Chapter 594 - 594 Challenge

"Konrad, what are you doing here? I told you that I was in a private meeting." Brunhilda said, her tone and expression chastising.

"I'm here to do what you can't mother. You're still being too soft on Liesel. After all the training equipment, and physical augmentations that were given to her, she does owe us. I can't believe that you plan on just letting her go with well wishes. After seducing this guy and abandoning us, it's clear that she had her sights set on become the family head's successor. She might have fooled you, but not me."

Brunhilda looked aghast by her son's outburst, but Marcus' mind was carefully examining his words.

Certainly, he was not happy about the insults thrown at Liesel, especially the suggestion that she seduced him for personal gain.

Yet, there was something he felt warranted more attention.

'The way he was talking. It's almost like he knew what our conversations were about.'

Avery opened up his extrasensory ability to detect the flow of energy and scanned the room.

He had not thought to use his psionic powers since he had figured that meeting with Liesel's aunt likely would not be hostile in any way.

Except, it did not take him long to notice something out of place that had a trail leading directly towards Konrad.

Currently, the giant man who was well over two meters tall was arguing with his mother and seemed to be ignoring Avery and Liesel other than the occasional glare he sent there way.

'I guess that's the kind of physique you end up with when your mother is already really tall for a human and your father is half bahnen.' Avery thought as he lifted up the table in the center of the room and pulled open a hollow compartment in one of the legs.

Konrad noticed what he was doing and tried to rush over to stop him. Saying something about not destroying his mother's furniture.

This reaction was all Avery needed to absolutely confirm that the listening device he pulled out belonged to the man.

"I thought that it was strange that you barged in now and seemed to know what we had been talking about. You really went and bugged your own mother's office."

Avery shoved the listening device forward, and Konrad's already slightly red tinged skin became crimson with anger and embarrassment.

"That's a lie. I bet that Liesel is the one who planted that! She must have snuck in at some point before she left and hid it so that she could spy on my mother! Now you're trying to cover up your own misdeeds by pinning them on me!" Konrad shouted accusatorily.

Hearing this made Avery scoff and he moved to go past the man so that he could hand the listening device over to Brunhilda and let her be the judge of what was going on. It was her office that had been bugged after all.

'I kind of wish Kasandra was around to be able to tell if anyone is lying, but I don't think that his mother had anything to do with this.'

From the look on Liesel's aunt's face, it was easy to tell that she was not happy about what was happening right now.

Either she was an impeccable actress, or she had no clue about what her son had been up to.

However, as Avery tried to get past Konrad, Liesel's cousin reached out to grab his hand. Specifically the one holding the listening device.

Obviously not just going to let himself be accosted, Avery took a swift step back and avoided the grab.

This seemed to further enrage Konrad, and he looked like he was about to rush Avery to try and take back the device.

Before he did though, his mother yelled authoritatively for him to stop.

"Konrad! You had better explain what is going on! Now!"

His mother's stern voice caused him to freeze up, and he turned around to try and justify his actions.

Avery almost thought it seemed like a kid trying to convince their parents that they had not done anything wrong after being caught. Except Konrad was far from being a child.

He was older than Avery at twenty-six and should have been more mature.

"I'd like to state that I have no intention of damaging this listening device and was trying to hand it over to you when your son got in the way. If you don't mind, I'd like to give it to you, and you can figure out who planted it for yourself." Avery interjected when Konrad started trying to shift the blame to him and Liesel again.

Fortunately, his mother was not going to just believe her son's words at face value.

In fact, since she did know him so well, his current behavior was easy for her to read.

Konrad appeared to almost lunge for Avery as he passed by, but the man restrained himself other than a slight flinch.

Once Avery had handed the listening device over to Brunhilda, she grabbed a scanning tool from out of her desk and went over it.

She then scanned Avery and Liesel for a receiver, and when she found none, she scanned her son instead.

This time the tool went off, confirming that the listening device was indeed connected to Konrad.

Before his mother could explode on him, Konrad tried to defend his actions.

"I did it because I knew that you would not be stern enough with Liesel. You must know what she's trying to do. After everything that you've done for her, she backstabbed us at the first possible moment. They may act all innocent, pretending not to be seeking to usurp the spot of fleet leader from me, but that's undoubtably what they're planning."

Konrad then turned around to face Avery and Liesel. His expression conveying his animosity towards them.

"Let's put an end to all of this maneuvering now. Liesel, I challenge you to a duel. That'll prove which one of us is more fit to become the successor of the Kaizer Fleet."