from the person tied inside the carriage with his eyes and mouth covered as well.

Tilly and Samael stood beside the carriage, averting their eyes to avoid eye contact with him.

"Why… in the world is Klaus here?" he repeated, but this time, his voice grew colder and firmer.

"It's Tilly and Fabian's idea." Samael sported an innocent face, cocking his head in Tilly's direction. "You can ask her."

"It's Claude's idea," she explained, keeping a straight face only to confess under Stefan's unmoved gaze. "I want to make Claude a little happy. So Fabian invited his dear friend to join us on this adventure."

"This is not how you invite someone and definitely he is not Fabian's friend." Stefan pinched the space between his brows as he set his eyes inside the rented carriage. Klaus seemed to have passed out, but the red lesion on his wrist was enough to hint him he struggled to break free but to no avail.

"Weren't those ropes?" he narrowed his eyes only to hear Tilly's voice almost immediately.

"They're special rope." Tilly proudly peeked inside to see Klaus lying pathetically on the floor of the carriage. "I used a spell so it will be unbreakable."

"Seriously… as if our problem isn't troublesome enough." Again, Stefan pinched the space in between his brows in distress. "Just what are you all thinking? I know planning is never in your vocabulary, Hell, but haven't you learned yet?"

"Come on, Stefan. Claude needs some love from his favorite uncle!"

Stefan shook his head before he paused, as it only dawned on him now. He raised his eyes and then set them at Samael, narrowing them in disbelief.

"Claude?" he asked, catching Tilly's attention. "What do you mean, Claude? Claude is still young in this timeline and I even checked myself. Don't tell me you took that child in here?"