Chapter 64 - The Warrior Maid (Part 2)

After Martha checked if anyone was still alive, she left the unconscious butler and baron in a room. She didn’t comment on what I did to the baron, nor did she say anything about it in front of Kinue. There must have been about 15 soldiers with that baron; I killed 5 of them, and Martha took down 7. She left at least 3 soldiers unconscious, all wearing the armor with the baron’s crest. The rest we assumed were either hired mercenaries or bandits, judging by the differences in their gear.

Martha gave me a ‘bath,’ cleaning the blood off me with her water magic. We took the horses from the kidnappers and headed to where Chloe was with the other two maids at the house, then made our way back to the castle.

My cousin scolded me for bending the truth a little. I had told her that Martha and the other maids would come to help, but the plan was actually to let them take Kinue, and hopefully me as well, so I could observe up close. That’s why I sent Chloe away towards Martha, to have one less worry while being captured. If they had seriously harmed Kinue or me, I would have intervened, but I figured their plan was to capture Kinue and maybe take us both if they could.

By the time we arrived at the castle, Martha had gone ahead to explain the situation to my mother and aunt.

“Do you think we’re in trouble?” Chloe asked.

I looked at my nervous cousin and then at Kinue, who was tense but had recovered from the panic of being kidnapped.

“Just me, since I broke the rules of the kidnapping simulations,” I replied.

The door to the dining room opened, and Martha called us in.

We entered the dining room, where Aunt Margie, my mother, and Professor Adrihna were waiting.

My mother was staring at me.

I’m in big trouble…

“Nathan Evenhart!” she said.

She used my full name—yep, I’m definitely in trouble.

My mother approached and hugged me.

“Are you alright, my son?” she asked.

Oh! I might be off the hook.

“Don’t worry, Mom. I’m not hurt.”

“That’s good!” she said, looking me in the eyes. “Because now I won’t feel guilty when we have a talk later…”

I’m completely doomed.

Martha Riverclimb:

“That’s good!” Lady Katherine said, staring at him. “Because now I won’t feel guilty when we have our talk later…”

“Lady Katherine, I don’t believe that will be necessary. I was nearby the entire time,” I tried to intervene, but she shot me a stern look.

I tried to help you, young master... but I couldn’t.

Lady Margaery and Lady Adrihna approached the children.

“Are you alright, Kinue?” Lady Margaery asked.

The two young masters had experienced this kind of situation before. We always simulate kidnappings to keep them alert and teach them how to handle such situations, but it must have been difficult for Kinue.

Lady Katherine then turned her attention to her.

“I apologize for my son. He shouldn’t have acted that way. He was supposed to follow the plan we have for these situations and let the maids handle it, but he decided to do something dangerous instead,” Katherine said.

The young master had a good plan to bring justice to a corrupt noble with evidence, but unfortunately, due to the delicate situation we discovered about his other noble connections… the last thing we wanted was to involve him in a tribunal before people we were trying to avoid.

“It’s alright… it was my fault anyway. I was the one who drew the attention of those kidnappers… I was the one to blame. If Nathan hadn’t been there, I would have felt worse. He promised me everything would be fine, and I believed him,” Kinue said.

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Lady Katherine sighed.

“You’re off the hook, Nathan Evenhart… if it weren’t for her, your ears would have been in for a serious scolding.”

The young master sighed in relief.

Lady Adrihna approached them.

“It was my fault. I’m also a guardian, and I couldn’t be there,” she said.

Margaery placed a hand on her shoulder.

“Don’t worry, Adrihna. By saying that, you’re underestimating our maids. Nothing would have happened. They have the authority to protect the children by any means necessary, even if it means leaving casualties in their wake. You heard Martha’s report—she took care of the situation and faced a troop of soldiers on her own,” Lady Margaery said.

She walked over to the table.

“Now, let’s decide how we’re going to kill that noble and his entire family,” she said.

Adrihna and I widened our eyes in shock.

“Lady Margaery, you know we can’t do something like that…” I began.

“They laid hands on my children. I need to devise a way to drag every last member of that family and torture them in front of that baron.”

Adrihna and I exchanged glances, concerned about the three children listening.

“Perhaps… it’s best we don’t discuss this in front of them,” Adrihna suggested.

“Oh! My apologies! You’re dismissed, children,” she said, and the three left the room.

I closed the door behind them, ensuring our conversation wouldn’t be overheard.

“Lady Margaery, you need to calm down. We can’t just kill a noble…” I reminded her.

“As much as I want to, we know that if the children had revealed their identities, they would have been released,” Adrihna said.

Lady Katherine sat down in a chair.

“They’re the worst kind of criminals—slave traders. We could arrange for an ‘accident’… if it’s just this noble, it won’t attract the kingdom’s attention,” she suggested.

Unlike years ago, when Nikolaus Wolves stirred up many nobles to create his little rebellion, we couldn’t risk an assassination or any chaos that might draw the kingdom’s notice if he and his allies suddenly died.

“I don’t think it’s necessary to go that far. He’s from another duchy, and his disappearance or ‘accident’ in our territory would raise too many suspicions,” I tried to reason.

Lady Margaery rubbed her temples and sighed.

“Damn this kingdom…” she muttered. “I can’t clean the pests from my garden without first going through their rules.”

“Don’t worry. The best outcome happened. Thanks to our little ones being the ones kidnapped, we learned about these criminals,” I said.

Lady Adrihna seemed to understand my point.

“At least some innocent people were spared, as long as that noble doesn’t try anything here again,” she said.

“We have maids watching right now; they’re staking out in the forest,” I assured her.

After what the young master did, I doubt that noble will come back for more trouble…

“What did Nathan do? You said he ‘handled’ the situation,” Lady Katherine asked.

“He killed some soldiers… and also carved a message on the baron’s chest.”

Lady Margaery was surprised, then smiled.

“What did he write?” Lady Adrihna asked.

“He carved ‘human trash’ with a knife into the baron’s chest,” I replied.

Lady Katherine remained silent for a moment. "Did anyone see him using the thunder element?" she asked me. The young master's element is extremely rare, making it easy to identify its users.

"He only used the wind element, and those who saw him using thunder were killed," I replied.

Lady Margaery nodded in agreement. "Did he do anything else?" she inquired further.

I tried to think of the best way to phrase it. "He beat the baron in the face until he passed out, and then..."

"And then what?" Lady Katherine prompted.

I recalled the scene vividly. "I'm not sure how to explain it, but he said he used his thunder element to scorch the baron's hands. He mentioned that the man had grabbed Kinue by the hair, and so his hands had to be dealt with. I checked personally, and the baron's hands were blackened like charcoal, with even the bones slightly burnt."

"Excellent," Lady Margaery said with satisfaction. "He'll have to spend a considerable amount of money on healing mages or potions if he wants to fix that damage."

Lady Katherine stood up, concern evident in her voice. "Is there a chance of retaliation?"

"There’s no chance at all," I assured her. "After the physical damage the baron sustained and the loss of his mercenaries, I doubt he'll attempt another kidnapping. They won’t be able to reach the young masters, and as a precaution, we should keep them away from the city for a while. I also made it appear as if it were a local gang attack when I dealt with the soldiers and knocked them out."

Lady Margaery moved to the window. "Very well, Martha. I know it's unlikely they'll try to communicate with us to resolve the incident or report it to the kingdom, given the serious crime they were committing on these lands."

"Nathan did something dangerous, again," Lady Katherine said with a hint of worry.

Lady Margaery let out a small laugh. "You heard what Nathan did, Katie. Our boy is already carrying out missions for the duchy at just 8 years old. You should be prouder of him for acting like a true heir at this age."

"I'm not sure it's a good idea to let a prince do these kinds of things..." Lady Adrihna murmured.

I stepped forward. "Kinue also told me she wants to learn how to fight. She was impressed by what she saw and said she doesn’t want to be afraid of battles anymore."

Lady Margaery looked at me, then at Adrihna. "Our training is a bit... intense..." she tried to explain.

"I would love to let her learn something beyond just relying on magic, but unfortunately, I’m nearing the end of my teaching period and will need to return to report to the Elven Kingdom about Katherine and Nathan's future plans. After that, I'll head to the Apsalon Academy," Lady Adrihna said.

Lady Margaery turned to me. "Could you help her with some basic self-defense?" she asked.

“I can try to put together a specific training schedule until the day they leave. It won’t be anything too advanced, but it will be something. She’s 10 years old, and in this family, it’s normal for children to be skilled in killing at that age. I think it’s crucial she at least learns to defend herself,” I responded.

Lady Adrihna looked at me with a raised eyebrow. "I’m not sure ‘normal’ is how I’d describe your family..."

"From my perspective, it's the other families that are abnormal," Lady Margaery countered.