Betrayed By The Hero, Loved By The Lord-Chapter 189: Working together (1)

The next day, Isaac arrived at the estate. For the first time, visiting Xavier’s home was better than going to the palace.

Still, coming to the Blackthorn estate was a headache. How was Xavier planning to bother him today?

"Good morning, Harold. You look as lifeless as ever," Isaac greeted the stoic butler. "Where is Lord Blackthorn waiting for me? I hope he hasn’t forgotten."

"Lord Blackthorn never forgets the guests he invites to the estate. He is with his wife now but it won’t be long before he comes to you. Can I get you something to eat or drink while you wait?" Harold asked.

"Some water would be nice," Isaac said only to send Harold away.

Xavier’s butler perfectly matched him since Isaac always felt on edge around Harold.

"You may wait in the drawing room and when he is ready, you will be taken up to his study. I will not be long with the water," Harold said, leaving to get the water himself.

"Thank you," Isaac replied.

Isaac chose to remain by the door so he could make a quick escape if Xavier took too long. He had other things to look into today and with his time in the court coming to an end soon, Isaac had a few things he wanted to take with him while the others weren’t around.

"Her blood," Isaac heard.

He looked to his right and spotted a maid he had seen before. If he was correct, this woman was the maid to Xavier’s wife.

"No!" Agnes exclaimed, standing still after a bit of blood spilt.

"You must slow down. If you are heading to be with your lady, the butler said Xavier is with her. I don’t know about you but I would wait for when he is gone to go to your lady. He is scary," Isaac said, partially as a joke to calm the maid.

"He is," Agnes agreed with the visitor but clamped her hand over her mouth once she realised her mistake. "No! Lord Blackthorn is a wonderful man. He is kind to all his servants and to my lady."

"It is fine. I won’t tell him what you agreed to. He is indeed scary and I personally don’t like him. I’d hate to see your day ruined by having to be near him. Wait until he comes to me and then you should go up to your lady," Isaac advised Agnes.

"I must go to her now since she just woke up. I’m sure the lady will dress and be around to greet you before you leave. You were at her wedding," Agnes said, trying to fish her mind for his name.

"I am Isaac," Isaac extended his hand out to Agnes to greet her.

"Agnes," Agnes returned the greeting. "Is there something you would like while you wait? My lady just received a delivery of fruits. I can ask if you may have a few sliced up. There are far too many for her to eat before they spoil."

"That is kind of you but I already had enough for the morning. I have a few trees bearing fruit around my home which I ignore. I might be betraying them if I come to eat fruits here while they are waiting," Isaac replied.

Agnes laughed. "There are still other things I can get for you. It would be wrong of me to walk by a guest and not help them."

Isaac thought of telling her Harold was bringing him water but he was enjoying his time more with her than with Harold. "Perhaps-"

"Why are you bothering Agnes, Isaac? Don’t you have anything better to do with your time?" Xavier asked as he came down the stairs. "Selene is waiting for you, Agnes. I will take care of Isaac."

Agnes turned away to continue her task. "Excuse me."

Isaac glared at Xavier and cursed him in his head for the terrible timing. "You know what you were doing. You could have gone somewhere else for a moment."

"You’re saying you want me to disrupt a maid doing her job so you could speak to her? That doesn’t sound right coming from a man who hates when his work is interrupted. Is that changing now that you are leaving the court?" Xavier asked.

"Leave me alone, you bastard. You send for me to be here and when I do come, you interrupt the one time that I enjoy speaking to someone here. You ruined that conversation on purpose but I know you will never admit it. This is why I should have stayed home," Isaac muttered.

"One of these days you are going to admit you enjoy my company. I am the only one who listens to what you have to say and I know you are curious about what might have been found."

Isaac hated that what Xavier said was true. He did come here because he wanted to know what Xavier found.

"You are welcome to leave but I am going up to my study so I can’t see you out," Xavier said, heading back up the stairs.

Isaac mumbled a few curses under his breath as he followed Xavier.

"That’s what I thought. When you leave the court, come work for me. I have some jobs for you to do," Xavier offered.

Isaac laughed at Xavier’s joke. It couldn’t be anything more than a joke. "I don’t like seeing you in my time outside of work. Why would I come work for you?"

"Because I can help you solve the attack the town is under and free the palace from having a fool as a king. I asked you nicely at first, Isaac. Please don’t make me have to use the rope and blade I have in my study. I don’t want to worry Selene with your cries,’ Xavier said, hoping Isaac would go the easy route.

Isaac immediately stopped walking. He knew Xavier well enough to know there truly was a rope and dagger waiting for him in Xavier’s study. "I didn’t come here to die. Today is not the day I die."

"Must you always be so dramatic? No one said anything about killing you. I planned to tie you up and keep you in the dungeon. There is a difference," Xavier said, having second thoughts about employing Isaac.

Isaac couldn’t believe Xavier was trying to make one better than the other. "I am going home. I will yell for your wife if I have to."

"If you make her worry and run out here then you’ll end up in the dungeon barely alive. There are other things you need to know about and despite leaving the court, I know you want to solve the attacks. I will help you as much as I can to do it so please come, I am being nice," Xavier said, changing his approach to convince Isaac.

"Nice? That was you being nice? Your way of being nice was to tie me up if I said no?" Isaac asked as he continued to walk toward Xavier.

Isaac’s best chance at bringing peace back to the kingdom was to work with Xavier so he had to take it.

"Yes, that was me being nice. I could have kidnapped you from your home and locked you away here until you agreed but I asked first. You should be thankful I consider you a friend," said Xavier.

"I am going to regret this," Isaac muttered.