"Pl- B-Bring the Food."
"As you say, Lady Elara." The maid bowed her head and left.
"Elara, why are you stuttering when you are talking to servants? And you were about to add please again, weren't you?"
"T-That was out of habit. I feel that we should be respectful to them even if they are our servants, after all, they are humans as well."
"So are you saying that when I or the mother do not add 'please' while talking to the servants, we are being disrespectful to them?"
"N-No, that's not what I-"
"Elara,"
Vaan called.
"You are my Fiance and will marry me in the future, you will then become a Vesta, no, scratch that, even if we do not count that, as a 4th Circle Mage, you need to have a level of pride. Someone of your stature should not be respectful in front of servants.
Treat them kindly, yes. Listen to what they want, help them when you think they are in the right, however, do not treat them as equals, because they are not.
Think about this, how weird would it be if Mother used words like please every time she talked with a servant? Now think about yourself, when you become a 7th Circle Mage in the future, and my wife, wouldn't it be strange if you talk to servants like you do now?"
"I-I understand." Elara nodded.
"No stuttering. You must be confident all the time."
"I understand."
"Louder."
"I understand."
"Good." Vaan smiled.
This was the first step. Elara's case was worse than he initially thought, so he needed to take it slow, first, he needed to fix the way she interacted with others. Once she gains some confidence, only then would they move to the next step.
The little Gangster Elara.
'Heh.'
A small smile appeared on Vaan's face as he imagined that scene in his head.
*Knock* *Knock*
Suddenly, Vaan heard a knock. He turned towards Elara, Elara understood what he wanted so taking a deep breath, she glanced at the door and,
"Come in."
Vaan nodded in satisfaction.
However, the person who entered was not the maid they were expecting, but Gabel.
"Young Master Vaan, Young Master Asher is requesting to meet you."
"Tell him to wait, I will be eating together with Elara right now."
Gabel bowed his head and walked away.
A minute later, a knock was heard again, this time, it was the maid. She entered and served the food, both Elara and Vaan ate it together, then, Vaan left and walked towards the guest room.
"I hope you have been well, Young Master Vaan." Asher stood up as he greeted.
"You are getting politer and politer, punch bag," Vaan spoke as he sat on the sofa.
"I am just in awe after seeing how you cornered that woman as you did, you are much more capable than someone like me could ever be," Asher replied.
"Should I call you ass kisser instead?" Vaan wondered in his head.
Asher's mouth twitched. Vaan then signaled him to sit, and he sat down, then, Vaan questioned, "How was her reaction?"
"She was desperate. Today was the first time I saw 'worry' on her face, usually, she is good at hiding her emotions but she wavered today. Especially when I told her that she doesn't have much time left." Asher reported.
"Did she agree to use the Dreamweave?"
"She didn't say anything like that in front of me, but I am sure she is considering it."
"Hmmm, should I give her the last push?"
"Last push?" Asher furrowed his brows in confusion.
"The last rumor I spread reduced the number of simps simping for her, 'assaulted' is a strong word after all, who knows how many 'goddesses' have fallen from their grace once their sexual past is revealed."
Vaan still remembers how those 'idols' lose followers whenever news about their marriage is announced. Heck some of them don't even reveal their personal relationship because they fear the backlash from the audience.
Simps were weird, most of them know that let alone sexual encounters, they wouldn't even get the chance to stay in a single room together in a single room, yet the moment their goddess loses her 'purity', she is not as attractive in their eyes anymore.
Well, not like any of this mattered, as long as it was working in Vaan's favor, he didn't care.
"Anyways, with her simps, the Simp General and me being out of the picture, Sera is out of most of her 'sources' of money.
How about I take away the last source left as well?"
"Those thugs?"
"Mhm, they send her monthly money for keeping her mouth silent about the Dreamweave.
Spread another rumor of Dreamweave coming into the Vesta City and commoners being affected by it. Let those thugs and Seraphina fall out."
Vaan smirked and Asher, who understood the consequences of these rumors gulped.
But then,
"Young Master Vaan… Are you sure we should do it?"
"Hmm?"
"If these rumors spread, the Vesta Family would start looking into it, if that happens then it won't take much time for them to locate and annihilate those thugs, and all the Dreamweave in the City would be tracked down and destroyed.
Won't that ruin your plans?" Asher questioned.
"Don't worry about that, I will talk to Mother about this. Just do what I told you to."
"As you command, Young Master Vaan."
"You can leave now." Vaan then waved his hand. "I have to prepare for the upcoming Magic Duels."
Asher stood up and bowed his head, "I hope the rest of your day goes well, Young Master Vaan."
Saying those words, he turned around and left.
Vaan left the room and walked into his own. Then, he took out the Spell Directory that Elara gave him, he only had a week, so he had already given up on learning new Water Spells, rather than that, he was focusing on learning Two Circle Fire Spells and optimizing them using his extra Inner Circles.
…
"Hey, have you heard? They say Lady Astra is coming to watch today's Battle."
"What? Is that true!?"
"Why are you so shocked? Young Master Vaan would be the one fighting today, of course she would come and watch it, he is her only son."
"Haah… you know, sometimes I pity Lady Astra. To think her only son is a waste."
"Right? And did you see his announcement? He sounded so arrogant."
"Wasn't he always like that? He looks down on everyone and acts arrogantly in front of others because of his family."
"Hehe, actually, I have heard that when he is in front of another member of the Vesta Family, he acts like a little whimpering cat, too afraid to even say a word."
"I mean, he can't use his status against another member of the Vesta Family, now can he? Hehe."
"But to think that waste would challenge everyone openly like that. I was quite surprised, just what was he thinking?"
"Who knows? I just know something fun would happen."
"Hahaha~ True True, but I must say, that waste does know how to make money, to think he would charge money for this and that too, a 100 Gold Coins! What an absurd price for a ticket."
"I doubt many would spend 100 Gold Coins to see his Magic Duel."
"We are still here, aren't we?"
"You are right. I am sure there are people who would pay even 1000 Gold Coins to see him getting humiliated."
The 4 men laughed as they made their way into the Vesta Stadium.
It was the 25th of Augusta Month, the day Vaan is going to battle the challengers who believe the rumors and want him to make a public apology.
The Duels will be held in the Vesta Stadium. Usually, whenever this stadium is opened, it is usually full-packed, today, however, it was one of those rare days where barely 10,000 people were present.
Why? Because of the absurd ticket prices.
A 100 Gold Coins! Even the Ticket for the Annual Elemental Clash was only 50 Gold Coins. It was obvious that not many would come and watch this.
Of course, Vaan didn't care, in fact, he was surprised that 10,000 came even when the prices were so absurd.
To think he made 1,000,000 Gold Coins in one day, that's equivalent to 1000 Elemental Stones. Even if he spends half of it on the arrangement, it was still 500 Elemental Stones, he had struck big!
Not to mention all the Spell Directories he was going to get his hands on today.
A lucky day indeed.
"Ladies and Gentlemen, please stand up on your seats to show your respect to the Head of the Vesta Family, Astra Elysia Vesta."
The host announced. Everyone in the audience stood up. Astra, along with Orion walked towards their seats and once they sat down, the rest of the audience sat down as well.
"Now I would like to invite Young Master Vaan and all the challengers who came here to challenge him."
Soon, Vaan and 6 more mages stepped into the ring.
Vaan glanced at the 6 mages, then, with a wide smile on his face, he spoke up.
"Just so you know, since you came here, it means you have decided to challenge me, the conditions of the challenge have already been set, so even if you do give up now,
Your Spell Directories are mine."
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