The entire hallway was silent. Jake couldn’t help himself as he enjoyed the look on Nella’s face. She looked so utterly horrified and confused. It was a wonderful contrast to her formerly smug and overly confident demeanor that made it clear she believed no one could touch her and nothing she ever did was wrong.

“Thank you for coming on such short notice,” Jake greeted Viridia with a smile. “I take it your two colleagues are also in the know?”

“They are both bound by a contract with the Order and have absolute confidentiality,” she answered assuredly as she finally addressed what was happening. “Can you explain the situation?”

“You know what?” Jake said with a rather sinister smile as he motioned toward Nella. “I think we will have her explain it. Nella, would you be so kind as to explain what is happening here?”

Nella simply sat frozen as she stared for a few more seconds, not even recognizing Jake had spoken to her. She finally seemed to collect her senses somewhat as she stared at Jake. “You are the Chosen of the Malefic Viper?”

“Now who is the daft one?” Jake asked jokingly as he quickly turned to Viridia. “Oh yeah, that is one of the reasons why this entire situation is as it is. She called me dumb, and I am pretty sure she also called the Malefic Viper a moron at some point?”

“I… you misunderstood, I-“ Nella tried to explain but quickly shut up after getting a stare from Viridia.

“To summarize, she offended the Chosen and potentially the Malefic One?” Viridia asked.

“When you say it like that, it sounds bad, but yes, that Is exactly what she did. The one I killed didn’t really say anything but was just her silent cheerleader,” Jake answered casually. He had to admit, he was probably enjoying this way more than he should, and it was only helped by Meira looking completely fine with everything that was going down. Happy, even.

Viridia simply nodded and asked. “What are your plans with the two remaining visitors?”

“Leave the elf alone; I knocked her out to avoid her seeing any of this. As for our dear scalekin, I shall figure that out promptly, as you quite honestly arrived far faster than I had anticipated. So if you would do me the favor of waiting outside until we are done, it would be great. Afterward, I may need a bit of a clean-up crew,” Jake explained to them.

“As you wish,” Viridia bowed as she and the two enforcers simply teleported into the garden in front of the mansion. This left Nella, Jake, Meira and an unconscious Izil left alive in the hallway. One could ask if it was necessary to call Viridia there, but he decided to do so to make it absolutely clear how much Nella had fucked up. It was pure vanity and, honestly, just the fastest way to convince her he was actually the Chosen.

Nella looked up at Jake and did exactly what he expected her to: beg.

“I… I didn’t know,” Nella said as she fell to the ground and pressed her forehead against the floor. “I beg for your forgiveness and will do anything! Please, my family can compensate you handsomely and… I… I can even become your slave!”

Jake just sighed. “You still don’t get it, do you? I don’t give a shit about you. Never did. The one you need forgiveness from is not me but Meira. She is the one in control here.”

Nella’s eyes darted to Meira instantly, and groveled at her feet. “Meira, I am sorry; I would have never done those things if I knew! I beg you, please, I will do anything you want.”

Meira, what do you want to do? These are your enemies, not mine. True, I did take the initiative with

expose you as the Chosen if she goes free?” Meira asked with

respect your choice… though, no, I will not have her become

muttered as she looked deep in thought before finally asking him. “Lord Thayne, why are you being nice

amount of responsibility for her as she

I decided to be,” Jake answered with a smile. “You don’t need some profound reason for every decision. Sometimes you just go with your gut and see where

teeth as she stammered out. “I… I suffered a lot before I came to serve Lord Thayne. But after coming here, I have been treated so well, and I even did things for myself. I then

you! I just did what everyone would do, and it

Meira said sadly. “I didn’t think I had to hide it, but after you and Utmal found out, you treated me worse than before… why did you need to be cruel? If you had actually been

will never disrespect you again, no matter what!” Nella

Jake. “I have never killed anyone,” she said in her

she had only ever killed mindless beasts, if even that, considering her healer

either…” she muttered as she seemed to finally have made up her mind. “I think we should hand her over to the enforcers and the Hall Master and have them

to hold back a small

Meira, don’t do this. Didn’t you say you considered me a friend? Can you really

instantly knocked her out, with Viridia and the other enforcer appearing a moment later. Jake had naturally let them know that Meira had

you sure you want to leave the last elf be? We will be able to cover this incident up

looked at Meira even if he knew the answer, and she vehemently shook her

her be. It may lead to complications down the line, but it is

We can even make it a scenario leading to severe punishment

at the mention of going after their families,

you are still in the arena of

want their families to suffer because of what they did… they already lost someone, and

I will leave it up to

residence with her token earlier, and I will use that to make up a story by sending messages to relevant parties. How about them bringing back a valuable item to the Order but dying in the process? That way, we will offer slight compensation to their families on account of their deeds. I doubt they will ever raise a ruckus with this approach, and if they do,

token and apparently being able to doctor messages too. Jake had

for your help. Just to let you know, I

if you

and thanks from Meira to Viridia, the Hall Master and two enforcers left, bringing along the unconscious Nella and the corpse of Utmal. They even made all traces of

identity from her. Not because he didn’t want to hide it, but because he

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