None of them spoke after the archmage left. They were stubborn in maintaining the silence and maintaining the awkward atmosphere. Galahad remained seated for a couple of minutes before he too decided to leave.
"Let's go and rest for now. Too much has happened tonight that I think it is better for us to rest. We can slowly talk about this in the following days." Duke Galahad stood up and gave the remaining people in the room a nod before he walked towards the door.
Ignius looked at the two remaining people in the room then he gave the butler a questioning look. Mr. C felt the gaze aimed at him that he could only sigh. "We will be outside, master," he spoke up to let them know that they were leaving too.
"Do you have anything to say to me Duke Ginehart?" Cygnus finally asked the man after he heard the click of the door.
"Was that really necessary?" Ulysses simply asked. He had no intention of questioning the master, he merely wanted to know if that was a move he should have done.
"Shall I be honest with you?" Cygnus used his serious and deep voice. "No, it was not on my plans but you know I easily get angry these days and it is better that this happened so that next time none of you would ever question me."
Ulysses sighed. He covered his face with his two palms and eventually gave up. He leaned back on the seat and looked at the ceiling of the room. The light in the room continued to flicker amidst the darkness and the silence as he slowly came to terms with what was happening.
Unlike the others, he wanted to clear things with the young man. He accepted him as his son and chose to trust him because he did what he had promised to them. Even so, he wanted to know who he was and he already had a feeling that his son, Linius, already knew him.
"You better talk with your son regarding that matter. I've told him everything, well not exactly everything but everything that he needed to know." Cygnus answered his question as if he was reading his mind.
At first Ulysses had not noticed this fact because he was too caught up with the thoughts in his mind. He was still looking at the ceiling when he heard the young man talk once again. His eyes then widened when answers to the questions in his mind were coming out from Rigel's mouth.
"I'm sure that General Linius will gladly tell you what he knows. I will give him the permission to talk to you regarding my matters and no, you can't ask my butler anything because I am sure that he won't be answering you." Cygnus deliberately answered the questions on the duke's mind because his intention was clear, he wanted to let the duke know that he could read minds.
Duke Ulysses did not fail to catch what the young man was trying to say. He snapped his head towards the young man with his jaws dropped in surprise. He saw that Rigel was only grinning at him and he couldn't help himself from laughing out loud.
His laughter echoed in the room and it continued for about a minute before he finally stopped and sighed once again. No matter what he was thinking then from the very beginning, the young man was hearing all of it. It was no wonder why he seemed to be one step ahead whenever he made a move.
"You are right. I like spoiling the plans of others, that is why I prefer to make my move earlier and not stop there." Cygnus confirmed the man's thoughts. "So, I suggest that if you have any negative thoughts about me, cease them and don't think about them especially if I am in the vicinity." His grin widened and the duke shivered because he knew exactly what that grin meant.
"I'll keep that in mind then." Ulysses stood up and looked at the young man for a second before he spoke once again, "I'll take my leave then. You should go and rest too because I have a feeling that tomorrow will be one heck of a day."
Just as the duke had predicted, the next day was like any other day every time something happens. Well, the past few days had been hectic especially when the young master from Ginehart joined the picture. This time though, it was the council members who flocked at the Blackwell manor with serious looks on their faces.
Since everyone was there, Duke Galahad hosted an unscheduled meeting to answer and quench the council member's questions and curiosity. He was sure that they were there because of the incident last night. Word must have gotten out from the servants and it reached the ears of these men and women.
He rubbed his forehead and was set on making sure that the servants won't be talking about anything that happens inside the manor outside. This also reminded him that he should smoke out the spies in his manor and prevent them from gathering information and relaying it to these cunning people. He leaned on his seat and waited for them to speak first.
Galahad was already tired from looking at the faces of the council even without them saying a word. All he wanted right at that moment was to leave. He would rather face the mountain of documents in his study than to face these people who only knew how to give him problems.
"We heard that a malevolent spirit appeared in the manor and that your visitor had summoned it," one of them finally spoke.
"Well, that is one hell of an accurate statement. You should have directly added Rigel's name while you are at it instead of going around the bush and calling him a visitor," Galahad sneered. He was tired of showing these people favor.
"Your excellency!" the one who just spoke couldn't believe that he would hear that kind of tone from the duke.
"You should get used to it by now. I've already talked like this the last time we met so why are you still getting flustered? I'm the one who is in a bad mood right now because I have to face you all so early in the morning," Galahad did not stop and told them straightforwardly what he felt.
The council members were rendered speechless but none of them dared to speak once again. Since one of the topics that they wanted to talk about has been presented, they decided to wait for the duke's explanation. It was no use even if they got angry because of the duke's attitude towards them.
"There was no malevolent spirit that was summoned yesterday. It must have been a figment of imagination from the person who told you about the news." Duke Galahad did not flinch or have any other reactions as he said those words.
"Are you saying that your servants are lying? They are just concerned about you because that man might harm you!" The same council member who asked the questions immediately refuted the duke's words.
"Lying? I never said that they were lying. I merely disproved their statement because nothing of that sort happened yesterday. If you want you can go ahead and ask the other servants about the matter," he calmly answered. He was even confident to tell them to ask the other servants because he was sure that these members were cowards.
"Are you perhaps challenging us, your excellency?" One of them also asked in a calm voice. Unlike the other, he chose to deal with the duke in a calm manner because nothing will come out if they were to continue arguing with him.
"Of course not, I am just making a suggestion so that this unfounded story won't circulate after we leave this place." Galahad raised his hand and shook his hand.
"If that's the case, then we will call everyone who was in that room yesterday," the calm one stated. He looked at the other council members and saw them nodding so he instructed the sentinels to go and call for them.
Nobody spoke as they waited for the people involved to enter the room. First to come were Sigma together with Ezio and Isaiah. Next to enter was Duke Ginehart together with his son and his son's butler. After that, all the servants who were there yesterday were ushered inside.
"Now that they are all here, who do you want to ask first?" Galahad waved at all the people who entered while keeping an eye on any strange reaction from the council.
He was intently observing them and he was not disappointed because he could see that some of their gazes were already aiming at one of the servants. She was a woman with a small figure and brown hair. She had her head bowed down so she must not have seen these council members looking at her. She flinched the moment that he was tapped to speak.