Conquering His Cold Heart

"Little rascal." Frost muttered with affection as he tussled Loki\'s hair.

"If you want to join me and Daki you\'ll have to promise to behave ok."

"Un I promise." Loki was all fired up, full of excitement however what he was excited about was going to be anything but fun.

"You\'ll need to be calm throughout the meeting, don\'t fidget too much and don\'t interrupt unless I call on you. This isn\'t a party or celebration we\'re going to be working do you understand?"

"…Yes I understand." Under Frost\'s scrutinising gaze Loki did his best to lower his enthusiasm before replying with determination. He knew this meeting would probably be anything but fun, but he was just so happy that he\'d get to help Frost with his work.

"Alright then, have you eaten?"

"Yes, Nanna and I both ate an hour ago and I\'ve had a shower and changed into fresh clothes." As though prepared for Frost line of questioning Loki jumped the gun and answered before Frost\'s could even ask.

\'Haaaaa this kid is just too adorable.\' Frost internally remarked as he once again tussled his hair with affection.

"Alright once Daki\'s out the shower and dressed we\'ll head off, do you know what we\'ll discussing and who\'ll be present?"

"It\'s about the Camp\'s next phase of development right. The plan was originally for it to be done over the course of the next 3 to 6 months but for some reason you want it to be at least 80% finished within 2 weeks." Loki answered like a faithful student.

News of Frost\'s intentions had already made their way into their ears, but Loki and his sister were still in the dark about the why.

"Those in attendance will be the whole council bar Darak who won\'t be attending due to an injury."

"Spot on Loki, looks like you\'ve been talking with Yuna."

"Hehehe." Loki simply laughed cheekily in reply.

"You are correct the discussion this evening will be in regards to the development plan Khuno, Findley and I had prepared to be rolled out as you said previously over the next 3 to 6 months however since I need to enter the Glacial mountains soon I want the Camp and the Dungeon\'s defences to be prepared for any eventualities before I head off."

Loki sharply turned his gaze to Frost\'s face, a sadness filling his eyes as he asked, "You\'re leaving again?"

Frost felt a painful tug on heart as he saw Loki\'s almost despairing expression.

"Yes, I need to return something I borrowed and will be gone for at least a couple weeks perhaps up to a month." Though he was loath to be away from his family for so long he was also looking forward to adventuring again. His desire to explore wasn\'t being scratched as long as he remained within the Dungeon\'s territory.

"….That\'s a long time."

"Yes I suppose it is but I\'m confident you and your sister will be able to protect our home in my absence." Frost firmly patted Loki\'s shoulders as he looked down at him with a proud smile.

As the two waited for Daki to finish up Frost gave Loki a quick summary of his intentions with this meeting and why he wanted to enlist their aid not just inform them about his agenda.

With a boost in confidence Loki left the private space holding Daki and Frost\'s hands, creating an image of a child going to work with his parents, a heartwarming scene.

Within the Lord\'s manor/office all the representatives from the most influential departments throughout the Niflheim base camp were sequestered into the manor\'s primary meeting room where the council would usually congregate.

"Ringwald you were supposed to have a meeting with Lord Frost earlier do you have any idea why he summoned a council meeting." Rana from the labourers guild bluntly questioned Ringwald, she was a busy woman and didn\'t enjoy having her time wasted.

"Sorry Rana I also have no idea, Lady Yuna just mentioned that the Lord needs every council member who can attend, attend, the reason however she did not say." Ringwald was helpless, knowing as much as everyone else waiting here. The only one who may know more was…

"Calder do you know something?" Seeing that Ringwald was useless Rana turned to Calder who out of everyone here could be considered an actual friend to the Lord not just a business partner/colleague.

"I\'m also in the dark but I can guess a few things." Though Yuna didn\'t tell him anything either Calder was able to analyse the situation given his acumen.

Frost rarely called for the entire council, only when he was planning something big would he call on them and inform him of his plan. Thus Calder logically suspected that Frost was planning a new development one that required their input and quite possibly finally their actual aid.

For quite some time both he and Rana have been trying to rope Frost into using more of their resources instead of relying primarily on his own subordinates. Calder had a feeling that today that goal would be realised however what that development would entail specifically he did not know.

Just as a few of the council members were getting antsy the room\'s large doors swung open.

"Lord Frost, Lady Daki and young master Loki have arrived." Yuna melodious voice announced the three\'s arrival before she stood to the side allowing them to pass. A B-rank monster acting so subservient to Frost and his family was always a showstopper that never got old.

"We greet you Lord Frost." The council representatives all bowed their heads as Frost, Daki and Loki entered the room and took their positions. Yuna prepared a small seat next to her for Loki to sit on while the meeting took place.

Seeing the cute child that wasn\'t even ten years old confidently take his seat brought smiles to the council members\' faces, even Rana who was initially in a bad mood could be seen smiling from ear to ear like a grandmother admiring her grandchildren. Both Nanna and Loki had a very special place in all their hearts.

Your next chapter is on mvl

"First off I want to thank you all for coming on such short notice." Frost started things of respectfully, nodding his head towards each member of the council who took time out of their busy schedule to coming to his impromptu meeting.

"No problem I was free anyway."

"It\'s part of our duties as council members."

"As long as it\'s for something important Lord Frost, I\'m quite busy after all." The last comment was of course from Rana who out of every council member was the most dissatisfied with Frost.

Though he had accomplished much and allowed many businessmen to take residency within his territory he rarely used any labourers which put her in quite the pickle having to scrap together what little work there was for her guild members.

Frost briefly glanced at Rana but didn\'t feel offended by her attitude in fact he respected her for it as he understood her dissatisfaction. A hidden smirk however flashed across his lips as he knew that after today the old woman would likely be both singing his praises and cursing his name.

Before there was no work but after today there\'d be so much that many of them would likely crash from exhaustion.

"Of course miss Rana I wouldn\'t wish to waste your time."

"Hmph!" Rana loudly hmphed with crossed arms feeling some sort of subtle dig in Frost\'s words but despite that she remained seated, waiting to hear his important proposal.

"Ladies and gentlemen I\'ve called you all here because I wish to embark on a bold development plan with a very harsh timescale, Loki if you would please." Frost looked over at Loki giving him the floor, thus allowing him to take a little part in the ongoing conversation.

Loki nervously nodded his head before walking over to the large round table seated in the centre of the room. Once before it he removed a large map from a storage ring he had on and placed it on the table.

"This here is a rough map of the Camp\'s current territory, it shows the basic layout, main buildings, pathways, important sections as well as few future development plans but that\'s not going to be the focus of the meeting today." Frost thus gestured for Loki to proceed.

The young phoenix kin thus took out a pencil and drew two lines 3 kilometres beyond the Camp\'s current boundary before returning to his seat where Yuna discreetly gave him a thumbs up and congratulated his efforts.

"Along the line where Loki just drew I wish to build a wall, a true wall that will serve as a proper line of defence for the Niflheim territory. This wall will be almost double the height and double the thickness of our current boundary wall and will be geared as a true fortification.

Atop will lie countless war machines, ramparts and lookout posts while behind it will lie countless barracks, food halls, medical tents and war forges thus evolving our current territory beyond its Camp status."