"Welcome, little rat."
“If you call me that again, I’ll complain to the lady.” - Lloyd responded gloomily.
“What pettiness. Are you threatening to snitch like a child?”
“Isn’t it more petty to threaten me with a ban on entering the mansion if I don’t listen?”
“Identity verification is a legal right.”
“You already know who I am.”
“Adaline knows. But I don’t.”
[Adaline picked up Lloyd from nowhere. And now she kept him close. Closer than anyone.]
[She trusted him more than her own family.]
[And that's why Lloyd became untouchable.]
[However, even if he had not come here, no one would have dared to lay a finger on him.]
[Whoever he was, there was no one closer to Adaline.]
[And over the past five years, it was this boy who, in fact, protected his sister.]
"I won't say anything." - Lloyd stated stubbornly.
“What makes you think that I’m asking you to betray your mistress? I offer help. Going through Luciana every time is long and expensive. But if I know that you are in touch with him and pretend not to notice, isn’t that convenient?”
Lloyd was silent. Neither confirm nor deny.
Jeff added:
“You can't go far alone. I'm not going to delve into Adaline's secrets. I just offered a convenient exchange of information.”
"..."
“The price is almost nothing.”
“There is nothing more valuable than “almost nothing.”
“That’s why it’s “almost.”
"..."
Lloyd thought about it.
[Now that the Bertrand family fortune had passed to Adaline, there was no need to count every coin. But life is an unpredictable thing. If Adaline suddenly wants to run away again, she will need money. It was wise to save.]
"There's something I've been tasked with finding out."
"What exactly?"
"Who is hunting Saint Genevieve."
“Suddenly a Saint?”
“And a sorcerer who controls monsters.”
"Sorcerer?"
Jeff's eyes widened.
“Why do we need to know who is hunting the Saint?”
"Don't know."
“The most protected person in Windsor is the Saint...”
But Lloyd didn't care about the reasons. He only cared about one thing: [to carry out Adaline's instructions properly, regardless of her motives.]
[To her he was almost like a little brother, but to him she was something more: a mistress, a savior, the only family, the most important person.]
[It hasn't changed since the day she extended her hand to him.]
“She also told me to find out more about the Saint’s husband.”
"For what?"
“She said if he turns out to be strange, he will separate them and take the Saint back.”
"..."
“Does she consider the Saint her daughter?” - Jeff muttered under his breath.
“She seems particularly concerned about her.” - Lloyd added.
“To the point that he entrusts it to his own fiancé.”
Jeff chuckled at Lloyd's words.
[He has said more than once that if someone does not see the real essence of Shane, it is better not to trust those eyes at all. And, apparently, these eyes belonged to his own sister.]
[But why is she looking for a sorcerer?]
“Sorcerer...manager of monsters...”
[Can creatures be subjugated to reason at all?]
[Sometimes monsters with intelligence appeared, but these were rare mutations.]
“Have you ever heard of such a person?”
“Only as a tale during drunken conversations.”
Jeff knew a lot.
[The continent is huge, and there are plenty of strange personalities. Thanks to the fact that he started businesses and invested in businesses in different countries from his youth, his network of connections was considered one of the most extensive. He heard a lot of things.]
[But even to him, the idea of a man controlling monsters sounded like nonsense.]
“I’ll dig deeper and let you know. And, yes, I won’t say anything to either my parents or my older brother. You can give this to Adaline."
"…"
"What? You’ll still tell her everything, right?”
“I was just going to say that you called me a little rat...”
“Here’s everything except this, pass it on.”
"..."
“I have no other intention, little rat. We just want to know what variables need to be eliminated so we don't lose our youngest again."
The words sounded soft.
But Lloyd remained indifferent, with the same inscrutable face. He just looked intently into Jeff’s eyes and said calmly:
“Isn’t the main variable Shane Blanchard?”
Jeff laughed.
[Even as a child, Adaline tried to stay away from Shane. She often ran away from him, but not out of fear.]
“Shane is our ally now. At least our goals are the same."
[In an effort not to lose Adaline a second time...]
[No one was better able to keep her close than Shane.]
[The Bertrand family will not make the same mistake twice again.]