Inside the Cellar of Drak’s Mansion were three now unmasked maids, two men and Drak now without his mask.

“Rock, you can wake up.”

“Ouch, the cuts are still stinging, big Sister.”

While Raja ordered the ‘comatose’ man to wake up, the muscular guy tried to sound as pitiful as he could make it.

“Everything alright Rock? I can boost your healing if you need.”

“Ah no need, Master. Help Markus attach his Arm again. At least he did not ‘die’ this time.”

“Can do it on my own. A cut off arm or decapitation will not stop me. Still the Salt stings, like Rock said.”

Rock had no name when Drak found him as a Slave. After Drak worked on him, Rock became extremely sturdy and could heal from heavy wounds himself, so he got the Name Rock from the other Slaves Drak saved.

Markus was different from Rock. His powers were somewhat eerie, as detached body parts could reattach without scars after being cut off. While it looked like healing at first it was a totally different kind of Magic he could now use. Cuts just close in self regenerating fashion. Broken Bones on the other hand were his nemesis, so cuts must be made exactly between joints or he would suffer. Even a cut off Head could be put back on. It must be done in about half an hour though, as they did not want to try it any later than that, out of fear he might really die after too much time.

“Coins got cleansed and have no tracking on them since the Alley incident, Master.”

“Thanks Seria. Celia, you were rather hard on Raja. If you had hit her with the Shockwave, she could have been injured.”

“Master, Celia knows my capabilities and is working hard to not kill me. Do not worry.”

“I would not hit Raja that hard, Master. And we need to make it lively to look cool!”

“You two…”

“Ah Master, welcome back~”

Down the Stairs came Alice. She was already in her nightgown which made her look a bit out of place between the blood soaked group.

“Yeah, we had an incident on the way back, but had made our Name known through the whole Empire. We should be less troubled and now that they think the Ripper is trying to get me, Raja can Raid Gangs without them thinking about me.”

“That is great Master~”

“Still, it is a bit crude in many aspects, Master. I will smooth things out in the meanwhile. After the attack the Syndicate is on high alert, so better use this to sow discourse between the different Underworld Parties.”

“You can do that, Seria. I just want to bathe and then sleep. Anything happening with the Spies?”

“Two have exited the Building but one is in my Room while the other is watching your Room. They see what they should see~”

“Great. While this has to go on for a while we need to rest. Can you maybe also make an Illusion tomorrow Morning of me studying-”

“No can do Master. You have to Study, otherwise your Plan of getting that Certificate would be in Danger. So better be prepared.”

“Seria, please spare me!”

With that the Night was afterwards uneventful. While Seria said Drak needs to study, she still gave him an extra hour sleep before waking up and letting him hit the books.

-

The further Rest days were quite uneventful, except the delivery of four large packages to the front door. While they were checked by Spies of the Empire, they did not find many problems with them, except the high quality of the brought in Items and their peculiar special details that were listed on the manufacturing of those Items.

“Maids Clothes in that high quality and every single one specially made? That Drak is really spoiling his Maids. This must have cost him nearly all his allowance.”

“We can not really understand him, but as he has gotten good clothes for himself by me, it might be the reason for giving his Maids also good quality items.”

“Princess, we looked into his finances, and he has a rather unsteady income unknown to us. While we could not find Alice’s origin we had only found out about the Maid Celia’s former family. She was sold by her parents as an incompetent, but afterwards nothing was known about her for a long time.”

“Does he get Money from the Merchant as compensation? Would be logical and maybe he is clinging to the only one who even gives him a little bit of genuine support.”

“As the Princess said. We should look into the travel of those coins, maybe we can find the Merchant’s location itself. Otherwise we need to contact him through the Syndicate.”

“While a good idea, do it as subtly as possible. If he finds out he might cut the ties with him.”

‘Such a pain! He is definitely the Merchant, but I need to think of them as two personas all the time, it makes my head hurt!’

While Eleonora was struggling to keep her mindset in check, the Maids were struggling to get comfortable with what they found in those packages for them. The only exception was Seria, who was the first to openly thank Drak for the presents.

-

At school Drak was in his blue golden Uniform and walked through the gates. Behind him was Seria proudly wearing her new Maid outfit, which was made out of very expensive black Satin, inlaid with golden threads and having a pristine white apron with meticulous frills on the side. Her maid cap was especially made with a special veil of magic inhibition to not have her face seen.

While she was the most outgoing one of the maids, the others had a harder time to adapt.

“Master, the new clothings are rather over the top!”

“I agree Master, this kind of fabric should be worn by high Aristocrats and not by Maids.”

“...~”

“Now you know how it feels. My revenge is complete.”

“Master, don’t be mean!”

“While we might only be Maids, we should wear those proudly as our Master made them especially for us and also it increases the fame of our Master. Laying low has failed spectacularly, now we try the other approach, which will make Master hopefully untouchable.”

The new costumes of the Maids made some Servants envious, as they could see how high quality these were. While not as high quality as the Outfit of their Master, it showed a pride and authority, which made it hard to overlook.

Other Students cursed under their breath for how lavish such a waste treats his staff while others mocked him openly for being so vain.

All of this was ignored by Drak and noted down by the Maids.

Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original.

-

“Dare to touch that?”

“Why would I not, but she looks hideous with those scars.”

“Then do it. Do you think we believe you would touch someone that has so many scars?”

“What is the bet?”

A week passed and while Drak and Eleonora talked on their way to the Mensa a Student came close to them and tried to touch Raja on her butt.

“Ah!”

The shout came from the Student as he felt strong pain in his hand even before he could touch her. After looking at his hand he noticed it sliced open in multiple places.

“You Bitch disfigured me!”

“What is the commotion?”

Hearing him shout, Eleonora looked back and saw the bloody hand of the Student. He must be already fifteen and should be in a higher class than them.

“She just sliced my Hand!”

“Did you see me slicing your Hand? Where was your Hand going, while being sliced? And how come you were so close to me to begin with?”

“Shut up Maid! You injured a Member of Count Chantler! Better be clear about how you will be imprisoned and beaten to death for your offence!”

At this moment Drak got angry.

“The only one who will be sorry is you, if you try to harm my Servants, is that clear?”

“You, a fat excuse of a Duke’s Son, has nothing to do with it! Scram!”

“She is my Maid, are you stupid? Who do you think you are, ‘son of a Count’?”

This incensed the Student even more. Eleonora wanted to stop them, but felt the Maids did not want her to interfere.

‘What are they up to? Why does it seem like they were waiting for such an occasion?’

“For the honour of my Count Cantler’s Family I demand a duel!”

“As I am not allowed to fight or be in any offensive class, I do not need to accept those duels.”

“Are you daft? If you can not, just ask a substitute and let him fight for you, fat ass!”

“Master, this is a ruling in the School. As many Children are highly protected by their own Family, this Rule was instilled to have Bodyguards take the Fight to stop assassination attempts disguised as a Duel.”

“You at least have one smart Maid, you waste. Now, will you apologise and give me that Maid for re-education, or do you want to make it a bigger mess?”

“In that case I accept the Duel.”

“You are dumber than you look huh? Very well, Tomorrow at the training ground. If I win I want that Maid and a hundred Gold in Damages!”

A Hundred Gold is rather much in many Kingdoms. While it devalues in the Central Domain as the living costs are way higher, it still can buy a small house in the outskirts of the Imperial City.

A copper can pay for a meal in a nearby Kingdom while five coppers are needed in the Central Domain. A hundred Copper are one Silver, and a hundred Silver are a Gold and a Hundred Gold are a Platinum, but everyone still says ‘Gold’ until around ten Platinum, as saying one Platinum made it seem less valuable, for vanity reasons.

“Good, and if I win you will pay me a hundred Gold for Slandering me while also kneeling and apologising to my Maid.”

“You are going too far Bastard!”

“What? Afraid, you will lose? Then walk away and better never mess with me and any of my Servants again.”

“...Fine! As you are so brazen, it will then be a Duel to the Death!”

-

While Eleonora was talking to Drak about cancelling the Duel, he was rather relaxed. On the next day in the Pause at noon, Drak and Eleonora walked to the Fighting Arenas. While Drak rarely came to this place it had a subtle smell of blood, as these few hundred Arenas are often filled with Fighters.

Mostly the fights are until one falls or the first blood is drawn, but sometimes there are Death Battles, and this was one of them.

Dozens of Rings are already filled with their own squabbles, Ringmasters are there to stop escalations, but had often a hard time to keep those puberty driven children in check. The Empire endorses duels as often Might makes right, but also to let those Children learn in a painful way the Rules of Society with their own bodies.

Drak walked to the arranged Ring and already saw the Student looking at him mockingly.

“So you did not run, that is good. Who are you sending to die?”

Looking at the Student like an Idiot, Drak just stood there while Raja got on the stage herself.

“That Maid? You are clever you Bastard. If she is dead, I can not punish her, right? Just so you know, the Money and her Body will be mine after she is dead, better not think you can strip her of that cute dress, it will be my trophy while she gets fed to the pigs!”

“So much talk, do you like to hear yourself speak? Raja is already standing and waiting, why are you still talking?”

“You Bast… Bricksley, go in and torture her to death. Do not make it easy for her!”

A giant of a Man walked onto the stage. Raja pulled out of her pouch a standard Sword and stood at the ready.

“Little Miss, I am sorry, but this is my Job. Better curse that useless Master of yours.”

Not answering this bodyguard, the giant furrowed his brows and got himself ready. His Sword had a black sheen and showed how it included Oricalcum to create Black Steel. The length of the Sword was reaching further and the alloy was way better, the Ringmaster saw the difference and took pity on the poor Maid, but could do nothing.

“Rules are to the death. Stakes are a hundred Gold and either the Body of the Maid or the Son of Count apologising. Are you both accepting?”

“I accept.”

“Accepted.”

Seeing both Parties saying this, a few Noble came over to see a bloody massacre from the other Rings.

“In this case this is now a legal Duel. Now you can fight!”

With these words the Ringleader stepped back and waited for the End of the Duel, as ‘to the death’ means the Fight will be fought until only one of the contestants is left standing. There is not much he had to do, except for hindering others to intervene and even this is taken care of by a magic field stopping anyone outside to go in until he undoes the Magic.

“This will really hurt little Miss, better be read-”

Bricksley could not end his sentence as part of his skull was separated from the rest of his head. The cut was going straight through both eyes horizontally until the back of his skull and fell onto the floor with a * clack * before the Body had a chance to fall itself.

“What… Ah! Winner is Berklin! Chantler will pay the compensation.”

“Bricksley? You… No, Bricksley!”

Seeing his strongest Bodyguard being killed in front of him the Student broke in a shouting barrage.

“You Whore, what did you do! That is definitely impossible, she was cheating!”

“I was here all the time Sir Chantler, if you dare to dishonour my Status as Ringleader, better be ready for a thorough investigation which you have to pay, if it comes out as unfounded.”

“…”

With this the Chantler Boy was shutting up, as it would not only be in a few Hundred Gold, if he made a false accusation. It would be rather costly for not only him but even the reputation of the Counts Name, which even if he were an Idiot, could only mean severe punishment from his Family.

“Fine! Here are the hundred Gold! Take Bricksley down and give him a proper burial, Servants!”

“Didn’t you forget something?”

Drak intervened in him escaping. He was not going to give him the easy way out, as he started the whole thing and even talked down not only to him but his Maid.

“What do you want, you eyesore!”

“One half of the Duel was paid, but there was another half, wasn’t there?”

“You little…”

“Go up there on to the stage and apologise to my Maid. And remember to kneel for it, like promised.”

“I will beat you to death, you chubby-”

“As I, an Imperial Princess, are here as an eyewitness, I hope you will behave, for everyone already looks at you and it will be impossible to save your Family's Name if you do what you said right now.”

With a stern look Eleonora made it clear, she was not playing around. If he really not only were going against the Duel’s reimbursement but hit the slighted Person, his own Family might disown or even kill him to erase that breach in etiquette.

Grinding his teeth he had no other choice as to go on the Stage in front of so many Nobles Children and fall to his knees.

“I Apologise.”

In a Monotone sound he said it while grinding the Sand of the Arena in his hands out of humiliation.

“Accepted. Please never try to fondle my Behind ever again.”

And with those words, heard by so many people she left the stage and went directly to Drak. The Head of the Boy was already going from red to purple, as he was not only forced to apologise, now everyone knows why he apologised and was unable to move. He never was this emotionally abused before.

“You all will regret this…”

Under his breath he swore his revenge, but no one heard it, and even if someone did, they would not care at all.