This Time, To The Believed Path
To Make A Deal

As Leana enters the office space, the first thing she sees is the good looks of her husband, Forde, whom she once admired yesterday come back to haunt her mentality.

A filter seemed to always appear every time he saw the face made him want to immediately hit his head to the nearest wall.

But not long after he realized the figure of Albert who looked at him with tears. What the hell happened to him?

“Mr Forde, as I said yesterday, there's something I need to talk about.”

Leana glanced at Albert and she swiftly took the position to resign.

“Then excuse me for resigning, Mr. Forde, Mrs Leana.”

Albert disappeared behind the door behind him. In the room that only Forde and Leana were in, awkwardness began to envelop him. Leana herself began to panic to start their conversation.

“How about you sit first?”

Leana looked at Forde who was tidying up the documents on her desk. The expression of the man before him still remained as calm and cold as he remembered. Leana followed his words.

“Iya, alright.”

Feeling a little tense again, Leana sat on the sofa in front of Forde's desk. He was a little surprised when Forde also sat on the sofa in front of him and looked at him seriously.

“So what do you want to talk about?” ask Forde.

Leana secretly began to realize again the good looks of her husband but she immediately dodged the thought. Leana slightly took a breath and then looked straight at Forde before her.

“Mr Forde, I'm here to make a deal with you.”

With that statement, Leana did not even slightly pass the change in expression of Forde who was shocked to hear it.

‘What is his expression?’

Forde's expression in front of him was surprised but at the same time he felt a flash of anger in his eyes.

“What deal do you mean?”

Different from his mind, the tone Forde issued was very calm.

Leana realized something from the beginning of her husband's welcome home, but didn't Forde's speech to Leana sound familiar? Just feeling?

“I don't know if Albert has notified you but while I was checking some old documents, I found the legal ownership documents of Alphiella.” region

“Iya, Albert had talked about it earlier.”

Since their atmosphere was good, Leana continued her words.

“The deal I want to make is I want you to give me full responsibility for the ownership of Alphiella, in exchange I will help you in taking care of the Grandall residence. If you are pleased not only during your departure, but every time you need me.”

‘Yosh! Kelar!’ batin Leana cheered her achievement in explaining her agreement.

But he felt as if Forde was silent waiting for the continuation of his words so that Leana again gave another explanation.

“At first I was just wondering what the Alphiella region was like because I never saw and heard it anywhere, but when checking it directly I found something that can revive Alphiella.”

Forde was still staring at Leana who was quietly hiding her tiredness while explaining, but she calmly walked in the direction of their conversation.

“So you found something there and plan to restore the condition of Alphiella as usual, is that what you mean?”

“True once.”

Looks like Forde can quickly capture the intent of Leana's goal.

‘After this, I will also make a contract as collateral if we part ways. I'm sure at least Forde will give me a place in Alphiella after the contribution I made there.’

Leana's eyes twinkled at her proposal getting a pretty good impression for Forde and she smiled at Leana's reaction she had never seen before.

“No problem. I'll give you full ownership rights of the Alphiella region.”

“Really! Thank you Mr. Forde!”

Seeing Leana excited by her answer made Forde happy, but there was one thing that bothered him.

“But I have to give you one condition.”

“Eh?” Leana's pleasure stopped. Leana began to panic on the terms that her husband would take out.

“Tutu said, isn't it too formal with me? Stop that.”

Huh uh? Whahuh?

What did he just hear? Leana blinked a few not believing what she heard.

“Anu, Mr. Forde—”

“Call me Forde, Leana.”

With a serious look on Forde's face, Leana could feel the dazzling light from her handsome face. He wanted to protect his eyes from the light.

“Uhh, Tuan—”

“Forders, Leana. Forde.”

“Fo..”

“Forde.” Her husband did not take his eyes off Leana in the least, as if he was enjoying her reaction. Leana felt like she was being played.

With all his might he began to open his mouth.

“For..de...”

Forde smiled with satisfaction while Leana felt her face heat up. If his face looks as red as in the stories he has seen, he wants to bury himself immediately.

“It... Forde... i...”.

“Leana...” Forde's face instantly regained its lethargy and his eyes radiated a flash of sadness. Leana clenched her mouth tightly and held back the urge to scream.

He could not face the speed in their current relationship change. And he also felt that there was something he had forgotten.

“Iya it... I. previous deal, thank you.”.

Leana tried to avert her eyes to hide her embarrassment. Forde nodded without removing his smile and said.

“Leana, if you ask for it without a deal I will give it.”

‘Eh? That easy?’

Not likely. Before Leana spoke up again, Forde had already reopened her voice.

“I don't have much memory of Alphiella, but before I took the Grandall clan, I had a pretty good memory of the region.”

While Forde was still part of the mercenary army, he visited Alphiella in his mission and enjoyed the nuances there. But this was not known to Leana.

Leana was stunned to see Forde's nostalgic calm expression. Forde added “I may never tell you, but.”.

“Alphiella is like a childhood place to me, so I'm happy if you want to take care of her despite knowing her condition now.”

Leana did not expect to hear past stories that were not even told in the novels she read. Realizing, Leana immediately looked for other talks.

“Ah was right too, Tuan—” Leana again felt a piercing gaze from Forde. “—Forde..”.

He turned his eyes away for a moment to justify his words.

“I have made Mr. Iscan my personal bodyguard and I have also recommended Mr. Hardie to join your mission later.”

“Oh, this is something I haven't heard from Albert.”

“Iya, I saw the ability of both of them while escorting me to the city of Adreandel..”.

Upon hearing Leana's explanation, Forde's expression suddenly hardened. The astonished Leana repeated her words in her head and recalled Albert's previous expression. It was as if he realized something was wrong.

“I've heard. Looks like you were involved in an incident.”

“Ah, no, the.”.

“More such incidents are concerned with the illegal organization of slavery.”

Leana felt a mysterious pressure that made her instantly shut her mouth tightly. He felt that whatever reason he would give would have the opposite effect.

“I haven't heard the full report of the incident. If you don't mind, can you explain, Leana?”

Forde smiled but his eyes were not. Leana could only reply to him with a forced smile.

Should Leana be acting or should she be telling the truth? the two choices clashed endlessly in his mind.

Sooner or later Forde will discover the origins of Adde and the other workers at Alphiella, he feels it doesn't matter if he tells some of the truth of the incident.

“I... will tell it.” Leana succumbed to the pressure exerted by her husband.

What a cruel man.