10 Chapter 10

-[Wynne]-

Sitting in what was formerly Jacques' office, he looked through the paperwork to make sure he wasn't missing anything.

He was human so he was aware that oversight was possible. Still, he wanted to avoid it as much as possible.

A knock on the door drew his attention as a slightly heavyset man with balding brown hair entered the office.

"You wished to see me Master Wynne." The man said.

Looking up from the papers, he focused on him. "Yes Klein. The staff that work at the manor were employed by my father and since he is no longer in charge, I believe it's time to make some changes."

A slightly nervous look appeared on the man's face. "What do you have in mind sir?"

Wynne sighed. "You don't need to call me sir or Master, Klein. It's too stiff, plus it makes me feel old."

At that, Klein let out a genuine laugh. "It seems you haven't changed."

Klein was the single staff in the Schnee manor who was close to Weiss and Wynne. In a way, he was the father figure that they didn't have, Weiss especially.

"What do you need me to do?" Klein asked, more relaxed.

"I'm aware that some of the staff were dissatisfied with working at the manor under my father. Some of them were coerced into working so I don't doubt that there's some resentment among them." Wynne said with a serious look.

"I wouldn't be surprised if they hold resentment to me as well, being the son of the man they dislike. If any of them wish to leave, they are free to do so without consequences." He finished.

Klein had a look of surprise, not expecting that at all. If only he knew, Wynne's other reason which was that he didn't want to allow resentment to hide in the manor.

All it would take is one disgruntled staff to slip something harmful in his food. He was sure that reactive adaptation would help him survive but it was better to prevent it from happening in the first place.

"That is…wow. I think that's awfully generous of you. I'll get on that right away." Klein managed to say before leaving the office.

As soon as the man left, the scroll on the table rang loudly, causing him to wince as he saw the id.

"Hey Weiss, what's up?" He asked nonchalantly as he answered the call.

"What do you mean 'What's up?'?! What's going on?! You're the CEO of the company?!" She began firing off questions at which point Wynne simply put the scroll on speaker and leaned back in the chair.

"Well…it's a bit complicated." He said after she finally stopped for air. "Father and I made a deal. A deal that ended with him going into early retirement."

"What kind of deal? I don't see him ever agreeing to something like that." Weiss pointed out.

"It's more like he didn't have any choice. I can't exaclty say the details while we're on a call so the explanation will have to wait." He said.

He didn't trust that someone wasn't listening in on their conversation through the CCT so he would only reveal anything in person.

"And how is the board taking it?" She asked.

Wynne could only smirk. "They don't have anything to say. I disbanded the board and am now the single owner of the company." He revealed.

Weiss went into shocked silence, amusing him greatly before she finally spoke. "You sure move fast. So what's going to happen now?"

"Well, I'm going to try to run my business while you focus on becoming a huntsman. Fun fact; I'm in charge of your allowance." He said, holding back a laugh.

"Don't get any funny ideas!" Weiss complained childishly upon realization.

They spent some more time catching each other up on what had happened so far. She told him about how she passed the initiation and about her teammates.

She also talked about Pyrrha Nikos attending Beacon, though they weren't on the same team. The few comments about a blond idiot that kept trying to ask her out made him laugh, knowing who it was.

After the call ended, he took one last look at the documents before exiting the office. "One more thing left to do." He muttered under his breath.

-[Ironwood]-

How did this happen?

He was supposed to wait until he saw his chance but now, Wynne had taken over the SDC, giving him more power and authority in Atlas.

Now the supply of dust in the kingdom depended on a teenage boy who he couldn't predict. He made a mistake in waiting too long, a mistake he was going to rectify.

Jacques was a man who pursued money, which made him somewhat easy to control, but he had yet to figure out what Wynne was after, what made him tick.

He just had to find that and he'd have the SDC under his control. He'd have to insert some of his men into the company to gain some intel he could use.

If that didn't work, there was always Winter.

-[Wynne]-

Entering a dark room in the manor, the scent of alcohol assaulted his nose.

He almost groaned in discomfort as he ignored it, seeing the white haired woman sitting in the corner of the room, bottles of various brands of alcohol surrounding her.

"Mother." He greeted her as he walked towards her.

The woman barely responded as she looked up with groggy eyes. "W-Wynne? What…are you doing…here?" She stumbled out her words.

"I'm sure you're aware of what happened to father." He stated rather than asked.

She had cameras all over the house so he knew she knew. Her silence confirmed it. It seemed she was sober enough to under at least.

"I wasn't able to do anything to help with 'dad' around but the situation has changed." He said , walking over and prying the bottle from her hand.

She tried to struggle but she was still partly drunk, it was a wasted effort on her part as he confiscated the other bottles.

"He may have left your devices but that ends now. In a few hours, there will be no drop of wine left in this house and we'll start your rehabilitation." He said as she once again attempted to voice her displeasure.

"Why? Why are you doing this?" She asked, a bit of clarity in her tone.

"Because whether you like it or not, Weiss needs a mother and I can't provide that for her. And in the end, you're still my mother as well." He said with a sigh.

He honestly didn't blame her for her depression. He was tempted to allow the robot to 'malfunction' and deal with Jacques self control and patience was an important virtue.

He picked up the bottles and threw them in the trash.

"Wynne." Willow called out as he left the room, causing him to turn around. "Congratulations."

Despite still being somewhat drunk, the small smile on her face was still visible.

"Thanks." He said with genuine appreciation. "I'll have someone take you to your room so you can rest."

With that he exited the room, thinking about the series of plans he had to complete, one of which Weiss would assist him with but there was still some time before that.