Dungeon Annihilation 3-16

Good morning Peoples!

Chapter 16

Louella

I waited for nearly an hour before I gave up waiting for Earle at the temple. He either didn’t want to see me or was too enthralled by that woman to grace me with his presence. When I got back to my manor, I was so angry that I was sure if someone had gotten in my way, I would have killed them then and there.

Even Ezal was smart enough to leave me alone once we were back. She saw me to my room and quietly dismissed herself. I spent the rest of the night glaring at the bracelet that Earle had given me. Part of me wanted to throw it across the room. It was only when morning was soon approaching that was had calmed down enough to rationalize that he really didn’t have a say in the matter. The hierarchy of the kingdom was set and only the king could change it.

“Maybe I should start my own nation,” I whispered to myself then laughed at a worryingly high volume at the absurdity of the thought. If it was that easy, everyone that had even a remote amount of power would be trying to start their own nation. No. I would have to find a way to make the best of my situation.

I figured it would be pointless to go to Earle and trying to get him to eliminate her for me, considering he was involved, anyone that knew how to put two and two together would immediately question him about any funny business. Sighing, I rolled out of bed, not really wanting to do any of my duties for the day.

A knock at the door came as I was almost done dressing. “What?”

The door pushed open and Ezal stuck her head in. “Oh. Good. You’re up. I was worried given… never mind. The nobles that are visiting have put a petition together and the marquis has already signed it. It is sitting on your desk.”

I grumbled and made my way to my office while Ezal fetched my breakfast. Sitting down, I took the petition and looked it over. The sun was barely up, and I was already feeling a headache coming on. The nobles wanted me to throw a ball of all things. No reason, no festival, no celebration. They just wanted a way to flaunt their wealth over the rest of the people in the town, while giving me a difficult time about it. I’m sure in their eyes, I was little more than a mud-covered commoner that had slept her way to her position.

I held the parchment over the candle then tossed it into the bin next to the desk. Ezal had the foresight to use a stone bin given that I liked to burn things when upset. It was a wonder that I wasn’t a fire cultivator. Speaking of her, Ezal walked in with a tray laden with food and set it on my desk.

“That bad?” she asked, glancing at the bin.

Snorting in reply, I took the spoon and started drinking the soup while tearing a piece of bread with my teeth. I was half through the meal before I looked up. “They want a ball.”

Ezal sighed much I had. “I thought we made it clear that we weren’t equipped to handle such an event yet.”

“Tell that to my dearly beloved,” I growled. “He signed off on it remember.”

“What are we going to do?” she asked as she paced the room. “I can’t think of any place that is, well, good enough.”

“Don’t worry. I have an idea,” I replied after I finished my food. If playing the good girl wasn’t going to work for me, then I would start to play the bad girl. The dungeon had always delivered on its end of the agreement. Time that I started taking advantage of that. If my soul ended up damned for all eternity, at least I would have a good time before I got wherever there was.

Ezal cleared my desk and I got to work writing out the invitations. If there was one thing to be thankful for, it was that this wasn’t the capital. I only had to write up about two dozen letters for the nobles in town rather than a couple hundred. I did add most of the influential people in town to the list which brought the total to around a hundred or so.

“How’s it coming?” Ezal asked as she handed me another tray of food. It was filled with various snacks. It looked like she had gotten some good ones. The quality was much higher than the snacks from a few weeks ago.

I picked up some sort of cookie that was layered in more sugar than bread. “You can really tell the town is moving up when the snacks are this good.” I chuckled and tossed it in my mouth, enjoying the flavor. “And if I write any more letters, my hand is going to fall off.”

“A few new shops have opened up along the market street. A few merchants seem to have decided that it worth the chance to invest in the valley,” Ezal explained.

“Any you think we should watch out for?” I asked with a frown. Merchants could be just as bad as the nobles. If there was gold in it for them, then there wasn’t a chance a merchant in the abyss that they wouldn’t have their fingers would be in the pile.

“A few, but for now the threat of Marquis Valamar is enough to keep them in line. I think there is also a decent amount of fear toward Commander Yin.”

“Lovely. Just keep an eye on them,” I said with a sigh.

“As you wish,” she replied.

We got ready then left for the dungeon. It was time to work on my plan. Ezal and I strode into the dungeon entrance after leaving the guards outside. A few minutes later found us in the Envy workshops. I looked for an out of the way location. There were a few parties here even in the late hour of the day. A bit of wandering led us to the edge of the workshops.

“Host. I would like to speak to you,” I called.

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