Chapter 841 Lapitus's Tribulations
?841 Lapitus's Tribulations
Lady Felicia left without giving Lapitus a chance to question her, just like Alexander had instructed.
Thus the man was left to deal with this hot potato of an intelligence as he saw fit.
And like Lady Felicia had predicted, over the next several hours, Lapitus agonized endlessly about it, pacing restlessly to and fro in his house as he was torn between his old and new oath.
Until finally lunch time came and Lapitus made the excuse of wanting to see his wife and daughter to visit the mansion.
And once the couple managed to find some time alone, Lapitus whispered pointedly to his wife,
"Why do you want to betray the Pasha?"
When Lapitus was thinking about betraying Alexander, this was the single query that had been haunting the man for the better part of the morning.
"I don't." And Lady Felicia hissed this surprising reply, pointing, "I only do not want the Pasha to win too easily."
"If he keeps on fighting.... Well, then there will be more chances for you to earn honor and glory. And we will be able to get more his favor."
The way to earn honor and glory was of course referring to Lapitus joining the war and winning battles for Alexander.
"..." And to this, Lapitus seemed to have no reply, only putting on a thoughtful face, trying to balance greed with duty
While Lady Felicia went back to being silent, surprisingly adhering to Alexander's instructions
Given her prize was so close, Lady Felicia did not want to give the man any chance to find faults with her.
"........"
And the silence between the couple lasted almost the entire afternoon, as Lapitus left Lady Felicia to rejoin his daughter at the small party without saying yes or no.
And even as evening started to approach, Lapitus gave no answer.
Which at last prompted Lady Felicia to urge, "The aviary will close any moment. If you want to send the information now is the time."
By this point, the woman had a hint of desperation in her voice, for if Lapitus did not send the message, it might cost her her neck.
But Lapitus seemed to want more time, as clenching the pocket where he was carrying the paper he had written the key points on, he gritted his teeth, ".....I need more time to think. I will do it tomorrow."
"..."
This amount of resistance was not something Lady Felicia had expected, as according to her estimate, a bird should have been already flying towards the capital- Parthenigh by now.
So seeing Lapitus's indecision, Lady Felicia finally decided to try and bend some of the instructions Alexander gave, subtly nudging her man by creating a sense of time pressure, "If you gonna do it, do it quickly. We should not delay, lest it becomes too late."
"....." But Lapitus did not bite, only producing a wall of silence as the man turned unusually taciturn, his thoughts to his own.
And so the day passed like that, with both husband and wife being very restless, though for very different purposes.
Lapitus was so desperate for advice that he turned to an almost random passerby.
But then again, perhaps it was not so foolish given he was asking for the opinion of the 'people'.
"Ah!" And for the young man, hearing his boss suddenly ask such a grave question made him involuntarily gasp.
For a moment he even seemed unable to understand what he was being asked, as he only stared blankly back.
"Well?"
Seeing the man in a stupor, Lapitus then again posed.
And this finally made the man respond, as he first frankly chuckled,
"Captain, how can I say anything about the actions of kings and lords? Doesn't land belong to the one with the greatest army?"
Anon revealed the prevailing thought of the time, before saying his own two cents, "But if captain wants to know how I personally think, well me and my family have actually been better off under the new pasha."
"Our houses have been rebuilt for free and the money given to us was more than we had in saving before."
"I think many people seem to think that too."
The answer was clear, concise, and radiated flashes of happiness.
"But.... what about your oath? To defend the crown?" However for Lapitus, this was the main point against all other reasons.
It had always been a sore point of his since the day he betrayed the city and produced a constant stream of pain.
"....hehehe" And towards this, after being initially surprised and then even a bit ashamed, Anon scratched his patchy cheeks and chuckled somewhat embarrassedly, "What we have done.... is done, We cannot change that."
"We knew what we were doing but still did it. The ancestors will never forgive us."
The man sounded sullen.
Before suddenly his voice turned high pitched and radiant, as he informed Lapitus with almost a fanatical gaze,
"That's why I decided to switch sides captain. No point in crying over split milk."
"I'm a believer of goddess Gaia now. She has forgiven my previous oaths and let me swear anew one with her!"
"The ancestors' spirits cannot bind me anymore!"
An extra note from Author:
Hey Guys I have started to write another book: StarScroung Mage: Eater of Millions.
It's currently in RoyalRoad free to read. If you wish, kindly head over there to give it a try.
And if you want me to change anything, including the title- Comment there.
I will be able to edit a lot of the story because I plan to start posting it on Webnovel around February 2024.
Thanks.