Chapter 149 149 Tacit Agreement



A verbal agreement had been made and Zach didn't feel that it was necessary to get it in written as Clara seemed to be a trustworthy person and was unlikely to betray his trust.

Clara on the other hand had grown too suspicious of the force that Zach was leading. She had been out of the city on several occasions before this. Ever since she had been young, her family had insisted that she experience the world outside and its dangers. Therefore, she had met with several travelling merchants and caravans that never settled in one place for long. She found that those people were the most free spirited out of all the strange folks she had encountered. They were not even close to Zach's men in terms of discipline, strength, strategies and battle sense. 

Therefore, Clara seriously doubted Zach's identity and that of his men. She even wondered if she was leading a group of wolves into her home. 

If not for the fact that her family was strong enough to deal with Zach's forces on its own, she would never have agreed to lead Zach and his group into Byzantine city.

Still, Clara decided to give Zach and his people the benefit of doubt considering that they had saved her life and that of her people on more than one occasion now. The least she could do in return was give them a little bit of her trust and goodwill. Therefore, despite bearing all those doubts in her mind, Clara didn't ask Zach or his people a single question regarding their true identity.

While Zach's intentions weren't too out in the open, Clara's troubles didn't seem to be a product of her bad luck either. Both Zach and his people had long since figured out that there was a hidden enemy that was targeting Clara otherwise the appearance of such powerful beasts in succession wasn't possible because the beasts were usually quite territorial and fought all the invaders in their territory whether they be man or beast.

Reciprocating Clara's silence on the topic of their identity, Zach didn't' ask anything about the identity of the enemy that was targeting her from the shadows. Clara didn't elaborate either. Both sides had come to a tacit understanding regarding the secrets that both the groups kept from each other. 

Since, both parties were adamant on maintaining their silence on the respective topics until the moment they set foot in Byzantine city which was their next destination and Clara's home. Fortunately, there wasn't much distance left to cover and the possibility of attack so close to the city was minimal. Therefore, the mood during the rest of the journey was quite jovial with people focusing more on the stories that Zach told instead of spending it being wary and cautious of what might happen.

The closer they got to their destination, the denser the crowd of people gathered to receive Clara continued to become. The gigantic city gates were still looming in the distance but some people had come far out of the city just to greet Clara before the others. Fortunately, they didn't have the guts to forcibly stop and greet Clara in the way or the path to the city gates would have stretched indefinitely.

At most Clara waved to them like some sort of celebrity and passed by them with a smile on her face. But most of them were completely ignored by her. Most probably she didn't have the slightest impression of these people who were only interested in acquainting themselves with a member of the Windsor family.

It was not until they arrived at the city gates that the group encountered the core members of the Windsor family. Unlike the people they had met before, this group consisted of people sharing similar bodily features to Clara. They all showed off their short stature with pride. Their dainty figures hid enormous and unending strength while their eyes revealed their confidence and their will to overcome any all challenges. All of these people quite closely resembled Clara, especially the attractive girl who appeared to be the leader of the group responsible for the reception of the entire group. She was a slightly taller and a slightly mature version of Clara who seemed to exude feminine aura naturally.

Clara was well received by the core group of the Windsor family. Zach and his party had to stand to the side in order to not disturb the reunion. They could only watch on from the side as they needed Clara to describe their agreement to her family before they could introduce themselves to her family.

Seeing their intent gaze, Clara described the events of her outing this time to the family while putting immense stress on the help provided by Zach and his group of travelling merchants. She also revealed the contents of her agreement with Zach in return for ensuring her journey home without any change.

Zach couldn't help but appreciate her honesty in his heart. He felt good that his trust in Clara hadn't gone to waste as the latter acted with integrity when it came to her promises.

Of course, he needed to see the attitude of her family members as well. Clearly, Clara was not the one in charge. Therefore, until he received word from the leader of the family, he knew that the he couldn't plant his roots in this place. And for that he still needed to observe them for a little while longer.

After hearing Clara's story, the attitude of the core group changed for the better towards Zach and his group. It seemed that this group was quite indulgent of warriors and paid attention to people who could hold their own in a battlefield.

Every one of them came forward to shake hands with Zach and his group one by one and briefly introduced themselves as well.

"Hello, I am Clara's older sister. You can call me Violet. Let's get back first and we can carry out the introductions then."

Zach only showed them the courtesy they deserved and replied in kind but couldn't exactly remember the details of all of Clara's family members. He only vaguely registered that the leader of the group turned out to be Clara's sister; Violet. But the rest of the people passed by him like a blur. 

Zach couldn't be bothered to remember every detail regarding them in the first meeting. The other party acted a little reserved with him as well as if afraid to reveal more about themselves to a stranger.

Zach liked his interaction with Violet more than the rest. She seemed like a woman who didn't like to waste time on pointless communication and was probably a woman of action. Instead of chattering around like old shrews, she probably believed in getting things done with her own hands. She was a woman of the elite society just like Christina and Sarah. Her temperament was even fiercer and steadier than the two women.

Violet didn't waste time after introducing herself and turned around abruptly with the entire entourage following right after her. Clara took her place next to her as the rest of her group followed after the core group of the family from a distance.

Violet indicated for one of the servants to come closer by crooking her finger in his direction. The servant understood her signal and rushed close to her before muttering something in a low tone of voice.

After giving curt instructions to the servant, Violet briskly walked away without looking back. She was proud and magnificent like a peacock as she didn't look back once after giving out the orders.

The servant had in fact been tasked with leading Zach and his group. Violet couldn't be bothered to act as his guide no matter how big a favor Zach might have done to the Windsor family. Therefore, she left without any explanation and pulled Clara along with her despite the fact that the latter wanted to lead Zach and his group personally.

Following after Violet for a while, Zach felt that the servant seemed to be leading Zach and his group away from the group that was led by Violet and Clara. They had parted ways all of a sudden and were now heading in a completely different direction.

"Where are we going? It seems that our destinations are not the same. We still have something that we need to talk to Violet about." Zach conveyed his apprehensions to the servant responsible for leading the path to their next destination.

"Don't worry; you will get a chance to do that later. The young lady asked me to take you to your temporary residence as per your request. Be content with that for the moment." 

The servant sneered as he as he uttered the last words as he felt that the newcomers were too arrogant to think that the Windsor family would allow two bit merchants like them into the main estate. They would only dirty the reputation of the family cultivated through shedding a thousand years of sweat and blood.

Zach nodded in understanding and could somewhat understand what Violet and Clara were thinking in sending them away from the main family estate. He could only attribute this treatment to their excessively cautious nature. At the very least, Clara hadn't forgotten her promise to Zach and had provided him with a place to settle the members of the Luther family down. It had been a long time since the family had actually gotten comfortable since leaving their home at his behest. Zach felt a little guilty towards them as well even though he didn't show it to them.