Top Tier Perversion: Dual Cultivate Secretly

Chapter 17: Empathy

"The mines have collapsed."

Vivienne tilted her head slightly.

"Which ones?"

"The Eastern Shafts." Vanessa replied and sighed. "...not one, but all of them."

Vivienne raised her eyebrows.

"All of them? All of the main veins?"

Vanessa nodded once.

The hall turned silent.

The servants lowered their heads, not wanting to face the masters of the house.

Vivienne’s expression hadn’t changed from her initial surprise. She slowly removed her gloves while in deep thought.

’This sounds really bad...’ Vincent thought. ’But what’s worse is the pain in my legs. Damn, I can’t stand...’

Unable to bear the heaviness, Vincent cleared his throat and broke the tense silence.

Every head turned to him.

"Serious discussion cannot happen standing. Can we please sit?" Vincent said with a serious expression, as if his trembling legs weren’t noticed by Vanessa or Vivienne.

Vanessa blinked in befuddlement.

Vivienne merely snapped her fingers in response.

The servants rushed to bring chairs and presented it before the D’Arcs.

"Thank you." Vincent said with visible relief as he sat down.

He then cleared his throat. "Apologies for the interruption. Please continue."

Vanessa gave Vincent a final look, wondering what was wrong with him, then shifted her attention back to her mother. There were more pressing matters.

"The Eastern Shafts alone have been accounting for over half the county’s output since the last eight months." Vanessa said. "The collapse spread through the connected tunnels before the evacuation alarms could fully sound."

Vincent’s expression turned curious. ’Connected tunnels?’

Right.

This wasn’t a medieval world but one on the brink of industrial advancement, about to approach the modern age.

This meant steam drills, rail carts and entire underground sectors.

Vincent could only imagine and relate to things from the modern times. He was yet to venture out to get a complete picture of this world’s technology.

Vivienne sat down last and slowly removed her gloves.

She turned to the mud-covered man and said, "Explain everything from the beginning."

The man immediately bowed deeply.

"My Lady... miners from the Eastern Shafts reported tremors from the deeper sectors shortly before evening. I went to inspect the disturbance personally, but before we could evacuate the workers..."

His voice trembled.

"The tunnels collapsed."

Vincent listened quietly from the side and immediately frowned.

’This...’

Vincent suddenly remembered his conversation with Leona in Duke Leurox’s courtyard.

He clearly remembered her saying:

"My lord, your situation is already worse than it looks."

This was what convinced him to divulge his information and not lie.

Once he finished speaking, Leona actually informed him of the anomalies she had noticed.

’She spoke about the commoners from the mining towns emigrating to other areas of the county and finding different jobs. These were mostly the rich commoners.’

’Shit. Could it be that these guys knew of the collapse beforehand?’

Vincent found the situation unsettling.

The man with the rough appearance continued, "My lady, I took the first morning train to arrive at the capital. Before I left, I received letters from other mining facilities and I’m afraid..."

The man closed his eyes and took a moment to collect himself.

Vivienne remained calm and didn’t push him.

Vanessa leaned forwards and had a grave expression on her face.

’Shit. Shit. I remember it now! Leona said the first hit would be to the major sources of income of the D’Arc House. Vanessa said they generate half the mining output. That’s probably a lot!’

Vincent was fidgeting on his chair.

The wooden chair made creaking sounds.

Vanessa shot him a look of annoyance and made him stiffen.

Vivienne turned as well, wondering if something was wrong.

Under the stares of the two ladies, Vincent rubbed the back of his head. He couldn’t come up with an excuse to apologize, so he said,

"We roughly know the situation, right? Let’s give that man some space."

"What?" Vanessa’s annoyed face turned to one of confusion. What did her dumb brother just say?

Vivienne observed her son’s face.

Vincent turned to Vanessa and said while shaking his head, "He’s not in the right state of mind. Look at him, he looks like he hasn’t eaten or rested for a second."

After saying so, he immediately thought, ’Oh wow, I said it in one flow without stuttering.’

It wasn’t just Vincent who noticed the change in himself.

Vanessa, Vivienne, Anastasia, the maids, butlers... even the mud-covered man was staring at him with a face of utter astonishment.

’Is that... is that truly the wastrel heir of the D’Arc House?’ He thought, finding it unbelievable that Vincent could be someone so emphatic.

The silence was loud and uncomfortable, making him awkwardly smile and glance around.

’Good lord, are even a few good words so surprising to hear from my mouth? Just how bad is my reputation...’

Vivienne lightly pressed her tongue against the back of her teeth before arching an eyebrow.

’His Heart’s developed too, it seems.’ She thought.

Vivienne turned to the mud-covered man and asked, "Anything else of urgency?"

"There is, My Lady." The man continued to bow. "But I do not know if it’s my place to speak."

"Speak."

"My Lady, the knights were supposedly informed of the tremors and the collapse, but did not move until very late." The man trembled after saying so, somewhat afraid.

He was a steward managing the affairs of the D’Arc House’s mines and his role was limited to it. Someone managing the knights was way up in hierarchy, and accusing them may not result in a good end.

Vivienne didn’t respond and waved her hand. "You may leave."

The man bowed deeper and was escorted away.

Vanessa turned to her mother.

Vincent too turned to his mother.

The sudden attention on herself made her switch her crossed legs and look at them.

Before Vanessa could speak, Vincent said, "Mom, I want to say something."

Vanessa closed her mouth and turned to stare at him.

’Did he just call mom as mom?’

Vincent paused and blinked. ’Did I just call my mother as mom?’

A maid soundlessly brought Vivienne tea. As she held the porcelain cup between her fingers, a wisp of steam curled upward and blurred Vincent and Vanessa’s figure.

As the wisp vanished, Vivienne replied, "Yes?"

Vincent’s attention fell on the cup of tea in her hand. ’Isn’t it too late to be drinking tea?’

He forgot what he was about to say.

Vivienne’s gaze followed Vincent’s line of sight and found him staring at her teacup.

She blinked. Once. Twice. Then glanced back at him. He was still staring at it.

"You can have it." Vivienne said, handing the teacup to the brown-haired maid behind her.

’Huh?’

In his confusion, Vincent was handed Vivienne’s cup of tea by the brown-haired maid.

Vanessa: "..."

The series of events Vanessa saw tonight were too strange. Her brother’s behavior felt off and she couldn’t understand why.

She’d need to discuss it with her mother soon.

For now, she turned her attention back to the matter of mines.

"Mom, regarding the knights..."

Vincent was about to take the sip of his tea when he stopped mid sipping.

Clink.

’Oh yeah! The knights!’ He placed the teacup on its plate and looked at his mother.

She was staring in his sister’s direction as his sister spoke.

Too bad, he missed his opportunity to speak.

Shaking his head, Vincent raised his cup to take a sip, waiting for his turn.

"...I don’t think they would’ve avoided helping the disaster victims."

The warm tea passed through Vincent’s throat. The cold somehow felt bearable with a single sip.

Vivienne was served another cup of black tea. She slowly sipped on it while listening to her daughter’s views.

A few minutes passed.

Their conversation came to an end.

Vincent’s tea was half finished as he held it in his hands and stared in Vivienne’s direction.

"Mom," he said, apparently not finding anything wrong in calling her that anymore.

"Yes?" Vivienne replied once again.

"What is our house going to do about the mine situation? We discussed the problems so far, but what about the solutions?" Vincent asked.

For the nth time, Vanessa was baffled this evening with Vincent’s statement.

Since when did he begin caring for the house’s affairs?

Vivienne glanced into her teacup, looking at her own reflection on the still surface.

"A decision cannot be made until we hear from the other officials of the county."

Vanessa lightly nodded in agreement. ƒreewebηoveℓ.com

’Bureaucracy is going to be the end of civilization!’ Vincent internally clicked his tongue. No things got done quickly in modern times, and it seems like it was the same in these times as well.

"Mom, are we not the masters of this county? Do we not hold the utmost power?" Vincent asked seriously.

Vivienne stopped staring at her reflection and glanced up at him. "We are and we do. What’s the matter?"

"If we can make the decisions, then why wait for other officials?" Vincent argued. "Instead of having them come to us or send letters, can’t we just go there and see the situation?"

Vanessa was about to speak regarding this but Vivienne gave her a side glance, hinting her to not speak.

Vanessa kept her opinions to herself and listened to his brother’s comment.

"There’s only three members of House D’Arc." Vivienne responded. "It’s physically not possible to go to every site with problems."

’That’s...’ Vincent did not argue but paused and thought about it. ’...that’s not wrong. But I feel like if nothing is done about this particular situation, it will only escalate further and what Leona predicted might happen to the house would actually happen!’

Vincent cleared his throat and said, "I understand. But the current matter is too big to ignore. Half our mining output. Half, mom."

Vincent emphasized on Vanessa’s words.

"If my sister and you are busy, how about I pay them a visit and try to solve their problems?"

Clink.

Vivienne’s cup was sharply placed on its plate while Vanessa almost stumbled on her chair.

Both of them shot a look in Vincent’s direction.

All the servants turned their heads too.

There was only one thought behind everyone’s gaze—

’What did he say?’