After being bombarded with a never ending slew of questions, Oliver had no choice but to raise his hand.
"Wait… I'm going to need some tea for this." The boy was still not fully awake yet. Sadly, coffee's invention had been indefinitely postponed. After a bit of stretching and some drinks, he was finally ready to be interrogated.
"One question at a time please."
"Why does Ethan know about Autumn Hayes?"
"My brother told him."
"Why!?"
"Gold coins." Oliver shrugged as if it were obvious. He was trying to build a genuine friendship with the 2, hence why he didn't charge her. However, his brother was different. At best, they were circumstantial allies, so why not make money off them?
'He bribed him?' Ana did not speak these words, but shock was plastered all over her face.
"Ana, you're naïve." sighed Oliver. "Ethan is not."
"What else does he know?" she asked half fuming.
"Hmm…" the boy thought for a while before shaking his head. "I think it's best you ask my brother about all of this. If you slip him some gold, he'll be much more honest than I can."
Oliver couldn't afford to offend Ethan for a few coins. And, if he gave Ana a bunch of half truths, he'd ruin his relationship with her. In these situations, throwing the burden onto his brother was the go-to move.
"Fine…" muttered Ana. "Where is he?"
"Ohh, don't worry about that." With a smile, Oliver called over a servant. "Tell my brother I have urgent business with him in the dining room. Also, give my food to him."
He then winked at Ana with a look that spelled 'See? No problem.' Before she had time to say anything, the boy casually got up and made his escape. Left alone after a hasty "bye," Ana could only scratch her head at what happened.
"You're my brother's representative now?" said Arthur when he walked in. Since the food was already served, he sat across the table in Oliver's former seat.
"Hmm, not bad." disregarding Ana completely, he began enjoying his soup. Only a cheeky smile gave away his actual thoughts.
"So…" started the girl trying to sound professional. "It was not Oliver who wanted to speak to you, but me."
"I figured as much." answered Arthur without looking up.
"I have some questions for you."
"60 gold."
"What?"
"That's how much Ethan paid me to spill the beans. If you want the same, then pay up."
Unbeknownst to Ana, the 2 brothers met half-way across the hallway. Arthur knew exactly what she was looking for and was barely holding in his laughter.
"40 Gold." she countered. "I already know what happened at the Academy. I was there."
"So, you want me to fill you in on the rest?"
"I want to know exactly what Ethan knows and what he's been up to." concluded Ana while crossing her arms.
"Ok." Her so called opponent caved in right away. Why wouldn't he? He was getting almost the same amount of money for half the info. Of course, Ethan might get mad, but he wouldn't retaliate just for telling Ana what he himself paid for.
'Easy money.' The youth was all smiles. Slowly but surely, he exposed everything, from the time Ethan walked into his room and all the way to the end. He even told her Last Heaven's history, though a shorter version of it.
"And then, he asked for my advice on how to deal with the Wilsons. So, I told him to take out their resources. Their main source of income is their farms, so…"
"Ethan is the one who destroyed the crop towers." Ana frowned deeply.
"Pretty much." Arthur shrugged. "It was either this or kill off the family's servants one by one. Honestly, this plan was much more efficient. Not only did he take out a ton of servants in the process, like close to 50 from what I've heard, but he also killed the Wilsons' formations master. Talk about luck."
"Are you insane!?" Ana stood up in anger. "People are dead! Not the Wilsons, not even nobles, but common people that had nothing to do with any of this. Now, the price of food is through the roof and people will literally starve!"
For a long moment, the 2 friends/comrades eyed each other, one pissed off and the other indifferent. Finally, Arthur wiped his lips with a napkin and answered calmly.
"So?"