The Emperor's Secret Luna

Chapter 8: Start of a Dispute

“Please, let’s stop arguing about this. I have a suggestion to settle this dispute.” The shop owner finally spoke after some time, “This rare parrot bird is one of the smartest species in the wild. How about we let it choose as to whom she is going to follow?”

In the cage, the parrot bird seemed to understand the shop owner’s words and ran her head over Alvira and Vera.

Vera smiled brightly after hearing the shop owner’s suggestion. She walked up to the bird and bent down, her hand reaching through the cage and trying to stroke the head of the parrot bird.

However, the parrot bird moved to the side and dodged Vera’s touch, her eyes filled with disgust. For some reason, the parrot bird didn’t like the smell of the woman who was about to touch her.

Humans and birds are different. If a human was able to judge a person by their appearance, birds relied on their smell. No matter how well-disguised a person was, they could conceal nothing from the eyes of a parrot bird and no disguise could escape from their nose.

Vera’s fingers paused, but she still smiled as if she didn’t feel embarrassed at all.

“You are such a poor creature. Don’t worry, on my land, you will be free to spread your wings and fly to the vast land as high as you want. I will take care of you and treat you as a member of our Campbell. You will never be alone again, so would you like to go with me?”

In the eyes of the crowd, Vera was gentle, generous, and kind-hearted. Human beings treat birds and other animals as just ordinary hobbies or a tool to pass their time. Some even treat them for money purposes and as a treasure to be displayed. But it was only Vera who said that she would treat the bird not just as a tool, but as a family.

Hearing her sincere words, the crowd believed that the bird would surely be moved by her sincerity. After all, she would be doomed to a tragic end if it fell into the hands of others. No one would be able to reject such kind words from Vera Campbell.

“Little bird, come with me.” Vera’s voice was so tempting that no one could resist it. But, the parrot bird remained unmoved as ever, not even a single reaction came from it.

“I will open the cage now. Whoever she chooses will be her future master.” The shop owner slowly walked and opened the cage with the key. He dared to do so because there was a special chain locked on its legs that would hinder it from flying. It can only be unlocked with the special key in his hands.

The parrot bird staggered out of the cage, as the specialized chain was so heavy on its legs.

With a confident smile, Vera believed that this parrot bird would choose her. On the other hand, Esther looked nervous and she threw a worried look at Alvira. After all, her young lady hadn’t spoken a single word to the parrot bird all this while.

Feeling her anxiety, Alvira gently tapped her on the shoulder. “That bird is smart. She will know what’s best for her.”

Vera secretly scoffed at Alvira’s words yet her smiling expression didn’t change one bit. She gazed at the bird with a confident smile, as if it was already a safe bet for her.

However, her smile suddenly froze when the bird slowly walked toward Alvira’s side. Her fave turned blue with anger as she glared at the bird approaching Alvira.

Even though the heavy weight of the chain made the parrot bird stagger in its steps, its pace was firm and she didn’t stop until she reached the front of Alvira. Its silent action had shown the crowd her choice.

In the street, the crowd was in an uproar and everyone looked at the parrot bird with sympathy.

“This bird will not last long. How could she choose that young lady over Miss Vera?”

“That parrot bird must be courting death?”

Alvira bent down and took the parrot bird by the hand, then handed it to Esther. She then glanced at the shop owner and said, “It’s mine now, right?”

The shop owner nodded immediately, “Since it has chosen you, then it is yours.”

Being ignored by Alvira, Vera’s face turned purple. “Let’s go!” She looked a final look at Alvira and quickly left, followed by the guards and maids of the Campbell family.

Back at the Campbell Mansion, a young lady was quietly reading a book in the pavilion when Vera came in with a black face. She then closed her book and said, “Looking at you, the little spoiled young miss of the Campbell Family must have been a bad day. Who dared to bully you?”

Vera stopped and frowned, and a gleam of disgust flickered across her eyes. This half-sister of hers was an eyesore to her. If it was not because of her father, she would have long driven her out.

“None of your business!”

The woman smiled and walked up to Vera. “Vera, you are skilled at fooling everyone. They think that you were such a good girl, but I know what kind of a person you are. Everyone says that you treat those animals you bought as a family, but I know that you were abusing them. You have killed countless of them when you became angry!”

Hearing the lady’s words, Vera’s face greatly changed. She turned to the man and shouted angrily. “Stop spouting nonsense!”

“Nonsense, you say?” The woman sneered, “As far as I know, you were buying some rare animals every month but in the end, they disappeared like a bubble. Now tell me, if I’m just spouting nonsense, where are they now?”

Vera clenched her fists and cast a threatening glance at the woman’s face, “Keep your mouth shut, or else, I’ll make you regret ever coming back to this mansion!”

Unbeknownst to everyone’s knowledge, Vera Campbell had an obsession that only her closest relatives knew. She had an obsession with torturing living creatures. The intensity of the t*****e depends on her mood. If her emotions are very unstable, the t*****e is at its peak as it was the only way for her obsession to be satisfied.

In the past, she tortured the servants serving her. However, when one of her servants died because of it, her father pushed her to use animals instead. Her method of torturing was so strong and deadly that an ordinary animal would fall dead as soon as possible, so she only bought rare types of animals.

Putting her hand behind her back, the young lady raised the corners of her lips and said languidly, “Vera, I don’t have any interest in the wealth of the Campbell family nor do I want to contend about being the heiress. You can have it all for yourself, so I just want you to leave me alone and let me have a carefree life.”

Hearing this, Vera only gave her a suspicious glance. “If that’s the case, you better keep it. If I learned that you were coveting this family’s wealth, I would definitely not let you go.” She then flicked her sleeves and left.

After Vera left, the woman’s eyes turned cold immediately, and she whispered, “Don’t worry, I don’t have any desire to acquire this disgusting family. You can have it for yourself and crumble together with it and destroy this family to the ground. You just wait, Campbell Family!”

***

At that moment, after successfully buying the parrot bird, Alvira and Esther returned to Berxley Village.

Sir Hillard was already finished setting up their temporary settlements so Alvira directly went to her quarters. However, as soon as she stepped in, she heard that Sir Hillard was talking to someone. She pondered for a while and told Esther to take the parrot bird with her.

In the largest tent hall, Sir Hillard sat opposite a middle-aged man but he looked sullen. After seeing Alvira enter, he quickly stood up.

“Young lady, you are finally back.”

Alvira nodded and glanced at the middle-aged man. “Sir Hillard, you have a visitor?”

Sir Hillard’s face darkened, “He is the head butler of the Campbell family. He came here under the orders of Baron Campbell to sell a plot of land in Cromere Village that he owns to us. But as far as I know, that land had some problems and any kind of plants will wither if planted on it.”

He meant that Baron Campbell went there to swindle them by selling them a wasteland where no plants could be planted!

Hearing Sir Hillard’s blunt words, the butler from the Campbell Family turned sullen and stood up with a snort, “Do you know what the status of our Campbell Family in Anestin City is? What makes you think that we need to swindle you? Many people wanted to buy that land from us! You should be grateful that I agreed to sell it to you!”

Sir Hillard’s face darkened and just when he was about to rebuke him, Alvira raised her hand and stopped him.

“What’s the price?”

Sir Hillard paused, turned his eyes to Alvira, and tried to stop her, “Young lady, that is a wasteland! It will be useless for us.”

Alvira ignored him and just stared at the middle-aged man with an expressionless face, “I said, what’s the price?”

When the butler heard these words, he was relieved and burst into laughter, “Good choice! You have good eyes! My land has other uses even if no plants can grow on it! I’ll offer you a good price, five hundred thousand gold coins!”

Alvira’s eyes turned cold as she stared at him in the eyes, “Five hundred thousand gold coins? You must be kidding me. That land doesn’t have any other uses. I’m planning to use it as a storage area as I lack one. Do you think I would spend such an amount on just a storage area?”

The butler’s eyes darkened, “Then how much are you willing to pay?”

“10 thousand gold coins.”

The butler turned black with anger, “Young lady, you can only buy land with that amount in a desolate village just like Berxley Village, but that land I’m offering is located at Cromer Village! This price is too low!”

Looking at his black face, Alvira remained expressionless. “Choose, leave the land idle, or exchange it for ten thousand gold coins. If you could find someone to buy it, you wouldn’t have come here and offered it to us.”

The butler thought that this young lady was gullible because she was so young and she was alone, but he was wrong. She was not someone on who he could easily make a profit.

Her words were certainly true. If they could find someone to buy that piece of land, they wouldn’t have come here to this village. At the thought of this, the butler clenched his teeth and said, “Alright. You can buy that land for ten thousand gold coins. Here is the title deed of it.”

After all, ten thousand gold coins are better than a useless wasteland.

“Good,” Alvira turned her head towards Sir Hillard and said, “Sir Hillard, give him the money.”

Sir Hillard was rather reluctant but he couldn’t disobey his master. He could only take out the money and sullenly give it to the butler.

“Young Lady, I hope we can have more cooperation in the future.” He made an obeisance and left without looking back.

“Lady Alvira,” gazing at his receding figure, Sir Hillard frowned, “Why do you want this land?”

“For a hideout.”

Sir Hillard shook his head with a wry smile, “But we can build a hideout in Berxley Village. We really didn’t need to waste ten thousand gold coins.”

He was not grudging over ten thousand gold coins. After all, for the Grand Duchy of Chantrea, that amount is only a small amount. But, he just didn’t want to be swindled by the Campbell family.

“No, the hideout will be built on that land.” Alvira said as she stared at the map placed on the long table, “I will be needing land that is not under my name.”

Sir Hillard paused, “Lady Alvira, what do you mean?”

“Because it is near the forest… Find some people to build that hideout on the land. But under a disguise of a warehouse. I want it to be finished before the Spring Festival.”

***

In the following week, Alvira headed towards Cromere Village to check out the land of the Campbell Family. There was only one quiet and desolate place in the bustling market district. With a lot of weeds on it, this land had no trace of human footprints. Obviously, it had been abandoned for a long time, just like Berxley Village.

Alvira stopped as she glanced at the familiar forest on the far western side of the land, “Is it only a dream?”

The entrance of the dense forest was exactly the same image in her dream. When she first stepped into Anestin City, the colorful lanterns were so familiar to her that she felt nostalgic. It was her first time seeing them, so she felt perplexed by her sense of familiarity.

It was only at that time that she was offered to buy that piece of land from the Campbell Family. The location of the land was near the forest. That thought startled her as the memory of that dream resurfaced in her mind.

There was a dense forest and near it was a wasteland, a barren area. It was a rare occurrence and she did not believe in coincidences at all. So, she bought that piece of land because she wanted to check something.

“Will I be meeting you here? Will those assassins trap you in this forest?” Alvira murmured, her eyes cast an emotion that she couldn’t name.

“Lady Alvira!”

Her thoughts were interrupted when Esther came back from running, “I asked around the villagers and they said that there was indeed a cliff inside the forest.”

Alvira’s eyes trembled slightly, “Are you certain?”

“Yes, Lady Alvira,” Esther nodded eagerly, “I have asked an old couple who had been frequently going in and out of that forest. They said that there was a cliff inside and it was very deadly. No one was able to fathom how deep that cliff was. They also said that some locals attempted to check out that cliff, but none of them managed to return. So, they assumed that they must have died there.”

Alvira’s fist clenched tightly after hearing the affirmation. There are no what-ifs. Whether it was bound to happen or not, she couldn’t just sit back and do nothing. She was certain that only by meeting that person would she be able to find the answers she was looking for.

Slowly turning around, she looked at the troops sent by Sir Hillard behind her and ordered, “Finish building this storage warehouse in a week. If you need more people, hire more locals to help with this construction.”

“Yes, Lady Alvira!”

‘Is it reality or fiction? Who are you really?'