Wizard Earl

Back in the lounge of Ferguson Mansion, Butler Martinez slumped wearily onto the sofa. The middle-aged man who had handed him the document bag in the conference hall appeared beside him and offered him a cup of freshly brewed black tea.

Taking the offered black tea, the exhausted butler Martinez took a sip, and his fatigue seemed to lessen somewhat. He forced himself to perk up and asked the middle-aged man, "Zheko, still no news of Connor?"

The burly middle-aged man, known as "Zeko," Martinez's butler, shook his head without hesitation upon hearing the question and said in a deep voice, "My men have thoroughly searched Young Master Connor's residence in Loen, the Ferguson Mansion at 16 Land Street, but we found nothing there. I've also inquired with the Metropolitan Police Department, but they have no leads either. I've already hired several top-notch private detectives in Loen to search for Young Master Connor. As soon as they have any news about him, they will immediately send the message over by carrier pigeon!"

After listening to Dzeko's story, Butler Martinez nodded silently, his aged face revealing obvious disappointment.

Seeing Butler Martinez's state, even the usually stern-faced Dzeko couldn't help but show a hint of concern in his eyes. After a moment's hesitation, he said to Butler Martinez, "Old Butler, there's something I want to say, but I'm not sure if I should..."

"Speak freely!" With a forced smile, Butler Martinez took another sip of his black tea and said gently:

After receiving permission, Zheko spoke very sincerely to the old man in front of him: "Old butler, I personally went to Rune to inspect the Ferguson mansion where young master Connor lives. Although it looks very peaceful and there is nothing unusual, there are still faint traces of a search in some corners of the mansion. However, the search method was very professional, and ordinary people could not tell that it had been searched. It is obvious that young master Connor has offended someone, which is why his Ferguson mansion was searched like that."

"According to reports from Rune's side, Young Master Connor last appeared a year and a half ago. This means he has likely been missing for a year and a half. A year and a half is enough time for many things to happen. Perhaps Young Master Connor is now..." At this point, Zheko glanced up at the head butler, Martinez. Seeing the old butler's calm expression and lack of anger, he mustered his courage and continued, "Young Master Connor is dead!"

"Zheko, I understand what you're saying, but I firmly believe Connor is still alive. He may have gotten into some trouble, as you said, but he's probably not dead yet; he's just not in a position to come out and meet people!" After calmly listening to Zheko's thoughts, Butler Martinez smiled and said:

Seeing the resolute attitude of Butler Martinez, Dzeko clearly wanted to say something more, but Butler Martinez waved his hand and said to Dzeko, "Dzeko, you've done a lot for me lately. Take a rest first. I have a feeling that Jack Ferguson won't give up so easily..."

Towards the end, Butler Martinez's tone was somewhat complicated. If it weren't for his concern that Jack Ferguson might cause further problems after Alfredo Ferguson's death, leading to chaos within the Ferguson family, and his softening towards Jack Ferguson after watching him grow from a child, then Jack Ferguson's appointment wouldn't be as simple as just being transferred to be the headmaster of Ferguson High School...

If Butler Martinez were to harden his heart and not give Jack Ferguson a chance, and instead reveal the contents of that file at the family elders' meeting, Butler Martinez could easily pass a proposal to imprison Jack Ferguson according to family law. In that case, not only Jack Ferguson himself, but also his wife and children would never have a chance to rise again in the Ferguson family!

Having received instructions from Butler Martinez, Dzeko ultimately said no more, bowed to Butler Martinez, and left the lounge.

After watching his most loyal subordinate leave the lounge, Butler Martinez downed his cup of black tea in one gulp, then lowered his guard and sighed deeply in the empty lounge. Just moments before, in the meeting hall, this old butler, who had served the Ferguson family for decades, had told all the family elders a lie!

In his search for Connor, Butler Martinez dispatched at least a hundred men to Rune, but contrary to his promise at the Council of Elders, they failed to find or contact Connor Ferguson. On the contrary, these men not only failed to find Connor Ferguson, but they also failed to find even a single clue about him…

So, seeing that after old Ferguson died, the family elders began to lose patience regarding the issue of succession. From the initial unanimous agreement for Connor to return to the position of family head, different voices began to emerge within the family. Butler Martinez saw this and was anxious, but he didn't have any good solutions. After all, no matter how capable he was, it would be useless if Connor didn't return to the family.

So when Butler Martinez saw Jack's notice about convening a meeting of the family elders, and realized what Jack intended to do at the meeting, he felt immense pressure. After much deliberation, in order to prevent Jack Ferguson's conspiracy from succeeding, he had no choice but to make a decision. He risked his reputation, built up over decades of service to the Ferguson family, and told the elders a colossal lie at the meeting, deceiving them by saying that his men had found Connor, but Connor was currently busy with important matters and could not return to the family, but would naturally return in time.

Although the white lie had succeeded—Butler Martinez had won a resounding victory at the family council, thwarting Jack Ferguson's plot to steal the family inheritance from his nephew, removing Jack Ferguson from the center of family power, and even appeasing the parasites in the council with the lucrative position Jack Ferguson had left behind—making everything seem perfect, Butler Martinez felt no joy whatsoever. In fact, he had a nagging feeling that the Ferguson family's situation was turbulent and gradually spiraling out of control…