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n“I have some matters to settle with the man. I would be very honoured if you could do that for me,” Nicholas waited for the man to agree.

n“I trust your judgment that you will take care of whatever the man is deemed to be after the judgment has passed.”

n“Of course,” Nicholas’ eyes twinkled with unnamed excitement and thirst of blood which Reuben failed to notice.

n“Alright then,” Reuben agreed without another thought. The lord of Bonelake was a man whom he trusted and therefore with that thought, there was nothing to worry about it, “By the way- I heard some words going around since two days about the lady. Is it true? How did that even happen?”

n“Unfortunately, it is true. An old couple traded her at the establishment when she was lost on her way back to Woville. Her adoptive family didn’t care much about it. It was her uncle’s doing by sending Heidi in place of their own daughter to have an opportunity in killing me.”

n“That’s pitiful,” Reuben set his lips in a straight line at the information, “If you’re sitting here leisurely, I believe Ms Curtis is fine?”

n“Yes, she’s resting at the moment. Reuben,” Nicholas began on a serious note, “As bad as it is, most people must have already got the word about Heidi becoming a slave for the week. It is a favourable time to drop the truce right now. This way, people will assume the truce was dissolved because of the status. Warren will comply to the matter with same answers that he never wanted to marry a slave. With that gone, we will create a new truce as discussed previously,” Nicholas stated.

n“That is a wise plan,” Reuben hummed to see the maid bring tea for him, setting the tray down, she added a spoonful of sugar and twirled it around the cup to hand it to him, “Thank you,” he murmured.

nWhen Nicholas had come to speak to him a few weeks ago, the last thing he had expected was to create a soul bond with the girl who was involved in completing the truce with his cousin, Warren Lawson. It would be a lie if he said it didn’t give him lines of worries on and in his head at the change after all the truce wasn’t kept confidential and it was known by a lot of people. But with the way things had fallen into the right place even though it was wrong and unfateful, the same truce would be upheld with the only change being Lord Nicholas taking his cousin’s place. The society was always harsh, no matter if it was a human or a vampire one, few things never changed and if word got out that the Lord had created a soul bond it would turn out to be the biggest scandal of the century. This way the girl would be protected too. No blame would fall on her and instead, she would be saved from any harsh words.

nTaking the last sip from his cup, he looked at the window to see dark clouds that hovered in the sky. Completing his cup of tea in silence, he placed it back on the small table. Nicholas, who held a cup of tea himself, didn’t bother in taking a sip from it but nonetheless held it in his hand, rotating his finger around the rim of the cup as if he would take a sip.

nThe old, councilman then asked, “Have you thought about shutting down the slave establishment?”

n“Hmm, I did but I don’t think I will be shutting it down,” Nicholas placed his cup on the table. Taking a small grain of sugar, he popped it into his mouth, “Right now many vampires and humans who belong to the higher ladder in society wouldn’t be pleased about it. We all depend on it directly or indirectly and having a shutdown would not only cause loss to the elites but also the peasants.”

n“But slavery isn’t right,” Reuben argued, shaking his head in the process.

n“It isn’t but of spoken on the same lines, neither is poverty yet all of these persists to form a balance. Not to forget there are many who depend on it. Something like this won’t be easy to put down right now. I would suggest the best option right now is to have the current in charge and staff replaced there. This it is a win-win situation to all of us,” Reuben sighed, rubbing his forehead.

n“The proof you were talking about. Do you have it here? I can start the paperwork as well arrange the court hearing so that I can go on a vacation with my wife,” the old man grumbled.

n“Apologies for it. I hope you and your family visit Bonelake. I have excellent recommendations. Please do follow me,” seeing Lord Nicholas stand up, Reuben got up from his seat to leave the room while following the owner of the house.

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