BXBX NOVEL Chapter 469 - The Plantation
Chapter 469 - The Plantation
"Was that truly necessary?" Roman questioned, disgruntled that she had let away a little criminal who might do worse things in the future.
The four had ridden past the woods and were underneath the clear skies between the pastures once again.
Yvonne looked at her cousin and smiled.
"People are not always how they appear to be at first sight." She spoke vaguely without revealing much.
Though Jax was stealing from travelers, he had never harmed anyone physically.
Therefore, she could tell that while he was doing something wrong, he wasn't an evil person.
"What makes you think that he will be of use to you?" Knox was next with his inquiry.
Howard nodded along as he felt that Jax wasn't good enough to work for his sister.
"A cunning man like him who calls himself lazy… But did you pay attention to the amount of detail he put into his disguise as an injured person?" She retorted with a question of her own.
This made the three think back to what they had observed when they first arrived.
The path was sullied with blood, the boy's clothes were stained and his entire face was the same, smeared with blood.
"Not only is he smart but he's also a meticulous person." She assessed from what she had seen and noticed during that incident.
'He reminded me of my assistant.' She pursed her lips while thinking of her assistant in Platina Entertainment.
A talented young lady who found ways to finish her tasks faster because she was lazy.
She never did anything half-hearted and managed to cope with working for a severe workaholic like her.
This thought had passed her mind when she was interrogating Jax about his life experiences.
He might be lazy but the way he planned to con his targets was well-thought-out and he implemented them competently.
If it wasn't that she had seen such cases often in her world and she had Demon's assistance, she might have also fallen for his tricks and gotten robbed like the rest of his victims.
"No matter how smart or meticulous you think he is, he is still a criminal," Howard grumbled and tried to talk some sense into her.
Yvonne turned towards him and shook her head.
"He's a petty thief at best, stealing money and clothes. He's just a child and cannot be marked as a criminal yet." She reminded him that Jax had not yet been tried before the court of the Kingdom which meant that he could not be branded a criminal yet.
Roman narrowed his eyes as this part was true.
Unless the accused is sentenced by the court of the Kingdom for having broken the law they could not be called a criminal.
As far as he knew about it, no one had yet to lodge an official complaint with the law authorities under the Fief Lord about the thief lurking in the woods.
Therefore, Jax was not yet a criminal and only a petty thief for now.
"What if he refuses your kindness and continues on the wrong path?" The elder twin questioned what she would do then.
In answer, Yvonne sighed and shook her head.
"He has been given a choice. Follow me or leave this fief." She recalled what she had said to him.
If he chose to follow her, she would help him get a better life and even might find a trustworthy follower in him.
However, if he chose to stick to the wrong path, she would not interfere with what Roman wished to do.
She would be in this fief until she completes her discussion with the Hagen family.
Once she was done here, her family would be heading to the St. Claire fief.
This was the reason why she had given Jax three days to mull over what he might choose to do with his life.
"You might do as you see fit if he insists on following the wrong path." She washed her hands off this matter.
'I can give him a chance to change his path but I will not force him to do anything.' She decided that what she had done for him was already more than enough.
If he chooses the wrong path even after being given an opportunity to strive for better then he should be able to deal with the consequences that might follow.
When Roman heard that she would not interfere with what he did after the three days time limit, he nodded in acceptance.
"It would be better if he disappears if he chooses to stick to his current path." He muttered as if Jax continued to stay here and rob people then nothing could help him.
He would be sent to the law authorities without a moment's thought.
Yvonne understood what his words meant and she looked ahead without responding to it.
While the two were lost in thoughts, Knox cheered for they had reached their destination.
Looking up, the St. Claire siblings caught sight of tall and thick trees ahead of them.
The trees stretched out across a large area of land and Yvonne could not even tell how wide it was.
"Bananas?" Howard muttered which made Yvonne feel that this place seemed familiar.
Large stalks of bananas were seen hanging on the trees, ready to be harvested and sold.
"Is this the 'Plantation', Brother Knox?" She inquired and saw him nod with excitement.
Before he could question her about how she knew of this place, Yvonne explained that she had heard Raylene mentioning it before.
'During the Paula incident, the Plantation was brought up.' She concealed this part of her narration as it was not necessary.
The place known to be riddled with deadly bandits who wrecked the factory named Plantation situated at the center of these banana trees was where they had arrived.
The banana trees planted all around were supposed to conceal the existence of the factory, the 'Plantation' that was present right in the center of the land.
However, the discovery of the factory led to numerous terrifying raids taking place in which many of the servants had lost their lives.
To help them with this situation, Old man Valente had asked assistance from Rutherford's father, the previous Earl.
This had led to young Rutherford and Raylene's love story to begin in the first place.
Yvonne knew of these from her spy mission during Paula's expulsion from her estate and also from what she had heard in the flashback story about her parents' love story from Grandpa and Uncle Valente recently.
Roman and Knox nodded as they maneuvered their horses to lead them to the Plantation which had been left vacant for a few years now.
"Father founded different businesses so this one became less used and had to stop functioning altogether a few years ago," Knox explained when they came to a halt before a massive building at the center of the banana trees.
Howard and Yvonne scanned the area with curious eyes, making the twins chuckle as they gestured for them to follow.
"This way," Roman called out as he pushed open a door.
'Wasn't locked?' Yvonne noticed how he did not unlock it yet the doors opened right away.
The answer to this question was apparent when she saw someone standing before them as soon as they walked through the massive doors.
"Uncle?" Howard and Yvonne questioned in unison after recognizing who it was.
Viscount Marcus Valente smiled at his niece and nephew before taking them on a tour of the entire vacant factory.
Upon Howard's inquiry, Marcus revealed that while they were preparing to ride their horses, he had already taken his carriage and arrived here using the longer route.
Thanks to this, he had not seen Jax who was lurking around the shortcut that passed through the woods.
The four children also did not reveal much to him here as this needed to be dealt with in a better way after they returned home.
Right now, Marcus was busy explaining how secure and efficient the place was and how he had gotten it cleaned and prepared already.
"Prepared for what, Uncle?" Yvonne interrogated while tilting her head, finding it suspicious that they had come all this way just to see an old factory.
"For the Hagen family's workshop, of course!" Marcus announced as he smiled, enjoying the look of immense surprise on her face.