The marvel of human connection is in its reactive nature.
This was what Marcus thought as he sat opposite these familiar faces that he had angrily dismissed since the beginning of this 'redo'.
Once again, Veronica, Eddy, and Sam had returned to his mansion even after he had told them to leave his territory.
It seemed like it didn't matter what he did; they were destined to have further interactions with him, and that would happen one way or another.
Normally, their return would have been enough for Marcus to legally arrest them.
However, at the moment, he had no intention of doing this.
At the time he had dismissed them, he was furious and very much wary of the 'dog' who had been working for Maney.
Now, that dog has already been slain, and his distrust has been resolved.
The young lord folded his arms over his chest and held their gaze for a second.
He was waiting for them to state the reason for their visit.
As for these guests, all of them were still trying to get a grasp of Marcus's power.
From what they could all sense, Marcus had gotten stronger since they last saw him.
The last time they were here, when he dismissed them rudely, he released an aura that was similar to that of a Peak Radiant warrior.
This revelation had caught them off guard, astonishing them.
What truly drew their curiosity was that there was no sign of Blood Force behind Marcus's aura.
And now, even though he was still giving off the aura of a Peak Radiant warrior, he was still somewhat more powerful than before, however, with the inclusion of Blood Force.
Veronica frowned slightly and thought; He has become more of an enigma.
Unconsciously, she and Marcus had locked eyes for a few seconds.
Almost a full minute went by without anyone saying anything.
Only the background sound of rain falling heavily and thunder rumbling wistfully.
The awkwardness in the room was almost tangible.
Marcus's guards, Logail and Caleb, stood still behind the young lord's chair, blending in with their surroundings.
Sam's eyes darted from one person to another before he resigned himself to a sigh.
"Lord Viscount, first of all, I'd like to apologize for our trespassing." he was about to get on his feet to bow, but Marcus raised a hand and stopped him.
"Just state your business." He said dryly.
Sam paused and exchanged looks with Eddy, and then Veronica.
The former met his gaze and the corner of his eyebrow twitched, while the latter ignored him.
Sam sighed. Ron, you have to drop this attitude of yours if you're going to get anything out of this young lord.
He then raised his gaze and stared at Marcus for a few seconds.
"Lord Viscount, we have been lurking around your estate for a while and have seen some incredible and ludicrous things."
"And?" Marcus arched a brow at the young man.
The young viscount had been aware of these people sneaking around his estate, but he had ignored them. As long as they didn't try to dig into his secrets or disrupt his plans, Marcus had decided to let them be.
They weren't the type to cross boundaries openly, nor would they harm the innocent.
This was what Marcus had made of their personalities after observing them for a while.
"We want to know… now don't take this the wrong way. This was the only conclusion we could come up to–"
"Have you joined a cult?" Veronica interrupted.
"What?" Marcus almost choked on his words.
This crazy tomboy!
"What makes you think that?"
"Then how do you explain the rapid growth of your people? How did they, at their age, past the prime years of awakening Blood Force, achieve the feat of awakening?"
She squinted her eyes at Marcus as though she was certain that he had done something shady.
"If you haven't taken a devil's alms, then how do you explain making men in their mid-thirties awaken Blood Force?"
"As if I would tell you that." Marcus snorted. "I didn't join any cults, nor will I ever be joining any. I despise them, and they will come to despise me in the future."
The vitriol in Marcus's voice was clear. He truly didn't have any good thoughts about cultists. They were all the same to him, even if they followed different doctrines.
Marcus smiled. "If I had joined a cult and used their devilish ways to create warriors out of my people, then you would have sensed devilish intent within their auras.
So, cut the crap and tell me why you're truly here."
This smile of his was directed at Veronica.
What is he smiling at me for? Creepy.
And then she recalled what Marcus had said that night at the ball, when they first crossed paths.
"Are you a boy-girl or a girl-boy?"
That question had been ringing in her mind, giving the young lady anxiety since then.
This was a secret that few in her family were privy to, and yet, this talentless buck from afar could see through her disguise after just one interaction?
Veronica didn't know if she was overreacting or not, but her instincts kept on pushing towards the possibility that Marcus was aware of her true identity.
Because of this, she had decided to stick around the young lord and confirm what he knew.
Staring at the smile some more, Veronica felt taunted.
Before she could say anything, Sam spoke up.
"We just wanted to confirm."
Marcus sighed. "If you are not ready to tell me the truth of why you're here, then please, leave. I already have too much on my plate to be here playing games with you."
Just before he got up, from the corner of his eye, he saw Eddy panic.
This made him pause and wonder…
Could it be?
"The iron ore that you're providing to the Avanti Merchant House–can we also become distributors? We will stay off the path of competing with them in the markets and will only sell to the areas where their merchant house services cannot easily reach." Sam began.
"We have to find out how incredibly durable and sharp your iron is, and I'm certain that it will do better than most types of iron in the market.
With the connections and reach our families have, the profit we will realize as a collective and individually will be worthwhile.
So, what do you think, Lord Marcus?"
And Marcus smiled. They don't look like they're all here for the same reasons. And Sam, this shouldn't be the only thing you want, right?
Now that they had shown a bit of their hand, Marcus had a better idea of what they were here for.
In fact, he had an inkling when Veronica asked him if he had joined a cult.
Just now, he decided to play a bit with them and see if he could use them to his advantage.
Marcus shook his head and said, "I'm afraid not. For the next two years or so, the Avanti Merchant House will be the only distributor of our Marc Steel. So if you would like to place an order, do it through them."
"But if what you want is a custom-made item, forged out of Marc Steel, as long as you have a blueprint or idea of what you want, I believe my blacksmiths will be up to it. This is me offering an apology for how I treated you guys the last time you were here."
"Why limit yourself?" Veronica asked. "You're not rich, and calling you poor will be an understatement, so why refuse?"
Marcus's brows twitched slightly when he heard the insult in her words.
But perhaps because he had gotten used to the way she spoke, he didn't take much from her subtle insult other than annoyance.
"Because at this stage, even while I require a lot, I will not compromise on the power dynamic between myself and those I will essentially call business partners."
Marcus crossed his leg over the other and leaned forward slightly.
"Supposing I agree to this deal, business starts to boom. The demand for my Marc Steel would shoot up to an astronomical number that my current capacity can't possibly accommodate.
Which will lead to your families demanding that I give the formula to them or a partial formula–"
Sam was about to interrupt, but Marcus gestured with his hand, silencing the young man.
"It doesn't matter what we state in the contract. The point that I'm trying to make is that, without the power to deter the greedy vultures, I will not dance with them."
"But that won't change anything. Wouldn't it be better to have wider shoulders to lean on now rather than after you've already been had? With what we have seen of this Marc Steel of yours, it will eventually draw serious attention from those in the business. You should be aware of what might come upon you then."
Marcus smiled and leaned back.
He already knew that this would eventually happen. But not so soon. Not while he had control over how much of it could be made and its quality.
At the moment, there are still some irons in the market that are of better quality than the Marc Steel he was providing to the Avanti Merchant House.
So not many eyes would be on him. This was another reason why he had not asked the Avanti Merchant House to regulate the prices of Marc Steel.
Even if they started a price war in the market, that would be on them, not him.
However, it was a different thing entirely to start dealing directly with noble families.
These were people who loved to find legal excuses to deal with each other. If he opened the door to his house to them, they would come as guests and leave as robbers.