Upon hearing her straightforward words, a few lingering doubts instantly vanished from his mind.
It was easy for Luke to understand that his Mother had sent Lina to satisfy his physical needs, but he also realized that it implied how Alicia cleverly avoided putting herself in his direct line of sight.
Clever Milf... Whatever, she isn't going anywhere... First things first...
"Mother's orders?" Luke inquired, his voice a little scrutinizing, carefully observing her facial expressions.
Lina gazed down as she replied in her shy voice, "No, young master! Lina wanted to do it willingly. In truth, Lina volunteered to be chosen as Young Master's maid for this reason alone."
H-huh?
Are you saying you wanted to get fucked in the first place?
Then... Doesn't that make her my personal whore?
Interesting...
The questions Luke asked were reasonable, to say the least. If he did something inappropriate to Lina without her consent, or if Alicia was unaware of it, undoubtedly he would have to deal with a lot of headaches and the aftermath of his actions.
Well, my work got easy...
"What are you waiting for then? Bring the food in front of me, I'm tired of waiting," he said, his voice domineering.
Lina suddenly shuddered and nodded before she brought his dinner on the bed.
"What is it? Some bird?" Luke asked as he saw what food was beneath the cloche.
It was the well-cooked meat of some bird, nearly the size of his fist.
Hearing her Master's question Lina smiled and answered, "Master, it's a meat of a Low-grade Mana beast, called Scazion bird!"
Waiting for a moment, she added, "Fourth Elder specially instructed me to prepare this dinner for Young Master!"
Ho...
Sweet Mother of Heaven...
If I remember correctly, then ingesting the flesh of Mana beasts can help in cultivating Mana quite easily...
Good Mother! Just wait for how I'll spoil you rotten myself...
Without any delay, Luke cut down the meat gracefully with a knife and put it in his mouth using a fork.
As he chewed the meat slowly with his eyes closed, his expression softened more and more, indicating that the food must be quite delicious.
Gulping down the chewed meat he opened his eyes, gazed at Lina and said, "You made this?"
Smiling delightfully Lina meekly nodded her head, "Yes, Young Master!"
Luke heard her, and without saying anything, he savoured another piece of meat, enjoying the unfamiliar delicious flavour as he took his time.
Only after he had swallowed it down did he speak in his usual aloof tone, "Good. Now, go over there and sit on the chair. Let me eat my food in peace."
While at it, he also added, "And, address me as Master, understood?"
Lina gracefully bowed her head as she replied immediately, "Noted, Master!"
Hmm, good... Being called a young master is cringe as fuck...
After that, Luke took his sweet time devouring such tasty food that he never got to enjoy as Dante.
...
In the early Morning,
North Mansion of Bloodloom Clan, First Elder's quarters.
"Bastard! Who told you to poison your cousin? Do you have a shit instead of a brain?" The First Elder, William Bloodloom shouted at a young man, who was kneeling in front of him.
The First Elder had completely white hair and a sickly complexion.
Mainly because he had already exceeded his lifespan limit, and there was no chance for him to cultivate Mana any longer.
He himself didn't know how much time he had left, which only added to his frustration.
On the other hand, the one being shouted at was Arthur, the only grandson of the First Elder.
Since he was only 14, he had a medium build with nothing too eye-catching, except for his crimson eyes.
Due to being an only child and losing his parents at a young age, Arthur was pampered by his grandfather.
However, at this moment, he continued to stare at the ground, unable to bring himself to meet his grandfather's cold eyes, a departure from his usual demeanour.
"And, don't you dare think that I'm unaware of the reason behind this stupidity of yours... Lusting after your own cousins," William paused for a moment, and his gaze turned even colder.
Then, he continued, "Tch! Even a fool would think twice about aiming for someone whom the Second Prince has taken a fancy to himself."
For a second, William even thought of kicking his stupid grandson because of rising anger but in the end, he didn't and added, "You idiot!! What would have happened if I'd not stopped that stupid bitch of yours at the right time."
Arthur suddenly widened his eyes as he said in a meek voice, "Bo-both of them?"
William: But... I only captured one...
Silent, the room turned completely silent.
Aghast, William felt immense horror creeping over his spine. He tried to think of some plans for how to get Arthur out of this nightmare as he didn't care much about himself.
"You stay here! Don't come out... I'll go check the south Mansion myself," William said in a low and fearful voice. Yet, for Arthur, it was nothing but horrifying in a sense.
Arthur nodded as he gulped down a mouthful of saliva.
He gazed at how his grandfather disappeared almost instantly, reassuring himself that nothing would happen to him since he had the support of the Third Star Magician.
Sighing, he thought of something and his face turned disgusting, "Samantha, that bitch... She escaped... Grandpa must have killed Jasmine too... Fuck!!"
...
William's Pov:
Arthur fucked up really bad this time, that bastard!
Why can't he just let me rest in peace for fuck sake!
I'm already close to dying and yet, he still hadn't matured...
How am I going to leave this world in peace when he is behaving like an immature brat all the time?
Crap, I can only hope Luke somehow survived, otherwise I can only exchange my life to save Arthur's...
Sigh...
I arrived at my Nephew's quarters. It was a freakishly huge Mansion, almost twice in size compared to mine.
Nicholas, that brat really did accomplish success... Serving His Majesty directly, even though there are royal guards in the palace.
If he, or Melissa, or that damn witch Serena found out that Arthur had poisoned Luke, then even Patriarch wouldn't be able to save my grandson. Ah, right... There is Alicia too.
Fuck me!!
Immediately I landed on the enormous courtyard outside the Mansion and located Luke's room using my Spiritual energy.
But, just like me, someone else also instantly located my position.
"What a coincidence. I was hoping to meet you today, but it seems like First Elder also has some important matters to discuss, or else why would he grace me with his presence outside my mansion?"
Curse it!