Chapter 355 - My World
She smiled wickedly inside her bedroom.
A few minutes later.
She exited her room, went to the basement, and gathered her men to give them instruction. "Men.. listen carefully.... here's what you are going to do..."
A few minutes later.
"Men, do you understand my plans?" Sylvia asked them.
"Aye, Madam!" The men guarding the rooms nodded their heads in understanding.
Her instruction was easy to follow and the men doesn't have to do much but guard the door and shoot any intruder that they see inside and outside the room. Every room has guards assigned to them, one stationed inside and one outside.
The men will be carrying a weapon that looks like a gun and they will shoot anyone who tries to save the prisoners. The gun was loaded with pellets that were shaped like a bullet. Once the pellet hits the targets, it can make them immobile, freezing them for a while.
"Alright, stay alert and do your best to capture the enemy!" Sylvia said.
"Aye, Madam!" the men replied in unison.
She looked at her trusted man. "Come here," she said.
The guy went to her side and she gave him her last instruction.
"I got it, Madam!" the guy said.
"Hurry up, do it!" Sylvia said.
The guy hastily left the basement.
Sylvia left the basement, going back to her room upstairs.
While Sylvia was busy giving instructions to her men, Nathan was outside the house, relaxing on the porch, enjoying the colorful flowers in the front garden, bathed by the soft glow of the moonlight above.
Although his attention was fixated on the flowers, his mind was in deep thoughts.
The blazing inferno was his idea, to scare the prisoners and give in to his mother's demands. Based on his original plan, nobody will die on the fire tonight, but his mother went against the plan and throw the girl into the fire resulting in that epic spectacle...
Well, it's hard to detect what his mother is planning inside her head. After all, she is the master in her empire. Her words are obeyed by her men. She can do anything she likes, no one can oppose her decision.
Fifteen minutes later.
Sylvia appeared on the porch and went to Nathan's side, carrying a kerosene lamp in her right hand. "Son, I want you to come with me," she said.
Nathan looked at her mother. "Where are we going, Mother?" he asked.
"Just come with me. I'll show you something," Sylvia said and walked away.
Nathan followed his mother as they walked on the path leading to the backyard. They passed the fish pond, the backyard garden, and now heading to the crocodile-infested lake. His brows knitted together. "Where are we going, Mother? We're already getting farther away from the house," he said.
"I know, just follow me. We're arriving soon to our destination after a few minutes," Sylvia replied.
"Okay," Nathan spoke.
They were walking for almost fifteen minutes already, their location was hidden under the shades of the towering trees above them.
Nathan knew that the whole property was hugely connected, consisting of a total of 25 hectares. But he's not in the mood to tour around the vast land unless he can walk under the sun without getting burnt to ashes. The view during daylight is much better than the view during nighttime.
"Mother, are you going to give me a tour around the vast property in the middle of the night?" Nathan asked.
Sylvia smiled. "Not really!" she answered. "Don't worry, you will know everything soon!" she responded and continue walking.
After a long time of walking, they finally reached their destination.
Nathan looked at the structure above him. "Wow, it's a brick tower!" he said looking up above.
"Yes... indeed! It's fifty feet high. I have it constructed ten years ago when I was bored," Sylvia said.
Two men were guarding the tower.
"Good evening, Madam!" the men greeted their mistress in unison.
Sylvia nods her head, acknowledging their greetings.
The men opened the door.
The mother and son duo entered the brick tower.
They went inside a metal crate that looks like an elevator.
The men pulled the rope and the metal crate propelled upward.
"Where are we going, Mother?" Nathan asked curiously.
"We're going upstairs to see the beauty of the whole property under the moonlight," Sylvia answered.
A few minutes later they reached the top and exited the crate.
They stepped into the open platform, surrounding the top of the tower, fitted with metal railings.
The top of the tower offered them a spectacular bird's eye view of the whole property.
Sylvia looked at the surrounding area above the tower. "The view is lovely, isn't it?"
"Fantastic!" Nathan agreed as he scanned the whole surrounding below the brick tower.
He saw five manors strategically located in every corner, they were separated by the fence made up of big trees. "Mother, those manor's... who owned them?" he asked.
"It belongs to our family!" Sylvia replied with a smile.
"Really-?" Nathan was amazed.
"Are there people living in those manors?" he inquired.
"Yup. There are human slaves working in those manors for different purposes. Human slaves are good source of rich blood and free labor. My trusted men oversees them on daily basis. Don't worry though, the humans have eight hours of sleep, and they were given three decent meals everyday," Sylvia explained.
"What kind of meals your men give to them, Mother?" Nathan asked curiously.
"The usual human food diet... you know... vegetables mixed with pork, beef and chicken meat and others such as fish. I might be cruel to my enemies abut I'm a little bit generous to my human slaves. I treated them right when it comes to proper rest and decent meals, after all, we're earning lots of money from their efforts..."
"Excellent, Mother!" Nathan interjected.
"Then I also give them one day off from work every month. They're allowed to leave the basement and breath fresh air and then enjoy dancing, drinking and socializing around the bonfire. The event takes place in the backyard of the manor, strictly supervised by my men. They can eat unlimited foods, drink unlimited ale. Then the next day they're back to work in the basement."
"What kind of works the servants are performing daily, Mother?" he asked curiously.
"Underground those manors are large deposits of gold, which our people harvested on daily basis and sold them to humans. They have to do the hard labor in behalf of us in order for us to live comfortably in the world of humans," Sylvia said. "Your father and I also bought the other neighboring areas for the same purpose," she added.
"And what are you going to do with those slaves who rebel and wanted to escape?" Nathan asked.
"My men will kill them on the spot. We're very strict in implementing our rules. No one can escape this place unless I give them permission," she said.
"I see... do you have women slaves?" he asked.
"Yeah, we need them to do the laundry, prepare meals for the workers and perform household works in the house. They also tend to the vegetable garden at the back of the manors. The men performed the hard labor and heavy stuff underground while the women stayed above in the manor to prepare everything for the workers. And my men's job is to supervised them, keep everything organized. That's their daily routine everyday," Sylvia elaborated.
Nathan was blown away by the secret that his mother revealed to him.
"The whole place doesn't look like it's one whole property because it's divided by the trees that works as fence separating the manors from each other, giving it an appearance that several people owned it. But in reality, our family owned it," Sylvia added more information to her son.
After staying a few minutes in the tower, Sylvia finally decided to leave the place. "Son, let's go down. I want you show you something," she said.
"More revelation, Mother?" he asked excitedly. New things always excite him.
"Yup!" Sylvia said.
They entered the metal crate and Sylvia moved the rope.
The men maneuvered the rope bringing the metal crate down.
After they reached the ground, they exited the metal crate.
"Son, follow me!" Sylvia went to the door in the corner and opened it.
Nathan followed his mother inside.
They descended the long staircase. Nathan counted the steps, about sixty steps to the ground.
A few minutes later, their feet finally landed on the ground.
"Another basement, Mother?" Nathan asked.
"Yeah," Sylvia replied.
They walked in the long hallway, passing rooms with closed doors in between.
"The tunnels are interconnected to each other underground, bridging the gap between the five manors," Sylvia explained.
"I see..." Nathan murmured.
They stopped on one of the closed doors.
Sylvia opened it and they entered inside.
Nathan's eyes winded in surprise after seeing the unconscious guy lying in the bed. "Why is Grandfather here?" he asked. He can't remember seeing his mother's men removing the guy's body and putting him here.
"Your grandfather's body is safe here. I believe that the woman who vanished earlier will return to the manor to save her companions including their lord," Sylvia replied.
"Where are the other prisoners, Mother?" Nathan asked.
"Your favorite butler is in the other room next to this one..."
"And the other one...?"
"I left him in the basement as a trap. That woman can get him if she's quick enough, if not then she's back in square one as our prisoner," Sylvia replied. "I found the prisoners identities interesting! They're not your common folks, they're powerful beings!" Sylvia declared.
"You're right about your guess, Mother!" Nathan agreed.
The mother and son duo stayed in the room, discussing the prisoners.
Meanwhile...
At the Windless Mountain...
Veronica and Elva were getting ready to put their plans into action.