'War Legate Draco?' Claude shivered in fear, unable to comprehend why Adrian would be called as such."Are you sure you've recognized the correct person?" he asked skeptically.Adrian's mouth twitched. He helped Lionel up and calmly said, "We're all ordinary people here in Debonaire who’ve been forced to start over. There's no need for you to act this way."Lionel insisted as he was convinced of Adrian's heroic deeds. He firmly held the latter's hands. "You’ll forever be a hero in my eyes!" Adrian felt bewildered.Rozi smiled and said, "I heard that you're a prestigious man yourself, Lionel. We admire and respect you, but I'm really hungry right now. Do you think we can get moving?""She's right, sir. We should get to the Medicis Manor. I'd love to hear more about War Legate Draco's stories,” Claude insisted."Let's go!" Lionel beamed, treating Claude with newfound warmth. "We can have a long chat. I'll make it worth your while."Adrian scratched his nose sheepishly and looked
"He has depression," Lionel stated indifferently, no longer wanting to even glance at Diavolo. "Just look at the state he's in. I would've rammed myself against a wall and killed myself if I were him.""Haha!" Claude laughed. "It is indeed rare to find a person with depression in this day and age. Even I myself have never come across such a case." "Excellent. You can conduct your research on him. I'll guide you, and old fart, I guarantee you'll be completely cured."Diavolo refused. "I'm not ill, just a bit troubled. I came out for some fresh air, and I'm not going to let you use me to make yourselves famous.""Whatever!" Lionel grabbed Claude's hand and dismissively said, "Let's leave him be since he doesn't want our help."Claude, intrigued but confused, recognized Diavolo's voice but could not recall where he had heard it before. "Am I suffering from memory loss at such a young age?" "Don't think about it then. Come on. Let's walk faster and hope that we get rid of him along
Rozi suddenly realized that the old man in front of her was not Diavolo, but the leader of Ivory Cloud. She thanked her lucky stars for being rude to him earlier. The man who had cat-called Marissa promptly knelt beside Kyril. His face went pale as he said, "We were only joking, sir.""You rascals!" Diavolo almost fainted from anger. He had intended to hide his identity, but all of that was over now. "How in the world did I even become your father's friend?"The man panicked. "I'm sorry, sir! My father will die from a heart attack if he knows what I've done!""Forget it, and get out of my sight. I'll pretend I've never seen any of you." Diavolo waved at them, looking unhappy.As Kyril and the other man backed off, they respectfully said to Adrian, "We’re sorry!" Diavolo added, "How's your father's condition by the way? Why hasn't he hired a doctor to take a look at him yet?""He has," the man replied, "He was badly injured, and it took us too long to get him treated, so the do
Diavolo seemed a lot more mature when he was drunk, but would revert to being a naive old fool when he sobered up."I have no clue,” Adrian answered.Rozi was startled, thinking Adrian's reply was really strange. However, she noticed someone was walking their way and realized that was not the time to discuss such matters.Instead, she smiled at the middle-aged man and asked, "Excuse me, may I ask where Arlo Archer's house is?""Who's asking?" the middle-aged man holding a hoe asked.Rozi was stumped, but it was Marissa who smiled and said, "I'm a friend of Winston’s. We heard that his father's not feeling well and have come to visit him.""You're lying. Winston would never befriend lowlives like you lot," the middle-aged man retorted as he sized up the trio.Marissa was instantly rendered speechless. She looked to Adrian, hoping he would be able to try something.Adrian merely smiled and asked, "Arlo, I presume?”"That's right. Why are you all here?"Maintaining his kind tone
‘He's not that hopeless after all.’ Adrian felt a surge of joy, appreciating the change in attitude. He was about to help the man up when Diavolo suddenly intervened, "Let him kneel for a while."Adrian was now in an awkward situation. It turns out Arlo was not on his knees because of Adrian, but because of Diavolo. Seeing this, he quickly stepped back, feeling displeased.Diavolo then took Adrian's hand and said, "You truly are my lucky charm, Adrian. You've helped me see the true colors of the deceitful people around me."Adrian was utterly frustrated. Diavolo, always appearing naive and foolish in front of him, was now handling the situation with such cunningness."We're hungry, so we'll be leaving now. You two go ahead and take all the time you need," Adrian said. Arlo looked up. "Please come to my place. We'll drink till the next morning’s sun.""I like the sound of that. It's been a while since I had a drink of your brew." Diavolo smiled happily, seeming to have forgotte
Diavolo hooked his arm around Adrian's shoulder as they walked together. This made them seem very close, and it made Adrian suspicious. 'Something's definitely going on here,' he thought.The moment they entered Arlo's home, all of the maids were sent away, while the door was shut tight. Ophelia Puck, Arlo's wife, was the only one left to serve them.Arlo bowed deeply. "Adrian, I'm truly sorry for earlier. I didn’t want to hide any of this from you, but I had no other choice."Adrian stepped aside. Although they seemed of similar age, he was actually younger and felt it was inappropriate to accept such a bow."What’s going on here?" Adrian asked.Diavolo sighed. "Sylvas is being a tyrant at the moment. Many of my men in Ivory Cloud are now under his control, and I'm almost sidelined.""That's none of my business," Adrian retorted, "You two could have joined forces and driven him away, so why put on this charade?"Arlo quickly explained, "Originally, Ivory Cloud had four elders,
Adrian rolled his eyes. "I'm not part of Ivory Cloud. If I help you against him, it’ll only cause dissatisfaction among the other factions and destabilize Ivory Cloud's position.""Right." Diavolo inhaled deeply, agreeing with Adrian's rationale. "Sylvas is too cunning, and his wife is the daughter of Greenhurst's elder."Arlo fell silent. He had thought Adrian, being of lower status due to his skin color, could be easily used as a pawn and then disposed of after achieving their goals. But Adrian was not falling for it, and Arlo understood he could not afford to make an enemy out of Adrian. Even if they could not be friends, he needed Adrian to have nothing to do with their lives.Diavolo, sipping on his wine, said through clenched teeth, "Let's buy them off then. I refuse to believe that they won't listen to me." He looked at the thousand chrystals on the table and said, "Adrian, I'm currently spread a little thin. Consider this my investment in you. You can have Sylvas' place af
"What’s up with Dieter?""He's poor," Adrian said.Dieter was the leader of Ivory Clouds. If he was going to the kitchen personally, it implied he did not have the money to hire a helper."You should strongly support him to lead a better life,” Adrian added.Arlo's eyes gleamed. "Adrian, not everyone can enter Medicis Manor. How did you become acquainted with someone here?""I just met the person," Adrian said, "You can't really call it friendship."Arlo was a little disappointed. Claude was the most formidable person in Debonaire, and nobody dared to offend him. Even if he was a scammer, everyone had to show him respect."You're lucky that you've become acquainted with such a powerful person. You'll have a good life ahead, and don't forget me when that happens,” Arlo said.It went without saying that Adrian would not forget him. However, there was one thing he did not understand. Claude was someone of high status while he himself was just a nobody. He did not even compare to L