Chapter: The Cheater's Audit act 1
It was three weeks after Leornars Servs Avrem had delivered his audit in The kingdom of Dirrium.
The noble faction led by duke Vane and the surviving Royal family led by the prince and princess.
The sun hung low over the Dirrium Royal Academy, casting long, amber shadows across the cobblestone courtyards. To the students watching from the windows of the library and the dueling grounds, the figure standing by the fountain was an enigma wrapped in silver-trimmed black.
Leornars, the white plague who had arrived as a mere student, was now the undisputed architect of the kingdom's new reality. Though the commoners whispered of his brilliance, the noble students watched with a mixture of awe and suppressed terror.
"Why is Count Vane approaching him?" a third-year marquis whispered, clutching his textbook. "Vane is one of the wealthiest landowners in the south. Why does he look like he's approaching a god for a favor?"
"Shh," his peer hissed. "Don't you see the way the knights bow when Leornars passes? He isn't just a student. He's the one holding our nation on its knees."
Leornars didn't care for the whispers. He was adjusting his cufflinks when Count Vane and his wife, Selina, approached. Vane looked haggard, his eyes darting around as if searching for an exit that didn't exist. Beside him, Selina was a vision of aristocratic perfection—her silk gown shimmering, her hair pinned back with diamonds.
"Lord Leornars" Vane bowed deeply, his voice trembling slightly. "I came as soon as I received your summons. My lands... the transition to the new labor laws... I wanted to personally ensure you knew of my compliance."
Leornars offered a thin, polite smile that didn't reach his eyes. "Compliance is the bare minimum, Count. I prefer enthusiasm."
As Vane began a frantic explanation of his new elven workforce, Leornars's gaze drifted. His eyes, sharp as a hawk's, settled on Selina. She stood with a practiced poise, a mask of the devoted wife. But as she tilted her head to adjust her shawl, the late afternoon sun hit the side of her neck.
There, just below the jawline, was a faint, jagged smear of crimson.
A lipstick stain.
Leornars looked at Vane. The man's lips were dry, cracked, and utterly devoid of color. The Count hadn't kissed his wife today.
How sloppy, Leornars thought, a dark smirk tugging at the corner of his mouth. To play a game against me while leaving the board so messy.
"Is something wrong, Lord Leornars?" Selina asked, her voice like honeyed poison. She noticed his gaze and instinctively pulled her collar higher. "You look as though you've found a discrepancy in our ledgers."
"In a manner of speaking," Leornars replied smoothly. "Count Vane, I believe our business is concluded for the moment. I have much to oversee."
As the couple bowed and retreated toward their separate carriages, Leornars didn't move. He didn't need to. In the darkness of his own shadow, two forms rippled.
"Avryl. Zhyelena," he murmured, his voice barely a breath.
The two coalesced—Avryl, and Zhyelena.
"Follow them," Leornars commanded. "Zhyelena, stay with the Count. Ensure he doesn't do anything... impulsive. Avryl, follow the Duchess. I want every word, every breath, every betrayal recorded.
"Althelia prepare to sync with Julah back in Avangard, use Julah's homunculi resonance to bridge the audio feed directly to my ear."Leornars said to Althelia
"Understood,this sounds extremely fascinating "Althelia said a voice in Leornars's core.
"By your will," the two whispered in unison before vanishing into the ground.
Selina Vane settled into the plush velvet of her private carriage, her expression of bored elegance melting into a sneer the moment the door clicked shut. She reached into a hidden compartment in her corset and pulled out a small, glowing homunculus crystal.
"Are you there, my love?" she whispered into the gem.
Back at the academy, Leornars leaned against the stone fountain, tapping a silver pen against his chin. In his mind, a static-filled hum smoothed out into a crisp, clear audio feed.
"I'm here," a man's voice responded from the crystal, deep and filled with a smug arrogance. "How was the meeting with the little king boy?"
Selina laughed, a sharp, grating sound. "A terrifying child, truly. But Vane is practically vibrating with fear. The fool thinks he needs Leornars to save his estate. He doesn't realize that while he's groveling, I'm preparing the exit."
"And the plan?" the man asked.
"Perfectly on track," Selina purred, tracing the lipstick stain on her neck with a manicured finger. "Vane has been funneling his assets into the accounts I opened. With Leornars's new 'redistribution' laws, a divorce will be effortless. I'll claim half of everything—the gold, the southern vineyards, the jewelry. We'll take the wealth and leave this dying kingdom behind. Vane can rot with his Leornars boy and his 'demi-humans.'"
Leornars listened, his expression unreadable. Beside him, Althelia's voice chimed in through a private mana-link. "Master, the resonance is holding. Would you like me to track the signal's origin?"
"No need," Leornars thought back. "She just gave us the location."
"We'll meet at the usual spot tonight?" the man on the crystal asked.
"The Gilded Lily at eight," Selina replied. "The waiter there knows to keep his mouth shut. I'll have the final transfer papers for you to sign."
Leornars clicked his silver pen. The sound echoed in the empty courtyard.
"The Gilded Lily," he said aloud, his eyes glowing with a cold, predatory light. "A fitting place for a weed to be plucked."