Chapter 424 - An Ulterior Motive
In a large Mansion hidden away within thick woods, a man with irises the same color as snow sat gazing at the sky visible from his window.
A smile formed on his lips when he found his beloved etcher flying in his direction.
Tutu, the large golden eagle, flew straight into the bedroom and landed on the man's shoulders.
"You did good, my girl." The bird's master and Yvonne's self-proclaimed best friend, SO smiled at his etcher.
The man who called himself SO was none other than Sevenz Oca, the man who ran Ocular's caravan
The young man glanced at the letter tied to the bird's leg and his face lit up in excitement.
Untying the letter, he smiled while hurrying to read what his friend had sent in reply to his letter.
However, the excitement he had faded when he read what she had sent.
"Condition?" He muttered in a gloomy tone.
He had sent her a letter, informing her about his return to the Capital but she had not even bothered to inquire about his health and his journey.
Instead, all she did was place a condition before him.
"I brought a present for her and she gives a condition in return?" Sevenz pouted like a child while glancing at the little black box placed on the table.
He had acquired this especially for her during his travels but she was not in the least bit curious about it.
However, thinking of the numerous letters they had exchanged in the past, he noticed that this little girl was truly hard to please.
Ever since he had witnessed Prince Draco's attention on her, she had piqued his curiosity.
Therefore, he had sent her the Tanzanite to see how she would react.
This was a test that he had put forth for the girl who had managed to make his old friend, Prince Draco act out of character.
No matter how they behaved with each other, Sevenz always had the Prince's best interest in his heart.
With that thought in mind, for the sake of their camaraderie over the many years that they had known each other, he had to investigate the girl who had attracted his attention.
He had already initiated his plan back when he first followed her and found her to be knowledgeable in the precious stones that they sold.
Therefore, his next step was to send that same stone to her estate and then reveal himself as the sender of the said precious gift.
Considering the high price of the stone, he had been hoping for his etcher to return with a reply from the little girl.
If she was a greedy person then she would try to build a relationship with him based on the fact that he had just sent her a precious stone and treated it as nothing.
However, contrary to his beliefs, his etcher had returned without any reply and had even conveyed to him that his letter was now settled at the bottom of a pond.
This result managed to further heighten his interest in the daughter of the St. Claire family who had taken his gift but had not tried to contact him in any way possible.
Therefore, over the next few weeks, he continued to send his etcher over to her estate.
In every letter he sent, he revealed tiny pieces of information about his identity.
Even after she learned that he was the same man she met in the caravan and that he held a high position in Ocular, she continued to treat him coldly.
Numerous times, Tutu returned empty-handed with no replies from the little girl.
However, that changed when he started informing her about his journeys to various fiefs.
Sevenz had done this on purpose as well to gauge how she would react when he disclosed that he was traveling to the lands where her father, the Earl, did his business.
According to what he had assumed, the little girl would surely ask him for a favor, introducing her father to him in order to build business relationships between their family and Ocular.
Yet once again, his theories were proven wrong when all that little girl asked was about the places he had visited.
Her replies were filled with her curiosity for the foreign lands and the far-off fiefs that she had never seen or heard of before.
As months passed, Sevenz now had the result of the test that he had put forth for the daughter of the St. Claire family.
'She never once asked me for a favor or tried to help her father expand his business through Ocular.' He understood that she was not a bad seed.
His numerous attempts to trick her and make her expose her hidden greed had all been in vain.
Thus, the exchange of letters which had begun with an ulterior motive on his behalf had later turned into his genuine desire to become friends with her.
Her witty retorts to his words, her desire to learn more about the new places he visited, and most importantly, her pure friendship had succeeded in wiping away any doubts that Sevenz had in the past.
'She is a good one.' He declared his verdict then glanced at the letter she had sent today.
The letter he had sent today was a request to meet her and reveal his real identity as Sevenz Oca, Master of Ocular.
She had managed to earn his confidence and thus he had decided to show his true face to her which was a big deal to him.
However, much to his surprise, instead of accepting straight away she had laid out a condition for him.
Since he had already decided that she was not a bad person, he was now ready to find out what her condition to meet him could be.
'Depending on what she asks, I can accept or reject it.' He nodded as promising without knowing her condition would be a foolish thing to do.
Thus, with a new letter tied to her feet, Tutu began her short flight back to the St. Claire's mansion.
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The little girl who received the letter was quick to send another one in reply and within minutes, poor Tutu had to go back and forth numerous times.
Finally, when Yvonne and SO came to a conclusion regarding her condition, Tutu was assigned another task.
_
'I hope my idea works out…' Yvonne bit her lip in anxiety as she watched the bird flying away but this time in a different direction.
Yvonne and Sevenz had now placed an important task onto Tutu's strong wings which she was ready to complete for her master's sake.
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As the sun began to set and the moon had taken its rightful place in the sky, a beautiful bird was seen soaring in the illuminated night sky.
While the other birds had already gone to rest for the night, this bird continued flying following the course that it was instructed to follow.
Tutu, the golden eagle, Sevenz's etcher paused when it came nearer to the end of its long journey.
The bird who had started flying in the early hours of the afternoon had finally reached closer to its destination when it was well into the night.
An estate not far away from her current location was where she had been commanded to deliver a certain package.
However, just as she had come close to the mansion at the center of the estate, she sensed someone moving in her direction at a high speed.
Tutu's senses heightened when she felt the strong aura of the other creature which could only be found in etchers.
Thus, the bird zoomed in the direction that she had been instructed to in order to finish its job here and leave at the earliest.
She had been asked to be discreet and if an attack took place then her mission would have failed.
Therefore, Tutu did not wait to engage in battle with the obviously hostile etcher flying in her direction, instead, she flew in the other direction to get away from it.
While the two birds were flying, one chasing the other, a certain someone was alerted of the intruder that had entered their estate.
A man with bright copper beard with a large and muscular body got off the bed where he had been laying with his wife and tiptoed outside the room.
His feet hurried to the nearby balcony and there he caught sight of the two birds who seemed to be flying straight in his direction.
Though he did not know who the first bird was, he knew the one following it as that was his etcher who had alerted him of this intruder.
As his eyes remained fixed on the night sky, wondering what was going on, the two birds flew right towards the balcony where he stood.
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