Question/Answer

'___' : Thoughts

"___" : Speaking

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(3rd Person POV)

Aston waited for some time to see if she wanted to continue but she didn't say anything more. She just looked at him with some expectations to know about his plan.

"Well, that was a lot. I think you were pretty stuffed up here. You don't have anything to vent yourself at?", said Aston.

"No. Do you want to know anything else?", said Roxana.

"I do in fact. I want to know what you want in return for being a gear in my plan. Everyone has their natural desires and they need things to justify their effort. You won't have any ridiculous demands, from what I know but what do you need?"

"I just want to get out of this family. As you know, I am just tired of dealing with political shit. I want to live peacefully without worrying about my back all the time. Life of planning every move and being cautious is exhausting. I am tired of it.". said Roxana tiredly.

"Well, you are taking a pretty big risk. I don't think it is a wise decision to come under me as I might just get rid of you when I am done with you. To be honest, I should be the last person you would like to trust. I am sure you know that" exclaimed Aston in surprise.

"I know. But I don't care how bad the end result is, I just want this family to burn. I hate them."

"Your mother as well?", said Aston, trying to test her boundaries and reactions.

Roxana flinched as indecisiveness appeared on her face as she didn't reply to his question.

Aston said, "So, what do you want to ask me? We are doing a mutual exchange of information, aren't we? We shall build up trust between us with this. Ask me anything, I don't guarantee that I will reply to everything but I can answer some if we are going

to become allies."

Roxana scoffed at his comment about building up trust between them. She asked, not expecting him to reply to this question, "What is your power? How were you able to kill people with just a snap of your finger?"

Aston smiled pleasantly at her and said, "Wow, bringing out the big guns, are we? It's not a big deal for me, anyway. It's blood control. I can control blood."

No reply...

Absolute silence...

Roxana was stunned. Seeing her in shock, Aston bit his finger and made the blood float itself in the air and turn it into a different shape. Roxana couldn't believe something as strong as this power could exist. It was an amazing power compared to powers in this world. Now, she could see how this man alone could kill a ducal house alone. The image of him walking in a relaxed manner, every step of his killing several people in one go. It was absolutely terrifying to imagine what he could do.

"Can you even kill my father that easily?", asked Roxana with slight hesitation.

"I can kill him but not with a snap of my finger. This is only for people who are far weaker than me. You might not know but he is pretty strong. He duelled Edmund to a draw in his youth. But unfortunately, he has turned complacent so his combat power is lower than before. Even then, he wouldn't have lost his touch."

"Why don't you think that I will give your power's information to another party?"

Aston smiled at her 'silly' question, "If you wanted to do that, then you wouldn't have come to me asking to become my ally. You are too desperate to do something like that."

"Do all phoenixes possess this power?"

"No. They don't. A power like this is pretty rare."

"What is your end goal?"

"Won't tell you."

"I don't have any more immediate questions for you."

"Well then, miss Roxana. Let's move on to the next round. What is the thing with those butterflies that follow you?"

...

...

...

Aston asked again, "What is the deal with those butterflies behind you?"

Roxana replied with a slight nervousness in her tone, "T-They are the Poison butterflies that have been hatched from some eggs."

"I assume it is also the reason behind the blood cuts in your hand and blood loss in your body regularly?"

"Yes."

"I see. Nice to see you replying honestly. I met some butterflies like that in the northern forest. They were really attracted to blood. How many can you control and what are their exact powers?"

Roxana replied, "Well, I can control around three dozen butterflies currently. They need a lot of blood to satiate their appetite. And it has been getting difficult to feed them with my blood only."

Aston took care of her worries and said, 'You don't have to worry about something like that. You just have to prick your finger and I will take care of everything after it. They might be pretty useful in the future. What about their powers?"

"Some are illusionary butterflies and they have the powers to make some illusions. Some are carnivorous butterflies and a dozen butterflies can feed on an adult man in a matter of seconds. I can also send them for scouting."

"I see. It's nice. By the way, I fed them some of my blood as well. So, will they follow my orders?"

She was slightly taken aback and the possibility of him spying on her using those butterflies was creepy but she nevertheless replied, "Possibly."

Aston stroked his chin in ponderance before replying, "I see. It opens up a lot of future possibilities. This alliance might be much more lucrative than I earlier thought. Anyway, We have a lot of time to ahead with us in the future so I don't think we have to know everything about each other currently. What do you say about that?"

Roxana nodded in agreement.

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(End of the Chapter)

A short and late chapter today because I am absolutely tired. See you tomorrow!

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