Things had been rather chaotic when they arrived back home. Because they had been absent for months, there were literal mountains of paperwork to process. Edmund had so much paperwork to do that some of his workload was passed down to Ewald which he initially did not mind. They needed to finish up as much as they could within three days.
Now, they had a reason to rush. It was due to the royal party. The king called for the royal party to be held as soon as he arrived back. He had a valid reason for calling the party. Therefore, no one raised any complaints. Normally, Edmund would have departed right away. Due to the immense workload, however, he delayed their departure a few days.
Ewald and Flora were going through paperwork in their study. Raem had been relieved of his duty as a guard knight and was under Noah’s wing for training meanwhile. A letter from the king’s advisor, Isaac, had already arrived, stating that Noah would be granted a fief for certain. It was just a matter of deciding which one.
With that decision made, it would still take months before he would finally depart for his fief, reason being that he was going to be the last one departing for his land. It would be after the Harder family would visit his fief, arrange things for him, and only when everything was clear, he and Greta would finally depart. Elias gave a prediction of three months before he’d leave for good, which was plenty of time for him to train Raem. And that was after the royal party which they were yet to attend.
On their desks, each had a tall file. Currently, he was reading a paper which was about a minor dispute between two farmers. It was a territory dispute. They were apparently arguing over a small piece of land which both claimed to be theirs. Predictably, they were unable to come to a solid conclusion on their own. Therefore, they requested an official to join them. Now, that itself was fine. The issue he was seeing is the size of the land in question.
Are you friggin’ kidding me? Two adults are fighting over this?!
On the paper which described the dispute, whoever wrote it made a rough sketch of the land in question. It was so tiny. A tiny portion was overlapping their lands. It was a literal dot on the paper. It couldn’t have been more than the size of a large rock in reality.
Noticing his exasperated face, Flora gently asked, “Is something wrong?”
“I, ehm…, I feel stupid for reading this to be honest.”
She stood up from her desk and approached him at which point he placed it upside down for her to read.
“Why don’t you entrust Sir Waszak this?” She replied candidly after skimming through.
“Cezary Waszak? The word keeper?” He was surprised that she mentioned his name. Of all people, he would be the last person to bring up.
“He is quite erratic. I feel somehow confident that he can do this without much fuss,” She explained.
Folding his arms, he considered her proposal. Actually, he didn’t consider him. Rather, he was thinking how comical it might be.
“Sure, let’s give him this,” He said, imagining the chaos he would create.
When he called for Cezary, he expected the summon to be turned down because he did that before. However, this time, he compiled without a fuss.
“I’ve answered your summon,” said Cezary with a confident smile on his face as he performed a slight bow with a palm on his chest. Then he was rather surprised to see Flora in the same room.
“Pardon my remark, but you two are sharing the same study?”
“Yes, is that a problem?”
“Not exactly. It’s just because I’ve never seen a nobleman and a noblewoman sharing the same room unless.. it’s night. It’s even more interesting because you two are yet to be married.”
Glancing at Flora who blushed slightly, Ewald realized that he was indeed breaking the norm.
Who cares.
A noblewoman wasn’t traditionally given a study to begin with anyway. Additionally, she hadn’t been wearing a dress since her first day at the manor which he permitted. He was already breaking several norms. He couldn’t care less at this point.
“Anyway, Sir Waszak.” He changed the subject. “There is a task I wish you to do.” He showed the document to him. He skimmed it over and sighed.
“A typical fight between farmers,” He remarked. “They do this all the time. Lords normally ignore these.”
“Should I ignore it?”
“That would be my suggestion. Even if you solve this issue for them, another will pop up soon. It’s a never-ending drama.”
“Why do these issues continue to show up then?”
“I would wager it is because of the lack of documented land boundaries for farmers. They are given deeds of rough description of their land, and that is it. It’s down to each other’s interpretations if they can read at all in the first place.”
“I can sort of see why these pop up then.” Having said that, he glazed over the file of documents on his desk. One third of them were similar issues: land disputes.
“Perhaps making farmers literate might be worth an attempt?” Flora threw in her suggestion.
“No, no, nay,” Cezary disagreed flatly. “You want them to remain stupid. Idiots are far easier to control.”
Ewald and Flora looked at each other with amused expressions.
“Weren’t you a commoner yourself, Sir Waszak? How did you learn how to read and write?”
“If one possesses adequate intelligence, it’s not hard. I am self-taught.”
“And farmers don’t have the intelligence?”
“Precisely. If you teach fools how to read and write, only chaos will reign.”
They looked at each other again.
“So, I get the impression that you do not want to take this task.”
“I do not. It is a waste of time, effort, and my sanity,” Cezary replied promptly.
He wasn’t exactly employed by Ewald. Thus, he didn’t have a way to punish him for refusal. He was probably aware of that. If the order was given by Edmund, he would have complied. But then, he was a word keeper. His primary job was …
I get it. This guy loves to slack.
His primary job was sitting in the library, doing almost nothing.
“Then why don’t we replace worded deeds with drawings?” He suggested.
“Excuse me?” Cezary was taken by the sudden and unexpected suggestion.
“If we are not going to make farmers literate, then let’s use drawings. Should make it easier to understand for everyone, no?”
Cezary didn’t have a comeback to that, initially.
“That would still be a monumental task to perform. Replacing all current deeds with drawings… That’s just stup-” He shut himself up, realizing that he was going too far. “That’d be just too much work.”
“It would be your area of expertise though. Am I not correct?”
As a word keeper, his job was keeping records. Deeds fell under his domain.
“True. If Lady Harder is going to stay, I could attempt. But this task is too much for a lone person like myself.”
That reminded him that he would indeed be left alone in the library.
“Why are there only two of you to begin with?”
“Nobody wants to be a librarian,” Cezary shrugged with a crooked smile. “It is boring work. Additionally, it’s not easy to source people who are actually capable of doing the work required in a library. Not easy, I tell you, sir. Not easy.”
Ewald felt like it was a roundabout way of saying that he was special. He actually wanted to discuss with him about his discoveries back in Fadin. Alas, time was really short. For the time being, the matter at the hand had a priority.
“Sir Waszak, I will attempt to recruit two staff members for the library. Is that alright with you?”
“I have absolutely no problem with that proposal, my good Lord. However, please heed my input.”
“What would that be?”
“They must be women, young women.”
Ewald and Flora looked at each other again with the latter sighing.
He insisted, “I will not work with dirty, smelly, men.”
“You will replace deeds with drawings if I do get you two female librarians then?”
Cezary took a step back and bowed deeply while swinging his arm toward his chest.
“You wish will be my command.”
The next step was asking Elias for permission.
“You no longer need my permission,” was what he said upon Ewald’s explanation of what he intended to do. “You now have your own study. It means you are officially working for the Fenchel. We are more or less in the same position now.”
I am only ten though.
“Are you certain to leave such responsibilities to a child like myself?”
“From what I’ve observed so far, yes. You act more mature than some adults. Make your own decisions now and, if you feel you do need permission from higher up, you should now directly deal with your father.”
It was hiring two librarians with Greta set to leave. A replacement would be needed either way. Therefore, he didn’t feel he’d need Edmund’s permission and hence he went ahead with spreadings words that two “young female” librarians were wanted in the manor.
Within a day, there were three applicants which surprised him that it took only a day. Ewald and Flora were receiving the three applicants in their study.
“My name is Rose Ros,” declared a young woman with shoulder length brown hair and green eyes. She was wearing a robe just like all female scholars do.
“Ros? A sister of Theo Ros?”
“Yes, Milord. I am the third child. I turned 16 not long ago.”
Rose Ros, huh… Her name rhymes.
“Do you feel you are qualified?” Flora asked.
“I am well versed in general knowledge and history. I’ve actually wanted to become a scholar. This job will fit what I wish to do.”
Next to her, there was another young woman with shoulder length red hair and brown eyes. The color wasn’t deep as Esther’s. Hers was a light strawberry color. She was also wearing a robe.
“My name is Amy Wallen.”
The Wallen? The first time I’ve heard of this family.
She seemed to have noticed this and explained.
“With the Harder family set to depart, Lord Fenchel has agreed to take in our family. We are also from Lux as well.”
In major cities, there were landless noble houses who struggled to make their ends meet. Being chosen by a landed noble house to serve them was like winning a small lottery. They would be granted a small, but stable, income as well as a possibility to become a landed noble house, like the Harder family.
Amy explained further that she had two more siblings, both of them brothers. Edmund must have had a reason to choose her house; Ewald knew that he valued mages.
“Are you a mage by any chance?”
She blinked her eyes a few times. “You can tell?”
Bingo.
“And your brothers?”
“One of them is just a warrior who has yet to receive his knighthood. The other is mage.”
I see. Two mages.
“Your element? And affinity?”
“I am an earth mage with six.”
“Very good,” He beamed a smile as he said so.
With the recent war, there was a decent chance that warfare as he knew would change. The introduction of mages as a weapon of mass destruction would spread, and other nations would attempt to recreate what they had done.
Moving on, the final girl was actually … a maid. He didn’t place any social rank restrictions, he now recalled. In his defense, he didn’t think a maid would apply. She looked decently young, perhaps in 20s, perhaps into early 30s. She had brown hair and a ponytail with brown eyes.
“You are…?”
He had seen a fairly large amount of maids in the manor, but there were around 50 of them and couldn’t remember everyone.
“My name is Marat. I’ve been serving as a maid here ever since I was eight.”
“And you know how to write and read?”
“Yes, I am self-taught although I did have some assistance from those who are literate in the beginning.”
“Do you think you are qualified?”
“I honestly don’t know, but I confess that I have an ulterior motive.”
“Is that so? What would it be?”
“I would like to create basic educational material to learn how to read and write. Sir Waszak agreed.”
Didn’t he say let fools be fools though?
Then knowing his character, it was entirely possible that he simply agreed with her because she was a woman.
“Alright, I will send all three of you to the library. Tell him that I am going to let him make the decision.”
It was him who’d work with them in the end. He felt that it was best he chose who to work with. Bowing in unison, they left the study.
Three days passed in a blink of an eye afterwards, and he was in a carriage to the royal party. Flora chose to stay behind and continue to work on paperwork in spite of her being eligible to partake. She explained earnestly to him that, if she hadn’t met her family earlier, she would have insisted on going even if she was told not to.
Now, normally, Theo would have been his personal guard knight. However, since he was promoted to the guard captain, a new person joined as his guard.
“Reiner Wallen at your service,” A slender man made his instruction. He had the exact same hair color as Amy. It was apparent that their hair color was the signature of the Wallen family. There was a sword on his belt.
“Ah, the Wallen. I welcome you to the Fenchel.”
“I am honored, Milord.”
During the journey, he mentioned that he met Amy.
“Already? That’s fast. I know she applied to be a scholar.”
“Would you mind telling me the history of your family, Sir Wallen?”
“Certainly. We don’t have an established history like the Fenchel however.”
He went on to explain that the Wallen family was never really a landed noble house but became a permanent noble house by a very brief stint of ruling Tantan, a port village a long time ago. They were originally a wealthy merchant family there and the head of the family was originally a mayor of the town. When there was a brief period of time when the town didn’t have a noble to govern, they were allowed to govern the town. This effectively made them a landed noble for a period of about just a year. When a new lord was appointed and he kicked the Wallen mayor out, they chose to move away from the town.
You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.
“That was like five hundred years ago, I believe,” He added.
Despite becoming a permanent noble, they were always merchants at heart and continued their trade. Thus, they weren’t piss poor like the Brugg, Greta’s family, who were barely getting by.
Speaking of which, I’ve never seen anyone from the Brugg other than Greta. What’s their role in the house?
“I believe we initially settled down in Altzell. But the lord from Tantan continued to harass us or so I was told. Thus, we made our eventual relocation to Lux. But that was way before my time.”
In conclusion, the Wallen were basically merchant nobles who happened to produce a good generation of two mages and Reiner here. It also meant that Edmund was keeping close eyes on local affairs.
The trip was uneventful. They did run into a werewolf ambush at night, but it was pretty much routine work at this point. Reiner also seemed to be very well accustomed to affairs. He claimed that, as a son of a merchant family, he was used to traveling and noted that having professional soldiers made it a lot easier. Merchants hired either guild members or independent mercenaries, who were often unproven. He stated that he especially had high respect for the teamwork they showed.
The capital came to his view once again. When they arrived at the Fenchel manor, Fabian was out there welcoming them this time. He was all smiles.
“Good job, you two. You’ve made our house proud,” He said with full vigor.
A successful war, an additional fief, and the unofficial “the hero of the realm” title. One couldn’t ask for a better result.
Once inside, he explained the current situation in the capital.
“The noble houses are frustrated,” He went straight to the heart of the issue. “The massive loss from the war, it has crippled them.”
There were zero survivors from the army that set out to relieve Dido from its besiegement. 8,000 men never returned home which left holes in many communities. Ironically, the settlements under the rebelled houses suffered the least losses from their communities. While the 6,000 rebelled army was defeated, only roughly 900 were killed in the battle with the Fenchel. Most of them returned home.
The noble houses would need to recruit new men, train them, equip them - all of which took time and money, the latter being the main issue for some noble houses because they would need to create whole new armies.
“It is understandable,” Elias remarked while stroking his chin. “I wager some houses may not be back to its full strength for years to come.”
“If other nations become aware of this, our kingdom may be attacked,” Fabian pointed out.
The first aspect when contemplating whether to invade was raw army numbers. This was why the Siwen invaded the Egra. They massed 45,000 men while the Egra could only amass around 25,000 maximum. They enticed a rebellion in order to thin the numbers even. All of this made the invasion a guaranteed victory on paper. Of course, war was never that straightforward. Other numerous, and unexpected, factors would come into play. But the number crunching was the first aspect of any war.
As things stood, the Kingdom of Egra could only amass up to only 12,000 right now. It was not possible to draw any soldiers from their newly acquired settlements yet without repercussions. If the Kingdom of Atra and Estana decided to tackle their kingdom now or soon, it would be very tricky indeed. It was a literal case of, “They won the war but at what cost?”
“I will be honest. I foresee another war soon,” Fabian proclaimed.
Ewald grimaced. They would need to defend their territories again? He believed that, by defeating the Siwen, at last some peace would reign. But again? Not long ago, he wanted wars in order to obtain a chance to kill the king. Alas, having experienced one firsthand, he realized his foolishness. War was not something he wanted to experience voluntarily.
“Isn’t the Siwen the only one that loathed us and constantly invaded us?” He inquired.
Fabian explained, “When the Siwen was at their full strength, there was a delicate balance between nations. While we were the weakest, the Kingdom of Atra couldn’t invade us due to the mountain ranges, and we had a good relationship with Estana. We had only one enemy in the Siwen. Now, the entire landscape is different. We share a border with the Atra, and Estana may alter their view on us since we’ve increased our powers.”
“And there is something that can be really bad,” Edmund said, “The Siwen will likely join whoever might attack us to get their land back.”
At this point, Ewald had to rub his temple and sigh deeply.
“We must tread carefully. Ideally, we want at least ten years of peace,” Fabian said. Then he clapped his hands, snapping out everyone. “That’s enough doom and gloom for now. Let us enjoy the joy of being victorious for the time being.”
Because they departed three days late, everyone else was already present, including Ludwig who was set to make an appearance at the royal party to plead for forgiveness.
“Will Lord Ludwig be able to sway the king’s mind?” Ewald asked.
“Doubt it,” Fabian replied curtly.
“Agreed,” Elias said.
“No chance,” said Edmund.
“I bet he will just speak whatever is in his mind and be done with it,” Fabian said.
He knew him barely. In fact, he could claim that he didn’t even know him. They met only once briefly and didn’t even exchange any words. The only reason he cared about him was due to the fact that the rebellion wasn’t likely his fault to begin with. The man was being punished due to guilt by association. His situation was made worse by the fact that he had just retired after over 50 years of service. He truly felt that Ludwig deserved to be forgiven and, if possible, wanted to help him out. Sadly, there wasn’t anything for him to do at this point.
On the same evening, the royal party was about to commence. Under normal circumstances, the first day would be exchanging greetings. However, the unique circumstance dictated that an audience between the king and Ludwig Mesurii would be held.
Ludwig, donning fine attire, entered the castle with his cane. The royal lobby was already packed with nobles and their children. Interestingly, he noticed Loukia in a corner.
I thought women weren’t allowed on the first day?
Regardless, she was there, her eyes fixed at the ground with her shoulders sagged. She was intentionally avoiding eye contacts and was trying to make herself smaller so that no one would see her. It was at this very moment that he realized that Loukia was a Mesurii. He had completely forgotten about her.
Will she be … executed as well?
What fault did she commit, he wondered. She would have absolutely nothing to do with the rebellion. If she didn’t leave the Fenchel manor, she would have been fine. Sighing, he hoped that Lugwid would make a good defense.
Once Ludwig was close enough to the king who was flanked by two guards. He stroked his beard once and got down to a knee. After a short moment of complete silence, Karsten asked.
“Ludwig Mesurii, do you know why you were summoned here?”
“I do not.”
“You do realize that your house has raised the flag of rebellion, do you not?”
“I do.”
“Did you have anything with it?”
“I do not.”
His answers were short and clear.
“I plan to execute the entire Mesurii house. You have one chance to sway my mind. Speak your piece, Ludwig Mesurii.”
“May I stand? My old knees are crying, sire.”
“Fine, you may stand.”
Standing up with a weak grunt, he faced Karsten Egra from a distance. The air in the lobby was suffocating. Looking around, there were Baptiste, Edmund, Aaron Weber, and two more noblemen he could not recognize. Aaron and the two other noblemen had their fists clenched and were looking intensively at the event that was unfolding right before their eyes.
“My liege, I have no defense for my people, for what they have done is indisputable. You stay loyal or you don’t. They chose the latter.”
“What…?” Aaron whispered, looking shocked.
“What is he saying?!” Another whispered. “Beg for your life! You have done nothing wrong, Sir Ludwig!”
It was clear that he had some supporters.
Ludwig said, “Before I speak further, I’d like to know one thing, your highness.”
“Go on.”
“Whose idea was this?”
“Whose idea what?”
“It is unprecedented that I am allowed to speak here. Whose idea was it?”
It took Karsten a moment to answer.
“It was Ewald Fenchel’s idea, the son of Edmund.”
Everyone’s attention was fixed at him at this point. All he could do was just look forward, ignoring the attention. He noticed that Ludwig looked behind briefly to his direction.
“Your highness. I am not here to ask for forgiveness,” Ludwig declared at which point a pair of guards on sides became alert, reading their spears. However, Karsten waved his hand dismissively.
“He is a harmless little old man. Let him speak his piece.”
Ludwig, at this point, continued to speak regardless as if his time was short.
“Your highness, what I am about to tell you may hurt your feelings, but it is for your own good.”
“Oh, my God…,” A nearby noble uttered.
“He is going to get himself killed and his whole house,” Another said.
“Has he gone mad?”
The king barked, “SILENCE!”
Everyone in the back became silent once more. At this point, Ewald realized that Ludwig had no intention to get out of here alive and that he was indeed going to speak his mind. If so, why did he bring Loukia with him? To go down with him? He wasn’t sure.
“Your highness, do you know why the three houses rebelled?”
“I do not,” The king replied promptly.
“They rebelled because of your blatant favoritism. A kingdom such as ours cannot stand with just two houses. You cannot simply favor only the Fenchel and the Flissing and expect everything will be alright.”
He felt that his assessment was correct. The king had indeed been favoring the two houses heavily. He basically threw everyone else under the bus in this war. The kingdom was bigger now. If his “blatant favoritism” continued on, it could very well cause a schism between noble houses. Well, it already caused such since three houses rebelled.
“I am sure they never thought about rebellion until recently. They understood your favoritism initially. The two houses have been with you all these years after all. But it was your mistake to have continued on with your favoritism.”
Ewald looked around. Other nobles seemed to agree with what he was saying. Baptiste and Edmund displayed heavy expressions meanwhile.
“You are a good tactician. I will concede that. However, you lack any respect for life. You chose to sacrifice an entire army for your plan in this war. And I don’t have to mention what happened during the reunification war.”
“Enough,” The king said. But Ludwig was not going to stop at this point.
“Your methods may work for the time being. However, in the long run, it is going to backfire on you and on the whole kingdom. You must change your ways, your highness. Or there will be repercussions. Mark my words.”
“I said, ENOUGH!”
“I shall not shut up. I am not leaving here alive anyway.”
Karsten signaled guards, and they approached him at once.
“Elementals of fire, heed my call!”
Ludwig opened his arms widely, and brightly glowing red salamanders that were the size of sweet potatoes began to appear and crawl on his body at once. His cane fell sideways meanwhile.
Are those salamanders the equivalent of green butterflies?!
“Grant this old man’s dying wish! Suck every bit of my powers and grant me the ultimate spell: Sacrifice!”
Sacrifice?! Such a spell exists?!
The guards dashed in at once and thrust their spears into his body. At the very same moment, the glowing red salamanders dove into his body and began to inflate his body like a balloon. The spears pierced his skin, but it didn’t seem to have any effect with no blood gushing out. At this point, he looked back at him. Their eyes met for a second before his body simply exploded, scattering his flesh to all directions. It also sent the four guards flying into walls. Falling down violently, they struggled to get up. It was this moment when everyone began to dash out of the lobby.
He didn’t know why but he looked at Loukia. He felt that Ludwig brought her here for a reason. Not betraying his expectation, she dashed toward him. She got on four and grabbed the tip of Edmund’s pants who was standing next to him.
“Edmund, please take me with you!” She begged aloud.
Edmond was completely taken by surprise and uttered, “What? Are you mad?!”
“Please! I will do anything, please!”
I see. So, this was his plan. He chose to save one member of the house…
If the Mesurii was doomed to begin with, perhaps this was Ludwig’s way of defying the king. Shaking his head in resignation, Edmund grabbed her upper arm and forced her to stand up.
“Come on!”
“Y, yes!”
Ewald saw them running out. Slowly, he turned his attention to the king who didn’t seem surprised at all and was nonchalantly looking at the spot where Ludwig used to stand. Not far from the spot, his decapitated head was slowly rolling around the carpet floor. Most of his flesh scattered, leaving a mess. Then he noticed a lone red salamander on a nearby wall.
Elementals…, what are they thinking?
Regardless, he had to leave before he’d be the only one left. He didn’t want any attention on him after all.
After returning to the Fenchel manor, Fabian called for a meeting after being informed what happened. Loukia was called as well.
“Is it really true?” He asked for confirmation.
“Yes, it is true. He … killed himself in front of the king after insulting his methods,” Edmund said.
Fabian fired a glare at Loukia. “And why is she here? Why did you bring her here? She is a seed of chaos now.”
Sagging shoulders, Loukia looked down. She had no excuses.
“It is my understanding that Lord Ludwig was trying to save her,” Ewald answered instead.
“Are you implying we should take her in? She is a Mesurii,” Fabian argued. “We should turn her in.”
She became pale.
“She is not a Mesurii. She is a Fenchel,” Edmund argued back, surprising everyone in the room. He was indirectly implying that he was marrying her, again. It was extremely rare for a divorced couple to remarry each other, and that was an understatement.
“Are you mad, son?”
“Look, my heir situation is settled. It does not matter who sits in the position of my first wife.”
Fabian retorted, “It does matter. The king will be well within his right to launch an inquisition on the matter if he finds out.”
“We will deal with that if it comes to that point. She is not leaving the manor once she gets back. She will live a very secluded life from now on.”
She began to sub after collapsing to the floor. “Thank you… Thank you…,” She said weakly.
Fabian looked at Ewald for either backup or a comment.
She did try to kill him. But that was just the past. As far as he was concerned, she suffered enough. The arrogance he felt from her previously had vanished completely from her. She looked like a fragile woman in need of desperate help. Besides, Ludwig sacrificed his life to make this work.
“I agree with father. Whatever happened in the past is just that, the past.”
Eyes wide, Loukia looked at him, looking awestruck. Meanwhile Fabian heaved a long sigh.
“So be it then.” He conceded. There was nothing more he could do at this point. “But I do recommend sending her back to Lux the next morning. She is not staying here.”
“That, I agree,” Edmund said with a nod.
After Fabian and Edmund left the room, Ewald was about to follow out.
“Please wait,” Loukia called out.
“Yes?”
“Thank you.” Tears began filling her eyes once again. “Thank you for your forgiveness.” She grabbed his hands and fell down to her knees. “Thank you… Thank you…” She repeated while subbing.
“You are what is left of Lord Ludwig now. Please, live your life to its fullest.”
“Thank you…”
He truly had no hard feelings for her. In fact, he pitied her at this point. Her daughter was assassinated and her house fell to ruins. Edmund was really all she had left. He agreed with his desire to remarry her and save her ultimately.
After returning to his room, he recalled Ludwig’s last words. He was correct to point out the king’s faults. His favoritism and discard for life were going to become an issue. In his mind, his favoritism was more serious than his discard for life. He hated to admit it, but the king’s tactics were spot on in the war. Yes, 8,000 men were lost in the blink of an eye. But he figured that the same, if not larger, casualties would have occurred if the war went on in a traditional way. Should the king continue to favor the Fenchel and the Flissing, the kingdom was going to have more rebellions sooner or later, probably at the worst timing as well since other nations could easily entice them to rebel.
Sighing, he closed his eyes on his bed.
The next day, Loukia was sent away to Lux as soon as the sun was peeking its nose over the horizon. And, on that evening, the royal party resumed as if nothing occurred the day prior. It was the greeting time.
Aaron Weber was the first one to approach Edmund and him. He was a tall gentleman with well combed black hair and a mustache. He was the lord of Fort Nanlon and Tantan.
“Congratulations on a successful campaign,” He said with a smile.
Edmund bowed curtly. He didn’t say anything in return. It was obvious that Aaron’s army did not return.
Noticing his silence, Aaron said, “We sent 500 men to the war. Nobody has returned.”
Tantan was a port town, the only port settlement in the kingdom. He didn’t know much about the place other than the fact that it was the smallest settlement, even smaller than Laufeld.
“My condolences,” Ewald responded with a bow.
“What is done is done,” Aaron replied curtly with a bitter smile. “At least, the war was won.”
After he walked away, another noble approached. His name was Tobias Sprengen, the lord of Larok. He had broad shoulders and had a very sturdy build. He was cleanly shaven with a very short hairdo.
“Lord Fenchel, congratulations on your success,” He said while bowing slightly.
Edmund again said no words in response other than responding to his greeting physically.
The final man to approach him was Constant Egra, the lord of Altzell and the defeated king during the reunification war. He was a bald man with a long beard. He looked aged, likely in 60s or so.
“Lord Fenchel, congratulations on your success,” He said and just walked past them.
Lord Ludwig was wrong. The schism is already here.
Those who suffered heavily were clearly not viewing them in a favorable light. He was sort of glad that the three houses revolted because, right now, the schism was insignificant. If the three houses didn’t revolt, the schism would have been large enough to divide the nation into two.
Baptiste, having read the mood already, never approached Edmund. It was a wise call, he felt.
On the second day, the east wing would open to everyone, allowing nobles to have a party as well as dance. However, the three lords from the day earlier did not attend, leaving just Baptiste and Edmund’s group.
“Well, this is awkward,” Baptiste remarked. Daniel, his son, was here as well. It looked like his wife didn’t attend the party again. She probably assumed her daughter wouldn’t attend, thus had no reason to come.
“This is the first time, isn’t it?”
Edmund nodded affirmatively.
“This reminds me of the old days,” Baptiste giggled while swirling his wine glass. Back in the days of the Kingdom of Egria, there were only two noble houses.
“Well, it’s only the three houses,” Edmund remarked. “There will be at least three new houses tomorrow. Let them sulk.”
Gonne, Alrez, Valet, and Vikku were lordless. Noah Harder would be granted one of them. Once new houses were counted in, those discontent houses would be in minority.
The third and fourth day of the royal party came and went. In fact, nobody visited the royal castle for those two days. The three houses weren’t interested in any deals. Likewise, the Fenchel and the Flissing had no further deals to make. The fifth day also flew by with no one attending.
Thus, the sixth day arrived. This was the big day where new lords would be appointed.
Nobles gathered in the lobby, just like the first day. The king was present also. Next to him, there was Isaac Knell who was flanked by another scholar. There were only a pair of guards in each corner in the back.
Isaac, holding several rolled scrolls, walked to the middle of the lobby. The scholar followed him.
“Greetings, my name is Isaac Knell. I am the king’s advisor as well as the first new lord of the day.”
Baptiste and Edmund were aware. Aaron, Constant, and Tobias were not.
He unsealed a scroll and it unfolded itself as he held up high.
“As of today, the Knell house is born. It shall rule Rokk!”
Baptiste and Edmund clapped merrily. The others reluctantly followed the suit. Handing the scroll to the scholar behind him, he opened another.
“The king declares that Noah Harder shall be appointed the lord of Valet!”
Noah Harder, donning noble attire which was a rare sight since he had always seen him in armor, walked in proudly from a side door. Once close enough, he kneeled down with both of his hands up, ready to receive the formal appointment letter.
Rolling the scroll, Isaac gently placed it on his hands.
“Lord Harder, serve the kingdom well,” Karsten said aloud.
“Aye!” Noah exclaimed. Then he stood up and walked out of the lobby via the door he came from.
Isaac unsealed the third scroll to declare Hector Ulme to be appointed the lord of Vikku. And then Vincent Blind was appointed as the lord of Alrez.
Four new landed noble houses were created, and Isaac had no more scroll. However, Gonne was yet to be assigned.
“The king shall take Gonne and Edvia!” Isaac announced aloud. This came as a shock for everyone, including Baptiste and Edmund. Regardless, he continued, “Tonga goes to the Flissing. Maiava goes to the Fenchel!”
The king had taken two settlements, both of which had rather high population count. In fact, the population combined from Keviel, Ediva, Fadin, Gonne, and Vedo was more than half of the total population of the whole kingdom. Everyone in the lobby looked visibly shocked. He was supposed to take only Edvia and let someone else have Gonne. It was clear that he was amassing too much power.
Isaac’s scholar left the lobby while Isaac himself walked toward the group of nobles and joined them. The king, at this point, walked several steps forward and addressed the crowd in front of him.
“The war was hard, and we lost a lot of good men. Now is time for peace and rebuilding. I expect all of you to work harder!”
With that, the royal party was adjourned.
Once back at the Fenchel manor, Edmund called for a meeting and informed Fabian what had transpired. Folding arms, Fabian went into deep thoughts for a moment before making a rather shocking announcement.
“I am leaving Keviel. I am returning to Lux," he declared.
His reason was simple, yet dark.
“I fear I could be held hostage to control the Fenchel.”
Would the king go that far? It was unthinkable at the moment. At the same time, he was known to do the unthinkable.
Edmund suggested promptly, “In that case, may I advise you to go to Maiava? You will make a better governor than a local merchant.”
“Indeed, then I shall go to Maiava.”
With the new appointments, the kingdom now had nine houses, and the king’s own power was equal if not stronger than all nine houses combined. What made him act this way? Did he not trust anyone anymore? Or did Ludwig’s last words get on his nerves?
They may have won the war but at what cost?