A slender, blond, middle-aged man with a sly look and a smile greeted Eve politely.
"Greetings, Cardinal Eve."
Eve sized him up, a sense of derelish welling up inside her, but she didn't let it show.
Because the man in front of her was a noble.
"Greetings, Viscount Pittman."
"Looks like we have the same purpose inside," He said, the smile on his face not fading.
Eve understood the reason behind this unpleasant smile very clearly.
The debt.
Since Raven had beaten a noble, it would be quite hard for him to get out of this mess.
She could use her influence and power as a Cardinal of the Church of Solis for this, but that could get messy real fast.
Viscount Pittman wasn't one without backers.
So, if they wanted to resolve this, they would need to come up with terms.
And this would most likely be in Viscount's favor.
Both Eve and Morris knew what he would ask for.
The debt clearance.
The paper Morris had handed her earlier had instructions about this.
No wonder Pittman couldn't keep his moronic smile from fading.
She wanted to knock him down cold if she could.
But currently, he held the upper hand here.
"Shall we?" He gestured for them to enter the Manor.
Eve took a deep breath and nodded.
They both started walking inside, and their butlers followed suit.
The Manor guards didn't even bother checking them, as they saw their faces.
Eve Marlowe and Viscount Dennis Pittman were some of the most well-known faces in the city of Shelburg.
Especially Eve Marlowe.
So much so that even the Manor Lord was standing outside the main door.
A tall, lanky man with slicked-back brown hair, stern expression, and sharp eyes.
Earl Brescia.
"Greetings, your grace!" They greeted him simultaneously.
He didn't bother saying anything back and just gave them an acknowledging nod.
But despite this, the two didn't mind this at all.
Earl Brescia was known for being a stern, disciplined, and rule-abiding man.
His indifference was perceived as rude by many, but not to those who knew him.
"They are in the underground prison, healed by my personal healer. I will be the judge in this case."
He stated in his deep, serious voice.
"Ha! I don't think that would be needed, your grace." Viscount Pittman said, his tone that of clear mockery. "We might end up settling this personally."
He wanted to savor this moment as much as he could.
Defeating the Orca of the financial world wasn't something that happened daily.
Eve shot him a threatening glare, but retracted just as quickly as she noticed multiple presences inching closer to them.
'I should ignore this idiot.' She sighed and made her decision quietly.
Causing unnecessary troubles wasn't her style.
As they navigated through his manor, Eve noticed that it was pretty humble compared to other nobles of his rank.
Even nobles lower than him had exorbitant decorations all over their Estates.
The light got dimmer as they entered the underground and walked through the musty hallway.
Viscount's eyes lit up as he noticed a cell with silhouettes of two young men.
"Jayden, my son!" He ran towards the cell dramatically, making Eve groan internally.
"Father?" But unlike him, Jayden's voice didn't sound that thrilled.
Instead, it was a rather gloomy tone.
'Did Raven beat him to the point of trauma?'
Fearing the worst-case scenario here, Eve hurried her steps and stood in front of the prison.
She glared at the black-haired, golden-eyed young man, expecting him to be sad and regretful.
But what she saw was the complete opposite.
A cheeky grin over his face.
She inched closer to the cell and whispered, "Do you have any idea what sort of trouble you caused to father?"
"And you are laughing in this situation?" She scolded him silently.
"Father didn't even visit me when I woke up," He whispered back, "Do you really expect me to believe that?"
Eve looked at him and then shook her head.
She sometimes forgot just how much favoritism he showed towards her.
A greedy man to the core.
But it didn't mean he didn't care for the rest.
"If not for him, how were you planning to get out of this?" She asked.
"You, Cardinal Eve."
His words took her by surprise.
Since when did he start talking like this?
Tack!
'Ow!'
She hit him through the bars.
"Just don't lie in front of Earl Brescia. I will handle the rest."
"Heh!" He chuckled.
"Viscount, Cardinal, please back down for a minute." Earl Brescia asked them politely.
They complied.
Then, his tone roughened up significantly as he addressed the young men, "Jayden Pittman, as the victim, start narrating your side of the story."
Jayden hesitated, his eyes not being able to meet the Viscount's.
They could tell he was extremely nervous.
"Jayden, there's no need to be nervous," Viscount spoke, his tone firm, "His Grace Earl would make sure the other party cannot do anything here."
He glared at Eve, wondering if she was intimidating him, but she wasn't.
"I… We…" Jayden took a deep breath, "We were drunk and,"
"And?"
"And we had a skirmish, which led to a consensual duel, where I lost."
"What?" Viscount Pittman borderline yelled.
Even Eve was taken aback.
'Looks like it wasn't that bad as we expected.'
Earl Brescia, however, narrowed his eyes and looked at Raven, who was still smiling.
"Is that true, Raven Marlowe?"
"It is." He answered, his smile unwavering.
"Jayden, you unfilial moron," He knelt and grabbed him tightly, "Is that really true? There's no pressure on you at all."
Jayden gulped. "It's exactly what happened, father."
He didn't even dare meet his eyes, which made Viscount more suspicious.
The smile on Raven's face snapped something inside him, as he reached out to him and grabbed his collar.
"You bastard, I will ki-"
Whoosh!
Before he could say anything, a sword appeared right above his arm.
It was Eve, excluding a suffocating amount of mana in the room.
"Viscount, don't you dare." She threatened him.
Sure, she didn't like unnecessary troubles, but everyone there very well knew what a Cardinal of the Church of Solis was capable of.
She could wipe out the entire county by herself before someone stopped her.
"Viscount Pittman, Cardinal Eve, both of you back off immediately." Earl Brescia voiced out aloud, barely managing to keep up the domineering appearance in this.
Viscount slowly retrieved his hands, shivering.
He wasn't the only one shivering, though.
Jayden and Raven were also shivering like wet hairless dogs in a tundra.
Phew!
Eve, realizing her actions, breathed out and retrieved her mana and her sword.
"Am I free to take Raven back home with me, Your Grace?" She asked, her voice devoid of any emotion.
Earl nodded.
"Both parties were consensual, so as long as you pay for the damages caused, this case is closed."
A guard approached the cell with measured and fearful steps, opening the gate.
"Raven, let's go."
She turned around and began to leave.
Nobody even dared to say anything.
Raven, still overwhelmed by the events that just unfolded, broke into a nervous smile upon noticing Earl's suspicious gaze on him.
"Have a pleasant day, my lord."
…
Inside the carriage, Eve was staring at the silent Raven, who was nervously avoiding her eyes.
"Mind explaining yourself?"