"I invite both of you to come around to our Manor one of these days" Lord Blackwood stated to Kang Seung, "We host many banquets and balls and I'm sure our guests would be thrilled to have the child there."
Kang Seung's eyes lit up, this was exactly the type of invitation he wanted, he pleasantly agreed, "Of course, whenever you send the invitation I and my Grandson will be sure to be there."
"I also have many private parties at my gentleman's club" Lord Blackwood looked at me again with that lecherous gaze of his, "and I know he'll be a huge hit at those."
Kang Seung seemed to be none the wiser to the true intentions behind Lord Blackwood's words, he continued to smile widely and nodded at the offer. But then again, knowing Kang Seung he might have recognised the look and decided to ignore it.
He may have been my grandfather but he was a vindictive man, and I knew he saw his goals as more important than people, that's why we got along so well.
He probably didn't care about the intentions of Lord Blackwood as long as he got what he wanted which was connections.
This thought was further confirmed when Lord Blackwood patted me on the shoulder, his large sweaty hands gently stroked my face in a somewhat inappropriate manner. His wife seemed not to notice and he laughed it off, but I noticed Kang Seung's expression change a bit. He continued to have a superficial smile but there was a strange look in his eyes and his hand had closed into a fist by his side, but he made no move to rebuke Lord Blackwood. He just watched.
He watched just like nuns in the parish... as if he was pretending not to notice anything....
At that moment....I felt....well, disappointed. Unconsciously over the last eight years, I had put Kang Seung on a pedestal in my head forgetting that he was a human a selfish human, like myself and like everyone else.
It didn't make me hate Kang Seung...but I had expected more from him. I had expected him to be a person that didn't need to resort to actions like this for connections.
I looked at Kang Seung, and he probably saw that disappointment in my eyes, I couldn't hide it. That's when he gently pulled me away from Lord Blackwood, "When you send your invitations I'll definitely consider it," he smiled, "Now it has been a long day and I hope the Lord and Lady enjoy the rest of their evening. It is about time that I took Ho to bed."
"Oh of course" Lady Blackwood smiled softly, "Young children shouldn't be staying up so late. I wish you a good evening Sir Seung."
"You as well."
After they had finished with the long goodbyes, Kang Seung carried me backstage. He strolled in the direction of the dressing room while greeting other VIP guests who were lingering around. Once we got to a more secluded stretch of the corridor, he paused.
"That was wrong of me. I won't do that again." He said rather resolutely.
I simply said, "Okay" and that was the end of that conversation.
...
When we got back to the dressing room, Min Ho abruptly muted his mobile device and placed it back into his pocket. Kang Seung noticed this but didn't question it.
He simply said, "Get ready to leave, notify the driver and my secretary. We're going back to the hotel."
Min Ho bowed deeply and didn't hesitate to rush out of the room and execute that order. Although he often told me how he hated Kang Seung and wanted to kill him, in reality, we all knew that they were empty threats. Min Ho deeply feared Seung; he had been his slave in the arena and that fear of him remained.
Once Min Ho left Kang Seung put me on the sofa, he looked at me awkwardly as if he wanted to say something, there was a bit of silence, and then just as he opened his mouth someone knocked on the door.
"Who is is it?!"
"Hello Sir Seung, may I have a word with you. I am from the Romanov family and we have a proposal for you."
"Come in" I could see Seung's eyes light up with curiosity.
The House of Romanov had been the reigning imperial house of Russia from 1613 to 1917.
In my previous world, in 1918 the Bolshevik officials executed the last Tsar of Russia and his direct family. Of the House of Romanov's 65 members, only 47 survived and went into exile abroad. In 1924 Grand Duke Kirill Vladimirovich, the senior surviving male-line descendant of Alexander II of Russia claimed the leadership of the defunct house.
In this world, however, the last Tsar of Russia, Nicholas II, and his family had survived the assassination attempt. In 1918 they fled to Vienna and settled there.
The fate of the family remained the same. They ended up keeping their royal titles, but that was all they had, titles. Even though the restoration of their dynasty was impossible, they remained princes and princesses and preserve the heritage of their kin, but they had no power and authority, they only had a large amount of wealth that was depleting with each generation.
I had heard enough idle gossip to know that they were losing money fast these days due to a string of bad business investments. Perhaps that was why they wanted to talk with Kang Seung.
The door opened and there was a tall man standing there. He had a rather distinguished curled moustache and a rather handsome youthful face. He was wearing a well-fitted Brioni Vanquish II suit.
He smiled at me, and then firmly shook Kang Seung's hand. "It is a pleasure to meet you. I am Alexis, the husband of Grand Duchess Anna the current head of our Romanov house. My Lady extends her greetings, she very much enjoyed young Ho's performance. He truly is quite the child."
Kang Seung's smile became larger and all business, "Thank you, Ho does indeed have a bright future...does your proposal include this bright future?"
Alexis laughed, "You're quick to the point, yes indeed it does. My proposal could make his future even brighter."
"Then take a seat, I am all ears" Seung smiled and gestured for Alexis to sit on the lavish red velvet seats.
Once seated Alexis helped himself to some water. He poured the cold liquid into a crystalline glass and heaped it with ice. He took his time sipping at the drink before he next spoke.
"Being intelligent and so well-connected as you are these days, I'm sure you know of the state of the Romanov household. We have been scammed by business partners and invested in faulty deals over the last few decades that have significantly depleted our wealth. When I married into the Romanov family the situation was slightly better, I was a former Prince of the Prussia family, and since we were in similar circumstances we pooled our wealth together, but that didn't help. We want to restore our wealth and we want to work closely with a good businessman such as yourself."
Kang Seung hummed a bit, I could see the cogs in his mind churning, "And what can you offer my family in return for collaborating with you."
"Sovereignty, status, a title. You're running around the social circles right now in hopes that it will raise your group and yourself to a higher level in society. The Nobles are all aware of your intentions and because you and your grandson are entertaining and unique they're letting you kiss up to them and hang around in their spaces, but they'll never let you in."
"And you're going to give me a way in?"
"Yes."