楼上的上瘾女士

Considering it had been the dream of every Dane to one day regain the past glory of the family in the ruling of the Duchy, a power they lost when the rise of the Harons first began, you might see how it was hard for Isabella to take Hal seriously.

To her credit, she did not laugh or express the disbelief in an overly expressive manner... She just furrowed her brows as she said,

"Two days?"

Hal had his fingertips touching in front of his face but his expression was still quite clear to see,

"Yes, at the very most. I can guarantee your return to your former glory as long as you do as I say" He said.

"And what exactly do you say? And how exactly is this supposed to happen?"

The Silvas have ruled the Duchy for even longer than the Harons have ruled over the continent... The Silvas, with support from the Harons, overthrew the Danes and became one of the two Duchys to accept the Harons\' plans to rule the continent by pacifying the other Duchys (then called Kingdoms) and bringing them together to form the Haron Empire.

Anyway, while it can be excused that they were at their worst after they were overthrown, it was only after centuries that the Danes finally grew some balls to begin planning their revival and their reclaim of power... The fact that the takeover had so far been unsuccessful is as much testament to the power of the Silvas as it is to the damage the Danes were caused while getting overthrown.

The Silvas have never underestimated the Danes and have done their best to put them down just enough to crush the possibility of a rebellion.

With every power the Danes hold, the Silvas find ways to push themselves in there and take some of it for themselves, essentially strengthening their power and authority while reducing that of the Danes. An example of this is the Flaming Lotus sect that should have been controlled exclusively by the Danes but now has members of the Silva family in Elder seats.

These were all sound political moves that should probably have been implemented by the Danes and would have likely seen them hold on to power rather than lose it to the once second-rate family.

As the centuries passed, the oppression of the Danes became more political and systemic rather than brash.

The Danes remain projected as powerful and second only to the Silvas in the Duchy but in all honesty, they are so far from the Silvas to be truly considered second to them.

This had even been proved by the few times they had attempted to rise against the Silvas only to fail terribly.

If they rely entirely on their strength (all the forces they had in the Silva Duchy) they were not enough to defeat the Silvas who were much more capable.

Anyway, the journey had been long and the Danes, thanks to clever planning and schemes had regained enough power to be a threat to the Silvas but had kept it under wraps to remain overlooked just enough for their insurrection to work.

Of course, there was a sure need for allies and while it was a dream for every Dane, Isabella and other Dane higher-ups were not averse to the idea of waiting and truly working out all the kinks in the plan.

They were not ready and part of the maturity that would serve them well should they ever regain their position, was in taking note of their unreadiness and buckling down all for better planning.

To Isabella\'s question on what exactly he wanted them to do, Hal just shrugged,

"Oh, just a few things. A little of this, a little of that, a lot of deaths, and likely some sacrifices on your part... All in all, the Silva Duchy capital will bear witness to a lot of ruckuses... It will be amazing!"

Hal said the last bit in the most theatrical tone he could come up with.

"Funny how you can say so much and still have explained nothing. You know, we were already working on a plan..."

"Oh, and what is that plan? I am genuinely curious and not at all being sarcastic"

Isabella paused for a second or two and then gave a rundown on plans that while being incomplete still had a lot of kinks worked out and when she was done, Hal spread his arms

"Oh, that\'s good. My plan actually shares similarities with yours aside from the fact that it will not be relying on you convincing anyone and it is also simpler.

I have it on good authority that the Silvas will be in a vulnerable position sooner rather than later and you will finally have your chance at taking back what is yours."

There was a pause as Isabella mulled things over but in all honesty, there was really nothing to mull over. Hal was yet to give detailed explanations of things to happen.

She would reserve judgment until she and every other Dane involved in important decision-making had heard the full details of this plan.

"Okay then, I will trust you," she said before pointing out that she was not a lone decision maker in the Dane family and would need to consult with others... Especially on an issue so large.

She advised that he keep his instructions till a meeting was convened and then proceeded to contact other higher-ups for the scheduling of that meeting... Making it clear to all those she contacted that this was a matter of great importance and there was very little time.

Hal declined to wait for the meeting to start. He had things to do and things to prepare for and would rather just tell Isabella all that she needed to know and have her pass it along.

While giving the instructions, there came a major point in the topic that had Isabella narrow her eyes,

"Dystopians?" she asked and Hal nodded,

"Yes, is that a deal breaker?" he asked.

"You are in cohorts with Dystopians?" she asked almost totally ignoring his question.

Hal just smiled,

"Yes I am," he said and for a second, there was silence.

In all honesty, it seemed to make sense to the Dane Patroness...

While she was likely to never pick up on any such thing if it were not explicitly told to her, it did bring back to memory, the moment she had sensed a darkness in him since they first met.

Danes are quite acute to most things Dystopian and there is always a righteous desire to burn such things/being with their Holy flames... There was always something unsettling about Hal and her bloodline had always piqued at the thought of attacking him and now the reason was clear to her,

"You\'re Dystopian, aren\'t you?" she said.

This was not just about him being in cohorts with Dystopians and was more about confirming that darkness she knew he had inside him.

"You could say that," Hal said and allowed himself to take on his Devil form for a second which caused Isabella to clench her fists as though she were holding back an urge to attack him.

And then she chuckled before bursting into peals of laughter,

"You\'ve got balls kid, I\'ll give you that. I mean sure, you\'ve lied to me and my family for as long as you\'ve known us but to so readily admit it now... You\'ve got balls" she said and unclenched her fists which was not really a good or passive sign but Hal took it to be passive.

"I have to say, I was not entirely sure how that would go... I mean, I expected you to eventually see the bigger picture but I was not sure how long it would take you to see it" Hal said.

"What bigger picture?" Isabella asked.

"The bigger picture that killing me, or attempting to do so does you no good.

Me telling you who I am is not really brave and not really a noble act of clearing my conscience... It is just me being sure that there is no way you will kill me or try to do so" Hal said.

"Are you sure about that?" Isabella asked and there was a chill in the room... A chill that Hal ignored.

"Very sure. What I am is not nearly as important as what I can help you accomplish.

Without me, what ties do you have with the Doxons who you planned to ally with?" Hal asked.

"Melinda knows, doesn\'t she?" Isabella asked rather than answering his question to which Hal said,

"She does."

\'Of course, she does\' Isabella thought.

In all honesty, all things considered, Hal brought up good points, and even when relaying things to the other Dane higher-ups, Isabella did not expect to find much resistance to Hal\'s plans even when faced with this nature of his.

The Silvas have governed this territory that should not be theirs for over five hundred thousand years and that was enough time for the Danes to learn to put aside prejudices and focus on what is most important; the regaining of power.

"How exactly does all this tie in with Svetlana?" Isabella asked knowing for certain, that he had not gotten that form he showed previously from his Doxon side.

"It\'s complicated," Hal said with a sigh and a smile.