"Restrain them! Carcion, hold that one down!"

Arioch burst into the dining room just as he heard his guard, Orson, call out a loud order. The dining room where he and Alice had been sharing their meal was a bit away from this one so it was…unavoidable that they spent a bit of time getting here after the commotion first started.

As a result, the scene that greeted them when they first entered the room was already beyond saving. The two people from Alice’s entourage were being restrained by Orson and a servant who had probably been walking by at the time, Carcion. The two men, held against the ground with their arms twisted behind their backs, looked almost like rabid beasts. Faces red from exertion as some foam and drool dribbled out of their mouth, teeth bared as the veins in their eyes were engorged with blood.

Teresa was sitting on the floor a bit away from them, her body trembling and her skin pale as she scooted away from them in panic. And then there were the four servants that had been sharing a meal with them.

Two of them were already dead on the floor, one with a knife in their throat and the other with a fork plunged deep into their eye. The last two weren’t doing much better, one had a knife in his chest and the other seemed to have his throat crushed by some vicious attacks. They were gasping and struggling weakly, but death was quickly setting in.

"Young Lord! I don’t know what happened between them, but these… brutes were assaulting Tarmok and Sarissa! I saw it when I walked by, they even attacked Hubert and Pataro when they tried to protect them. Juvento and Aslar saw it too, but I sent them off to get more guards while I fetched Orson, I’m sure they’ll return with haste!"

The servant holding down one of the men quickly spoke to Arioch when they entered. He seemed to be struggling with his task, the man beneath him was squirming as if he wouldn’t care if his arms broke.

"Forgive me, Young Master. Miss Teresa wanted to use the restroom so I had to guide her there, by the time Carcion informed us and we returned it was already too late for Tarmok and Sarissa."

The old guard lowered his head after the servant explained the situation. His hand pressed against the neck of the man he was restraining, pushing him down so hard that he could barely breath. Looking at him, Alice could understand why Arioch chose him as Teresa’s guard, he was quick to catch on and understand what he needed to do.

"You are not the one who needs to apologise, Orson."

Arioch’s voice was cold and calm, his words drawn out as a light shade of red spread on his face. A vein bulged on his temple and his eyes opened more than normal, he looked as if he was about to fly off the hinges.

"You! Explain yourself!"

His foot swung forward as he uttered a cold order, his shoe smashing into the chin of the man held down by the servant. His body went limp as a result of the attack, a bit of pinkish red mixing with the foam that dribbled out of his mouth.

"Huh? Eh? Wha?"

A few disoriented utterings fell from his mouth as the kick seemed to sober him up. His bloodshot eyes almost looked a bit glazed for a few moments before they cleared up, his head turning as if to take in the situation.

"Explain yourself! Or should I just take your head straight away!?"

Another kick found its way to his chin, knocking some more sense into him, after he got over the additional bout of confusion caused by the pain. His eyes jumped up in panic as the memories of the last few minutes cleared up in his mind, abject dread quickly setting in.

"No, Wait, Young Lord Barong, I’ll takhg! I’ll talk!"

He spoke so quickly that he bit his tongue and fumbled his words. Arioch was playing the part of a good host, but he was still the inheritor of the Barong duchy, the family in charge of the frozen north. They kept the demon hordes at bay with their blood and sweat, anyone who dared to think of them easy easy or calm would swiftly find themselves without a head.

But just talking… Would be problematic. He had no clue why he did what he did in the memories, the sheer fog of rage that had swallowed his mind just made it seem perfectly reasonable at the time. After all, they were just minor servants, how dared they look at him like that? It was only right that they died! No, in fact, it wasn’t brut…

"Ghnn!"

Another kick found its way to his face, several heavy breaths escaping along with the dribbles of blood and saliva. It came again, that fog of rage, it had dawned on him again. He had no idea what caused it, but he knew that if he just admitted to it then his head would roll before the day was over.

"It was those two, Tarmok and Sarissa! The took the chance when the guard left to insult our duke and the house of Vritara! We couldn’t help our anger when they spoke about or home in that fashion!"

Luckily, the man, Laquinn was somewhat quick on his feet at this moment. Yes, it was only right that a servant of the Vritara house became furious when their duke was slandered. The servants may not be executed for speaking ill of the duke in private, but it was still a very shameful thing so he should be able to get off a bit easier. But Arioch simply looked down at him, a cold gaze sending showers down Laquinn’s spine as Arioch’s foot gently landed on the back of his neck.

"Oh? And what exactly did they say?"

Arioch’s foot pressed down on Laquinn’s neck, gently at first but it slowly had more pressure added. As a result, Laquinn’s mind completely blanked in fear so the excuses just started to slip from his mind.

"Ah… Ehm…"

He stuttered weakly, his mouth constantly dribbling as his eyes ran circles throughout the room. He couldn’t think of anything, nothing worth killing them for at least. A thought was just about to bless him when Arioch spoke up again.

"Nothing? You can’t think of any excuses on the spot?"

The foot was finally removed from his neck, only to find his chin again. Harder this time, almost knocking him unconscious. Arioch was really manhandling him, repeated attacks to the chin could easily cause damage to the brain because of how it was rattled as a result. But well, this servant of Francis wasn’t supposed to live much longer anyway.

"Keep him quiet."

He spat an order to Carcion, who quickly blocked Laquinn’s mouth so that he could barely utter a sound. Arioch then walked over to the other frothing man, blocking his line of sight so that he couldn’t see Laquinn. And then his foot rushed forward once more.

"You! Explain yourself!"

Another kick met another chin, a glimmer of clarity floating up in the second man’s eyes as confused mumblings slipped out.

"Eh? Eh?"

Groggy eyes surveyed the surroundings, the world reflected in them spinning for a while before the nausea settled down. But the moment his mind was clear enough to grasp the situation, as well as the memories of his actions, he quickly acted with a desperate shout.

"Young Master Barong! Wait, I can explain!"

Killing their servants, and even doing so within their own estate. Arioch could have them both butchered and strung up as revenge and the Vritara house wouldn’t be able to say a damn thing to defend them. So no matter what he had to do, he had to at least push the blame away from himself. Luckily, he couldn’t see Laquinn so he had probably already made a run for it, framing him as the mastermind shouldn’t be too hard.

"It was Laquinn! He wanted to slander the Barong name by killing the servants and then me so that he could blame it all on them! I was only defending myself, please understand, Young Master Barong!"

Was it a good excuse? No, it was rushed and didn’t absolve him of the blame. What it did however was push most of the blame away, so while he would still be punished it should be a fair bit lighter, right? Yes, it had to be, that was how it would be. Laquinn would take the fall and lose his head while he would probably only lose an arm or the like. But as he looked up, the only thing he saw was the dangerous smile on Arioch’s face, sharp canines looking ready to dig into him.

"Oh? How strange, Laquinn here said something else. You were both sitting right here so why did you experience such vastly different things?"

He took a step to the side so that the other servant could see Laquinn, who was struggling because Carcion had practically shoved his entire fist into his mouth to silence him. As expected, the man that tried to make the excuse immediately paled, Alice taking the chance to step forward.

"Young Master Arioch, I cannot apologise enough for the harm the Vritara family’s men have done to you and your servants, I’m not sure if the family can ever make it up to you. These men have brought shame upon their names and the lord they serve. Just the fact that the Vritara family decided to send them is immensely shameful."

She spoke very apologetically and didn’t try to dodge the blame, from the outside it looked as if she was acting like any good inheritor and accepting the faults so that the situation could still be salvaged. But Arioch… Arioch knew better. She really was laying it on heavily, it was as if she wouldn’t be satisfied before she properly slapped the Vritara name a few times. Well, her displeasure with her own house was something he could gain plenty from so he had no qualms about using it.

"Young Lady Alice. I understand that they are part of your entourage, but such an insult I cannot bear. I will have these men imprisoned and questioned until the full truth comes to light, afterwards I will deliver a fitting punishment and deliver a formal complaint to the Vritara family and the Imperial Family. I trust that you won’t refuse?"

The full truth, what a funny joke. Who would even say anything? The servants of Barong had seen the two people attack and kill the other servants, they could spout as many excuses as they wanted, the truth would be what was seen, nothing else. And it wasn’t as if Marion and Francis could step forward and say that those men were their spies, they could only stay silent while the duke was forced to pay reparations to smooth things over.

"I would not dare. You may punish them as you see fit, Young Master Arioch, it is only right."

Alice gave a very polite bow as she lowered her head, the corners of her mouth almost cracking apart as she held back her smile. She could already picture the expression the duke would have when he was forced to pay, how he would fume at Francis for sending such inept people with Alice. It would be a very minor thing in the long-run, but it was the first true fracture she caused. And she would make sure that it didn’t end up being the last.