Chapter 124 (2/2)
Grrrrr.
Rizzly immediately growled at Cordnell, seeing Kunette’s distress. The others also sent looks at Cordnell, silently condemning him for making a child cry. Subdued, Cordnell fizzled back onto the chair like an extinguished ember, venting out his hatred for Isaac.
“Why! What did I do to be involved with him… Why.”
Seeing Cordnell cry to himself was such a common sight that everyone overlooked it. In fact, they felt the same way right now.
In an attempt to break the mood, Isaac loudly clapped to gain their attention.
“Nothing’s going to change if we just cry about it, so let’s fix the most urgent problems.”
There were mountains of problems that had come up alongside Isaac’s rise to lords.h.i.+p, and all of it was the administrative body’s work since Isaac wasn’t obviously going to do it.
But those were problems that could be fixed gradually, not something that needed to be solved immediately.
“Smarta.s.s.”
“Yes.”
“Scheming and plotting is what Directorate of Strategy does best. So come up with a solution for it too.”
Isaac nonchalantly demanded of Soland, but the response came from different people.
“Eeh! Mr. Soland, you were an agent of Strategy?”
“Huk! Even Mr. Soland was part of Central? I always thought you were a local of New Port City?”
The crowd murmured in surprise. Even Rivelia looked at Soland in astonishment. Isaac tilted his head and asked.
“Was this a secret?”
“… Yes. A secret so confidential only those above the rank of Vice-Director could know.”
“I got it, so tell me as an agent of Strategy. What are the possible solutions?”
Did this man know what intelligence confidentiality meant? Soland contemplated how he’s supposed to report this to headquarters, but he quickly sighed, realising that it wouldn’t make a difference.
“The Directorate of Strategy promised Duke Pendleton their utmost support for his mission, even involving those on leave and those who have retired.”
“I can almost taste how p.i.s.sed they are.”
“You have been ruining just about everything for Strategy until now.”
“Since when?”
“For starters, you destroyed Project 401, which was supposed to be my life’s crowning achievement.”
“Hm? Ah, was there something like that? What is this Project 401?”
“There’s nothing you need to know. It’s already been sc.r.a.pped.”
“Playing hard to get huh. So what?”
Soland sighed deeply at Isaac’s mocking tone. Everyone could tell that Soland’s sigh barely contained the anger of the entire Directorate of Strategy.
“Anyhow, The Directorate of Strategy had tried to antic.i.p.ate every course of action you could take, Sir Isaac, and sent it to the Directorate of a.n.a.lysis. All of the proposed courses of actions were rejected as impossible, but they also said that they couldn’t be ignored either.”
“Really? That’s interesting. How did you think I was going to react?”
“We’ve antic.i.p.ated three main courses of action.”
“Three? I see you and Strategy aren’t too shabby yourselves. Makes sense since you make a living on schemes and plotting.”
Soland made an uncomfortable expression as Isaac labeled them as insidious.
“But the Directorate of a.n.a.lysis disregarded all these routes of action as impossible. Anyway. First is possibly the best option that will resolve the issue without causing more trouble. It is to send Lady Rivelia back to Pendleton Family… but I don’t see it happening.”
The moment Soland mentioned Rivelia be sent back, she sent a cold glare at Soland, who immediately continued through his list.
“Second is for you, Sir Isa… No, now that you’re a lord, I’ll call you Lord Isaac. That Lord Isaac swears fealty to the Pendleton Family. Though Duke Pendleton himself will reject it, the Pendleton Family cannot turn you away if you swear loyalty to Lady Rivelia, its successor, as her va.s.sal.”
“As if that’d happen.”
Isaac smirked. What he heard just now didn’t even merit consideration. Soland sighed and hesitated before continuing.
“The final option will resolve the issue completely, but you will become everyone’s common enemy, Lord Isaac.”
“I like the sound of that. What is it?”
Isaac perked up at the sound of becoming public enemy number one. Soland seemed to hesitate even more, but others’ silent glares urged him to continue.
“It is to make the separation of Lord Isaac and Lady Rivelia impossible, such as marriage…”
Even before Soland could declare that this idea itself was outrageous, all sorts of objects were thrown at his direction. Rivelia was a given, who was fuming with absolute outrage. Reisha scolded Soland from the side, listing everything she doesn’t like about the Directorate of Strategy. All of Kunette’s hairs stood up like a cat’s, and she hissed at Soland.
“Are you trying to kill me? Or do you want to see the world burn?”
Isaac mockingly stated his disapproval, to which Soland replied as he rubbed the bridge of his nose, where an object hit him squarely.
“Even I think these were made with the intent of provoking Duke Pendleton.”
“What would Strategy gain from p.i.s.sing off that old man?”
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