Chapter 477

Chapter 477: Chapter 477

Ronaldo had been living with his head down ever since the incident. He tried to keep out of shady and isolated places as he was afraid. The fear kept him from acting normal. He was unable to function normally as he was terrified of what Zach could do to him.

He had never expected the woman to take her own life. Things had gone too far before he could bring them under his control.

Although he had lecherous intentions towards the maid, he had never intended to kill her because he was wary of Zach’s retaliation. He believed that if it was only rape, Zach wouldn’t dare to risk it all.

But the death of his maid had complicated things a little too much.

The princess had been too headstrong. From what he had heard, the princess had previously been willing to do anything to survive when she had been in the hands of the Hunter family.

But it seemed that things had changed when she changed hands.

The woman he encountered was far from easy. She was too proud and refused to let him take the slightest advantage of her. Had she not resisted so strongly, she might still have been alive.

Just when he was about to fall into madness from his extreme wariness, someone reported to him that Marico, who had been to his residence to see him a few times before, was here again.

Still wary but unable to keep his curiosity under check, Ronaldo ordered, "Bring him here at once. It just so happens that I have a few things to ask him myself."

The servant gave a deep bow and ran out to the main entrance to lead Marico in.

"I wonder what he wants. Is it a declaration of war from the Viscount?" Ronaldo knew Zach’s relationship with Marico and couldn’t help but think that Zach was using Marico to communicate something to him. After all, Zach couldn’t act so openly now that everyone knew the trouble between the two of them.

The only option that Zach had was to get rid of Ronaldo in the shadows but even then, it would be hard for him to divert suspicion of the authorities away from the Smith family.

Marico was relieved to see the servant motioning him inside this time. His previous attempts at meeting Ronaldo had all proved useless as Ronaldo had refused to see him every time in the past.

It seemed that Ronaldo had finally made up his mind to listen to him.

The servant led him through the military residence before bringing him into a room that was guarded by a small door. Unlike the appearance of the door, the room itself was quite spacious and far from ordinary.

From the appearance it looked like the room was serving dual purposes; it was both a study and an office. Bookshelves adorning both sides of the room, a soft looking couch with a small table towards one side, and a huge table and a lavish but comfy chair opposite to the door.

Ronaldo was sitting on the lavishly decorated chair in his study while two alert and powerful looking guards stood behind him. One seemed to be a mage and the other looked like an accomplished warrior with many battle scars to prove his experience, not to mention the broadsword hanging behind his back. Even his broad back was not enough to hide the sword behind his back completely.

One look at the guards and Marico knew the current mental state of the military commander. It allowed him to breathe easy as well as he had previously been worried that Ronaldo would refuse to accept his words. But now he had assurance that he would somehow be able to convince Ronaldo into striking a deal with Zach.

Shifting his gaze back to Ronaldo, Marico greeted him with a smile before saying, "Thanks for agreeing to see me today."

"No need for that. I acknowledge that I was a bit curious as to why you came here after all that transpired with that...that maid..."

Confusion was evident on his face. Ronaldo wasn’t trying to hide his surprise in front of Marico because it was the most natural reaction to the events that were happening.

"I am here at the behest of Viscount Zach Smith." began Marico as he raised his head to meet the eyes of the commander.

"As expected...he did send you." said Ronaldo as if coming to an obvious conclusion before motioning towards Marico with his hands to continue, "So, what did he ask you to communicate to me?"

Ronaldo was of the opinion that it was either a threat that Zach had asked Marico to relay or a declaration of enmity. Whatever the case, it was obvious that Zach seemed to be plotting something sinister towards him.

"Viscount Zach wants to join hands with you." Marico knew that no matter how he tried to word what he was about to say, the military commander would be unable to bring himself to believe it. As such he laid it out to him straight without going in circles.

"WHAT?" As expected, Ronaldo stood up from his seat as if something had pricked his bottom from underneath him.

The instant jolt surprised the guards standing behind him as they rushed to the front of their liege and took up a defensive stance even though Marico hadn’t moved from his spot at all.

"It may come as a surprise to you...but Viscount Zach has sent me here in hopes of a collaboration despite what happened. He is willing to forget about that incident and hopes to collaborate with you in his future endeavors."

"Why would he do that? I don’t think he stands to gain anything from it."

"Of course, it doesn’t matter to him but he is hoping that he can be friends with you. As you said, he has nothing to gain from making an enemy out of you for something trivial. Gaining an ally in the military is definitely better than making an enemy for a dead person after all."

Ronaldo couldn’t understand how this could be possible given how protective Zach had been of the maid. It was almost as if the woman wasn’t a servant at all. He wondered how Zach had so easily forgotten about the incident when he had made such a big fuss about it when he had asked to bed the woman earlier.

Based on his outburst, Ronaldo had been thinking that Zach would do anything to get revenge for the woman. However, his expectations had turned out to be completely groundless. The man had sent a message to forget everything about the past and opt for a new beginning together. He couldn’t interpret it in any other way than a ceasefire.

It could only mean that Zach was truly helpless because of his wife who was in the hands of the Royal family.

Ronaldo couldn’t help but feel smug that his gamble had paid off and Zach had decided to back off.

"Although I am tempted to believe your words, I can’t clear the doubt gnawing at my brains no matter how much I try to push it away. I just can’t bring myself to believe his intentions. It’s good that he has given up thoughts of taking revenge though. Tell him that I have the same intent. However, a collaboration is out of the question given the history between us." Ronaldo felt relieved that Zach had sent Marico to oversee the negotiations for the alliance or he might have been too afraid of retaliation to reject Zach’s offer for reconciliation and alliance in the future.

Since, Zach hadn’t come in person, he intended to keep it that way. Ronaldo wasn’t about to let Zach get close to him in any capacity.

Therefore, he outright rejected Marico’s proposition even though it had the potential to prove very beneficial.

Marico didn’t get angry or disappointed as he had already anticipated this and had thought up counterarguments in case, he failed to convince Ronaldo.

"Do you still think Viscount Zach is an ordinary mage who would kill you off for the death of a single maid? His vision isn’t as constricted as you seem to think. Don’t feel offended but you are far from being in the position of being able to elicit a feeling of animosity from him. His current enemy is the Royal family princess who happens to be the sister of the crown prince. He has no time to engage in a petty brawl with you."

"Then why are you here?" retorted Ronaldo feeling a bit offended by Marico’s words, nonetheless.

"Because even if Zach hates you, he won’t try to kill you for it. He isn’t as impulsive as you have assumed him to be. He won’t be stupid enough to kill you and make an enemy out of the government when he is already in a precarious situation with the royal family. Due to a lack of a better option, he has chosen to ally with you since his enmity with Princess Candice exceeds his hatred for you by a wide margin. He needs military support in his endeavors and there is no one more powerful than you in this city in that regard. I am here because he values efficiency over sentimentality and is willing to disregard what happened to the maid to pave a path towards a glorious collaboration."

Ronaldo felt as if Marico’s words were laced with honey that was capable of dispelling all his worries and of clearing up all of his doubts regarding Zach’s intentions.