Kamil was anxiously walking around in circles with his arms folded. He could hear Flora’s muffled scream afar and then heard Karla’s voice.
“Good, you are almost there, milady! Push!”
She had been in labor for several hours. When her water broke, there was some panic among the maids since none of them was experienced in birth. Thankfully, Karla took charge of the situation swiftly once notified. With Avina’s assistance, the two women were doing what they could. Now, it was not the first time he experienced a woman in labor. However, this was the first time he was present when his woman was in labor because, in his former life, Fionara had already gone through her labor by the time he was back home. Of course, she did not complain that he wasn’t present during her labor. After all, the man was out there trying to bring food to the table. No woman could hardly ever fault a man for doing what he was supposed to do because, for commoners like them, food was more important than emotional support.
“Okay, I see the head!”
“Almost there!”
After one half-crying and half-screaming later, it all became quiet until a baby’s cry was heard. Because Kamil wasn’t truly raised as a noble, he did not know but, if the baby was a boy, the gender would have been shouted aloud in celebration. The silence right after birth meant that it was a girl. Nevertheless, Avina exited the room and approached him at once. With both of her hands on front, she leaned forward slightly with a stoic face.
“Duke, it’s a girl,” she declared with a heavy voice.
He did not care for the gender of the baby. Truthfully, he wanted a girl since he had two boys in his previous life. However, for Flora and Avina, the first child being a female wasn’t ideal. One could argue that a child was better than having none, and that was true indeed. With a child between them, the succession was set in the worst case. Either way, his eyes went wide, and he dashed into the room to greet the mother and the baby.
“Flora!”
Karla was severing the umbilical cord between the mother and the baby at the moment he barged in. Flora looked a bit pale but looked otherwise healthy. Unexpectedly, both women appeared to be down without showing much joy over the birth. This puzzled him.
“Is something wrong?” he asked while approaching them, concerned that something might be wrong with the newly born.
With teary eyes, Flora labored to speak, “It’s … not a son…”
He was shocked by the response and at the same time he became angry.
“So what?” he retorted strongly. “Is that why you are not happy? Are you not going to love your daughter because she was born a female? Are you going to let her suffer the same fate that had befallen you?”
Her eyes went wide, looking shocked. Soon, she sobbed while covering her face. “I don’t mean … I am going to love my child…”
He approached her and caressed her messy hair which was full of her sweat.
“Love your child,” he told her softly. “She is your flesh and blood.”
Having a dick or a vagina shouldn’t really matter.
“You… don’t care?” she asked carefully.
“I do not,” he replied firmly. “All I care about is whether she is mine, which is indisputable.”
Indeed, she shared her bed with only one man in her whole life. Additionally, if she was lying, it’d show on her face pretty much immediately. He felt that she wasn’t simply the type of person who’d stab him behind his back although he was fairly certain that Avina would betray him if required because her allegiance was with Flora, not him. Anyway, his attention moved to the tiny baby in Karla’s arms. She was already asleep soundly, meaning he couldn’t see what color of eyes she had. She had blond hair at least, just like her mother’s.
“Lady Karla, how is the baby?”
“Nothing seems wrong so far. She is asleep but will probably soon wake up for milk.”
Hmm?
He could see that translucent blue eels were orbiting around her, and it looked like only he could see them since they weren’t reacting at all.
Water elementals, huh. It looks like the girl has a rather high affinity with water.
Turning his attention back to Flora, he told her, “I want you to name the baby.”
I am not good with naming anyway. Look at Grent. In this family, women should name their children, period. No offense to Paro and Taro, but their names are terrible.
Abel, the final son between Grent and Vilma was named by the latter, escaping a horrible naming scheme by the former.
Thank God that mom named me also. Holy Hell, I could have been named Taro.
Such a thought gave him cold sweats on his back.
“Are you sure?”
“If it’s a son, I will name him. If not, you name them. We good?”
She beamed a weak grin at the little joke. It was at this moment that he saw Nestor standing at the doorstep, silently asking his presence. Kamil let out a sigh; he had been busy for a while. It was his youth that had been keeping him going.
“Sorry, Flora, I need to go.”
She, too, noticed Nestor. “I know. Don’t worry, I will be fine.”
Although he didn’t think too much of it, the mere fact that he was able to see water elementals that chose not to show themselves to the eyes of mortals meant that he was slowly drifting away from the material plane. This was the direct side effect of containing the holy power within. He would need to release it soon before he drifted too much.
As soon as he was out of the room, Nestor followed him.
“Duke, we have an urgent message from the king of Estana,” he said.
“Oh, so he made it out safely, then.”
Nestor hesitated to answer but eventually did, “Well, only he and his daughter made out. All other princes didn’t.”
Kamil grimaced. He didn’t want to imagine the shock and sadness the king must have experienced.
“So, what’s the message? Is he requesting aid?”
“It bears a royal seal. We wouldn’t dare open it. Only you should read it.”
Why the royal seal? I don’t like this.
The message was apparently so important that it was sealed with wax bearing an Estana royal stamp. Whatever its content may be, it wouldn’t be pleasant, he was certain. And, when he reached his study to find the rolled-up paper bearing the seal, he didn’t hesitate to unseal it and read it in front of Nestor. The message was simple but a headache-inducing one. He rubbed the bridge of his nose as he finished reading it. He shut his eyes also and shook his head.
Oh, for fuck’s sake…
“Duke, what does it say?”
Normally, he’d toss it to his direction for him to read, but this was a royal message. It had to be treated with respect.
“He wants me to meet his daughter. He wishes to discuss a potential marriage.”
“Absurd!” Nestor exclaimed in shock. “You have Lady Flora already!”
The king of Estana proposed a matrilineal marriage where any children born from he and Heiga would fall under the Rajmund bloodline. In the simplest terms, Kamil was being asked to provide sperm. “Absurd” was the correct reaction in his mind as well.
Desperate time calls for desperate measures, eh.
He’d be lying if he said he didn’t understand the purpose behind this proposal. The king seemed to have rated him highly, and there was a talk about him and Heiga getting married. It didn’t go anywhere due to their age difference and political circumstances at that time, which resulted in a brief war between the two nations. His heart told him to reject this “absurd” proposal right away on the spot. Meanwhile, his head told him that he must consult this with others, like Cezary.
“Sir Vogel, please call Sir Waszak.”
Once Cezary arrived, he shared the message with him, who responded with a frown.
“I must say that you’ve been placed in a rock and hard place there, Duke,” he said. “I am certain that you wish to dismiss it but cannot.”
“You’ve got me precisely, Sir Waszak. I request your wisdom on the matter.”
“It is my assumption that you do not want a second wife, is that correct?”
“Absolutely correct. Flora is all I need.”
If she was infertile, he would have a reason to seek out a second wife or a mistress. That obviously wasn’t so. That was beside the point, however. He simply did not want two women. He was very uncomfortable with the idea of having two women in the first place.
“I am afraid that this is not easy. You do need their support to stay independent, and a marriage with their princess will pretty much seal the deal permanently.”
The Age of Darkness is upon us. Does this really matter at this point?
He wanted to say that out loud. The last thing he wanted was internal politics hindering him. If he could, he wanted to reach the deadland and cure it at any moment, which would relieve pressure for those within the Kingdom of Egra. This reminded him of Vass' situation where he was entangled from within. His situation wasn’t probably worse than what Vass had, but it didn’t mean it was any better.
“Sir Waszak, I shall be honest,” Kamil said while rubbing his temples. “I do not care. I do not want this deal. I have Flora, and she has just given birth to a daughter. I am going to sound like a damned jerk if I bring up that I am going to see a woman in pursuit of a second marriage.”
Cezary and Nestor, they glanced at each other. They could clearly see his point, and he wasn’t wrong. The timing was horrible indeed.
“Milord, I do agree with your point but I still implore you to accept this and meet the princess at least,” said Cezary while leaning slightly forward.
Nestor agreed with him apparently and added, “Duke, I suggest we alter the terms. Should a son be born from this union, he should be yours.”
They were clearly not pleased with Flora having given birth to a daughter. This flabbergasted him. Her position became weaker instantly because she gave birth to a girl. He could see why she wasn’t so happy with a daughter. It wasn’t just about the gender of the baby. Her whole position as the first wife was at stake. At this point, he decided to vehemently defend her in ways he could. She was his first wife, and her child will inherit the dukedom, period. Crossing his fingers on the desk, he declared with a raised voice.
“I would like both of you to know that I have no intention to dislodge Flora from where she stands. And her child, whether a male or a female, will inherit my seat. Am I making myself clear?”
He felt weird for making such a statement when he was just sixteen years old but he felt that this needed to be done. He was also going to make a written statement about this. He was also going to accept the royal proposal and meet the princess. However, this was not because Cezary and Nestor convinced him. He planned the commotion to declare to the world that he was committed to Flora. Meanwhile, Cezary and Nestor could see a rare moment of Kamil becoming agitated, which was a sign that they were pushing too hard.
“As you wish, Duke,” the two men replied in unison, knowing that Kamil wasn’t going to back down. Additionally, he was fully within his rights to protect his wife.
“Meanwhile, I will accept the proposal and meet the princess,” he continued. “I will write down a reply.” Just as he pulled out a blank piece of paper from his drawer, Nestor stepped forward and spoke.
“Duke, since we are here, I might as well do a briefing on the current situation.”
“Very well, let us do that,” said Kamil as he began to write the first sentence on the paper.
“First of all, refugees have been entering the city nonstop. So far, I’ve counted at least two thousand.”
“I assume they are mostly from Fadin.”
“Fadin and Gonne, Duke. Sir, this is getting out of hand to be honest. While we do have the capacity, I do believe it is time to think about stopping accepting refugees.”
Narrowing eyes, Kamil glanced at Cezary who didn’t seem to have an issue with Nestor’s proposal. He paused writing at once and was fully focused on the matter.
This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.
“If we stop the refugees from entering, where would they go?”
They were already aware of the fact that most, if not all, settlements within the Kingdom of Egra were at full capacity. If refugees were refused at the gates, they would need to go elsewhere, which was nowhere. They’d wander around fanatically in search of shelters and would probably end up becoming meals for monsters at night.
“Duke, if we keep taking in more people, we are going to suffer food shortages. It is a matter of keeping our people safe,” Cezary explained.
“A famine is going to make all of us suffer,” Nestor added quickly, trying to urge Kamil to see the bigger picture.
“Isn’t underground farming on the way? Can we not expand the farm?”
Nestor argued, “Sir, we are talking about thousands of people, potentially more than that. No matter how quickly we expand our underground farms, the swift growth in population will drain our resources before it gets better. A famine is almost a foregone conclusion at this point - if - we keep taking in refugees.”
Originally, Cezary was adamant that Ceres could hold as many as 25,000 people, rivaling Lux. He was correct, at that time. Nestor’s prediction was an adjusted figure, counting in more variables and a future with clouded sky. He also wanted to store wheat for emergencies. Meanwhile, Kamil hated the fact that they were right. It was clearly more important to keep his people alive than go down together. Cezary made a comment as he saw Kamil getting conflicted.
“Keviel should have some capacity although I am uncertain whether they’d be allowed in or not. We could redirect the refugees in that direction. Besides, Fadin and Gonne are King Karsten’s domain. He should take the responsibility, not us.”
While he was correct, given Karsten’s personality, it was likely that they'd be rejected at the gates. But then, he wasn’t left with many choices.
Heaving a long sigh, he leaned his back deeper into his chair and rubbed his eyes. It was early morning at this point, and he had stayed pretty much all night due to Flora giving birth. In short, he was exhausted.
“Can we not use the airships?”
“The airships?” Nestor looked amused for a moment. “Sir, they carry about twenty people maximum. We are talking about thousands of people, if not more. It’d take weeks if not months to get them all transported, during which we have to feed them.”
Kamil glanced at Cezary who shrugged in response and said, “Sir Vogel is correct. Duke, it’s our people or some random strangers.”
Heaving a long sigh as well as conceding defeat, he told them, “Very well, make it so. Stop the refugees from entering the city,” he declared eventually.
“I will make sure that they are redirected to Keviel,” Nestor said, to which Kamil nodded. He finished writing up a formal response and handed it over to Nestor, who’d take care of the rest which involved rewriting the response on a more proper paper and correcting any grammatical mistakes if any. Once that was accomplished, the meeting was adjourned, and the three men went about their own ways. For Cezary, he'd be heading to his workshop. For Nestor, he would go back to his quarters where his wife, Rose, would be working. Finally, for Kamil, it was getting some deserved shuteye.
After some hours of sleep, he paid a visit to Flora’s quarter which was just a door away since their rooms were separated by a single bedroom which they shared. He found her in her bed, holding her newly born baby who was sucking onto one of her beasts. Avina, who was right next to her by the bedside, stood up at once and showed respect.
“How are you faring?”
Flora beamed a smile back and looked down on the baby who was busy drinking the milk.
“I am doing fine, and so is the baby,” she replied, looking blissfully happy to see the baby drinking her milk. There were still water elementals orbiting around her.
Her affinity with water should be at least seven.
As he approached her, Avina surrendered a chair she was using to him at once. Sitting down, he gently poked the cheek of the baby and giggled, who responded by opening her eyes and looking at her father. This was the first time he saw the color of her eyes: Green.
“Green eyes? Shouldn’t that be blue?” he wondered aloud. Both he and Flora had blue eyes. Flora’s parents both had blue eyes as well. Only Grent had brown eyes.
“I know, right,” she replied. “Cecilie, this is your dad.”
“That’s her name?”
“Yes, I’ve named her Cecilie.”
He beamed a grin while poking her soft and bouncy cheek once again. The girl didn’t seem to like being poked but reached out to him while still clinging onto Flora’s nipple. He grabbed her hand in response. It was so tiny compared to his.
“Cecilie, I am your dad.”
Whether she understood or not, she let go of the nipple and attempted to reach out to him, at which point Flora lifted her and handed her over to him. He held her in his arms and cradled a bit. The baby responded with giggles while wiggling her arms.
“She doesn’t cry much,” she noted. “And giggles a lot.”
She was barely a day old but seemed to be more mature than regular babies.
She is not a betrayer of the wheel, is she?
He shook his head as he realized that he was being cynical. Instead, he put up a smile, stood up, and walked around while holding her by the waist and making her go up and down.
“Cecilie, you are flying,” he joked. The baby would giggle louder, seemingly enjoying the experience.
“Duke,” Avina called out solemnly. “The word has spread.” She was being vague, but he knew what she was talking about.
“Nothing changes,” he replied equally vaguely. But Flora’s response shocked him.
“I am fine. She is a royal princess, and I am just a daughter of a lord.”
He paused his walk and stood still for a brief moment before handing over the baby to Avina.
“It’s not fine,” he retorted and repeated with a stronger voice. “It is NOT fine!”
She was startled a bit, for it was the first time for her to see him get agitated. She looked unsure of what to do or speak.
“Flora, you are my rightful and lawful wife. Nothing is ever going to change the fact. The royal princess?” He scoffed loudly. “So what? Do you think I care about marrying a royal princess? I don’t care. I don’t fucking care.”
Flora seemed to be sweating and looked utterly confused whereas Avina nodded repeatedly with a determined look on her face.
“You speak the truth, Duke!” Avina agreed loudly. “Have you refused the meeting then?”
“I’ve agreed to it.”
She looked utterly confused by his response. “Duke, but -”
He interjected at once, “I’ve accepted it to show to the world how committed I am. We will receive the princess while I am with Flora. I will not talk to the princess alone.”
A smile returned to Avina’s face, understanding what Kamil was trying to accomplish.
No one is going to fuck my life up again. No woman of mine is going to suffer the same fate as Fionara.
While most of his past memories were faded, there was an image that still lived vividly in his mind; it was the dead eyes of Fionara after she stabbed herself in her heart. The pair of eyes that had lost all hope and chose to end it all; it reminded him constantly that he must actively protect what was dear to him all the time. He was seeing similar eyes from Flora who had lost hope and had resigned herself to a backseat role. He sat back down on the chair once and grabbed her hands, placing it on his forehead.
“Flora, listen. You are my wife, the only wife. You must steel yourself and fight for your seat. I alone can do only so much if you don't cooperate. It’s not just for yourself, either. It’s for Cecilie also.”
The mention of her daughter possibly becoming neglected seemed to have ignited some fight in her.
“Milady, a noble’s life is never easy,” Avina added. “You must fight for your place. Your mother has done the same.”
“My mother has? But she is so gentle…”
“Only on the surface, milady. If she was purely simply gentle, she would have been used by others. She is no fool, milady. You must fight.”
“Indeed, fight, Flora. Whatever I do at the meeting, go along with me. If I scoff at her, you will scoff as well.”
She was utterly shocked by the notion.
“I would never…!” she uttered.
“Get my point, Flora.”
She blushed and stammered, “R, right.”
“I need you to recover quickly so that you can move around. The meeting with the princess should come fairly quickly since the King of Estana seems very eager.”
“Duke, don’t we need their support?”
“True, we do, but the world knows that I am already married. Trying to push another woman to a happily married man… It’s not going to look good. The king must be desperate. Plus, I do not think he is immature to just dissolve the contract over this. This is strictly personal.”
“True, but …” Avina looked half-convinced and half-worried. While she did feel Kamil was in the right, it ultimately depended on the might. As it stood, Estana was substantially more powerful than Ceres objectively. If the king of Estana forced the issue, Kamil would have no choice but to accept.
“We will wing it. Just follow my lead is all I am asking.”
“Lord Fenchel, you don’t need to go through this,” Flora said. “You’ve given me so much happiness already. You’ve unshackled me from the chain, granted me freedom, and gave me a child. I did say that I would accept three mistresses.”
“I care not for the norm,” he argued. “I will live in this world my way.”
I may have cared if I didn’t end up saving Karsten on my own accord. Nothing matters now. I will protect what’s important to me. This is my last stand.
Standing up, he looked at the baby who was soundly asleep in Avina’s arms. Gently taking the baby from her, she gave her back to Flora. Then, not wanting to wake her up, he silently walked out. Flora and Avina could only watch him leave, still dazed somewhat by his sudden plan.
His next destination was the Northern gate, the top of it to be precise. He found Raem and Lara atop of a wall directly above the now-shut gate, preventing refugees from entering.
“Duke,” the couple acknowledged his presence in unison.
There were three guards in front of the closed gate, instructing the refugees to go elsewhere, like Keviel. The refugees looked rather confused with many of them looking famished. The most painful sight was women with babies in their arms.
Putting up a stoic face, he asked, “How is the operation going?”
“No major incident so far,” Raem replied. “Although they are clearly not pleased since they’ve already made the risky journey to here, only to be redirected.”
“Have you been told why we are doing this?”
“Yes,” Lara replied this time. “Food issues.”
Looking down on the refugees, most of them were cooperative. But, as always, a few were turning violent which forced the guards to act. The crowd wasn’t turning violent, yet. Looking back, he found dozens of guards waiting on the other side of the gate, should things go sour.
“We can’t keep this up forever, though,” he said.
“They will get the message and turn around hopefully,” Raem replied, his eyes fixed at the commotion down below and his hand on the hilt of his sword. It looked as if he was ready to dash down at any moment.
“How is the Western gate?”
“The same as here but less crowded,” Lara replied.
“Man, doesn’t it feel like we are being besieged by refugees?”
Due to both gates being shut down, people with legitimate reasons to enter the city were unable to do so. Over half of the overall population lived on the outskirts as farmers and whatnot. They would need to access the central market sooner or later, meaning shutting down the gates was only a temporary measure. This revealed a critical flaw in the defense of the city where farmers would be discarded in the worst case. Looking back, he realized that Lux had the same flaw. This was due to the fact that farming required large patches of lands. Protecting them within walls was simply too much of an ask. However, in reality, if farmers were killed, it would directly affect their food supply. While that was the reality, many saw farmers as expendable assets regardless.
I need to relocate all farmers underground. Otherwise, the casualties will become too much.
There were clear merits to moving everything underground. The problem was people’s general reluctance. It took years for some people to accept having their residences underground. Farming underground was a whole different matter. It was also unknown how the soil would react, not to mention the odor was going to pose an issue since manure was the primary ingredient to enrich the soil before planting anything.
“Do you think I am making the right choice here?”
His question came out of the blue. He wouldn’t normally ask such a question to anyone, but Raem and Lara had been with him for many years to a point that honest conversation was possible.
“If I am given a choice of saving those around me or die while trying to save everyone, I will choose the former,” said Raem with a determined face and voice.
“But it’s not certain that it will end in failure,” he argued.
“Let’s put it this way then,” Lara chimed in. “Certainty versus uncertainty. Which would you choose at a time like this?”
“There would be times where one would need to make a risky call,” he continued to argue.
“True, if the foe we are dealing with is uncertain, like those flying lizards in the sky,” said Lara with a snicker. “But we are talking about food. We can make educated guesses here, no? And Nes says we are going to run out if we take these mofos in.”
Kamil looked down on the refugees once more. Again, most of them looked famished. Would they even be able to make the journey to Keviel? One thing was certain. Not all of them would make it to Keviel. Either way, he had to make a decision because the refugees were blocking the gates and were disturbing the lives of the folks in the city. If they weren’t going to disperse, then he would need to force them to. Additionally, the royal princess was to visit soon. This needed to be cleared up beforehand.
“Raem, do it,” he declared ominously.
Without looking back to him, he nodded firmly and walked down the wall. Lara followed him without saying a word as well. Soon, the gate was wide open, and the refugees expected to be admitted. Well, they were wrong. Raem emerged from the gate, flanked by Lara and dozens of soldiers. He stood imposingly with his arms folded.
“Folks, I am sorry to inform you that none of you will be allowed to enter! As told, head to Keviel as soon as possible!”
“That’s bullshit!” A man retorted angrily. “We’ve got no food, no water! We cannot make the journey!”
“Will you leave if we provide some supplies then?”
The man was speechless for a moment because he didn’t expect such an answer. Nobles would simply do whatever they wanted in their minds, never really listening to a word they said. At least, that was their experience under Karsten’s rule.
“Will you really not accept us?” Another asked with a pleading face. It was a man with a woman holding a toddler in her arms. They all looked famished.
“We cannot,” Raem said sternly. “We just don’t have enough food for everyone.”
The refugees looked at each other and started to murmur. The reality was setting in with them that they were really not going to be admitted.
“I am sorry,” he said solemnly. “Those who wish to depart, we will provide you bread and water. Those who will not, you can starve here. Some may help you out. You may count for that, but we will not help you in any official capacity.”
At this point, Lara quickly turned around and dashed away to bring bread and water. Because they were mostly famished, they opted to depart after being given bread and water. The sad reality was that they needed the food more than anything else. Whatever they managed to bring with them was all but depleted. Kamil was looking down from the top of the wall with a heavy heart, for there wasn’t much he could do at this point. It was either his people or everyone would starve. Realistically, he had to look after his own people first. He also felt hollow. He had a fraction of God’s power, yet he was unable to do anything. Looking up at the sky, he let out a weak laugh.
“What’s the point of having power when you can’t even save people from starvation,” he lamented. Meanwhile, Lara was leading Esther and tens of workers who were bringing bread and waterskins in bags. The refugees became restless at the sight of food.
“A person will get a loaf of bread and a waterskin!” Raem declared. “A woman with children will receive two of each! Note that we do not have indefinite resources. We probably cannot feed you all. Therefore, make your choice wisely.”
They had been starving for days. Therefore, it was quite harsh to ask men to abstain themselves from getting food indirectly. However, since women with children were receiving two of each, a family could share at the least. Deducing this, women with children stepped forward first and then men lined up behind them. Raem stepped sideways while Esther stepped forward, flanked by her workers who had the food bags.
“Ohhh, thank ye, thank ye,” a woman with a toddler bowed as she was given two loaves of bread and water. Esther had a heavy look on her face. Their conditions were not ideal. Given their existing starvation, the bread and water wouldn’t do much to help them but prolong their lives slightly. Another woman, carrying a child on her back, received her share, at which point she cried, saying that she hadn’t had anything for nearly a week. Meanwhile, Raem looked indifferent as if he was trying his damndest to shut his hearing so that he could do his job as the captain of the guards. He had to constantly remind himself that they were not his people and that, once they were given food, they must be sent away. Like him, Kamil could do nothing but look down at the scene from above. In the end, in spite of Esther’s effort to bring as much food as possible, only one third of refugees were fed who promptly walked away from the gate and disappeared into a distance. The remaining refugees looked utterly disappointed but they couldn’t complain out loudly, for at least they tried. They slowly dispersed eventually. The gates remained open afterwards, allowing locals to come and go, but guards were stopping any refugees from entering. The number wasn’t high, thus it was possible to keep them out this way. Some refugees, hoping to settle down anyway, set up makeshift camps outside the walls.