Chapter 148: Seventeenth Episode: Chapter 3 (2/2)
”Must you know? Right now?”
Oscar flipped the lady's face to him and felt the powers of the innocent looks from her eyes. He finally felt surges of desire toward the woman beside him, and the desires overwhelmed him like waves as vicious as the mighty ocean! Yet, Oscar had never seen an ocean, he could only picture his desires like lightning strikes.
”Oh heavens! Hurry up and tell me! I won't hurt you, but I think I can't hold it for long!”
Elizabeth Kate hugged the covers and smiled, she did not know why but she smiled. The man might have tried really hard to feign his indifference but still failed in the end! He was no different with all those hypocrites, but the woman seemed to like him a little. As usual, her grin shone with her flushed cheeks.
”Kill someone!”
”Who?”
Oscar inquired without hesitation! His hand had already traced her body lines and was moving up to a smooth, soft and large mound of a breast. He noticed the woman responding with a slight jump of her eyebrows.
”A person whom only you can, and dare to kill!”
With a turn of his body, Oscar trapped the woman under him and gripped her waist tight. The woman seemed to be affected by his burning stick and struggled lightly whereas the man kept on massaging her hips. His Highness the Prince cursed internally, damn it! This pajamas of mine were getting is my way!
The desires can no longer be restrained. Elizabeth Kate's body was just like opium, or fire oil; all that was left was to ignite her fire.
”Quick! Hurry up and tell me the person's name!” Oscar pressed his whole weight onto the woman's body. He was just like an impatient customer, erratically discarding his pants under the irresistible charms of a prostitute.
”Not just one! But everyone with the surname of Manzonola!”
Oscar cleared his mind. He had heard of the name of Manzonola.
”Your appetite is so big!” the Prince stared closely at the woman under him.
Elizabeth extended her hand and started caressing the man's burning stick. Although this was her first time being naked with a man, she had witnessed the male organ when she was fifteen. In the beginning, she had only thought of it as ugly, soft and grown with scary senile plaques and dark hair. However, she was starting to develop feelings for the man including his weapon, young and strong! To be holding it in her hands made her feel as if she was an almighty helmsman in control of the paddle, and off she sailed along the mysterious and exciting waters!
The woman cried as if a cat had its tail had been stepped on while Oscar was drenched in sweat, his saliva dripping onto her chest. He did not understand how the woman with such wide hips could have such a small opening.
Scream woman, scream! Cry it all out! Oscar thought to himself. He adjusted his position and placed his lips close to her ears. While pushing forward, he said to her,
”Those Manzonola people are dead… I don't know why… But… they're dead for sure!”
Elizabeth Kate was in great pain! It was as if she was penetrated by a scorching hot iron rod! She screamed loudly and bit the man with all her might, but she was still obedient and excited! She had waited for this day since ages! To further instill the promise made by the man, she started accommodating to him more fiercely. She wanted to let him know that Elizabeth Kate was now all his! She desired to surrender her virginity to the man whom she just met, and not the disgusting old fart!
The joys brought by the betrayal delighted Elizabeth even more! She was now a complete woman! She might just be a pretty toy in the eyes of Prince Oscar, but at the very least the young man could bless her with temporary oblivion, and make her stretch open her legs like the lowest whore, crying ”Ha… ha… ha!”
That night, Elizabeth Kate cried ”ha” non-stop, not minding the slightest that the man had moved her into all sorts of shameful positions: up, down, front, left, right and lastly entering her from the back. The man seemed to have infinite energy until the chirping melodies of birds were heard, and until her mind went blank after his most powerful release.
The sun shone on Vielonna, showering the Serevan Palace with shades of gold. The statue of the first Emperor of the Morisette's ruling stood proudly in the center of the town square with the emperor donned in his armors, riding his horse with a long trident in his hands. The unfamiliar people would have mistaken him as the Sea Emperor of the myths.
To the right of the palace, Broken Dream Avenue had been bustling since the morning. Not even the lazy sun could stop the hustling people and the gold rush. With a myth-like exterior, marble staircases and thirteen pillars, the Vielonna Trading Hall sat on the end of the avenue.
Among the bustling streets and never-ending trades, the Vielonna Trading Hall earned its name as the Titan Empire's resource distribution and trading center. The infamous black wall of the trading hall could only be described with the name ”Broken Dream”, of which its origin could be explained fairly easily. While the trading hall brought success to countless wealthy businessmen, the line of people who had lost everything in front of the black stone wall could queue up to Dulin.
Up the stairs and into the entrance, you would enter the trading hall and find busy crowds and the infamous wall right before your eyes. Upon the commencement of operations on seven o'clock, the trading hall would be filled with bustling people and the shouts of traders and hustlers outside the wall.
Trading in the hall was easy, the name ”Broken Dream' encompassed all the elements. The marble wall was carved with the names of various objects ranging from nail clippers to ships. Behind every name would be a piece of wood with the corresponding immediate price written on it. Although there were goods with constant prices in the Titan Empire, for instance, gold, the prices had begun to fluctuate on the international stage as the Westland's economy boomed.
It was the same principle! Every item had its own immediate price and the traders milked their profits by locking down the difference between the immediate price and purchase cost. These differences were not small numbers as the Vielonna Trading Hall only accepted trades above the one thousand Golden Ti threshold! Whenever there were changes in prices, there would always be a commotion. They would stare at the new labels in anticipation and calculate if they were entitled to a profit or loss with their possessions.
”Label change for wheat!” a trader peeked from the main counter behind the wall. Then, another trader at the front positioned the movable ladder, ascended and took off the price label of wheat from the wood.
”29 Ti Coins and 6 Copper Coins per thousand grams!”
Upon receiving the new information, the trader quickly wrote down the price on the wood with a chalk.
At that moment, the crowd started cheering, wheat is rising! Flour will rise too! And eventually, the prices of all livelihood items would be on the rise.
”29 Ti Coins and 6 Copper Coins! Five thousand kilograms of wheat, buyer 13299!”
The trader at the main counter found the buyer among the crowd and proceeded to shout with a raised voice at the cash desk,
”29 Ti Coins and 6 Copper Coins! 13299 had bought 5000 kilograms of wheat!”
The cashier at the cash desk recorded the trade accurately and handed the receipt to the opposite banker. The banker received the receipt, found the account numbered 13299 from the stack, and proceeded to record the trade in the said account. In the end, the bank's cashier would calculate the account's profit or loss during the closing.
Georgio Verones was a regular customer of the trading hall. People called him Master Geo, meaning that he was a Noble, also the son of Count Verones. Count Verones had a town in Burton Province which was named after his surname. If the Count was willing, he could transform the small town to fortress with a gigantic castle because he had a good son! According to some of the elder businessmen, Master Geo, who possessed extraordinary skills in business affairs and fraud identification, would be the future director of the trading hall.
Georgio was the owner of the account numbered 13299. He knew that in the next day or the day after, the price of wheat would still be on the rise, but there was no saying what would happen after that! The commotions in the South had distorted the prices of many goods from their real value. The crazy trades would come to a stop eventually, but the key lay in how the Prince from the Capital would stabilize the scenes. Without a clear reason, Georgio himself was confident in this O'Neil Andrew Morisette whom he had never met.
The young Master directed his line of sight to the hall entrance which had quieted down. If there was anyone who could silence the rowdy hall, that person would definitely be one of the financial powerhouses.
Hehe! Georgio's guess was right on target. The person was RuPaul Roy, a jerk who made a fortune by reselling spices. Although the guy was a hunch-back bastard, Georgio still bowed when RuPaul Roy walked past him.
The spices merchant waved the young Noble away. He looked to be in a rush and did not even spare a glance.
”Hmph! Damn that guy!” Georgio stared hard at the merchant's back and cursed lowly. He could not help but wonder why even the Nobles had to treat businessmen with respect.
RuPaul Roy was really like a dog. He might be old and ugly, but his mind and sense of smell had always remained alert! Other than that, he was a loyal dog to the Manzonola family and understood each and every meaning of his owner's look. However, now he was beginning to doubt his understanding of his owner. From what he could recall, there Director of Vielonna Trading Hall had yet to show any expressions of a man who had lost his son.
Irut Manzonola and his twin brother Hubel Manzonola looked like they had just encountered ghosts. The elder brother sat on the sofa made of leopard leather while the younger brother Hubel stood by his side. Although the two old folks resembled each other, neither one would admit their mistake.
”What happened? You wanted to see me in such a hurry!” RuPaul Roy bowed deeply at the old man on the sofa.
”You're here! Have a seat!” Irut hit his cane against the floor, donned in a golden robe and gestured at the seat opposite him.
”What's wrong? Did you not sleep last night?” RuPaul Roy noticed that old man's dark eye circles.
As the Directors of Vielonna Trading Hall, the Manzonola brothers had long stopped calculating their wealth with numbers, they had been calling the coin 'that thing' and the trading hall 'that palace'. And without doubt, they are the kings of that palace.
”Have you seen my cat? She's gone! For the whole day and night!” old Irut hit his cane on the floor again and seemed to enjoy the sound.
”Your cat?” RuPaul Roy was bewildered. However, he noticed that the Director used the pronoun of 'she', ”Are you talking about Miss Elizabeth? Did she disappear? How could this be!”
Old Irut nodded in agreement, ”That's right! How could this happen!”
RuPaul Roy did not dare to answer, nor could he. The people of higher status in Vielonna all knew the identity of old Irut's cat, and it was also the reason why the famed Elizabeth Kate had not married into any one of wealthy families even to this date. The woman was old Irut's pet and no one was allowed to touch her.
”Did you try to find her?”
”It's impossible!” the younger brother spoke, ”We've searched around for the whole day and night! Vielonna was neither big nor small and we've searched all over it. But there's one place left!”
”Where?” RuPaul Roy was puzzled, was there anywhere in Vielonna which the Manzonola brothers did not dare to lay their touch on?
”Serevan Palace!”
The younger brother said the name with caution. It was only then that he realized that Serevan Palace was the true palace, sacred and unreachable!
”Oh…” realization dawned on RuPaul Roy, it was no wonder that the director had been asking to see him with such urgency. He and the Manager of Serevan Palace were old friends.
”But… will Miss Elizabeth be there? I remember clearly that there wasn't any singer invited to the ball.”
The younger Manzonola seemed as if he had more to say, but his brother knocked his cane again.
”She's there! She must be there!” the old man's eyes were overflown with rage. He had lost his dear pet cat and it was possible for his cat to be on the bed of others, meowing!
”Are you sure?” RuPaul Roy asked with widened eyes.
Old Irut's cane trembled, ”These few days, the Court Manager had been contacting those fallen Noble families, he had been looking for women for the little master of Dulin.”
”I'm aware! A few days ago, a Noble family requested me to recommend their daughter to the Court Manager as well.” RuPaul Roy nodded. ”But does this concern Miss Elizabeth?”
”Of course! I've only realized it after I found out that something went missing with her!” old Irut's gaze was fixed on the patterns on the leopard leather sofa.
”What… what is it?” RuPaul Roy, being a sharp loyal dog, felt ominous.
”Our account book!” the younger brother sighed. He and his brother completed each other's sentences.
”Account book?” RuPaul Roy jumped from his seat in shock like a mad hunting dog. He wanted to ask if it was one with all the dirty trades, but he did not dare to. He could only inquire, ”Is it the one wrapped in black leather?”
”Yes! That's it!” the younger Manzonola nodded.
”I don't mean to complain, but how did the account book vanish along with Miss Elizabeth?” RuPaul Roy was getting more confused.
”Because the Serevan Palace's guest is none other than O'Neil Andrew Morisette! He's the Imperial commissioner, consultant of the South's Five Province battle, and the Chief of the Military Intelligence Bureau!” old Irut answered.
”Alright… I've understood!” RuPaul Roy was genuinely concerned. O'Neil Andrew Morisette was a person who had his ways with everyone.
”I'll be contacting the Manager of Serevan Palace right now, please wait for my news patiently.” RuPaul Roy put his hat back on as he finished his words. Anyone could see that he was quick to act.
Staring at RuPaul Roy who had left in a haste, the younger Manzonola sighed, ”Is this even necessary? If Elizabeth was not intentional…”
”No!” old Irut hit his cane hard. ”Elizabeth did not do it on purpose, my cat was just being mischievous! She's so cute that I'll definitely forgive her!”
”But…”
”Go do what you have to do!” old Irut cut off his brother's words, ”Go and assemble our partners! Don't ever think that we're going down! This is Vielonna, and our days are still long!”
”On the other hand…” the old man's demeanor transformed to one of a predator again, ”O'Neil Andrew Morisette touched my cat, his days are up!”
Hubel Manzonola looked like he had more to say to his brother, but he could not open his mouth. It had always been his brother who called the shots and he had never doubted his decisions. Although things were different now, he still exited the director's office in silence.
Staring up at the skies, the weather seemed great! But there were chills in the air!
The younger Manzonola mumbled, ”… are we going down?”