1
The carriage swayed unsteadily as it made its way towards the villa of the Medin family in the suburbs. It was completely different from the situation when they were heading for the cathedral. At this moment, by Ivan's side was a woman of extraordinary beauty accompanying him.
On the luggage rack on top of the carriage, frames of all sizes were piled up like a mountain. However, those oil paintings that might cause trouble were not among them. They wouldn't be delivered to Ivan until Mr. Hyde had finished making the flawless forgeries. For some reason, Ivan was secretly looking forward to the early completion of those paintings.
Recalling the thrilling scene on the way there, Ivan's state of mind was now quite different. At present, there was neither a life-and-death struggle under numerous crises lying ahead of him, nor assassins lurking in the corners, eyeing him covetously and ready to launch attacks at any time. All he had was this charming and vivacious young lady beside him.
Nevertheless, Ivan's heart was still filled with nervousness and uneasiness. After all, he was no longer an innocent and ignorant child. As for women, the female body, and the affairs between men and women, Ivan hadn't been without curiosity and had once yearned to explore them.
However, when he lived with Aunt Jenny in the past, whenever such thoughts crossed his mind, Ivan always felt that it was a sin, something that he absolutely shouldn't touch, and even felt a bit sorry for Aunt Jenny. Moreover, at that time, Ivan had neither much money nor any leisure time to waste.
During the days when he lived in Southport, he was busy running around every day just to make a living. He had to rush to the shop to work before dawn and didn't return home until very late. The meager wage he earned with great effort every day was barely enough to fill his stomach.
Those peers of his who had already tasted the flavor of romantic affairs at a young age either came from wealthy families, or had designs on the maids at home, or lingered in the red-light districts and thus got to know all about it, or although their families were poor, the boys and girls had played together since childhood, and when they reached puberty, they naturally started the "games" that belonged to adults. But Ivan didn't possess any of these conditions.
However, he had never expected that such a "lucky" thing would happen to him now. What's more, Miss Susanna was so beautiful that Ivan couldn't help feeling excited in addition to being nervous.
"Relax, my student. I have quite a lot of things to teach you. We'll have a long time to get along with each other in the future. There are many interesting things between us that need to be slowly experienced," Miss Susanna said as she gently twisted Ivan's earlobe. Her seductive words, combined with this highly provocative and intimate gesture, made Ivan's whole body tense up and his heartbeat suddenly speed up a lot.
Fortunately, Miss Susanna didn't make any more exciting moves for the time being and let Ivan off for the time being.
The carriage was moving steadily and swiftly towards the villa in the suburbs. Before long, it passed through a barracks, and the villa was already within sight.
This barracks had been newly built. A team of over two hundred soldiers was divided into four groups and stationed respectively on the open fields more than one mile away from the villa. One of the groups of soldiers happened to be guarding the only road leading to the villa.
Ivan looked at those soldiers, who all looked listless and dispirited. He thought to himself that in case something unexpected really happened, these soldiers probably wouldn't be of much use.
After all, Thorsburg was quite different from several other territories of the Kingdom of France. Back then, when King Francis V built Thorsburg, he intended to turn this place into a large rear area that could continuously produce military rations. Thorsburg was located in the deep hinterland of the Kingdom of France. Except for civil unrest, it was basically impossible to encounter warfare. Moreover, the prosperous scene in the south of France had only emerged in the past more than one hundred years. Before that, most of this vast land was a barren and uninhabited wasteland.
For this reason, the private legion of the lord stationed in Thorsburg was usually only responsible for maintaining public order and arresting fugitives in daily life. They wouldn't be of much use in a real war.
The carriage slowly came to a stop in front of the villa. Ivan quickly reached out his hand and helped Miss Susanna get off the carriage in a gentlemanly manner, for this was the basic etiquette that a noble should possess.
After her feet touched the ground and she stood on the flat surface, Ivan truly felt that Miss Susanna was tall and slender. She was actually more than a head taller than him. Her graceful and slender figure was particularly eye-catching.
There were quite a lot of paintings piled up on the carriage. Naturally, it was impossible to ask a lady like Miss Susanna to help carry them. And Ivan couldn't command the maids in the villa either. Helplessly, he had no choice but to play the role of a porter himself. Seeing this, the coachman also came to lend a hand. However, the number of paintings was really large, and it was rather strenuous to carry them.
Just as Ivan was holding a stack of oil paintings in his arms and was about to walk towards his room, there came a sound of footsteps from upstairs. As soon as Ivan heard it, he could tell that it was Miss Betty coming downstairs.
Miss Betty walked downstairs and exchanged a glance with Miss Susanna. Miss Susanna seemed a bit uncomfortable and quickly turned her head away, standing quietly facing the door.
"Ivan, could you come upstairs for a moment? Great-aunt wants to see me," Miss Betty said softly. Just as Ivan was about to put down the oil paintings in his hands, he heard Miss Betty add immediately, "Bring those with you when you come up. Great-aunt has already seen them from the window."
Ivan was quite puzzled in his heart. He really couldn't figure out why Miss Medin, the old maid, wanted to see him and why she was interested in these oil paintings. In his opinion, this old spinster didn't seem like someone who would pay attention to such things.
With a feeling of uneasiness, Ivan carefully held the stack of oil paintings and slowly walked up to the second floor.
As usual, Miss Medin, the old lady, was sitting gracefully on the sofa in the middle of the living room, her eyes looking out of the window as if she were gazing at something in the distance.
"Great-aunt, Ivan is here," Miss Betty said in a low voice as she walked up to the old lady.
"Did you encounter any accidents on your way there?" the old lady asked. Although it was a concerned question, when it came out of her mouth, there was an indescribable and mysterious coldness in it.
"Thank you for your concern. Although there were some accidents on the way, as you can see, I'm fine," Ivan tried his best to make his tone sound relaxed and casual.
"Don't take me for a muddled old woman who knows nothing. Earl Levy was here just now. Although he didn't explicitly mention your affairs, he told me that two people died on the street. One was a coachman, and the other was a merchant. The merchant actually committed suicide with a military heavy crossbow, and before dying, he killed the coachman to silence him. I understand what Earl Levy meant. He hopes that you will try to stay away from here as much as possible in the future so that he can avoid a lot of trouble," the old lady said unhurriedly.
"Mr. Hyde had something to ask me today..." Ivan hurriedly explained.
"You could have asked your Mr. Hyde to come here. I can assure him that no one here will pry into what he said or did," Miss Medin still had that cold tone.
"Okay, I'll tell Mr. Hyde about this," Ivan quickly replied.
"Are the paintings in your hands painted by that scoundrel? Bring them here and let me have a look," the old lady ordered. Ivan was immediately in a dilemma. He was very worried that the old maid would burn these paintings in a fit of anger, but he didn't know how to decline.
"Bring them here," the old lady's tone became stern, carrying an unquestionable authority.
Helplessly, Ivan had no choice but to obediently hand the paintings to the old lady. Seeing this, Miss Betty picked up a pair of gold-rimmed glasses with a thin and narrow frame from the coffee table beside her and handed them to the old lady. The old lady put on the glasses and began to look through the paintings one by one.
Ivan stood aside, his heart in turmoil, constantly on tenterhooks, not knowing when the old lady would fly into a rage and even vent her anger on him. Anyway, he was now playing the role of the son of that "scoundrel". According to common sense, it seemed only natural that the son should pay for the father's debts. At this moment, Ivan really wished he could stay away as far as possible.
However, to his surprise, instead of getting angry, the old lady had a sad look on her face and quietly looked at the paintings without saying a word for a long time.
"Auntie had no choice," Miss Betty gently comforted her beside her.
"That's not necessarily true," said the old lady. For the first time ever, there was no trace of the usual coldness in her voice. "What you said might be able to deceive Blake, but it definitely can't deceive me. I could tell back then that Lisa truly loved that scoundrel. As long as it was something that scoundrel liked, Lisa would surely force herself to like it too. That's the kind of temperament that child had. You should also be able to see that Lisa was quite content with that kind of life and didn't seem to be the least bit aggrieved at all. Oh, don't think that I share the same thoughts as Blake. In my opinion, as long as Lisa felt happy and content, that was enough. It was her freedom and her own choice."
"Great-aunt, I always thought..." Miss Betty hesitated, seeming unsure whether she should say what was on her mind.
"You thought I was an unreasonable, old-fashioned and stubborn old woman, right?" the old lady said directly.
"That's not what I meant. I originally thought that not bringing Young Master Ivan here was your idea and the old master's," Miss Betty quickly explained.
"Yes, it was indeed my idea. However, it wasn't because the child had a bad character that I was unwilling to accept him. I just didn't want that child to get involved in these complicated and tangled troubles. Presumably, Lisa had the same consideration at that time. At least one thing is certain. That scoundrel was much smarter than Blake and the others. He knew what life was all about," Miss Medin sighed slightly, her tone full of sadness.
"Didn't you originally want the Medin family to continue to be in charge of everything in Thorsburg?" Ivan couldn't help but ask. He was filled with curiosity about the old lady's thoughts.
"What's so good about being in charge of everything? For the Medin family, ensuring the continuation of the family bloodline is far more important than sitting on the throne of the lord of Thorsburg. If it were up to me to choose, I'd rather give up the position of the lord in exchange for the continuous inheritance of the Medin family's bloodline," the old lady said slowly.
"Just now, there was another woman who came with you. Was she arranged by Mr. Hyde specifically for you, intending to teach you how to become a scoundrel like the descendants of the Bayndit family from generation to generation?" As the old lady spoke, she resumed her cold demeanor, as if the trace of warmth that had shown just now had never existed.
Ivan didn't know how to answer this question for a moment. He opened his mouth but didn't know what to say.
However, apparently, the old lady didn't expect him to give an answer either. She then continued, "Ivan, do you still remember that you once promised me that I needed a true heir to the lordship?"
Ivan quickly nodded. How could he forget such an important thing?
"I've already made arrangements for this. From now on, Betty will stay by your side. She will become your most capable assistant in firmly grasping Thorsburg. And what you need to do is to make her pregnant. The child of you and her will be the true heir to the lordship of Thorsburg," Miss Medin said expressionlessly.
Hearing this, Ivan was completely stunned. His eyes widened and he stared blankly at Miss Medin, knowing full well that the old lady was definitely not joking. After coming to his senses, Ivan turned his head to look at Miss Betty. To his surprise, there was no look of astonishment on Miss Betty's face, only a slight hint of shyness. It seemed that Miss Betty had known about this for a long time.
"Great-aunt, actually... actually... actually..." Ivan blushed and stammered for a long time but really didn't know how to voice his thoughts.
"I understand what you want to say. There's something I have to tell you. This was originally a secret known only to Betty and me," the old lady said unhurriedly. "Betty is not an orphan without a real identity. She has the blood of the Medin family flowing in her veins."
"Ivan, my biological father is Diego Medin, the eldest son of the old Earl Medin, and my mother was the personal maid who served my father. So, I'm an illegitimate daughter without any title," Miss Betty softly revealed her life story.
Ivan immediately understood what was going on. Miss Betty was just a common case, an unexpected result of a noble young master's momentary indulgence in pleasure, and those young masters often didn't have to take any responsibility for such things.
"Do you understand what I mean now? I need an heir who truly has the blood of the Medin family," the old lady said calmly.
"Do you mean that Miss Betty and I should get married?" Ivan asked cautiously, feeling a bit nervous and not knowing what the old lady was really up to.
"No, you two are not a good match. Betty is six years older than you. Moreover, when the time is right, according to the agreement between me and Mr. Hyde, you'll have to hand over the power in your hands. Betty is the most suitable person to take over. She needs to stay in Thorsburg," Miss Medin explained.
"Ivan, I can't be your wife, but I'll take care of you like a real wife," Miss Betty said with a bit of shyness.
"You can go downstairs now. Take these things with you while you're at it," Miss Medin ordered coldly.