Second Time's a Charm (MxM)✔

Chapter 15 - Breaking Ground

The noble that currently owned the Great Oak Forest was Lord Jean De Bondone. And while the man didn't live in the capital, he did own a house there, as well as a few more bits of land scattered throughout the empire.

If Cain could convince him to sell the land, then it would come with a lord's title as well. He was torn at first because being a lord would give him something to brag about to his family who considered him no better than the servants, but he also knew that his scheming brother would find a way to take it from him. Not to mention raise suspicion on his funds.

No, he'd have to put it in his alter ego's name. Once everything was done and over with, he could sign it over to his real name. Until then, he had to commission a brand new coat of arms to finalize his future business deals. He sketched out the design and prayed the artisan could make it look better than his mediocre art skills made it out to be.

With his new crest, which featured a single wolf, two great oaks, and a ribbon between them with the name 'Brooks' spelled out, he created stamps to sign his letters to the young Lord Bondone to request the purchase of the forest.

Now, he waited.

The lord was known for traveling a lot, so Cain understood that it would take a while for the man to receive his letter. Meanwhile, he at least knew the Emperor couldn't burn down the forest beforehand.

Every so often he'd stop to see how Norton was doing under his brother's manservant, and he'd receive an earful of complaints. Yet, when asked, the ex-thief refused to quit. According to him, the pay was more than he'd ever gotten on the street.

Cain never thought he'd be grateful for anything his parents did, but still felt suspicious of how they were treating the young man.

At first, they didn't want him around at all. Then they used him to embarrass Cain in public, as well as tried to make Cain feel ashamed for hiring the guy in the first place. Yet now they were offering training and paying his wages?

In his previous life, he'd have passed it off as something finally going his way, but after all the underhanded, manipulative tactics he'd used himself, he realized they were working their way up to something.

Just like how he had been working on Gideon, they were working on Norton to get the man to trust them enough to do something. The question was, 'what'?

To counter this, Cain put extra effort to see Norton every day so he didn't forget who had gotten him this job in the first place. And when Gideon returned, he did the same to him.

"Young master." Gideon greeted Cain.

He'd been sitting in the family's private library, reading up on land ownership when the butler approached him. "Gideon!" He smiled, genuinely happy to see the man back.

The servant bowed respectfully. "I appreciate the assistance you offered me. Though it was far more than I needed."

Cain tapped his chin coyly. "Oh was it? Well, you can keep the rest. It was my fault that you had gotten suspended after all. It's the least I could do."

"Thank you very much, sir." Gideon looked like he wanted to ask where Cain had gotten the money from, but knew that doing so would be rude. So the butler excused himself before getting back to his duties.

Cain had felt bad for getting the man in trouble, so he'd sent a month's worth of salary while Gideon was away so he didn't go without funds. The extra was mainly to help drive home the fact that Cain was the only one who truly appreciated his servitude, unlike his family.

This resulted in an uptick in services offered by the maids from his wing. He started receiving assortments of snacks through the days as well as a surprise visit by the family tailor who immediately set forth to improve Cain's wardrobe.