Chapter 403: Mr Wang

The man bowed slightly. "My lord, this is something we received from a messenger. A messenger who claims to be working for Adrian. He advised me not to open it, and said that it was only for you to see."

Roderick nodded.

He took the scroll from the man and broke the seal. He unrolled the thick parchment and started reading through it.

The handwriting was neat, but the words themselves were too casual for Roderick’s tastes.

Hello, Roderick.

Or well, good morning, good afternoon, or good evening. Or maybe good night if you are about to sleep, but I don’t think you will be having a good night after reading this.

I am actually glad to bring to your attention that I have sent my men to your birth village. Or should I say, the birth village of your mother.

Greenwells Village. I guess that is what the name is.

And let me bring to your attention that I have sent a few of my men to meet your family. By now they would have already met your mother, your lover, and also your child.

You are really careful, and you know how to keep secrets. But I know a lot about you since I know how to find things. And I know that you are probably thinking about going for my daughter right now.

So I basically made my move before you did.

Don’t even try.

Because if you do, there is nothing stopping me from going for the people you love. I will destroy everything you hold dear. Even your ritual cave. I will use that exact same cave to hunt you down, using the same rituals you’ve been using. I will take over your group and make them work for me. I will take over the royal court and every single noble and you will have no one left to support you. The only reason they supported you was because you held a lot of power, but do you really hold the same amount of power over me?

Don’t do things you will regret. I am already doing you a favor by letting you live. So I’m warning you again. Don’t even dare.

If I find even one of your men or even your brother’s men near Oresfall or my people, I will be coming for you.

And if I find you going towards your village to meet your family, I will not do anything of course. Everyone deserves to be happy after all. But if I see you going to that village with your men or even a small group, then my men will act. I have already given my orders, so they will act even if they must die afterwards. You are only allowed to go there alone.

I promise you that my men will not act unless you try and run away with your family.

Roderick’s hands shook slightly. His eyes moved downwards to the last few lines.

I know everything about you, Roderick. Every single thing. I actually like the way you do things, but I do not like you personally and I do not think we can be friends. So keep your schemes and antics to yourself because I can go further than you and I can be much more brutal than you.

She is the only one I have in my life, but you have three.

And I do know that the reason you left Max alive is because he was the only one who did not look down on you while you were a child. He was peer pressured into it of course, but he always apologized afterwards, did he not? You adore him secretly.

But I will kill him slowly and I will do it right in front of you... just like you killed his favourite brother all those years ago. But unlike you, I won’t be quick with it.

Do not cross me, do not underestimate me, and do not ever think that this is a bluff.

So as a warning, and since I know that you are someone who would like to test whether things are true or not, why don’t you test this out? Send someone to Oresfall, or send someone to your village. You will see one of your people who works for you, one of the leaders of the information network that you have built over the years, with his head on your table. Or somewhere in your room. I just told them to deliver it to you, so I do not really know where they will put it.

But yeah, you can have fun confirming.

But of course, it will come at a cost. Everything has a cost, Roderick, and I know that you believe in this. And I mean it when I say it... even thinking about harming my daughter has a cost.

Roderick took a deep, trembling breath.

He tightened the scroll back up and tied it off before shoving it deep into his pocket. He stood up slowly and looked at the man standing in front of him.

"I have a mission for you."

Back inside the restaurant named Prosperous Food, Adrian looked at the young waitress.

"Marriage, huh?" he muttered. "I see..."

He looked at the girl and then glanced at the thin wooden plank and piece of charcoal she was holding in her hands.

"Okay, so I am curious about something. Can you tell me who brought this dish to the kitchen? Like who taught you guys this dish about the fish you are serving? Or is it someone who has already been working here who invented it?"

The girl stammered slightly.

"My lord, it is someone called... the chefs just call him Mr. Wang."

Adrian blinked. He looked slightly taken aback.

"Wait. Wang Lei?"

The girl nodded and then shook her head right after.

"My lord, I only know that they call him Mr. Wang. I do not know his full name."

Adrian nodded slowly.

"Okay, is he still here?"