"Oh, look who’s here." a familiar voice came from his right and he turned to look at his ex-wife.

Felicia tensed up and was about to think of a way to get herself out of this situation when Adrian just turned away and continued walking.

Aria gave her mother a disgusted look and turned away too.

Marchioness Valeira’s face turned red as her new husband began to console her. Not even a month had passed and she had already married again.

Felicia nervously walked with Adrian, hoping that the Marchioness wouldn’t cause any more trouble and by god’s grace, her luck seemed to be good today.

"Ohhh if it isn’t the new and young baron that’s the talk of the town!" a pot bellied man with a hairline so far back that it looked like a lawnmower had passed through it, said.

Adrian looked at him and gave him an amicable smile as he glanced at the people who were standing with him.

Aria turned to look at them too, and saw two young men and a woman who seemed out of place as she was wearing a knight’s armor.

Seeing their gazes, the man grinned, "Well, let me introduce you to my three pearls. This is my eldest son, Sebastian Kaldwin. My second child, beautiful but a fiery one, Claire Kaldwin and this is my last child, Bastian Kaldwin."

Bastian didn’t even look like he was on earth as he simply stared at Felicia like he was looking at an angel.

’Ah it’s Baron Kaldwin and his family...’ Adrian thought as he nodded politely and put Aria down.

"Well, my family isn’t as big as yours but this is my lovely daughter, Aria."

Aria bowed politely and then raised her head before smiling at the four of them, "My name is Aria Sterling."

"See Claire, if you married like I told you to, you’d have a cute daughter just like him." the baron said and gave her a sideways glance but the girl just ignored him.

’Ah... family drama.’ Adrian thought to himself while the first son of the baron took a step forward, "Baron Adrian, if you don’t mind, can we talk in private? I have an offer to make to you."

Adrian raised an eyebrow, glanced at the baron who wasn’t saying anything and came to a conclusion that Sebastian had the freedom to take certain actions without the baron’s permission.

"Sure." Adrian said and looked down at Aria, "Aria, can you stay here with big sis Felicia?"

"I’m pretty sure that Felicia is busy handling the guests. You should ask someone else." Bastian said as he looked at Adrian with a gaze that told him to back off.

Adrian just smiled and nodded, "Right, she must be busy." he said and turned to her, "I apologize for not asking you before hand."

"I can keep an eye on her if you’d like." Claire said as she took a step forward and knelt down in front of Aira. Unlike Felicia who tried to pinch her cheeks, Claire just smiled and asked, "Would you like to play with me? I can also take you to a table filled with delicious food."

She had hit the mark.

Aira looked up at her father, made eye contact and let go of his hand before taking a step forward toward Claire.

"I guess she’ll go with anyone as long as they offer her food." Adrian said and chuckled as he watched Claire take Aira to the table filled with sweets, drinks and snacks.

At the same time, Bastian looked at Felicia and gave her a toothy grin, "Um... do you mind if I accompany you?"

’... the fuck is that? Didn’t you just tell me that she’s busy?’ Adrian thought as he stared at the guy in absolute awe, ’Wow... this fucking bitch...’

"Baron Adrian, would you mind? Oh and Dad, you might want to join us."

Baron Kaldwin nodded silently and followed his son along with Adrian and the three of them found a bunch of chairs to sit.

"Baron Adrian, I have heard about the blessed dungeon in your barony and I would like to ask if you can sell the iron and steel ingots directly to our family at a lower price?"

"Lower price..." Adrian muttered as he leaned back on his chair, "Well here’s the thing. My people are already selling top quality iron and steel at the same cost of mediocre quality iron and steel. I don’t mind selling it to you for a lower cost but what are you willing to give me in return."

Baron Kaldwin grinned as he watched his son falter. He was a great strategist and fighter but when it came to the concept of trades, he had close to zero experience.

"This is why I told you to that your brother would be a great financial advisor for you. You can’t just ask people to give you something for free." he said and watched as Sebastian sighed.

"I just wanted to impress you but I guess I tried to chew more than I could. I’ll leave this to you, dad."

"Yes, watch and learn." Baron Kaldwin said before he turned to look at Adrian, "We can offer you top tier weapons for half the market price."

Adrian shook his head, "I don’t need them. What else can you give me?"

The man’s confidence immediately went down. No one had ever rejected this offer, not even the emperor himself.

"You... okay. If I could convince my daughter, I would give her hand to you for marriage but she’s being rebellious nowadays. My barony deals with weapons and we make most of our money by selling weapons. I don’t really know what else I can give you." he said and shook his head, looking defeated.

Adrian looked at the two of them and smiled, "Well, when you got the barony, the emperor gave you something else too."

"You want the Royal Knight’s Training Manual?"

Adrian nodded, "I know about the restrictions so I promise you that I’ll only use it for myself. I will not sell it to anyone and nor will let anyone from my barony learn it." he said as he excitedly rubbed his palms together.