13 Suspicious 3 (1/2)
”You do not need to worry, as he will return to normal in 20 minutes, my lord.” Said Lady Isis with a stoic face. ”He dared to tell me that I was not allowed to be somewhere in my own Manor. Even worse, he dared separate me from my darling infant son. Your heir's safety is my chief responsibility as his mother. How could I let him act so unruly? This is obviously challenging your authority, my lord. I will not stand for such an offense to you, from him or any of these elders. Therefore, he must be punished.”
As usual, First Lady Isis used her sweetest voice when she spoke to her husband. The lord had a helpless look. Except for the elders Lady Isis had greeted before, all the surrounding elders grimaced.
...
”You dare attack the affairs elder!? You are growing more rampant and lawless. Do you believe this estate is your playground, my lady? There are rules?”
”Are there?” replied Lady Isis indifferently glancing at this elder.
”How audacious!”
”You should watch your tongue, my lady. You would dare to talk back to your lord husband!?”
”I'm sorry, but are you my lord or husband? Is it your turn to reprimand the Lord's woman?” Lady Isis looked to this elder and said.
”Little miss, you had best mind your position...”
...
”Be silent.” Lord Osiris' voice boomed through the room. ”Isis, the council has decided to test Joseph's capability. Some of them feared you would object to this process, so they asked Ke Si to retrieve Jodye Trill once he awakened. We did not expect that you would come here yourself.”
”Test his capability?” Lady Isis frowned, changing her demeanor to that of a cold and emotionless ice queen, ”House Lord Osiris, with all due respect, my boy is only a one-year-old child. He's basically an infant, barely a toddler. This seems a little inappropriate, no?”
...
”Audacious! Who are you to question your Lord? Your position as the estate's Frozen Night Master does not even qualify you to be so outrageous.”
”She has no respect, my Lord! A woman needs to...ah...sister Charlotte, of course, I was only...nevermind.”
”Hmph, many of us have said these same words as the First Lady. The boy is too young for this assessment. In normal situations, this assessment can only barely be given to three-year-olds, let alone a one-year-old. She is perfectly right to worry,” said one of the five elders closest to the lord, one of two females on the executive board.
”Indeed, we are putting the boy at risk here. Shouldn't we consider this further?”
”Yes, after all, the young lord is ultimately still one of us, a Trilleck at that. He is of superior birth and talent, isn't this something we should be celebrating? All of this fuss seems unnecessary.”
”You saw the terrifying fire produced by this child! Questions must be answered, we are at risk if we remain ignorant! How many families have we had to compensate since yesterday alone?”
...
”The Lady is too sentimental. It is merely a small test.” Said a short and chubby elder in crimson robes. He had small eyes and minor overbite. This was the elder named Blood Fang, one of the representatives of the Fangs Faction of House Trilleck.
”A small test?” Said Lady Isis through gritted teeth. Jodye Trill knew his mother was growing agitated when he felt that protective energy wave cover him once again, as his mother's aura began slowly leaking out. Her voice rose into a low shout, ”What kind of test is that Elder Fang? Source spirit assessment? Do you want him to use a fate gem? Both of these require a tremendous amount of stress on the boy's soul. I will not allow any of you to harm or cripple my child!”
”Hmph,” snorted Elder Blood Fang, ”I admit that your Void Door Realm cultivation base is impressive, but do not think you can swagger as you please with merely this.”
”Void Door? Hmph, you may think what you like you fool. Just know, that at the very least, I can easily kill you.” Said Lady Isis in a tone as cold as ice, before completely restraining her aura. Jodye couldn't help but be impressed as he looked up at his mother. She was fierce enough!
”You..” Elder Fang's face twisted hideously. Little Joe snickered, drawing the rooms attention to himself accidentally. After being bewildered for a couple seconds, Jodye looked up at his mother again, only to find her smiling at him.
”Ma, can we unfreeze Ke Si? He's always so nice to me,” Jodye Trill looked at his mother with pleading eyes, actually giving her a timely way out of this tense moment. Isis gave her son a thumbs up in her mind, as she was just hoping to turn this around.
After all, she actually also wanted to test her son early. However, how could she just let these men do as they want without her consent?
The elders in the room, who but for a few were mostly unfamiliar with this third young master, were quietly surprised. They looked astonished as they stared at the little blue-eyed child. To speak out at this moment was definitely something only a child who couldn't sense the mood would do.
He just wanted to help his friend. Some of the elders were pleased by this.
Lady Isis, who was just in the middle of planning how to deescalate the situation, was also startled by her son's request. She had a feeling that his timing wasn't a coincidence. After all, he had not reacted at all when she attacked Ke Si. If he was anything at that moment, it was only excited. This little boy was becoming more mysterious every day.
”As you wish, my little heartbeat,” Lady Isis eyes remained indifferent as she waved her hand. The serenity ice encasing Ke Si immediately shattered into pink and purple dust, as Ke Si fell to the ground shivering, ”Ke Si, as my son has pleaded for leniency towards you, I will relent. For your own sake, I hope you do not make challenging me a habit.”
As soon as Lady Isis finished speaking, she felt her little son trying to struggle out of her embrace. She released him and used her magic qi to gently place him on his feet.
Jodye then dashed over to Ke Si with his little arms trailing behind. He stopped in front of Ke Si and crossed his small chest in salute.
”Ke Si, I'm sorry we froze you. You tried to bully my mom, but pops says it wasn't your fault, on the count of it was the other old guys that wanted to bully mom. Don't be mad at my mom, okay?” Jodye Trill stared straight into Ke Si eyes. Being penetrated by that gaze made Ke Si feel like this child could see through all lies.
Ke Si straightened himself up, then he knelt on one knee to look Jodye Trill in the face, ”Yes, my little lord, Ke Si knows what to do. Don't you worry.”
”Kay.” Came the boy's voice from a distance. Jodye had immediately turned around and walked away after hearing 'yes, little lord,' leaving Ke Si a bit stunned before he slightly smiled as he stood back up, slowly fading into the shadows.
”Pops.” Said little Jodye Trill after he came and stood next to his mother.
Lord Osiris Trilleck was wearing black and gold clothes and a rare pair of glasses.He had never taken his eyes off his son from the moment Jodye and his mother walked in. Jodye was also acutely aware of this.
This was proof of suspicion.
An indiscernible glint flashed across his eyes, and no one knew what he was thinking. Osiris slowly sat back in his chair and spoke, ”In this hall, you must address this father of yours as Lord of the house. Do you understand me, Joseph Trilleck?”