Chapter Seventeen

 The two soon arrived at her room but not without attracting attention from the servants. Such a handsome lad, they were mesmerized by his looks already not bothering that he was heading into Abigail's room.

 " You attract attention everywhere you go don't you? ", Abigail asked as she closed the door. 

 " I can't help it, it's rather bothersome really ", he replied causing Abigail to roll her eyes.

 " Why are you here really? ", she asked already frustrated by his behavior. 

 " I'm only here for tea like we agreed on lady Abigail ", he replied while surveying the room. " You're taste in decor is truly infuriating ".

 " How I choose to arrange my space is none of your business and couldn't Sir Leo have informed me before coming here? ", she forced a smile trying to behave politely. This man was her money bag plus he knew too much, she couldn't afford to offend him.

 " But if I did inform you, you wouldn't have allowed me come so I came on my own free will. is there a problem? ", he asked tilting his head innocently. This guy will be a problem, she thought staring at his indifferent expression. Of course she wouldn't let him come, heck she even wished to reduce their interactions as much as possible.

 " What if my brother suspects something, it'll be bothersome if people found out about our plans ", she said angrily. 

 " So you taking me to your room isn't your definition of suspicious? ", he raised a brow as she face palmed herself. She panicked and brought him to her room on impulse, it was indeed stupid of her.

 " And here I thought you had at least a thread of intelligence, what a waste ", he shook his head. What does he mean by that? She thought and angrily tried to kick him but he quickly dodged. She was further upset that he doged her kick and aimed for a higher strike, his head! As the kick was about to connect, Leo quickly side stepped as caught hold of her leg and gracefully pushed it down causing her to stumble. Good thing she still had her Haifu on.

 " You know martial arts? ", she asked.

 " I dabble ", he replied indifferently. Abigail was really impressed and excited. Maybe he could spar with her.

 " You can wait at the gazebo, a maid will attend to you shortly ", she told him.

 " Okay Lady Abigail ", he then left the room. He didn't walk to far before the bumped into something unexpected. 

 Abigail quickly freshened up after informing Martha to get lunch ready by the time she got there. She walked out of her room and walked towards the gazebo only to find it empty. Where was he? She was about to ask a passing maid but quickly halted her steps.

 " What's that sound? ", she asked as she turned towards the source. It sounded like swords clashing. Is someone sparing? But why so far from the training grounds? Unless it was a fight! She quickly followed the sound to a nearby area and she was stunned by what she saw.

 " What the hell is happening here? ", Abigail asked with a morbid expression. The scene that played before her was Gabriel and Leo exchanging swords with one another. Why was her brother fighting her money bag?!?! She looked like she would faint at any moment. 

 Lucas who happened to hear her question answered for her, " The two are having a duel. When Sir Leo left you quarters earlier, your brother spotted him and asked him what you two were discussing but Sir Leo wouldn't disclose any information so your brother challenged him to a duel. If your brother wins Sir Leo would have to tell him how he knows you and what you two were talking about ".

 " Oh...thank you for explaining ", she replied bluntly and stopped focusing on him making him a little dissatisfied. Why the sudden change? He thought. 

 As the two fought, she began to realize how much a talent Leo was with the sword. His body moved fluently and wasn't hurried. There wasn't too much unnecessary movement and his every move was precise and planned without any lingering steps. He could compare with Apex experts from her world. He was simply to good and it looked like he wasn't even taking the fight seriously at all. Gabriel on the other hand was barely holding on, he could only defend and whenever he tried to attack he only hit thin air. His opponent was just to skilled.

A minute later, the fight ended with Gabriel obviously losing to Leo. It was an absolute defeat! Gabriel could only accept his loss and acknowledge that his opponent was far more skilled than he was. He already thought he was a genius with the sword but after witnessing Leo's skills, he had to rethink his evaluation of his own skills. 

 " Brother you did well ", she comforted him. He was shocked to see her here. He was confident in ending the duel early so that she wouldn't find out but who knew that he'd end it a little later and with a defeat at that.

 " You saw ", he asked and she nodded in return. He then blushed in embarrassment. She must have already known why he held the duel, " I'm sorry "

 " It's okay, I know you were just worried about me but rest assured Leo can't hurt me even if he wanted to " she reassured him causing Leo to roll his eyes. Didn't he beat her earlier?

 " Lady Abigail, if you don't mind why don't we return to the gazebo for lunch. Shall we? ", Leo asked 

 " Of course, let's go ", she then bade farewell to her brother and left with Leo who had tidied up. 

 " Couldnt you have avoided a fight with my brother ", she asked .

 " That wouldn't have been very fun now would it? ", he replied as he smiled at her. Why would that be fun at all? The two then sat at the gazebo and the maids began to serve the dishes. 

 " What noble household are you from ", she asked, " I don't think I've heard of you before "

 " Well I'm not from this empire ", he replied while sipping on his tea. She was slightly shocked, what could he then be after in this empire?

 " What empire are you from then? ", she asked. 

 " The Eclipse Empire ", he replied causing her to gasp in shock. The Eclipse empire wasn't as simple as it appeared. It was a mysterious and extremely rich empire that always kept to itself and never revealed any information on it. None of it's citizens ever left the empire unless it was to conduct trade on the outside and even then it barely happened.

 The empire was at first rumored to be weak causing several independent kingdoms and small empires to attack it for its wealth only for them to disappear afterwards. The empire was the reason why only four out of the ten empires remained with only a few independent kingdoms. That is also the reason the other empires dare not provoke the Eclipse empire. Even the spies sent by them never returned. 

 What could Leo be doing here then? Could it be for her since he was currently investing in her projects? She couldn't understand.

 " Why are you here then? ", she asked again causing him to drop his teacup on the saucer. He stared straight into her eyes then smirked.

 " You could say I was bored in my Empire and came out for a change of scenery. I believe it's what I truly needed plus I've encountered a lot of interesting things recently ", he said as he stared at her with a mesmerizing smile. 

 Was he referring to her? She thought as he continued the stare intently at her making her uncomfortable. " Are you u going to keep staring at me like that? ", she asked.

 " How narcissistic of you Lady Abigail ", he simply laughed the question off and the two continued their lunch as she discussed his investments into her projects. He was investing a total of 5,000,000 gold coins! She could use that amount of money to buy high quality goods and materials in bulk for her businesses to run on for a long time. Leo of course owns 30% of her shares which was a lot for a shareholder. As the two discussed further, she began to know him a little more.

He was a narcissist and prideful person who also an indifferent attitude to most things. He was also a highly intelligent man whose comprehension and analysis skills were on a whole different level. She was really impressed by how much of a genius he was.

 " Why are you so interested in investing ", she asked all of a sudden causing his brows to rise.

 " Isn't it obvious?, I'm very interested because I see potential here ", he said. He appeared very clam and collected when he spoke causing her to believe him.

 " How did you find out about me then ", she asked further.

 " That's an interesting question Lady Abigail ", he grinned causing her to shudder slightly but she stood her ground and asked further. 

 " I believe I have every right to know or how else am I supposed to trust you then? "

 " You're free to know Lady Abigail, but can you handle that knowledge well? ", his expression at the moment showed that he was very amused by her .

 " It depends on if this knowledge is dangerous ", she replied.

 " Guess for yourself ", he countered waiting for a reply. She was about to but noticed someone was approaching. It was Rose! She was back already? Abigail creased her brows. What a headache!

 " Sister, you have a visitor? ", she asked as she curiously examined Leo who was currently sipping tea not paying her any mind.