Chapter 213: A Failed Arbitration

The arbitrator looked at the people of the Inanis family with a mix of anger and confusion in his eyes.

"YOU! YOU! YOU! I'll get to the bottom of this! All of you nobles shall suffer! You have dared to challenge the church of Duran! Justice shall descend and take your lives!" Lyle declared before leaving in a huff.

~thud~thud~thud~

His steps were heavy and could be heard resounding in the hallway. Lucius watched the back of the man and silently muttered something before turning to face Gabriel and Lita. They too were looking at him and the worry was apparent in their eyes.

"Will this be fine?" Kiana was the first to ask.

By now, she had learned that Asher was very calculative and planned well ahead. If he had let it progress to this point, then she was sure that he had it all planned and that he had let this happen intentionally.

Gabriel and Lita had some different concerns, though.

"This was a disaster…" Lita said before looking at Gabriel. "You need to write a letter to the king and the Church explaining the situation." 

"I'll do it. Don't worry. But this… what kind of an arbitrator was this? I understand them having some level of dissatisfaction with nobles, but this… this was straight hate." Gabriel said.

"Indeed, father. That was the very first thing I felt the moment he walked into the mansion. I could tell that he had his agenda set and perhaps… he was always meaning to tag us as the culprits." Lucius stated.

Gabriel thought overs Lucius's words and rubbed his beard.

"Hmm… while it is quite rare and does not happen as often, there are indeed some priests of Duran that can be overt like this. Most of them had been offended by nobles sometime before they became priests and then act like this.

But still… this will cause us some problems or even a lot of them depending on how far the higher ups of the church decide to believe the man's words." Gabriel said.

"Don't worry, father. I think the church knew what kind of a man Lyle was. Don't forget that he was just a priest, and not a high priest or even higher. According to what I've heard and learned, only those above the rank of a priest are allowed to be arbitrator." Lucius explained.

Lita seemed a bit confused upon hearing this and furrowed her brows.

"What do you mean, Asher?" Lita questioned.

"What I mean is that the church intentionally sent Priest Lyle to us. I think this was supposed to be his 'test' or something like that. If he did the arbitration properly, he would probably be promoted to a higher rank.

But if he did not, then he would be kept at the same rank. Not to mention, I think the church already knows of our reputation and thus intentionally chooses us." Lucius answered.

"Intentionally chose us? Why would they do something like that?" Lita asked, feeling even more confused.

"Perhaps they know that we are the more 'decent' ones among the nobles and won't take any drastic actions even if priest Lyle messed up. I'm sure they will have a second round of arbitration internally later.

After all, the church has been doing this for a long time and must have a better experience with things such as these. They should know when an arbitrator is exaggerating and when he is not doing so." Lucius replied.

"Hmm… now that I think of it… that does seem likely. I doubt there has been any other priest of Duran that let an arbitration proceed like this." Gabriel stated.

"Exactly father, this must be a test. I do say that you should write a stern letter to the church of Duran and also a letter to the king informing of the gross misconduct that priest Lyle has just done." Lucius suggested.

"I'll do it right away." Gabriel said as he stood up and went to his study.

Lucius walked to Lita and placed his hands on her shoulders.

"Don't worry, mother. Everything will be fine. I assure you." Lucius stated in a calm voice.

Lita felt very relieved hearing the assuring and calm voice of Lucius and felt like her son had matured and finally grown up.

"I won't then. I'll let the two of you handle this." Lita said before taking her leave as well.

Now there were only two others left in the meeting hall, Kiana and John. Kiana was already assured that everything would be fine seeing Lucius's response, but John was still concerned.

Lucius walked up to John and spoke.

"I want you to keep an eye on priest Lyle. Inform me when he's about to leave the city and continue to watch him the entire time." Lucius said in a slightly commanding tone. "I hope you can do that?" he added.

John's expression because serious and he nodded his head. "I'll do as you wish, Young lord Asher." 

With that said and done, John left as well and now only Lucius and Kiana were left in the hall.

~step~step~

"Is this all fine? What do you have planned?" Kiana questioned.

"Yes, it will be. As for the plan, let's get to work on it." Lucius said before gesturing for Kiana to follow him.

The two of them walked through the corridors as a rather strange atmosphere descended into the mansion. It was almost as if the presence of the arbitrator had changed the entire atmosphere of the mansion and it had become a bit more depressive.

Lucius could see that even the servants were a bit depressive right now and had downed expressions. While they did not know of the arbitration's result, they could tell that something had gone wrong, perhaps.

Lucius thought was unaffected by everything and was even a bit pleased. He had gained a few things from this and had learned a few important things from Lyle. While thinking of this, he finally reached the destination they were heading to.