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In the quiet study, the only sound was the rustling of Dragufil flipping through official documents.
"Corden~"
Enoc Caven gently set down the tea cup he brought and stood properly beside Dragufil.
"Thank you, Caven."
Dragufil rubbed his temples, and seeing Caven appear, his tense expression eased slightly.
"Feel, don't overtire yourself."
Enoc Caven gently pushed the tea cup closer to Dragufil.
"Mhm, mainly... I'm worried I'll become the second Count Keston."
"Feel, don't worry."
"You have me."
"Caven..."
The two looked at each other.
After a moment, Dragufil sensed something was off, quickly averted his gaze, and changed the subject.
"It's almost noon, he should be here by now."
At noon, the golden sunlight shone on Enoc Caven's face, and just like the evaluation of him, he was a person full of sunshine who made people see hope.
"In fact, he's already here."
Enoc Caven's gaze moved to the door.
The next second, a crisp knock sounded.
"City Lord, Mr. Yulian is here."
Footsteps?
Dragufil was thoughtful.
"Let him in."
"As you command."
The attendant responded and left.
"Then I'll be leaving first too."
"Mhm."
Enoc Caven smiled slightly and left the study right after the attendant.
"City Lord."
Yulian stepped through the wooden door, and a faint scent of ink wafted over him.
Looking intently, Dragufil was currently sitting behind a large desk, drinking light tea.
"Welcome, adventurer."
Dragufil slowly stood up after seeing Yulian, with a genial smile on his face.
A harmonious old man?
No, as a Count of the Kingdom, the City Lord of the Holy Capital, Dragufil was definitely not such a kind middle-aged man!
"Regarding the murderer the City Lord mentioned..."
Yulian refused Dragufil's handshake and directly brought up the important matter.
The matters of the Holy Capital were a whirlpool, and a slight carelessness would cause one to sink into it.
Yulian didn't want to be drawn into this whirlpool by the City Lord, he just wanted to rescue Baron Corist and get out early.
"Murderer?"
"Regarding the murderer, shouldn't Yulian have already caught him?"
"Inviting Mr. Yulian here today is merely to trouble Mr. Yulian to help out and discuss some private matters."
Seeing Yulian's lack of interest, Dragufil wasn't angry, but just spoke indifferently to himself.
"You're too polite to say 'please', City Lord, just give the order if you have something."
Yulian's eyes became alert.
What was it that this powerful and influential middle-aged man in front of him couldn't do?
And he still needed an outsider like himself to help?
"Hehe, Mr. Yulian must be joking."
Dragufil smiled, his hooked nose became prominent, and his words were full of conspiracy.
"You should agree first."
"I'm afraid I cannot obey."
The way to break a conspiracy is often to be sufficiently foolish.
"You!"
Dragufil was furious, took a deep breath, and then asked again with a cold face.
"Are you sure?"
"Could it be that if the City Lord asked me to assassinate His Majesty the King, I would also have to agree?"
Yulian revealed a sly smile.
A gentleman cannot be deceived by pretense.
You gave me face by letting Baron Corist go, I can indeed agree to some things in exchange, but that doesn't mean I have to be controlled by you everywhere.
Bastard, truly cunning!
Dragufil saw through Yulian's trick, but while feeling annoyed, he felt more admiration.
Smart people never breed resentment towards each other, only mutual appreciation.
"Forget it."
Dragufil sighed.
"City Lord, what does this mean?"
Yulian felt a sense of unease.
"It doesn't mean anything."
Dragufil looked dejected.
"I've already arrested Viscount Grund, and it will be announced externally that he is the real murderer."
"You, go."
The last two words "go" from Dragufil seemed to be spoken with great determination, and the moment he said them, he visibly became much more haggard.
Just letting me go like this?
Even if you beat him to death, Yulian wouldn't believe it.
The old guy is probably pretending to be pitiful!
But facing this move, Yulian felt like his fist was hitting a sandbag - helpless.
"Then thank you very much, City Lord!"
"Farewell!"
Yulian looked as if he had heard some great news, with unconcealable "joy" on his face!
Saying that, Yulian walked straight towards the study door.
"Goodbye,"
"No need to close the door, I have another guest coming soon."
Dragufil's hand holding the tea cup paused for a moment, and the next second he was back to acting as if everything was normal, sipping the equally bitter tea in his hand with a faint bitter smile.
One step, two steps, three steps.
Only one step away from stepping out of the study.
"You won."
Yulian returned, the joy on his face completely gone.
He lost, but not to Dragufil, but to himself.
He could have truly just walked out the door, but he couldn't get past himself.
"Mr. Yulian is too polite."
The sweat beads on Dragufil's forehead finally fell, and his face was no longer forced calm and smiling.
"Speak, what is it?"
"Anything that doesn't violate my bottom line is fine."
Kill a few powerful political opponents?
Or steal some important illegal evidence to bring them down?
The only two things Yulian could think of that Dragufil would need him to do were these.
"Protect me until the royal succession ends smoothly."
Dragufil finally put forward his request.
"You are a Count of the Kingdom, the City Lord of the Holy Capital, below one person and above ten thousand, who can touch you, who dares to touch you?"
Yulian was almost driven to laugh in anger, such an absurd request?
He even suspected that the person in front of him was not the cunning City Lord at all, but just a puppet!
But Yulian saw Dragufil's helpless eyes again.
He, it seems, really needs to be protected?
"Are you saying the King wants to make a move against you?"
Yulian frowned, the only one who could threaten Dragufil, who was in such a high position, was the King.
"That old fellow doesn't have the energy to bother with me, what I'm worried about is the First Prince and the Second Prince, and even those great nobles like myself."
When Dragufil mentioned the King, he showed disdain, but when he mentioned the latter, his feeling of exhaustion and powerlessness was clearly palpable.
That's true.
Yulian pondered.
Indeed, only the King could pose a danger to Dragufil, but that King was the new King!
Which one of the powerful and influential wasn't treading on thin ice, fearing falling into a bottomless abyss!
"How long exactly?"
"One year, three years, five years, seven years?"
Despite this, Yulian was still not very willing.
Even though he had almost endless time, it wasn't for doing such boring things.
Especially to repay a favor that wasn't too big or too small.
"No, it won't take that long!"
Seeing Yulian agree, Dragufil's eyes lit up.
"At most a year, as short as three months!"
"That old fellow won't live much longer!"
"Once he dies, I will become someone to be courted, there won't be any danger!"
His speaking speed was rapid, fearing Yulian would go back on his word.
A year?
That's acceptable.
"Deal."
Yulian smiled crookedly, thinking that perhaps he could now do some things he couldn't do before.
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