“How dare you?!” James erupted in anger. “You dare call my grandson unworthy?!”
“Father, please calm down,” Mordred held his father in a bear hug. He was afraid if the old man really went all out, the Duchess would have her neck ripped off from her body.
The guards who were standing behind their employers drew their swords and stood between the two parties.
“Sorry, Lord Ainsworth,” Agatha replied with a light bow. “Although I had offended your family, I will not allow my daughter to marry your grandson. Even if it was decreed by my husband’s father.”
“Where is that bastard?” James asked. “Bring him here! I want him to explain the reason why he is backing out of our agreement!”
“The old Duke had gone to explore the desert in the South,” Agatha replied. “I’m afraid that it would be impossible to get in touch with him at this point in time.”
James laughed in contempt, “I see. So, you took the opportunity while he was away to break this engagement. In short, he is not aware of your actions, am I right, Lady Agatha?”
“Yes. The old Duke is not aware of my actions,” Agatha admitted. Her stance made it clear that she was not going to back down. She was hell bent on breaking the marriage agreement while her husband’s father was away from their Dutchy.
“Good. Good. Good!” James glared at the woman in front of her. “To think that a little baroness would act like this after marrying a Duke. Truly disappointing. So, is your husband in agreement to this as well?”
“My husband shares the same opinion.” Agatha raised her chin. “The current Duke of Griffith doesn’t recognize this arranged marriage. If you want to talk to him then feel free to come to the Dukedom of Griffith. We will be more than happy to give you our hospitality.”
“Hospitality?” James sneered. “A sl*t like you and that bastard better wash your necks. You want me to come to your Dutchy? Fine, I will bring the Red Plague along with me when I visit. I want to see just how the two of you are planning to give me your hospitality!”
Agatha and the cold beauty, Eleanor, from the Misty Sect had a sudden change in their expression. They looked at the old man in shock because they knew that he was dead serious.
“What’s wrong?” James said in disdain. “Scared? You think you and your husband have the authority to break this agreement? As for you, Eleanor of the Misty Sect, it seems that you and those old hags in your Ice Mountain have a lot of free time. Do you also want me to give you a visit? I’m very curious, what kind of hospitality will you give this old man?”
Agatha’s and Eleanor’s expressions were very grim. Although the possibility of the Red Plague returning to their kingdom was low, they couldn’t deny this possibility. Both of them couldn’t afford to pay the consequence if the old man made his threat a reality.
“Gramps, calm down.” William patted his grandfather’s arm. “You are being rude to our guests.”
“You brat! I’m doing this for you!” If there weren’t other people around, James would have already grabbed the little prick and spanked his bum to oblivion.
“Don’t worry gramps, I’ll handle this,” William said with a smile. “Just calm down. I don’t want you to get a heart-attack. It’s just not worth it. Aunt, can you bring grandpa to his room. I’ll take care of our guests for the time being.”
Anna eyed her nephew with appreciation and nodded her head. “Father, let’s go. I’m sure that William will be able to deal with these pests- I mean, our guests.”
James snorted and left the living room in a huff. Mordred sighed and motioned for his nephew to sit by his side.
Seeing that the dangerous situation had died down, the four guards sheathed their weapons and stood behind their employers.
“Alright, so you came here to break the marriage agreement.” William nodded his head. “Can you tell me why?”
Agatha looked at the boy in front of her in surprise. The way he acted was not that of a ten-year-old. Although she didn’t feel like she was talking to an adult, she still thought that the one who was taking the lead in the conversation was not a child.
“Allow me to answer your question,” Eleanor replied. “Rebecca is a genius. A genius that is only born once every two hundred years. As her Master, I can’t allow my disciple to marry a nobody.”
“Ah, I see.” William nodded his head. “Perfectly understandable.”
“Y-you agree?” Eleanor frowned. “You agree that you are not worthy of my disciple?”
“Hmm? You are mistaken.” William shook his head. “I understand your reason, but I don’t agree with it. However, since you came here to break the marriage agreement due to this reason, you must surely have made sufficient preparations, right?”
Agatha was starting to feel that the filthy boy in front of her was not as simple as he seemed. His mannerisms, and the way he acted, made her feel that this marriage agreement wasn’t a big deal to him.
“What do you mean made sufficient preparations?” Agatha asked.
“What I mean is, have you prepared your compensation?” William smiled. “Since you are planning to break the marriage agreement, you should have brought a suitable compensation to make us agree to your demand, right?”
Mordred who was listening to his nephew had a calm expression on his face. However, deep inside, he was very alarmed. William had never acted like this in front of them before, and for a moment, he was unsure if the boy sitting next to him was his real nephew or not.
“I see.” Agatha nodded her head. “You want compensation right? Very well, how much gold do you want?”
“Gold? I’m not interested in gold,” William replied. “Do you think we are poor?”
‘Yes,’ Agatha thought.
‘You are poor,’ Eleanor mused.
‘Very poor.’ Rebecca smiled.
‘Actually, we are very poor.’ Mordred sighed in his heart, but didn’t say anything. He needed to act as if gold wasn’t a big deal to him in order to support his nephew in the negotiations.
“My goodness, where is our manners?” William placed his hand over his forehead as if he had completely forgotten something. “Aunt Helen, please serve our guests some tea. Here, use these special leaves I picked on my way back home.”
William shamelessly picked the leaves, and grasses that were stuck on his clothes one by one. He didn’t even spare the leaves that had fallen on his head while he slept in the valley.
“As you wish, young master,” Helen, the maid of the family, took the leaves with a smile. She then proceeded to the kitchen in order to brew the “special tea” for their guests.
“Don’t worry, tea will be served shortly.” William gave his guests a bright smile. “I want to show all of you our hospitality.”
Mordred averted his gaze and gave a light cough. Although he was poor, he was not shameless enough to serve tea made from the wild grasses that the goats of Lont fed on in the valley.
Agatha and Eleanor did their best to keep their disgust from appearing on their faces. They couldn’t believe that William actually dared to serve them tea made from wild grass! This was a slap to their faces and it made them seethe in anger.
Rebecca, on the other hand, looked at William with amusement. She didn’t really care about the marriage agreement and didn’t think much of her fiance. However, the more she looked at William, the more pleasing he became in her eyes.
