Re: Tales of the Rune-Tech Sage

Chapter 120: Secret Phone Call

CH120 Secret Phone Call

***

”Mother, I want to kill him!” Kurt growled, teeth clenched, eyes aflame with hate.

”And you can.” Joselin replied coolly.

”Really?” he asked, a flicker of hope glinting in the bloodlust behind his gaze.

”Really.” She smiled, slow and dangerously. ”He challenged you to a duel under family law, didn’t he? ’Winner takes all.’ That includes the loser’s life. Do you understand, my son?”

”I do,” Kurt replied, a dark grin spreading across his face—one laced with feral intent.

”And once you kill him in the duel,” Joselin continued, ”no one will be able to stand in your way. You’ll have the right your father’s seat at last- your birthright... and none will dare question it.”

”Yes... Yes, Mother.” His grin deepened, and so did the malice in his eyes.

”But you must be careful.” Her tone turned sharp. ”Viscount Lars informed me that the lowborn brat of that woman possesses a powerful Spiritual Force... Strong enough that he should have been a warlock rather than a mage. But because he failed to awaken his bloodline, he ended up stumbling down the wrong path.”

She paused, her expression grave. ”Don’t underestimate him. Especially not his Spiritual Force. Remember to wear the artefact I gave you.”

”Don’t worry, Mother. I’ve never taken it off.” Kurt proudly held up the necklace around his neck.

It was an artefact specifically crafted to suppress or nullify mental and spiritual attacks—precisely the kind he believed Alex had used on him during their last encounter.

”He’s just an early Intermediate mage,” Kurt continued with confidence. ”While I’m already at the peak of Intermediate Warrior stage. Unless one reaches the Elite tier, no mage poses a threat to a warrior—especially not in a confined space like the duel arena.”

”That’s my boy.” Joselin pulled him into her embrace, pressing his head gently against her shoulder as she stroked his hair lovingly.

”This charade has gone on long enough,” she whispered. ”It’s time we reunited that lowborn trash with his whore of a mother.”

---

Roughly thirty minutes later, Joselin exited Kurt’s room and returned to her own.

As always, the air was cold. Lifeless.

It hadn’t felt warm in years—not since Drake had last set foot inside.

Not since Amelia died.

It was never supposed to be like this.

Joselin had thought that with Amelia gone, Drake would find comfort in her. That he would finally turn to her with trust and affection.

But nothing of the sort had happened.

In fact, it was as if Earl Drake had sworn off women entirely. If not for Wilbert’s birth, she might have believed it.

Even now, she still didn’t understand how that savage woman—mother of the twins—had managed to lure Drake to her bed when she, Joselin, with all her poise and sophistication, could not.

How could a man like Drake ignore a refined, enlightened woman like her... only to give his time and affections to the Fury women, ’those savages’?

Disgusted with the memory, Joselin shook the thoughts from her mind.

She turned to lock all the doors and windows, ensuring absolute privacy. Then, kneeling beside her bed, she reached underneath and retrieved a long, narrow dress box.

Pressing the insignia ring on her right hand to the corners of the box in a rhythmic sequence, she activated a concealed enchantment.

A faint glow lit the base, and with a soft click, a hidden compartment slid open.

Inside, cushioned in a velvet cradle, was... a phone.

She dialled the only number stored on the phone.

Beep...

The line clicked.

”What is it?” came a voice—sharp, clipped, and cold.

”Kurt is going to face that slut’s son for the heir position,” Joselin said without preamble. ”Are you sure the necklace will work?”

”The necklace is a Tier III artefact, specifically designed to counter mental and spiritual attacks from mages and warlocks,” the voice replied. ”Unless his opponent has already reached Great Mage or Warlock rank, it will work.”

”I hope you’re right,” Joselin said icily. ”You also assured me the last assassination would work—yet it failed. We lost a Viscount on our side and our pawn inside Jared’s forces.”

There was a pause. Then the voice snapped back:

”Well, you were the one who failed to mention that Earl Drake had sent Jared as part of the pick-up team. If I recall correctly, you said the boy wasn’t important to Drake.”

A scoff.

”Now look at the mess we’re in. If we’re playing the blame game, there’s plenty to go around.”

Joselin’s eyes flashed with fury.

Drake had fooled her completely.

She had believed he’d exiled the boy to some remote corner of his domain after his failed bloodline awakening—cutting him off from power and influence. Never in her wildest imaginings had she thought Drake would actually send him to a Mage Tower—and not just any Mage Tower.

The DragonHold Enclave.

She still didn’t understand how the man had managed to fund such a costly tuition without her noticing. Especially when she had thought the major financial and administrative figures of the fief were already under her influence.

Since then, all she’d received were one blow after another.

Even when she’d discovered that Drake had sent the boy to DragonHold and was now recalling him, she had assumed it was merely paternal sentiment.

She never imagined Drake would deliberately send Alex through dangerous terrain, seemingly without a care for his safety, bypassing safe routes where she had laid her traps—only to, at the tail end of the journey, bait one of her most important cards, the Viscount of Moormont city, into revealing himself.

Even now, she couldn’t decipher Drake’s intentions.

Did he genuinely care for the boy?

Or was Alex just another pawn in a game far greater than any of them realised?

If it was the former, then she could use the youth against the Earl.

If it was the latter... then they were all dancing in Drake’s palms

And everyone knew—the Mad Earl was not to be underestimated.

”You’re right,” she said at last, her voice cool and level. ”There’s enough blame to go around. But all of that ends in a few days. If the necklace works as you claim, Kurt will finish what we started. The Fury Family’s future will be in our hands.”

There was a pause.

”That sounds nice and all,” the voice finally said. ”But Joselin... make sure your son doesn’t fail.”

The line went dead.

**