“Well, I’m relieved with your assurance, Mr. Turnbull.”
Aesop bowed his head at Glen before turning and beckoning at the procession. “Wrap it up—we’re heading back now. We’re coming back next week!”
“Yes, sir.” Everyone answered at once.
It was clear that Aesop held authority too—at his orders, even Sif and Titus kept quiet despite having something to say.
All they could do was to grumpily return to their cars and head home.
Along the way, Titus was resting his eyes at the backseat, whereas Sif was ranting relentlessly, telling Aesop everything about her beef with Frank.
“Hmph.” Aesop snorted. “I’m surprised that the whippersnapper had it in him.”
Musing to himself for a moment, he then glanced between Titus and Sif. “Neither of you leaked our grand scheme, have you?”
“No way.” Sif shook her head. “No more than a handful of us are aware of it. No one would catch on. And there’s no way that mad witch would tell the Turnbulls a thing.”
“Well then, I’m relieved.”
Aesop nodded, rubbing his chin. “Still, Glen’s reaction today is worth looking into. There’s no reason for him to get tough against us, refusing to proceed with the wedding even if it meant war against us. Someone must be messing around.”
“It must be Frank Lawrence!”
Sif snapped angrily, folding her arms before her chest. “He’s as cunning as he is hard to read. We can’t rest easy as long as he exists!”
“In that case, we’ll have to send someone to deal with him.”
Aesop nodded before turning to Titus. “Well, you’ve been quiet for a while. What do you think about any of this?”
“Eliminating Frank is a must,” Titus growled coolly as he opened his eyes, his demeanor a lot less casual than earlier. “We’d have to spend a fortune too—this job would take at least five Volsung Sect elders.”
“Five?” Sif gaped in disbelief. “Dear brother, don’t you think you’re being paranoid?”
After all, there was the mandatory rule that every Volsung Sect elder must be at least mid-Ascendant rank. To send five such individuals against some whippersnapper was overkill, to say the least.
“Paranoid? Not at all,” Titus retorted quietly nonetheless. “If anything, I think that’s not enough. There’s just no way to read Frank Lawrence… but I suspect that he is Donn Lawrence, exile of Mystic Sky Sect.”
“What?!” Everyone gasped at Titus’ words.
If Frank really was Donn, then he bore a blood grudge against the Lionhearts. Their close allies, Volsung Sect, was one of the factions who profited the most from the fall of Mystic Sky Sect three years ago.
Nonetheless, Sif assured Titus, “Don’t worry. I’ll bring my men and personally capture him!”
“No,” Titus shook his head. “You should be more prudent and merciless. He must be killed on the spot.”
“What?” Sif was left taken aback. “But back at Turnbull House, you said—”
“That’s for anyone who’s listening.” Aesop chuckled, glancing proudly at Titus. “The first thing one must learn as a successor of the Lionhearts is to hide your real self. Titus has already grasped that lesson, while you need to work on that, Sif!”
“Yeah,” Sif replied, lowering her head at Aesop’s lecture.
Titus turned toward her impassively. “Is Ehud coming back soon?”
“Yeah.” Sif nodded. “In a week.”
