RISE OF EROS

"Where is this Silvio?", Candice asked again, but this time it was Andrew who answered, "In a pleasure house called Paradise, in the red light district. I\'d like you to be clear with the Marquis, only Silvio and Milton are spies, I want that business, so don\'t destroy it."

"Hahaha, I see that Mr. Andrew doesn\'t waste opportunities. Don\'t worry I\'ll be clear, but I won\'t promise anything. I\'ll just be an informant, not the one running the operation, so I apologize in advance if anything happens."

Andrew nodded his head in understanding. He wasn\'t so dumb as to not know that Candice wouldn\'t be able to do anything if the empire wanted to destroy the entire red-light district because of this situation, but it didn\'t hurt to warn.

"Well, we have finished our part of the deal, I await the good news from Ms. Candice," Andrew said as he stood up. Candice smiled at the comment but did not dismiss them, just sent Gaston to do so.

Once the three left the office, Candice went to a room attached to the office, where there were several cages with pigeons and hawks. She approached one of the hawks tied a note to its leg and let it fly away.

This was no ordinary hawk. Its color was darker than normal and it was also faster. It was Candice\'s most prized messenger hawk and was the one she used for urgent and special messages.

After the hawk flew away, Candice did not stay in the office, she asked the guards to prepare the carriage, as she was going to visit the Marquis Valoide\'s mansion.

The message she sent with the hawk, just said that she would visit them for important information. She even wrote that it had to do with the security of the city, as she didn\'t want the Marquis to think it was one of the usual business talks.

As Andrew and Oliver walked back to the Heavenly Palace, Candice prepared to visit the Marquis. The hawk she had sent, however, had already reached the Marques.

When Donald saw Candice\'s hawk, he was puzzled because it was not the usual hawk. Besides, he was familiar with this type of hawk and its characteristics, so he was puzzled to see this type of bird being sent.

"It seems that Ms. Candice is impatient," said Donald in a low voice as he approached to pick up the message in the hawk. After taking the message and reading it, his relaxed expression was gone and only seriousness remained.

He quickly informed his trusted butler who was accompanying him, "Richard, order the guards that when Ms. Candice arrives let her pass directly to my office. Also, call Teresa."

Richard had no idea what the message said, but he was sure it was not something simple because he only had seen Donald so serious when his wife or children were attacked and that was saying a lot.

He dared not linger and hurried out of the office to carry out Donald\'s orders. In a few minutes, Teresa arrived at the office with an expression of uncertainty because she had noticed that Richard was very serious about her summons, so she knew something had happened.

"What happened Donald?" she asked worriedly, but Donald didn\'t answer her, just handed her the message Candice had sent. She took it and read it. Donal noticing that his wife had finished reading asked, "What do you think it\'s about?".

"I don\'t know, but Candice wouldn\'t play with this," was Teresa\'s reply. At that moment a knock was heard at the door and one of the butlers of the mansion said, "Marques, Madame Candice is here."

"Let her in," Donald said and the door opened revealing Candice who was posing beautifully and elegantly with her trademark smile. "Ms. Candice, I apologize for the discourtesy, but you will understand that your message left me concerned, so I would like you to tell me the details," Donald said earnestly.

"Of course Marques Valoide," Candice replied respectfully. She is not normally so formal with Donald, but since she came to talk about such a delicate subject, she decided to be formal.

This behavior did not go unnoticed by Donald and Teresa, so they also became serious. Then the doors closed and only Candice, Donald, Teresa, and Richard remained.

Candice began to explain the whole situation almost word for word as Oliver had told her and the more they listened, the more serious the expressions of the other three became.

By the time Candice finished telling the whole story, Donald couldn\'t hold back and asked, "Are you sure about this information?" to which Candice replied, "I\'m certainly not the person who discovered this, but I have some confidence in the person who did."

"Are you willing to go out on a limb for that person?", Donald asked again inquisitively. It wasn\'t that he didn\'t believe her, but it was very sensitive information, he couldn\'t go to the palace to inform the king and have it all be a lie.

"I\'m willing," Candice replied determinedly. "All right then. You will come with me to the castle to see the king," Donald said as he turned to look at Richard and said, "Report my visit to the castle. You know how."

Richard immediately understood that Donald meant a blue hawk, so he quickly left the office. Donald gave Candice no time to think and practically dragged her into the carriage and they set off for the castle.

Not even Teresa could intervene for her friend. In the carriage, Candice was nervous because never in her wildest dreams did she imagine she would meet the king. "Marques Valoide, don\'t you think bringing a person like me into the king\'s presence is improper?"

"No. It isn\'t. The king will have many questions and you are the one who knows the answers," Donald replied nonchalantly. Candice was becoming increasingly nervous because if this information was false, she would suffer, indeed, death would not be uncommon.

Taking all this into consideration, she knew she could not lie and had to reveal that the source of the information was Andrew. She had nothing against him, but if she fell, she would bring Andrew with her, that was what she thought.

Meanwhile, the special hawk sent by Richard had arrived at the castle\'s messenger tower and the caretaker of this tower upon seeing the bird could not help but say under his breath as he furrowed his eyebrows, "Another blue hawk from the Valoid Marquis?".

Though quizzical, the caretaker of the messenger tower did not hesitate to approach the hawk and take the message. Just like last time, he did not read it, he simply ran off to find the king.

Unlike last time, the king was not in the office with the ministers but was discussing some issues with Arturios. Suddenly, the door opened violently, causing the two to turn to see who the disrespectful one was, but noticing that it was the caretaker of the message tower, they said nothing.

The king and Arturios knew him and knew that this man only acted this way when there was a message from a blue hawk. The messenger approached and unceremoniously delivered the message to the king.

The king dismissed the man and opened the message. Arturios at his side was also curious to know what the message said but did not press because he knew the king would tell him.

"It\'s from the Valoid Marquis again. He says he is on his way with a person who has vital information about a possible attack," the king said in a low, but serious voice.

Arturios was surprised at what the king had said and even more so because the person sending the message was the Valoid Marquis, of whom he had heard much but knew little.

The office fell into a stony silence and it was not until 10 minutes later that a knock was heard at the door and one of the guards said, "My king, the Valoid Marquis, and his companion are here."

"Let them in," the king immediately said, then the door opened and Donald along with Candice entered. They both bowed as etiquette dictated before the king and until the king told them to rise, they kept their heads down.

"Rise, Donald, don\'t go about with ceremonies, you have something important to tell me, don\'t you?" the king said in a friendly tone. "I appreciate the confidence my king, but I\'m really just a channel. This lady...", Donald was saying, when he noticed Arturios and changed his words, "My king who is this gentleman, is it safe to speak in front of him?".

The king upon hearing Donald could not help but laugh, but Arturios on the other hand was very pleased with Donald\'s performance. Many might get angry, but Arturios was different, to him Donald\'s cautious attitude was how he should act, so he was glad that Donald was just as he had been told.

"You don\'t have to worry, he is Master Arturios," the king said after calming his laughter. Now it was Donald\'s turn to be surprised because while he did not know him, he did know of his exploits and quickly said, "I am sorry for my disrespect, Master Arturios."

"No need to apologize, you acted appropriately. That said, let\'s get down to business, who is this lady," Arturios replied and Donald resumed his tale, "Yes sir. This lady is Candice a city merchant friend of my wife\'s and the person who informed me".

"Well, young lady, raise your head and speak," Arturios said not caring that the king did not consent. Candice was frightened to be in their presence, but gathered her courage and introduced herself, "My king, lord Arturios, my name is Candice and the information I bring was delivered by a third party, but I trust his judgment."

Then Candice again explained what Oliver had told her. The king and Arturios listened intently to the whole story and like Donald, their expressions changed every minute and when she finished speaking, Arturios immediately asked, "Who is the source?".

Candice answered without hesitation because she could not hide this in the presence of the king and the protector of the kingdom, so she said, "A business ally named Andrew. He is the owner of a pleasure house in the red light district."

"What is the name of this pleasure house?" asked Arturios seriously and Candice dared not hide it and said, "Heavenly Palace." Candice had barely finished speaking when Arturios had already disappeared from the office.

Andrew and Oliver had already arrived at the Heavenly Palace and were now in the office together with Carolina, Helena, Aki, and Marie discussing how they would act from now on when out of nowhere in the middle of all of them appeared Arturios.

WORDS OF THE AUTHOR

(Dear readers, I know I usually post 3 chapters this day, but I had a state exam and unfortunately, I can\'t meet the quota. I apologize to you, but I tried to make this one chapter a little longer as an apology. I promise to make it up to you later.)