Chapter 253 Trouble Before The Competition

In the blink of an eye, Aiken and his family descended the stairs of that residence to the entrance hall, where many nobles of House Frost were waiting for them.

That was the final meeting before the start of the Province Conference when these individuals would go over their plans to maintain the family's position at least.

Thus, this was a very relevant moment, and when Aiken appeared next to his daughters, wife, and son-in-law, everyone stopped their conversations to pay attention to them.

Some had worried looks on their faces, something expected to be seen there considering the terrible position this family was in. But there were also some smiling looks, some fake, hiding the true intentions of part of the people there.

Lothur observed this from his vantage point as he stopped beside Aiken at the spot designated for the patriarch's family, the center of attention there.

In that spot where everyone in the hall could observe them, Aiken sat in a wooden chair, one part of which went up to the ceiling, carrying the family symbol.

To his left was Mabel, sitting in a chair similar to his, only a little smaller in terms of back support.

Annaliese was standing next to her mother on that woman's left side.

Finally, Viktoria and Lothur were standing on Aiken's right side, with this young man closer to the patriarch.

People there noted how Lothur was standing near Aiken rather than Viktoria, but they considered that this good-for-nothing had placed himself on the wrong side, ignoring the positions of power.

But then, as some glared at Lothur, Aiken waved one of his hands and began to speak. "Well, everyone is here, so let's talk about what matters."

"The Province Conference is between us, and House Frost's future depends on this moment. So I ask everyone that will compete to do your best, follow the plans and orders of your superiors so we can have the best possible outcome."

"We can no longer afford to lose positions to our enemies." He said in a sighing tone, feeling terrible that his management had to deal with so many problems.

Voices of support and tentative encouragement for the young nobles who would defend the family honor later emerged in the surroundings.

"That's right!"

"Our family can no longer afford to lose property and rights. So you young people need to do the possible and impossible in this competition. That's the only way we can improve our situation!"

"The secret is teamwork. We may not be the most talented and with the best group, but we can outperform our opponents..."

"Conversely, our group can count on the First Miss!" A bearded old man said with pride that this generation had someone so remarkable to give the family hope. "With her on our side, we are guaranteed several victories! So you guys don't even need to win all your disputes!"

"We can't rely on just one person, even if she is the First Miss..."

Several people began to expose their contradictory thoughts, some advocating a greater reliance on Viktoria, others supporting the idea that the group was more critical.

In the midst of this, one of the strongest in this family stepped forward and raised one of his arms, calling for silence.

Tobias' father then made a serious expression and brought out some troubling information. "Patriarch, matriarch, I'm afraid our situation is more complicated than we had thought..."

Aiken frowned upon hearing that, worried by those words but also noticing the movements of Lothur, who had not shown any sign so far.

The patriarch asked. "What are you talking about, uncle Simon?"

Simon Frost then looked at the ground and made a wailing expression. "This morning, Chris and Frank took ill and are in bed." He said, making almost everyone there feel goosebumps on their spines.

Chris and Frank were two young noblemen from this family who would participate in this competition, and they were two of the top five who the Frost family chose to participate in the conference!

Since they were crucial candidates for the family's successful outcome in this competition, any problems related to them were of great concern!

They were one of the few youngsters of this generation who gave confidence to the elders that they would win at least most of their contests!

"What? How can this be? They were fine until yesterday!" Someone said, as sweat formed on his forehead.

Aiken and his family were not at all pleased to hear that either, each of them forming worried expressions on their faces.

"What happened? What is their situation?" Mabel asked.

Simon looked at that woman, who was like an older version of Viktoria and answered. "I'm not sure what happened. I just found out about it earlier, so my group is still investigating what happened."

Simon was the head of security for the Frost family. This group handled not only the guarding of that organization but also the investigation of internal problems and espionage.

He continued. "But according to the doctor who attended these two, they will need at least five days to recover to a competitive level..."

Gulp!

"Five days? We're finished! It will already be time for the finals to begin in five days!"

"Hmm, it looks like we won't be able to count on Chris and Frank in this competition..."

More concern arose in the surroundings as Aiken became highly frustrated, forgetting that Lothur was there to help him identify the family traitor.

But this silver-haired man had forgotten nothing. Instead, he was focused on the voices in the surroundings, little interested in this family's problems at the moment.

Lothur cared about the future of the Frost family, as it would be necessary for his plans. But more relevant than a problem of two juniors was to uncover the traitorous rats hidden within that organization!

So he was focused on identifying his targets in this place!

'I already have two suspects...' He continued looking at the surroundings without focusing his attention for too long on any of the people there. But Lothur watched the people in this hall as if he was interested in what they were talking about.

In any case, at no time did he show his suspicions, but he noticed that the potential traitor of this organization was someone of high standing!

'That's problematic...'

'If one of these people is the traitor I heard earlier, then more people must be involved with them.' He pondered on that.

Powerful people could move others of lesser power and even open up spaces for the infiltration of agents similar to Elise.

Thinking about this, he not only felt that it made sense that such a woman had managed to get into this family, but he worried about how difficult it would be to solve this problem.

"Sigh..."

'That probably won't be solved in a short time.' So he continued listening to the comments until someone finally said something that affected him.

"... I don't think we have any alternatives but to use young master Lothur." An elderly woman said in a melancholy tone. "We were already forced to enroll him in this conference, but now only he can take more tests... All the other youths in our family are already at their full load. If we put more weight on their shoulders, we'll have even more problems!"

Annaliese then stepped forward. "I can take on more responsibility. I'm already at the 8th Transformation, so I can help."

...