The Young Master in the Shadows

“Master!” The spy fell on her knees as soon as she entered James Trove III’s office.

“What?” the principal asked, looking up from the thick report on his desk.

“It is Young master Yulian!” she said in e nervous voice.

“What did he do now?” James interrupted. It was rare to see his assistant this flustered.

“He was kidnapped by young lady Lily… She took him off the streets yesterday, they headed to the airport where she fooled our agent by switching planes,” the spy said.

“What?” It took James a moment to comprehend what she told him. “Why would Lily interact with Yulian?” James asked in shock.

“I don’t know. We didn’t get any info or signals regarding that, it came out of the blue!”

“Where did they head to?” he asked. Planes can be easily tracked, even those with camouflage devices.

“The plane landed in a mountainous village in The Great North Ursa Republic!”

“Where is that?” James frowned.

“A small insignificant landlocked country, it is so remote that by the time our agents were able to head there, Lily and Yulian were gone… That place is a very backward rural region, it has no high-tech surveillance devices, so tracking them is almost impossible! We only have two sightings, one from an old woman who traveled with them in a truck and the other from a poor thief who happened to run into them as they were heading to the mountains,” she said. “The poor guy is no longer a full man…”

“And why didn’t you send an emergency search team?” James said. After Lily’s disappearance, the family prepared a protocol just to locate heirs who went off the radar.

“I did, but we lost them… That place is like a maze and Lady Lily is crazy good at hiding her tracks!” the spy confessed. “Once we were following her at first, she seemed to have felt us and is now using every technique in the book to disappear!”

“Shit… Why is this happening now?” James cursed. Lily should not know that Yulian is her brother, so the only logical explanation was that Victor, who didn’t like his sister sleeping with a bum, ordered Lily to take Yulian to some faraway place to slowly torture him and then finish him off. Shit, if these siblings were to kill each other his head would be in danger! “Activate Yullian’s tracker… I will take responsibility…” he said quickly. This device was meant as a last resort as it would technically, directly interfere in Yulian’s destiny.

“This won’t work…” the spy confessed. “We found Yulian’s tooth, the one where we implanted the tracking device, inside the plane. It was as if someone punched it out of his mouth!”

“WHAT? Damn… Call a soul tracker…. I will pay from my own pocket….” James said desperately.

“We already did… He couldn’t find them,” the spy said. She was the type who only reported after she exhausted all the options.

“Shit… Why are you telling me this now then? Do you want me to die of a heart attack?” James, who was losing his mind, cursed again as his face turned white.

“...” she didn't answer.

“Where is that Victor?” he asked.

“He left for the Von Weise Archipelago with his father… they are preparing for some birthday or something, Those in the intelligence department are not sure about the details,” the spy explained. “Alice is there too…”

“SHIT… SHIT… SHIT…”James cursed as he began feeling his neck. This was definitely a ploy by Victor who took the opportunity while his sister was away to kill his brother-in-law!

His only hope now was to pray that Yulian would be able to escape or convince Lily that he was her brother before it was too late!

He read Lily’s file… The girl was a castration maniac!

…

“What was that all about?” Zoe finally asked after they left the village.

“Those bastards!” Victor cursed. “Treating a normal maid as a petting maid! How dare they!” Victor flared.

“I noticed when you sent those letters to your father and brothers you know… “ Zoe added coldly. He sneakily sent her to the restroom so she wouldn’t be able to see what he wrote.

“Oh… It was all the fault of those damn phones not working here… I had to do it with an old pen and paper… I have not been trying to cheat on you or anything,” he confessed.

“WHO SAID ANYTHING ABOUT CHEATING!” Zoe yelled. She was about to lose her mind, why was Victor acting like an idiot? Did they stimulate him so much inside that he decided to retreat to his old trusty pervert cocoon?

“No one said that,” Victor said, “Butt it is really better for you if you didn’t get involved in all this family drama!” He sighed, finally confessing. Zoe with his Scion aura would make things a little unpredictable, and he didn’t like that.

“Do you think I will spoil your stupid plans?” Zoe asked as if she had read his mind. Ever since the moon dungeon, she asked her newly appointed butler to find her the family report concerning Victor. It was a biography of a depraved pervert.
From almost getting ‘killed’ as soon as he reached Vein city, discovering the dungeon, meeting Alex, the incident in the brothel, and the wedding.
On the surface, he was just a depraved rich young man who had just been let out of a cage, but after some contemplating she began to remove the ‘because he is a pervert’ from everything in the report, cross-referencing the news articles about what was happening and combining that with the knowledge she gained from talking to him in the moon dungeons and getting to know the girls in Victor’s mansion she figured out a shocking truth.

Victor was building a network of powers… A large network that spanned many powers and businesses.
She couldn’t find definite proof of her guess, but from the way Victor was acting all the time she was sure of it!

“Ah… No…” he lied. “Well… It is just that you would never want to know what I know… It is very messy…” he sighed, telling the truth this time. “How about you watch a show and decide after it?” he asked.

“What do you mean?” Zoe asked.

Victor didn’t answer but stopped walking and turned around. “You can come out now…” he said coldly, making someone shake a little then walk out from behind one of the mine's large support pillars.

“It is you!” Zoe exclaimed.

“It is the petting maid!” Victor said at the same time. Causing the pretty maid who walked out to almost stumble and fall. She quickly got her wits back together as she approached Victor and Zoe.

NAME: Orma

LEVEL : 0
CLASS: -

ABNORMAL STATUS: SLAVE, F

AUTHORITY: 1

Strength: 12
Agility: 22
Intelligence: 30
Luck: 15
Charm: 13
Order: 10

SKILLS :
Senses Transfer, AAA [ACTIVE]
Flawless Acting, C
Sharp Scenes, F

FATE:
FATE’S POWER: E
DEFINED FATE: NONE

“Please let me be your subordinate! I will do anything!” the maid, Orma, who was still dressed in her torn uniform, said as she fell to her knees, bowing to Victor and Zoe. She seemed quite distressed.

“Why do you want that?” Victor asked with a frown. “Don’t go telling me that you fell for my handsomeness!”

“...” Orma hesitated. “I… I failed my mission… This was my last chance, they will definitely kill me or send me to some shit hole to die,'' she said,

Victor frowned. For someone to have the courage to face elite heirs like this could be one of two things, she was either very desperate or she was scamming them. By using his lie detection skill though, he could tell that she was telling the truth… Until now that is.

“Weren’t you getting petted enough?” Victor asked with a frown, how else would a ‘Petting’ maid fail her job? He looked at Alto for an answer, but the old man was busy checking the mine walls for imperfections, so he didn’t notice.

His mind was working fast though. Begging the heirs to be taken as their followers was technically taboo, so this woman was gambling with her life.

“... I am not a petting maid…” she said in a low voice, seriously wondering how to fool this young master. His thought pattern was something she couldn't comprehend, still, she had a job to accomplish!

“Ah… Right… That other maid did say you are a normal maid… I almost forgot…” Victor nodded. “I don’t need normal maids… You can…”

“THAT’S NOT THE PROBLEM!” Zoe finally yelled, interrupting Victor, “Why would you be killed? What mission are you talking about?” she turned to the maid and asked her.

“I used to be a part of the family’s 34th reconnaissance unit, a week ago I was suddenly transferred here and tasked with a mission in the mines…It was to seduce you Young Master Victor and cause you to fight with Young Master Todd!” Orma said.

“What?” Victor asked in shock.

“At first I thought it was a normal mission, but while I was here two days ago, I accidentally overheard Young master Bill who was at the village talking with someone I don’t know… He was telling him that the true plan was to fool you into getting into a fight with that young man Zack who would be severely injured, forcing you to take his critical mission in his place… They planned to force you deep into the tunnels where they planned to kill you with your brother whom they already sent someone to fool!” she said. “I was destined to die with you!” she added with tears in her eyes.

“WHAT?” Zoe asked, gasping before looking at Victor, was this the plan he hid from her?

“Bill?” Victor muttered hatfully then looked at the maid, the perverted look in his eyes had disappeared. “Are you sure?” he asked.

“YES! I had been intending to tell you before the fight broke out, but I didn’t have to, ” she said, “Young master… Did you slip something in their drinks? They started acting strange as soon as you entered the room?” she asked with admiration in her voice then quickly bowed down. “Ah, sorry… I shouldn’t have asked…. I am sorry…” she said as she bashed her head to the ground.

“Well…Since you already knew it is ok…” Victor hesitated. “I suspected that something was off around them from the beginning. So I used one of my skills to secretly throw an aphrodisiac pill in their wine while they were busy arguing!” he said as he scratched his head proudly. “They deserve this for not saluting me properly when I came in…” he added in a low voice.

Alto, Zoe, Orma, and the man spying on them from afar looked at Victor strangely.
It was clear that he knew nothing, he was just an extra petty maniac who took revenge for the slightest grievances. Destroying a perfectly built plan in the process.

NAME: Logan

LEVEL : 0
CLASS: -

ABNORMAL STATUS: SLAVE, F

AUTHORITY: 1
Strength: 24
Agility: 29
Intelligence: 20
Luck: 12
Charm: 13
Order: 10

SKILLS :
Fireball, D
Dagger Art, E
Hide presence, F

FATE:
FATE’S POWER: E
DEFINED FATE: NONE

Victor had already discovered this guy who had followed them since they left the village. He must be using some talisman to communicate live with his boss and send the news directly.

Was getting rid of him really that important? This was getting too wired.
Victor was very self-aware that in the eyes of the family, he was no more than a cockroach. A very perverted cockroach.

“Ah…” Orma finally nodded. “Young master is amazing!” she said.

“Yes…Yes…” Victor blushed a little as he pondered. “Alto, quickly hurry back to the village and send a letter to alert Mike. Just write CODE PW 371 L 9 on it, nothing else,” Victor said. “DID You remember that?’

“CODE PW371L9!” Alto repeated without asking for the meaning as Orma wanted him to do. She didn't dare to ask by herself as it would be too obvious.

“Good, I will wait for you here!” Victor nodded.

“Ah… Yes, young master… ” Alto said, then quickly ran back to the village.

“Young master… Can you now take me in?” she asked desperately. “They would never dare to touch me if I were your follower! I am willing to do anything! PLEASE!” she begged, accidentally dropping a part of her ripped dress that she had been carefully holding with her hand.

“What do you think?” Victor made sure to take a careful look then turned to Zoe and asked her.

“I think she is very pitiful…”Zoe said, biting her lip. “We should help her!”

“Good, then you take her!” Victor said, sighing.

“WHAT?” both the maid and Zoe asked.

“My family maids quota is nearly full!… And since she was not a Petting maid, I have already lost interest! She doesn’t even Vibrate all that well!” Victor explained. “You, on the other hand, don’t have any maids!” he added.

“Ah…. I…”

“Young Lady!” The maid, who decided to switch to the second target, looked at Zoe desperately.

“Fine, you can stand up!” Zoe after some hesitation said she didn’t have any maid and was a little hesitant to take one lately.

“Yes….” Orma stood up shaking a little making Victor shake his head while muttering something about lousy vibrations.

” … How do I Mark her?” Zoe finally asked Victor.

“Use your token, just place it on the maid's tattoo that is on the back of her neck…” Victor explained.

Zoe nodded, slowly approaching the maid and putting her token on the maid’s neck.

The token shined.

“Finished!” Zoe said, checking her token as Victor’s eyes turned cold then quickly returned to normal. Fooling the family Token meant this went way beyond just a scuffle between heirs. Someone big must be involved!

“Thank you, mistress!” Orma said with a polite smile that only lasted for 3 seconds before her head was crushed by a golem that fell out of the ceiling right on top of her. Cracking her head in one bite!

It seemed to have materialized out of the obsidian above where there was a hole now!

KRYAAAAAAAAA

GOLEM, E
BLACK OBSIDIAN.
[PARTIAL AVATAR] [TARAN THE GREAT, SSS]

STR 59
AGI 45
INT 3

KRRRYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

It howled victorious then shook and turned to look at Victor and Zoe in astonishment.
Wasn’t that human woman alone?

It couldn’t think of anything else, as an Angry Zoe began to battle it... It didn't leave it a chance to move before it was hammered into oblivion in a few minutes. It crumbled into a pile of stones that became the tomb of the dead maid.

Making sure it was dead, Zoe ignored useless Victor who peed his pants and fell to her knees, she looked in shock as the blood seeped through the rubble. There were tears in her eyes.

At least that's what the spy who watched from afar saw, the reality was that Zoe had never even talked all this time she was just watching in shock as from the very beginning Victor dragged her to the side, and made her sit on a foldable chair to watch the show.

That Golem was not something she was expecting, and it really gave her a scare, but Victor, who was the one who killed it, did it in one movement before it could realize what happened.
“Do you still want to engage in family politics?” Victor asked as his body was busy helping her illusionary clone stand up.

“...” Zoe sighed. “She was a spy?” she didn't like the way Orma died, but she didn't comment on that.

“Yes, She was lying about 50% of the time… I really wanted to try and question her more, but she had some sense transferring skill that connected her to someone who is watching from afar…” he explained. Not telling Zoe about the man who was hiding in the shadows. “By how quickly they changed their tactics after Todd’s team failed. I figured It would be too dangerous to play along and decided to kill her naturally,” he added.

“That golem, was it your doing?” she asked in surprise.

“Not really, I noticed the golem’s spirit that was nearby earlier, so I just had to fool it into thinking there was a lonely lost girl here, and it did the rest on its own… No one will think that we know that she was a spy now!”

“I see…” Zoe stood up. And inspected everything around them as her illusionary clone merged with her seamlessly. She was really amazed by Victor's skill. He was fooling the world with ease.

“What did she really want?” Zoe asked.

“I am not sure yet… “ Victor said. “Telling you what I know would depend on what you choose! Do you want to live a blissfully ignorant life as a rich young lady or do you want to get to know the dirty truth?” he asked.

“Will those guys behind this mess leave me be, if I ignore them?” she asked.

“Probably not… But I will protect you!” he said as he gave her back her family token that he used earlier to brand the maid. He could easily fool the token into thinking he was Zoe.

“I am strong enough now!” She said, feeling a little grateful for Victor. “So tell me everything you know!” she said firmly! Since she was young, she didn’t like others protecting her. She was going to be the one doing the protecting!

Akaichi Thanks for the donations!

Enjoy!