Vile Evil Hides Under The Veil

The next day. Around 8 AM.

"What… What the hell did you guys do?"

Dineria had part angry and part shocked expressions as she saw the conditions of some of the rare plants cultivated inside the greenhouse. Some of them had died and most of them were on the verge of dying.

"Well… aunt Dineria… the moisture regulation array…"

As she looked around, Lensa had a guilty expression on her face. But before she could admit to her fault, Eren decided to do some damage control.

"That moisture regulation array malfunctioned last night during our… experiments. I think it wasn't balanced with the right elemental parameters. So it turned haywire when we used it for a direct concoction process."

Eren tried to bullshit his way out of the situation. There was no way he was willing to let House Carren make him bleed money for spoiling so many of their precious resources. No matter how rich he got, the butcher never forgot about his survival mentality.

Lensa had blank expressions on her face as she heard Eren's excuse. She didn't believe that an Expert ranker like Dineria would buy whatever he was selling. But she couldn't believe her ears when she heard her response.

"Hm? Did you use the array directly for the concoction process?

I… I see."

Eren nodded at Dineria as he maintained stoic expressions. He wanted to add some more details. But then he restrained himself from speaking any further. Most lies would get caught because the liars tried to oversell them.

Dineria sighed and dropped her shoulders as it looked like she believed in Eren's words for some reason. In reality, Dineria wasn't too knowledgeable about array setups. But she couldn't admit her incompetence in front of the young generation. As a result, she agreed with Eren's words and ended the discussion.

House Carren could afford losses like this once every blue moon anyway. She would just have to duck it under the guise of "a sudden array setup malfunction."

Lensa was amazed how Eren was able to lie to an Expert without giving away his bluff. The elf also marveled at her ability not to laugh right away after hearing his words. She could only guess that the fact that she was branded by Eren's Sin Series Ability had changed something deep inside her.

Eren had told Lensa about the reason behind his move on her. He tweaked some details while keeping the core of the matter the same. That he wanted to get back at Ken for something he did.

Of course, Lensa wasn't too pleased with the details. Eren had kept her personality untouched while branding her after all. She only wanted to know about them to give herself the closure she needed and deserved.

Eren had to work a lot with his glib tongue to uplift Lensa's sour mood post-coitus. He then used the same tongue for various other activities, making Lensa drop the subject for good. His Sin Series Ability helped him a lot during his mission.

However, all these activities kept the pair too busy with each other. So they didn't notice when the plants started dying because of creating an ice bed inside the moisture regulation pool.

***

"I still can't believe we got away with THAT?"

Lensa said and giggled. She first had a weird feeling about hoodwinking her own clan. But she started finding it hilarious the more she thought about it under Eren's influence.

Lensa and Eren were back to the hall donning a fresh set of attires. They were sitting beside each other with Lensa hugging him and placing her head over his chest.

The butcher shook his head and flashed a subtle smile before speaking up.

"I could fool your aunt Dineria. But I know there's no fooling your Gramps. He'd need something else to let this matter slide."

Eren retrieved the potion vial that the pair had made as an experiment. The results they obtained were phenomenal. Following his two major projects, the newly invented potion could be the next big thing Eren could create for his guild's image with.

White Raven ale, Pleasure Paradise, and this unnamed potion. With these three product lineups, Eren's guild would be able to surpass House Slughorn in just a few months. If he launched all three of them at the same time, he would benefit from the market resonance effect.

However, just like Minerva's Utopia, Eren knew he would need to get someone prominent onboard to dethrone someone else who was equally prominent. He wouldn't be able to gobble up all the profits. Not without attracting more trouble.

Eren had built a firm foundation for his guild. But it still needed some time to prosper. It would be beneficial for him and his guild to be under a big tree's shadow until they grew big enough to stand on their own.

This was where House Carren came into the picture. Just like House Montmorency, Eren shared a personal connection with one of their key members. Hence, he could count on it to serve as the tree that offers him and his guild the shade he needed.

Eren was trying to future-proof his guild and its foundation before he moved on with his own affairs. Making stronger ties with big names was part of that process. He needed to establish a separate connection with House Carren.

"What are you suggesting?"

Lensa asked while looking at the vial and the deep blue potion inside it with keen interest. She was open to producing the potion for Eren's guild. But she would prefer if her own clan also got a bite out of the potential profits.

She was sure that her Gramps would not be easily convinced to partner with the White Raven guild regarding the mass manufacturing of the new potion. After all, it was her Ability that determined the potion's results. Dan was inclined to see that as the House Carren's right to monopolize the potion's manufacturing.

As far as Eren's involvement in the conception of the potion was concerned, he could offer the guy a one-time severance package. Something which she knew Eren would never agree with.

However, she had decided that she would let Eren handle her Gramps and not worry too much about it.