[That conniving bastard,] thought Berilia in outrage as the Minister's carriage left his manor. They had spent the whole morning discussing the conditions of purchase of the mine on the outskirts of his County, and his payment ended up dropping from 1,000,000 gold coins to 200,000. It seemed as if the Minister never really had intentions of paying the original amount to begin with and did it solely to bait him out. However, at least the Minister gave him a bit of assurance that his little 'mishaps' would not be revealed during any security meetings that the higher echelons of the kingdom might have. The Count also arranged for the Minister to leave him with a few 'interesting' contacts which could easily make up for the money that he was swindled out of.
[Hmm, but still, I wonder what it is in that mine that he would go so out of his way for,] thought the Count as he pulled out a few documents from underneath his desk.
