Matthis Valmest was a bachelor of age 25 who had had relations with a few of the noblewomen but none had gone past the engagement phase.

He wasn’t quite handsome with his light brown hair, murky green eyes and an average built but he was a popular man among his friends, whoever had a problem or needed money or had a good idea for a party they would seek out Matthis.

His life wasn’t as peaceful though and after his father’s death, the biggest pain in his neck was his father’s illegitimate daughter who acted as the proxy, Nyx. She wouldn’t let him use his own money and to make things worse even the household personnel would support her while acting loyal to his face.

He had thought he could solve the problems of the Barony by having Oasis Foundation’s support but the one who came was Prince Carlos, the kind of a man whom his vixen of a stepsister could easily fool and get on her side.

He turned his head and looked at her, she was dressed in her usual muted deep green long gown which didn’t have any frills nor jewels. Her long ash brown hair was tied back in a loose braid and she carried herself with a balanced poise. He always felt the sense of monotony and bad luck when he saw her.

As if feeling his gaze on her, she turned her head slightly and her cool grayish blue eyes met his. Matthis scowled and turned his head back to face the path. He always found her eyes the most hateful aspect of her. The hollow, emotionless pits always made him feel like she wasn’t a human.

The only person who was by his side in his house was his personal maid who would do his tasks for him without any questions, he would just have to pay her a little.

The carriage stopped before them and they all bowed, Matthis wasn’t expecting the Prince to solve their problems, but at the very least, he was hoping that if he could get Carlos on his side, it wouldn’t be a loss. After all, even a dead horse had some value.

Carlos stepped out of the carriage and Matthis glanced at him, he had seen Carlos from afar a lot of times during the royal balls but watching him up close he couldn’t help but feel envy and pity.

This man had everything that he had wanted but just like himself, an illegitimate thorn had taken away everything that rightfully belonged to him.

Matthis had an idea for this, but he could only wonder if it would work.

Carlos walked ahead and Matthis straightened up, and despite his thoughts of having Carlos on his side, the disdain and pity on his face flashed clearly to Carlos.

"Welcome, Your Highness, I am Matthis Valmest. It’s an immense honor for our territory that Your Highness has arrived here to aid is." Matthis spoke keeping utmost respect and politeness in his tone.

Carlos gave him an impassive look as per Ruel’s instruction before his eyes fell on the girl who stood at some distance from Matthis, closer to the Head Butler of the mansion.

"That must be the illegitimate daughter of Baron." Carlos thought.

The girl was dipped in a perfect curtsy, she looked too frail in her modest gown. Unlike Matthis, she hadn’t raised her head to greet Carlos, she still had her head down along with the other household personnel.

"Rise." Carlos commanded and they all straightened up.

The household personnel didn’t look Carlos in the eye but the girl did. In that moment, Carlos somehow felt as if she was almost insubstantial, like a presence made of fog, if he asked much as blinked, she would be gone.

He must have stared at her for a tad bit longer that’s why Matthis cleared his throat making Carlos blink.

Matthis gestured at Maelis, "This is Nyx... Valmest,"

Matthis provided no other word for her and Carlos stepped towards her.

"I welcome, Your Highness to Valmest." She spoke, her voice despite her hollow being was filled with the feeling of politeness, as if that was what had been filled in her.

"I hope our territory will see golden days under your rule."

Carlos’s eyes widened while Matthis scowled at her. Till now, nobody had made it obvious that Carlos was there to rule, they wouldn’t even give him a shred of actual power but she was outright verbal with it.

Carlos wondered if she was really genuine with her words or if she was mocking him.

He stepped ahead and reached out to her, Nyx placed her bony, pale hand in his larger one and Carlos felt her cold skin against his.

He leaned over and placed a gentle peck over her knuckles before he straightened up.

"I hope so too." He responded to her greeting and her eyes for once showed a little emotion, surprise and caution.

Carlos was led inside the mansion, a room on the third floor was prepared for him, taking into consideration that he was the spoiled royal Prince. The people had tried hard to fill his room with as many decorative items as they could.

He was led to his room by Matthis who spoke non-stop about how the Barony was suffering and how he had been trying his best to keep his late father’s wishes to maintain it.

"I’ll see you during dinner, Your Highness." He smiled and finally left.

Carlos sighed feeling his head aching as he closed the door and walked over and plopped down on the bed without removing his clothes or boots. His luggage was already placed in the room but was yet to be unpacked.

"Which one do you think can be the puppet?" Carlos asked.

Ruel didn’t answer for a few seconds before he hummed.

"Both of them seem like they could be used, but I think the girl is a little hard to take over."

Carlos frowned.

"I don’t like the man, he’s too talkative."

"He is quite verbose... but we can just make sure he doesn’t open his mouth around us."

Carlos sighed and turned to his side, feeling the exhaustion of the day starting to kick in.

There was a knock on the door and he hollered whoever it was to enter as he closed his eyes.

The maids entered reluctant and watched Carlos lying in his bed, they wordlessly started unpacking his luggage placing his outfits into the wardrobe and the other stuff in its place.

Among the maids was Matthis personal maid Susan who was there to check on Carlos on Matthis word.

She watched as Carlos fell asleep without any care of assassination or any foul play.

In the evening, Carlos changed his clothes and walked out of his room for dinner. The Valmest mansion was considerable humble and darker than any place that he’d lived in. The stony walls and the carpeted floors seemed to have seen histories yet the portraits on the walls were scarce. There weren’t many luxurious items visible in sight that would decorate any normal noble’s mansion in the capital. It was as if he was really in a poor household.

In his whole life, Carlos was used to seeing the dining table full of dishes but when he walked inside the dining hall of Valmest mansion. He saw the dishes to be limited, there was a roasted bird in the center and some fruits and bread along with some other dishes.

Matthis hadn’t arrived yet but Nyx was there, she was talking to the Head Maid when Carlos had arrived.

The servants and Nyx bowed to Carlos and he nodded, his eyes going back to the dining table.

Nyx noticed his gaze before saying, "We have prepared some local delicacies for Your Highness, this bird is actually the Behran bird found only in the mountains at Valmest and this bread is made from barley that grows in the fields. The soups are made using the vegetables and spices that we import..."

Carlos listened quietly as Nyx explained, he saw the little glint of pride in her eyes as she spoke and he nodded along. She was dressed in the similar simple gown as she had been wearing when she had welcomed him in the late afternoon which made him wonder if the rumors of what he had heard that the illegitimate daughter of the Baron was a woman of lavish lifestyle was true or not.

She seemed mildly eager to explain about her territory unlike her usual hollowness that had struck him when he saw her. Her hair was still loosely braided back, the tresses flowing past her hips.

If this were his usual self, he would have already commented about how the quantity and quality of the food was too low for his status but considering his bleak future, he had the sense of not opening his mouth.

After her explanation was done, she gestured for him to take the seat and suddenly the doors of the dining hall opened and Matthis walked in.

He smiled as he saw Carlos but his eyes turned rigid when he noticed Nyx.

"Please forgive my tardiness, Your Highness." He bowed.

Carlos noticed as how Matthis was dressed in beige silk shirt with an embroidered vest and black dress pants. His hair was set perfectly.

"I hope today’s meal doesn’t offend you, Your Highness." Matthis said as he approached Carlos.

"We are facing some trouble in the territory which is why the farm produce and the lifestock are hard to come by. It is especially for you that we had prepared this much of food or else, because of the expenses, we could only eat a quarter of what’s visible here."

Carlos’s eyebrows twitched, he could see that Matthis was not only mocking him but also taking a jab at Nyx who was behind him.

Carlos’s eyes narrowed for a moment and before he could process he heard Ruel’s voice in his head.

"Repeat what I say, boy. Word to word."

Carlos opened his mouth and repeated what Ruel said, "I can see that, and I can also see how you could clean up so well, My Lord. I’m sure you will take care of all my needs while I’m here and I shall take care of the problems that you have."

Matthis’s smile froze for a moment and even Carlos was a little surprised at the cold response but he liked Matthis reaction.

"Let’s have dinner together now, shall we?" He beamed swallowing the little blow that Carlos had delivered and Carlos nodded.

"All right,"

Carlos took a seat on the farther end of the table with Matthis at the head of the table, Nyx took a seat leaving two seats empty on Matthis’s left.

"You can never trust rumours." Ruel commented and Carlos could see that.