Chapter 319: What Do You Even Want?

Adrian slowly turned to look at him.

"Well I’m feeding them, so it’s only natural for them to train."

Frankenstein shook his head. "They are my soldiers, not yours. Your rules do not apply to my men."

Adrian just shrugged.

"Well I don’t see how that’s my issue. The food they are eating is basically my food because I for all the ingredients at this point. If you gave it to me for free, then yeah, sure."

Frankenstein frowned deeply.

"I offered it to you for a fifty percent discount."

Adrian shrugged again. "Fifty percent or not, it doesn’t change the fact that I paid for it."

Frankenstein just glared at him.

"Do you have something against me?"

Adrian finally turned around completely. Up until now, he hadn’t even been looking at Frankenstein. He was just looking out at the training grounds where his own knights were yelling at a bunch of exhausted spearmen.

He stared straight at Frankenstein, making direct eye contact.

"What do you think?" Adrian asked flatly.

He didn’t blink.

"Think back to everything that you have done and then you tell me. Would I have any sort of negative impression of you?"

Frankenstein’s ears immediately turned bright red from embarrassment.

He wasn’t an ignorant person. He knew exactly what he had done in the past. He knew he was the one who was wrong here, but he refused to say it out loud. His pride wouldn’t allow it, atleast not yet.

But then he remembered the words Draven had told him just last night at the dinner table. Offending Adrian was basically asking for death.

Frankenstein took a deep breath, forcing himself to calm down.

"I apologize for everything," Frankenstein said through gritted teeth. "I only did it because of someone else’s orders."

"Well that’s what every dog says."

Frankenstein stiffened.

"But dogs are pretty loyal aren’t they?" Adrian continued casually. "And they listen to their owner a lot. It’s not going to be easy to switch owners is it?"

The fact that Adrian even called him a dog right to his face was utterly humiliating.

But Frankenstein swallowed his pride.

He looked at Adrian.

"I wholeheartedly apologize for everything that I have done," Frankenstein said, his voice straining. "So please, let my soldiers go. I want them to perform well in the war."

Adrian crossed his arms.

"Well just saying that you’re sorry isn’t really enough is it? You didn’t come up to me back then and just tell me that you hated me did you? You did things to show me that you hated me. Is that right or wrong?"

Frankenstein gritted his teeth so hard a vein almost popped on his forehead.

"What do you want?" he asked. "Just tell me so that we can bury this thing and move on. I do not want bad blood between us."

"Well first, tell me why you’re even coming to me," Adrian replied.

He looked the Count up and down.

"I prefer honesty over you trying to circle around the topic and give me clues. Because that’s what all nobles do. Just consider me a commoner and tell it to me like I’m a dumb guy. I want a direct answer. Why are you trying to do right now and what do you even want?"

Frankenstein let out a heavy breath out of sheer anger.

He exhaled again to calm himself down before he finally spoke.

"Well, you are clearly way too strong at this moment," Frankenstein admitted. "I don’t really know the full extent of your strength, but you are clearly extremely strong. And my so-called owner, as you just put it, has nothing to her name at this moment."

Frankenstein glanced around the camp before stepping slightly closer.

"I have no one to back me right now. I am no different from all the other minor nobles in that tent right now with almost no backing. Vaneira was someone who helped out a lot with taxes and businesses. We shared a really good partnership and I made a lot of money."

He shook his head.

"But it is not possible anymore. I don’t see a future of her being able to take over the land again. And even if we do take this over and succeed in this war, I don’t think that she will retain the same amount of power that she had before."

Adrian just listened in silence.

"There is a high chance that the Emperor might just take over the entire land," Frankenstein continued. "There is still a fifty percent chance that he will give it back to her, but since the Emperor is going to take over the mines, he will have a lot of influence over her territory. So it won’t be easy to do good business there anymore."

Frankenstein looked utterly defeated.

"And she is not exactly a reliable partner at this point. She has sunken into a really bad place from what I’ve seen and heard. I don’t think I want to rely on her anymore."

He looked back up at Adrian.

"I would rather find someone better. And that is where you come into place."

Adrian stared at him for a few seconds.

"Fine then."

Adrian rubbed his hands together.

"What are you going to do to win me over to your side? And just for your information, I don’t do things for free. Especially for those who have offended me in the past. The price is going to be steep Count Frankenstein."

Frankenstein nodded quickly.

"Just tell me what you want and I’ll give it to you. Anything."

He didn’t even hesitate.

"I have two daughters," Frankenstein offered. "One of them is a year older than you, but the other one is three years younger. I can give them to you. If you want, I can give them both."

Adrian just gave him a deadpan stare.

"I have multiple businesses in various territories," Frankenstein added nervously. "I can give you some of them too. What else do you want from me?"

Adrian just looked at him.

"Well, I want you to sign this contract," Adrian said.

He reached into his pocket and took out a rolled up piece of parchment. It was a Soul Contract, and it already had all of its terms written out using mana.

He handed it to Frankenstein.

"You’re a dog that has bitten its own owner’s hand," Adrian said. "And I’m not sure if you’ll bite my hand too. I like having loyal dogs. If you want me on your side, you know what to do."

Frankenstein took the parchment, and looked down at the Soul Contract.

This was something that was extremely hard to acquire for even the highest ranking nobles. Even the Dukes of the Empire would have trouble acquiring one of these. But this man just casually took one out and he was using it to bind a mere Count.

Frankenstein couldn’t tell if he felt honored or terrified.

He unrolled the parchment and started reading through the clauses.

And as he read, his eyes widened. He was pleasantly surprised by the fact that Adrian was literally asking for nothing.

Adrian didn’t ask for his daughters and nor did he ask for any of his businesses.