As a result, Luna looked like a feral cat about to pounce on her target but was being held back by her leash.
Prince Kolt looked like he didn't care about the show taking place in front of him but in face all his senses were focused on the reactions of Zach and Luna as he scrutinized even the tiniest change on their faces.
Prince Kolt laughed in merriment as soon as he noticed the oozing enmity from the two as soon as they laid their eyes on Braxton who had entered the room following his cue.
"Looks like your friend can barely hold herself back after seeing her old friend. Maybe we should let them have a moment alone to catch up and discuss old times since they have met after such a long time. What do you say?" Prince Kolt's eyes were focused on Luna as he addressed Zach with obvious glee clouding his face. Moreover, Prince Kolt's words were as provocative as possible towards Zach in order to evoke some kind of reaction from him.
Realization dawned on him like the first ray of light slowly illuminates the dark world into an orangey haze. Zach finally figured out what Prince Kolt wanted to achieve by coming so far from the capital.
The only reason Prince Kolt had left the warmth of his home to travel so far to meet Zach wasn't to exact revenge on him but because he held leverage against Zach. Prince Kolt surely knew about the true identity of Luna which was no doubt the courtesy of his old enemy Braxton who had somehow escaped his death at the last second.
Kolt's previous words were in fact a subtle threat to Zach so that he would not dare to reject whatever plan Kolt had concocted against him. And if by some chance, Zach tried to resist, Kolt could just reveal Luna's identity to the public which would inevitably lead to the ousting of both of them from the society. There was no way that anyone would dare to help them out afterwards. No relationships that Zach had forged through Bruce in this city were strong enough to overcome the resistance of all the families in the city.
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇtZach didn't mind giving in to the Prince if it could save Luna from being persecuted by the human community even though he didn't like it. Kolt could not only turn everyone in the city against Zach and Luna with a few words, he could even have the two of them arrested with the number of people he had brought with him to surround the area.
The only reason that Prince Kolt would have pulled off this stunt could only be that he needed something from Zach. Otherwise he would have already revealed Luna's secret and would have arrested both of them; Luna for being a succubus and Zach for fraternizing with the enemy.
Zach could not help but feel that the whole thing was a carefully planned operation to take advantage of his only weakness. As a result he angrily stared at Braxton who was the root cause of the problem but the latter gave Zach a smile of his own.
Instead of taking out his anger on Braxton instantly, Zach wanted to learn of Kolt's true intentions. He could tell that Braxton despite how haughty he was acting had no say in the matter at all and Kolt was in control of everything. Therefore, addressing Kolt, Zach asked, "Let's not beat around the bush any longer and get straight to the point. What do you want from me exactly?"
"What do you think I came here to do?" Prince Kolt answered with a question of his own with an amusing expression on his face as if he found the whole situation quite fun.
"If I knew, why would I have asked you?" muttered Zach angrily as he held back his desire to punch Kolt in the face.
"I have to say, I am a bit disappointed. You hardly seem to be as bright as I had imagined you to be. The creator of the mighty trucks seems to be a country bumpkin with hay for brains. I wonder how you managed to make something so profound."
"Stop with the threats and the witty quips and tell me what you want so we can get on with this." said Zach with a bit of anger and anxiety in the mix.
"You are quite the straightforward person. I can't say that I hate your kind entirely. On the contrary I like people like you because of how efficient talking to you can be. You don't waste time unlike the others." Kolt smiled sinisterly as if he had caught Zach within the web that he had carefully laid out to trap him.
On the other hand Zach looked impatient as he folded his hands in front of his chest and stared impassively at Prince Kolt as if saying, "Tell me once you are done playing around so we can talk business".
Prince Kolt finally relented and stopped teasing Zach who was on the verge of bursting out with emotions.
"Even though you don't seem as smart as I had imagined, you must be quite the genius considering you invented such a monstrosity all by yourself. Therefore, I will leave it to your intelligence to understand the meaning behind my earlier actions."
Zach nodded in response even though he felt irritated by his words.
"I am assuming that your truck business is in the expansion phase and you might be thinking of establishing a chain of your own under your own name or that of your affiliates." Kolt looked at George and Christina as he uttered the word 'affiliates'.
Zach had no other option but to nod at him with a gaze filled with annoyance if he wanted to understand the true reason Kolt had come to look for him. Even though he was sure that it had something to do with the trucks, he had no other information to suggest or support further reasons behind Kolt's actions.
Thankfully, Kolt seemed to be satisfied with Zach's cooperation as he continued talking once again.
Follow on Novᴇl-Onlinᴇ.cᴏm"I want to help you out in expanding your business beyond the reaches of your imagination. What I want is for you to hand over the majority shares of your trucks chain to me. Unlike you who are unable to protect the entire length of the operations of your vehicles, I can guarantee that your products will be protected along the way in the name of the Norman Royal Family."
"And you expect me to just hand it to you? Do I look stupid?" asked Zach sarcastically as he glared at Prince Kolt for even suggesting such a thing.
"No, of course not; on the contrary, I think you are quite smart. And for that very reason you will want to accept my offer." Prince Kolt had a threatening tone as he uttered these words despite maintaining a smile on his face throughout.
Braxton couldn't hide his joy at the situation. He had long since wanted to make this dream come true. He wanted to see the man who had almost killed him, on his knees begging for mercy. The day had come that Braxton would finally see it happening thanks to the timely help of his brother-in-law.
As soon as he saw that Zach was in a passive position in front of Prince Kolt, he produced several sheets of paper out of nowhere and threw them on the table in front of Zach.
It appeared that the so called royal family had already drawn up the papers to get their motives fulfilled and were only awaiting the signatures from Zach to complete the business transaction that would seal the fate of the truck chain that Zach wanted to build sooner or later.
"Sign these papers if you want to get out of here on your own feet." Braxton played the role of the tough guy in order to feel power over the man who nearly took his life in the past.
"Are you threatening me?" Zach asked in a menacing manner that frightened Braxton out of his wits for a second and almost made him fall back on his ass before coming back to his senses.
"Of course not; why would I need to threaten you since you already know that this is an advantageous deal for you." Braxton acted his part since Prince Kolt had already instructed him to wait until they managed to get Zach to sign the deal. He had promised Braxton that they would be able to torture him to their heart's content before finishing him off.
Zach on the other hand felt trapped in the designs of Braxton and Prince Kolt. He knew that the moment he decided to go against Prince Kolt, Luna's identity would be revealed and they would have a hard time staying in this city. Moreover, the extent of the damage might even spread to the Luther family and the Elizabeth family for their association with him.
Still he hesitated. Unable to bring himself to sign the documents, Zach felt as if he was signing away his freedom in doing so. The reason was that he knew that the royal family definitely planned to wring him completely dry. They wouldn't let him go now that they knew his weakness. Surely, by using this weakness they would have a slave who would willingly listen to all their commands in the future and would be an unending source of finances with his genius business acumen.