"Haha."
In the conference room, when the atmosphere was as tense as it could get, Ethan was the first to break it. He laughed and said, "Am I being too serious? Did I scare everyone?"
Eugene, along with several other leaders, quickly shook their heads with forced smiles, saying no.
"Actually, there's nothing much today. I've called everyone here just to get acquainted."
As Ethan spoke, he suddenly clapped his hands and said.
"Oh, by the way, I have someone to introduce to all of you. Virel, could you please bring in the lovely Mr. Palen? Everyone wants to meet him."
In fact, when hearing the words 'Oh, by the way,' Eugene and the others couldn't help but feel a little jittery.
It seemed that whenever this young Master Ethan said those words, he would announce some shocking news.
Lovely Mr. Palen...
Palen?
The name sounded somewhat familiar.
Just when Eugene and the others were pondering who exactly this Palen was, Virel, drenched in blood and smelling of gunpowder, straightened his hunched back and brought in a distraught-looking Palen.
Looking at Palen, Eugene and the others still couldn't recall who he was; however, they recognized Virel.
Although Virel had retired from the frontline years ago, most of the leaders present had been under Alberto for more than a decade—familiar with Virel as Alberto's hidden dagger.
Seeing the bloodstains on Virel and smelling the gunpowder, Eugene and the others were almost convinced Fred was dead.
This was exactly Virel's intention—he didn't share Ethan's love for cleanliness, and after last night's bloody battle, he walked into the conference room without cleaning any traces from himself, serving as both evidence and a kind of medal proving his feats.
"This lovely Mr. Palen has another identity; he's Joan's brother and the new leader of the Cabreya Clan."
As Ethan rose, he pressed Palen onto an empty chair, addressing everyone.
The mystery unraveled.
Palen.
Palen Kabreya.
No wonder this name sounded so familiar, no wonder he looked like someone—like Joan, indeed.
Joan's brother, huh?
Ethan didn't kill Palen.
Last night, after publicly executing Fred, all his remaining subordinates surrendered.
Most of those people had defected from the Bolita family anyways, so Ethan chose to forgive them.
Palen was captured by Fred's men shortly afterward and handed over to Ethan.
Just when everyone thought Ethan would shoot this sole heir of the Cabreya family, Ethan crouched down and clasped Palen's face.
Tears and snot covered Palen's face, he was incontinent, unable even to utter a word of pleading.
"Palen, do you want me to spare you?"
Palen nodded desperately.
"But I killed your brother, don't you want to kill me?"
Palen shook his head vehemently.
Anya, standing aside, handed over a gun.
Ethan didn't reach for it; he kept his eyes on Palen, saying, "Palen, Palen, I won't kill you. I want you to live and pledge allegiance to me. Naturally, the Cabreya family is no more, but you can also hate me, and one day in the future, kill me to avenge your brother and restore Cabreya's glory, how about it?"
Palen first nodded and then shook his head frantically, finally squeezing out a sentence, saying, "Sir, I am willing to offer you my soul."
With that, he prostrated on the floor, lifting Ethan's left hand, devoutly kissing the ring on his ring finger heavily.
So, there's no need for bloodstains or gunpowder; a clean, living person is enough.
Palen sitting there explained everything.
Fred must be dead; the Cabreya family must be finished, otherwise, he couldn't be sitting there.
But Ethan didn't resent Virel's approach.
If someone is to tread through the black mud, no matter how pristine their jacket is, the soles of their shoes must be stained with a hint of blood.
Virel is the blood at the sole of his shoes.
That very sentence comes from the Bolita family's motto.
The leaders present had already lowered their heads, unable to look Ethan in the eye.
Ethan returned to the main seat, tapping the table lightly as he said, "Anya, bring the contract to Palen. As a welcome gift to our new friend, I want us all to receive it together."
Silent as a shadow, Anya stepped forward, laying a stack of contracts before Palen, distributing identical copies to each of the leaders present.
Palen didn't even glance at them, quickly signing away.
He signed so fast that while the leaders had only read a couple of pages, he had already completed everything.
Just the content of those few pages was enough to terrify the leaders.
Ethan was devouring the Cabreya Clan's assets whole.
The contract is the Kingdom's cornerstone.
After Joan's death, Palen was the sole heir to all the Cabreya family's legitimate properties, and his signature carried sacred legal power.
No matter how much the heads of the Cabreya Clan refused to recognize him, they couldn't contest it legally or contractually, and when Ethan sent people to take over, they couldn't resist.
This was the reason why Joan had once risked stopping the war to secure the Bolita family's asset contracts.
But now, everything had turned.
After reading the contract, the leaders lowered their heads even more, almost sinking beneath the table.
"Eugene."
Ethan suddenly called Eugene's name.
"Yes." Eugene immediately raised his head.
"Don't be so stiff; I'm just ensuring I didn't mistake you. You know, I just returned and don't know anyone; I need everyone's support."
While speaking, Ethan stared at Eugene, seemingly remembering or assessing something.
"If I recall correctly, you were my father's financial manager, right? In charge of the gambling industry, Eugene, I'll need your assistance moving forward."
"Yes." This time, Eugene stood up as though driven by some mysterious force, taking steps forward until he reached Ethan, lifted Ethan's left hand, and deeply kissed the ring, solemnly addressing him, "Mr. Bolita."
Then he stepped aside.
Ethan called another leader's name, who, much like Eugene, stood, walked up to Ethan, kissed his ring, and addressed him as Mr. Bolita.
Though it was merely an initial meeting, it seemed more like a King's inspection, a King's appointment.
And right here in this not-so-large conference room, a Kingdom was quietly thriving, perhaps one day rising to the sky.