Chapter 93 A Moment

The next day, Ulysses did not waste time and called for Cygnus to his study while Linius was whisked away by his mother. He was supposed to sit down with his father and the master but his mother's domineering look made him surrender.

"Mother, why do you suddenly want to have tea with me? And why can't we do this later?" Linius looked at his mother who was sipping her tea with a smile on her face.

Linette sighed and placed the tea on the saucer where it was originally placed. She then gave his son a glare, "What? Is it wrong for me to invite my own son, who only remembers to come home once in a while, for a cup of tea?" her gentle bearing yesterday was now gone in front of her son. She even put emphasis on the word 'son' and 'once in a while' to make her point.

"Of course not, mother. Although we can always do this later because I was supposed to do something important," Linius reasoned. He couldn't let his father and the master talk alone because he doesn't know what's on the master's mind.

"Then enjoy it with me and let your father talk with your friend. Are you worried that our father would do something against your friend? Or is your friend not trustworthy enough?" Linette raised an eyebrow while throwing a look at his son who seemed to be anxious even though it did not show on his face.

"Well, nothing of that sort," Linius avoided his mother's gaze. If his father was observant, his mother was more sensitive and oftentimes it was as if she could read his thoughts.

"If it is neither, then you should stop worrying and drink your tea or else I will keep you here until the afternoon," she threatened. The duchess pushed the tea she poured towards Linius and even served him a plate of strawberry cake she especially baked for the both of them.

Linius couldn't go against his mother so he relented and drank the tea for him. They drank and ate in silence until Linette asked him several questions which he willingly answered. After a few questions, he forgot about his father and focused on his mother who was doing her best to talk to him.

While the mother and son duo were enjoying their time together, inside of Ulysses' study the atmosphere was a bit tense as both parties were only staring at each other ever since Cygnus entered the room.

Cygnus had a casual smile on his face while the other also wore a smile on his face. They were in a deadlock and none of them wanted to speak first. Finally, Ulysses sighed and gave in because he couldn't stand the silence. They were only wasting time if none of them would talk.

"I've already heard about it from my son. You will be posing as Maverick, my late son but because no one actually knows his name, you will still be using your name Rigel, right?" He started to which the other gave a nod. "Since I agreed to this plan, I will be responsible for informing you of everything you needed to know about the family."

"Alright, I'll be listening to your excellency," Cygnus answered with a smile.

"First, stop calling me 'your excellency' because I felt like you are actually mocking you whenever you say those words, especially with that annoying smile of yours. Call me father from now on since you will become my son and I don't want them to notice that we are awkward with each other." Ulysses waved his hand and gave the man a slight glare before he returned to his neutral expression of not giving a care to whatever Cygnus was doing nor thinking.

Cygnus could not help but laugh, "Alright, I'll call you father from now on and I will also practice calling the major big brother while your wife mother. Is that satisfactory enough?"

Ulysses squinted as he finally realized that the young man who seemed to be timid just yesterday was actually someone who can talk with him like they were peers. It was truly unusual that he wondered how his son was able to meet such a person.

After they agreed with that, the duke did not waste anymore time and taught him everything he needed to know. Family members and the positions they held in the government and in the military. Some of them were also in the field of business. Ulysses placed several stacks of documents in front of Cygnus.

The master looked at the duke with confusion but the duke only gave him a nod and gestured at the stacks of documents. Stacks was lightly describing it because in front of him were three layers with at least ten bounded documents in each stack.

Cygnus hummed and tapped his fingers on the table with his head resting on his palms. He was not sure if he had the patience to actually read through that many documents. "Do I really need to learn all of this? I mean according to Linius, your second son was weak and was cooped up inside the mansion, so how could he even know all of this information? I can just feign ignorance as long as I know your family member's names and faces then isn't that enough?"

"Maverick is a child who liked to read books and he personally asked me if he could know more about our family so he actually read all of those books. He may have been bed ridden but he was a smart child. Now, if you want to pose as my second son, then you must finish all of those. You don't have to read and memorize them all, just take note of the important points."

With a bit of reluctance, Cygnus picked up the first document and opened it before he browsed through it in record time. He picked up the next document and within three hours he finally finished everything.

Ulysses watched this process and he didn't know if he should be impressed or not because he was not sure if the man actually read anything from the documents. Well, this will be a challenge for him. "Are you done?" The duke pretended that he did not notice how fast Cygnus read the books and when he saw the man nod, he returned the documents to the shelves where he got them.

"Is there anything else I should do?" the master asked while stretching his body that became stiff after sitting for three hours and reading those tedious papers.

"My wife will be teaching you some basic etiquettes that every noble child should know and I hope you participate and behave," Ulysses informed him after he finished putting back all the books.

"Well then I'll be leaving now, if you have any more questions then, feel free to ask now that I am still here father," Cygnus grinned. He already knew that the man actually called him there so that they could talk about Linius. Teaching him about the Ginehart household was only an excuse.

"Now that you brought it up first, I won't go around the bush any longer. What kind of deal did you make with my son?" He spoke without hesitation and he looked straight at Cygnus's eyes without flinching.

A moment of silence dominated the room before Cygnus broke it with just a few words, "It's not a deal you'll want to know."

Ulysses clenched his jaws and narrowed his eyes at the man, "What did you do? If this deal would endanger my child's life, I won't forgive you."

Cygnus shook his head as he snickered, "Don't be such a doting parent. The major knows what he is doing and I am impressed that he even came up with this plan. I get to live like a noble while he gets what he wants."

"Is that really there is to it?" The duke was not convinced because his instincts that were honed in the battlefield for so many years were telling him that the man in front of him was dangerous.