"Did I just hear Chancellor Rheinlander announce that a suspect has been apprehended?"
Bastion was visibly sweating as he asked this question.
Before he had seed devastated by Jasmine’s "death", but now that he was remined that his own a*s was on the line, it was obvious what he was thinking about.
"Yes. I’m told that the head of the kitchen staff disappeared right as the food was coming out. Regina found this to be suspicious when she heard about it and had her guards search for him. Apparently, he was attempting to leave the premises when he was apprehended. If it really is him. I’ll use every connection I have to make sure that he never sees the light of day again." Avery said, feigning extre fury as he spat out the last words.
At this Bastion gulped as Avery was exerting quite a bit of pressure only soone that had experienced deadly combat could.
He may have been young, but with what he had been through since becoming a rcenary, Avery had developed a sort of dangerous presence that he could wield when he wanted to.
"And you really think that it’s this staff mber that poisoned Jasmine?"
"Yeah, I do. The timing and circumstances line up too perfectly. It’s clear that after committing the cri, the man wanted to escape. Though, I doubt he’s the one that’s behind it. I’m certain that he’s just a tool soone used. And we will figure out who bribed or threatened him to do this." Avery said, his expression grave.
Hearing about what Avery was thinking, and likely by extension Regina, Bastion’s anxiety ramped up to dangerous levels.
He nearly started hyperventilating, but he just barely kept himself from completely losing control.
If he was a more calculating individual, he might have realized how strange it was for Avery to be telling him all of this or even speaking to him right now.
The two of them were not friends or even acquaintances. In fact, they were closer to enemies considering what Bastion had already done to try and sar Avery’s reputation.
However, Avery had tactically shaken up the man’s emotions to make it more difficult for him to think critically.
By starting by insinuating that Jasmine was dead, he had landed a pretty heavy blow on Bastion’s psyche.
Followed by telling him that Jasmine had left final words for him, Avery had played into Bastion’s delusions that he had so sort of special relationship with Jasmine and that they were actually very close. Otherwise, there was no way that he would have followed Avery into a room where they were alone together.
Of course, once he had Bastion where he wanted him, Avery had hardly ntioned Jasmine and instead was focusing on the cri and doing his best to unsettle his fraught opponent.
While what he wanted to do more than anything was just beat the sh*t out of Bastion right here and now, that would only be cathartic for a few monts.
Then he would end up being viewed as the villain that unjustly attacked an Azadian Senator without any proof he had committed any cris.
So, since he was unable to enact any physical justice right now, Avery do so psychological damage instead. Fortunately, it was not too difficult thanks to Bastion being a very emotional person who was easy to agitate.
"I-I need to g-get o-out of here!" Bastion stuttered as he pushed past Avery towards the door.
It seed that his self-preservation instinct had taken over now. Though he had been lured here by Avery promising to tell him the last words Jasmine had left for him, believing that Kokkas had been captured made him think that it was only a matter of ti before he was outed.
"Wait! Didn’t you want to hear Jasmine’s last words? Just before the end, she had sothing that she desperately wanted to tell you."
Avery pretend to be concerned, making sure not to point out Bastion’s obviously guilty behavior. He knew that even Bastion would not be so dense as to continue to listen to him if Avery started accusing him.
Luckily, this managed to stop bastion and keep him around for just a little longer.
He still looked like he wanted to bolt, but hoping for the acknowledgent that he thought he deserved tempted him to stay.
"When she was losing her strength, Jasmine told things she wanted to relay sothings to her mother, and you, her close friend. She wanted to let you know that she always thought of you as soone special. She often looked fondly on the ti you two spent together and the gas that you played. And though this hurts a little, she said that if she had not t , she probably would have chosen you." Avery said, putting on a show that he was deeply saddened and hurt.
Naturally, none of what he said was true. It was what he knew Bastion wanted to hear.
Jasmine was still alive and was at no threat of dying now, and the disdain with which she had recounted her ti with Bastion when they were children made it obvious that she hated him.
Nevertheless, the false narrative Avery had created had clearly shaken Bastion with intense regret.
Now he would believe that had he just played his cards a little differently, he could have had Jasmine as he wanted.
Yet, that would not be possible. Since he had inadvertently "killed" her.
Had he been emotionally manipulating soone else like this, Avery honesty would have felt pretty bad. But in Bastion’s case, he did not feel a single ounce of guilt. This was sothing the other man deserved for what he had done to Jasmine. Whatever his intentions had been did not matter.
With all of this put into his head, Bastion’s thoughts were a jumbled ss.
He could not focus properly as he had to co to grips with what Avery had said, and the result of his own actions.
In the end, he was not going to bla himself though. There was no way soone like him was ever going to co to the conclusion that he was at fault.
’It’s all because of Rowan Listig. He tricked . This is all his doing.’
After only around a dozen seconds of inner turmoil, Bastion found soone to bla for all of his failures.
Obviously, he could not be the villain here. It was all his senior senator’s fault.
Having found a knew sense of purpose, Bastion left the room and planned to go directly to Rowan Listing.
Except, the room that had previously been filled to the brim had emptied out for the most part.
There were still people around, but most of them were either guards and staff that worked under Regina, or mbers of Avery’s team.
All but just handful of senators that were closest to Regina had already left. They could sll a scandal like the one brewing here from several kiloters away. Nearly all of them wanted to put as much distance between themselves and this incident as they could. This of course, included Rowan Listig.
"Looks like almost everyone else has already left. You’re free to go as well, but do stay in the city. I don’t think that you had anything to do with this, but when we hold the service for Jasmine, I’d like for you to say a few words." Avery said, having to fight back gaging as he pretended to be friendly with Bastion.
"Yes, I’d like that. But there’s sothing that I need to do first."
Wearing a purposeful expression, Bastion headed out of the venue to find Rowan Listig. He wanted to confront the man and believed that he could sohow pin everything on him and escape as just another unfortunate victim of this tragedy.
"He really is stupid. How delusional does he have to be to think I would ever confide in him like that. All I had to do was wind him up and send him in the direction that I wanted. Now all we need to do is wait and see what sort of chaos he’ll bring about. An incompetent ally really is worse than an intelligent enemy. Though, I’m sure that Rowan Listig only ever saw him as a disposable pawn." Avery muttered before pulling out his terminal.
Swiftly, he sent a ssage to Kasandra, asking her for an update on her assignnt.
Before Avery had taken Bastion into an isolated room, he had sent her a quick ssage asking her to keep track of Rowan Listig.
Thankfully, with her acute hearing, she was able to follow people from a good distance without losing track of them or being noticed.
’He’s just waiting in his vehicle for now. And it’s either got impeccable sound proofing, or nothing is going on since I haven’t heard anything from inside yet.’ Jasmine’s response said.
Avery told her to stay in position and to be ready. It was only a matter of ti before Bastion found Rowan Listig and the two of them had it out.
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