It was a celebratory feast in the evening, in honor of Lorian Throne.
Everyone was enjoying the evening.
People came to Lorian for a meet and greet; few were genuine; the rest were either there to curry favor or to gauge their next opponent up close.
However, Lorian was hardly bothered with these at that moment.
His mind was racing on how to proceed.
He had been given just 1 year to deal with the menace—officially it was less out of concern for the trade disruption due to pirate attacks and more about ensuring Lorian's downfall with his first assignment.
Although Lord Elmsworth and Gavril tried their best to negotiate more time for his son, but what they could only manage for Lorian was initial pledge of 100,000 solar from each city state, no questions asked.
If only the prince exhausts all those funds, then only he will have to give an explanation of prior expenditure and also furnish details of the future expenditure plan, for which the extra fund would be requested.
Although Lord Elmsworth and Gavril were not very happy with this little time limit, Lorian was happy with this sum of money that fell on his lap like this.
And now he had to manage it well.
The first task was to establish the 'Veridian Restoration Fund' as promised.
However, for that he needs some good people for proper management of the fund, for he will not have time to go through all in detail else he would lose his precious time.
He had already made a request to Gavril on what type of people he needed for the endeavour.
He wanted a new person who has no connection with Cassian and was properly educated to work there.
In the evening when Lorian was in his room, chatting with Kaelen, Elena, Jax, and Zara over evening teas and snacks and listening to stories of Jax and Zara's home, Gavril appeared with a timid-looking boy behind him.
Zara brought her mouth near Lorian and whispered cryptically, "They smell the same, master!"
Lorian had tried many a time to make Jax and Zara address him as Lord instead of Master, but it seems they had been hard coded to address him as Master only.
However, Zara's cryptic remark today attracted his attention.
And it did not take long for him to understand what she actually meant.
Gavril approached Lorian, with the young lad on his tail, and bowed to him, "Good evening, young master. My apologies for the interruption. May I beg your attention for a while?"
Lorian raised his hand in assurance and nodded his head in the negative, with a smile on his face.
On Gavril's signal, the young man also bowed deeply.
Gavril introduced, "This, my Lord, is…"
Lorian interrupted him, "Your son!"
Lorian played bluff, mainly to act cool.
But his bluff worked, as Gavril was wide-eyed. "Young Master, how did you recognize Rylan? Given the passage of time, the ability to identify him is notable. How did you…?"
"That's okay!" Lorian raised his hand to stop Gravil. "First you two have a seat…"
Lorian signalled towards the couch.
Gravil requested, "Young Master, regarding the position you mentioned this morning. I wish to submit for your consideration the name of my son, Rylan Fartom.
He is proficient in mathematics and related quantitative disciplines.
It may be of note that the Lord himself had sponsored his studies at the Solarian Grand Academy on Her Highness's advice.
He completed his curriculum as the gold medallist in mathematics.
I present these facts for your evaluation and respectfully request that he be given the opportunity to prove his capabilities."
Of course Lorian had to check it by himself how much was his capability.
At first glance, the boy seemed to be a bit awkward and introverted.
He did not look into his eyes.
Lorian wondered, how was his school life?
Because in his old world he would be bullied a lot.
Of course. Lorian was not going to pry into his past at the first meeting, but Rylan's rigid defensive posture gave it away.
Lorian suddenly asked Gavril, "Why are you appointing your son to such a risky endeavor? Most people are betting on our failure. And if we fall, your son will bear the brunt as well. You could easily appoint your son to some other job in our household only!"
Gavril was silent a bit, and then spoke up, "If you were to grant him this opportunity, Young Master, you would discover that his genius with numbers is often accompanied by what his tutors referred to as 'unconventional' ideas.
These were not errors, but innovations that were misunderstood and, as a result, he was subjected to dismissal.
He proposed various solutions with great enthusiasm, but the constant ridicule caused him to withdraw and go silent.
Suddenly, and to everyone's surprise, Gavril fell to his knees. He shed his calm and composed persona, replacing it with a profound and desperate plea.
"My Lord, I beg of you. Take my son under your guidance.
I have seen you.
You alone possess the vision to see past the conventional and utilize my son's full capabilities.
Only under you can he truly find his purpose.
My heart cannot endure watching him lose himself to this silence.
I am shattered by it.
So, I beg you, take my son into your care!"
Lorian was not sure whether Gavril's claims were true, or whether it was just a helpless father's blind love speaking.
He had to check it by himself, and that he did.
He had made some complicated but basic math problems and accounting problems and gave Rylan the question sheet and a few black pages to answer.
He tilted the hourglass to start counting time and signalled everyone else to start chatting and gossiping aloud to see Rylan's capability.
Although gossiping, he kept looking at Rylan from the corner of his eyes.
The boy took the question sheet, positioned his glass with the back of his hand, and started staring at the sheet while rolling his head like an owl.
Lorian found it strange as well as amusing.
He seemed completely unbothered by whatever gossip they were having, eyeballs glued to the sheet.
Then he rolled his head backward, took a deep breath, and started scribbling.
It was so fast, Lorian thought the sheet would catch fire because of the friction with the quill.
Unexpectedly fast he solved all, and surprising everyone, he jumped from the couch and dropped on his knees in front of Lorian, and with child like excitement and a wide grin presented the answer sheets to him,
"It is done, sire!"