Chapter 91: Change of opinion never comes easily

Chapter 91: Change of opinion never comes easily

Tom was in Fudge's kitchen, idly noting that it was well-equipped and also looked well-used. Mrs. Fudge most likely knew her way around the kitchen and spent quite a bit of her time inside of this room.

Good for Fudge...

Since he was already there, Tom decided to make a cup of tea for Natasha and himself as he pondered the current situation while remaking his future plans to make them fit the current circumstances since he had nothing else to do with his time.

The problem with solving problems with violence was that it was a good short-term solution but it had long-term repercussions.

If possible, Tom wanted to avoid it at all costs, but the world simply wasn't that generous.

As his mind wandered in this direction, he noticed that half an hour had already passed since he left Fudge in Natasha's tender care and it was time to return to the room.

Heavily sighing, he stood up and took the tray with tea into his hands as his feet disgruntledly and slowly shuffled towards the living room.

Seeing the results of Natasha's work was both fascinating and horrifying, so much so that Tom almost dropped the tray from the sheer surprise that greeted him when he entered the living room.

Fudge was shaking, bleeding from various parts of his body while silent tears of anguish streamed down his twisted face. His fingers were in bad shape as were his toes, either twisted or broken, some missing nails while the rest had other types of nails driven straight through them in seemingly incredibly painful ways.

But that was hardly the worst of it. Half of his head was missing its hair... alongside the skin, showing only a copious amount of blood, some muscle, and even his skull here and there.

The sheer brutality that was displayed made Tom involuntarily shudder and the fact he knew Natasha still held back made it all that much worse.

Tom's unease and surprise didn't last long, however. He shrugged them off relatively quickly, rationalizing the situation in his head. Being emotional would be counterproductive.

Donning a small, yet wry, smile, Tom approached Natasha who tensely stood near Fudge, looking at Tom with a small frown as if she was lost, not knowing what to do in this situation. She clearly wasn't proud of being seen by her lover in this kind of situation and...

Tom slightly chuckled, put down the tray with their tea on the nearby table, and then he delivered a small kiss on her forehead, "You did well." He said, knowing she needed to hear these words.

As Tom expected, Natasha's shoulders instantly sagged in relief and her lips morphed into a small sheepish smile.

"Shhh. It is fine, Minister. I know you will." Tom reassuringly goaded with a gentle expression, "The potion that restored your body contained a lethal alchemical poison of my own making. If you don't get an antidote every month, only death awaits you, and only I can make the substance."

Not once did a gentle smile fall off from Tom's expression as he said the words that sounded like a death sentence in the ears of the quickly palling Fudge.

With a dread creeping up on him, the man realized he messed up with the wrong type of monsters and he couldn't help but regret listening to the sweet words of Lucius Malfoy who talked him into this madness.

The two clearly weren't just lambs waiting to be slaughtered as Lucius portrayed it! They were venomous snakes! The kind one should never get involved with.

Not getting any answer from the horrified man, Tom's smile lost a bit of its mirth and he spoke again, a bit more forcefully. "I think we both know what that means, no?"

Realizing that staying silent was a mistake, Fudge scrambled to answer, "Y-Yes! Of course! I-"

"Good." Tom lightly cut him off again, his easy-going smile restored, "It is getting late so we shall discuss the details of our cooperation tomorrow in your office at the Ministry. Would that be acceptable for you, Minister?"

Never in his life did Fudge nod quicker to any proposal, visibly relieved this nightmarish evening was seemingly coming to an end.

"I am glad your opinion about us changed so quickly and neither of us needs to waste more time here, Minister." Tom happily said as he slowly stood up from the chair.

Fudge reciprocated with a small, uneasy, and fearful smile of his own...

"Now, to make sure this warning of mine will stay fresh in your mind, I will leave this potion here on this easy-to-reach table. Not only does it contain the antidote to the poison for this month but I believe you will shortly need it." Tom poured the contents of another vial of the potion into the cup of his untouched, still steaming tea on the table near their chairs.

Fudge confusedly blinked, not having any idea what Tom meant by that when...

Tom suddenly turned to Natasha and nonchalantly spoke, "You have another thirty minutes with him, the same deal. Just make sure to free him of his bindings after you are done so he can reach the tea. After that, we are leaving."

With that, Tom left the living room under the horrified gaze of Fudge, disgruntledly ignoring the man's loud pleas and desperate begging once again.

He really, but really hated solving his problems with violence.