"Just why are you here?"

"I am sorry. What?"

"Let me rephrase that a bit. I meant you are someone who has no clue about what is going on or what should be done to solve this issue. Right?"

"Absolutely." replied James with a nod, as he had to know what this guy was trying to say.

"So my question is, why are you wasting your valuable time here?"

"Lucas? What do you think you are doing?" shouted the count.

"I know what I am doing. So please let us talk." said the man named Lucas.

From the very beginning of Leonhart's arrival, things were not making any sense for anyone & Lucas was one of them. Leon was talking about fixing the duchy, but everyone knew he was not someone who would try to do anything outside his comfort.

And this clearly was something outside his comfort zone. He was here in Nortion to talk with the soldiers about farming. How can anyone believe that? Habits won't change overnight & Leonhart's behavior differed completely from what everyone was used to.

Lucas was just trying to find out the real reason for his arrival here. Lina being pregnant was entirely another topic and to solve that issue, a plan was already in motion. So he was not that worried, as it was a matter of time before his path would be clear.

"You wanna know why I am here?" asked Leon in a casual tone.

"Yes."

"I am here to see how we are going to implement first stages of our plans to revitalise the entire state. I think you already know the little plan we discussed earlier where we talked about reliving some soldiers & ask them to do farming."

Lucas nodded, saying nothing as he had already read & understood all the things the duke was doing.

"I am here to supervise that & if needed, improve that a bit." said James, leaning back on the seat. That was the entire reason for him being here & also there was no point in hiding things with the people who were going to help him in the future.

"That's it."

"Yeah, or what did you expect?"

"No, but why? You don't need to fix this state. It's fine as it is. We are all doing well & that's enough." responded Lucas with an awkward smile, as it was getting impossible for him to believe the man sitting before him was Leon.

"Listen Sir. I don't have time to explain all this to you. Just remember if we won't do anything, then this entire region will fall into ruins & neither you nor me will be able to enjoy our happy life like this. The End. So don't ask these stupid questions anymore."

He would not explain to each & everyone on the road about the same thing again & again. If someone didn't understand this simple fact, then it was sure that they lacked brain power.

"I know but..."

"We should eat, Lord Leon. Food is getting cold." added the count as he didn't want his son to overstep his boundaries.

"Sure."

So the entire group started eating their fair share of food as the food had arrived a long time ago during the unnecessary chatting with the duke's son.

Finishing the food, Leon left the hall towards his assigned room & Lina followed behind, saying nothing like an obedient child. Lucas had tried to talk to her couple of times during dinner but she didn't respond.

Still, he didn't force her as it was just a moment of time before she would be his & then they could talk about all the things in the world.

***

Inside a spacious room, two individual were sitting facing each other. A beautiful girl with shining purple eyes & greyish-purple hair was sitting on the bed in deep thoughts & a handsome man with jet black hair with blue eyes was staring at the girl opposite to him in an indifferent gaze sitting on the chair.

So how did thing get here?

First, after returning to the room, James asked Lina about what she wanted to show him in the dining hall as nothing significant happened except the count's son asking stupid questions. And to that, she appeared perplexed.

She couldn't wrap her around the fact that how did nothing happen?

From the very day she met the man named Lucas ten years ago, she always felt something odd about him. He always tried to get close to her, gifted her flowers, jewelleries, dresses & many things.

As the countess was her aunt, she had visited there many times & this guy always followed her wherever she went. And soon things started taking turn for worse as he stared sending her letters describing how beautiful she was or how elegant she looked when she walked & many other creepy things. He also sent threatening letters to all the boys who talked to her.

Pretty weird stuff & one day everything made sense when he proposed to her in the garden of her mansion, which didn't end well as she promptly rejected his offer. But that didn't end there as everything happening doubled the amount.

More gifts, dresses, jewellers, letters started flooding in every week, which Lina didn't appreciate. So she asked Karl to help & he did. Items stopped coming in, but not for long as it started again only after a month.

Lina knew Lucas liked her, but it was not mutual & she had rejected him quiet a few times. Still, he never listened and kept sending useless items.

Today, her expectation was he would definitely do something to Leon after learning about this pregnancy drama, but he acted like a gentleman who had nothing to do with her

Lucas had got into countless fights with other guys just because they talked with her, but that letter clearly announced about Loen forcibly sleeping with Lina, yet he did nothing, which made no sense at all.

...

"So, tell me what you wanted to show me?" asked James once again as he got no response from the girl before him.

"I wanted to show you... something, but that didn't happen." replied Lina in a slow voice, but this time matching Leon's gaze.

"Didn't happen? What did you expect to happen?"

"I wanted you to see what Lucas can do."

"And that is..."

"He..."

Lina spoke about everything she thought would happen from Lucas's previous behavior to recent events & what should have happened but didn't happen & what shouldn't have happened but happened.

Things had to move a bit if this relationship between her & Leon had to progress. She had to become courageous.

"So he is a simp. Huh? " Said Leon, massaging his forehead. Everything was going wrong when he was trying to do something. First this civil war, second those idiotic advisors, third that marquess & now this guy.

The only thing asked was to live a quiet life with no issues, but God had some other plans for him. Every time he would fix something, another issue would creep out of nowhere. These constant problems were really getting on his nerves by now.

Just what this world wanted with him? Why couldn't he live his life like a nobody?

"What is a simp?"

"It means he is a moron with no common sense." replied Loen with a sigh. Venting out anger on this oblivious girl would give him no result.

"You should have told your father about it? He could have done something..."

"He will do nothing for me as long as it doesn't bring any profit for the family." said Lina with a sad smile. Like how Leon said in Elizabeth's birthday party... They really were bargaining chips for their family. Nothing of their own, only to get influenced by others.

Seeing her reaction, James stopped himself from saying any further, as knew what she meant by that line. Lina was always obliged to do things & now also she was forced to fake that drama in the duchy. It seemed she was a puppet with no life to live. Only did what anyone told her to, other than that she had no existence.

She had no individuality except following orders from her family. And it was sad. People like her were there in his time back on earth, struggling to find their own light but in the darkness of the sun they couldn't. This society, this world, really was the same.

To change what more he could do? Nothing. He was powerless before & was powerless now.

"Well, that's how life is... I guess." said the girl with purple eyes with a soft smile. There was no point in resisting. She accepted her fate & moved on. That's how she made her way through all this fiasco of a life.

"You are right. This is life." replied James with a sad chuckle, looking towards the night sky.

For the time being, both of them said nothing. Lina kept staring at the floor thinking about something & Leon kept looking outside the window.

And to break the silence, both spoke at the same time.

"Hey Lina, can I ask you something?" asked James, thinking about changing the topic.

"Leon, may I ask you something?" also asked Lina, as she had to know what he was going to do now.

Noticing that both spoke at the same time, James told the girl to speak at first.

"Go ahead."

"No, you first." insisted Lina as he was the one who held the most authority.

"Sure. So my question was, why did you come here with me? What's the actual truth behind all this?"