While walking, Tristan kept on sharing details about the many issues that were brought to his attention every day, even if they weren’t important enough to bring the matters up with Regis. There was a lot to say. By the time they reached their destination, the loremaster was more annoyed and distraught with the problems of his people than with the matter regarding the insubordinate soldiers. As they entered the inn, Regis noticed a very mad looking Fabien arguing with of well-dressed young man.

“Who’s that guy?” He asked from Tristan, earning a deep sigh.

“That’s Martin.”

“You say that like it’s supposed to mean something to me.”

“He’s Cornelia’s steward.”

“Oh.” The lacklustre reaction sounded.

As they walked closer, the reason behind the argument cleared up.

“That’s the best you’ll get.” Fabien stated with an annoyed tone as he stared the man in the eyes.

“This is outrageous! You want to force her Ladyship to eat that… that gruel?”

“Gruel,” the infernal growled. “The fuck you’re calling gruel? That was a medium-done wild boar steak with red vine sauce and spiced potatoes. This kind of meal of this quality would be worthy of a five-star Michelin restaurant you prick! What do you want me to feed her with you freeloader? Gold-crusted dragon liver?”

“Freeloader,” it was the steward’s time to fume with anger. “How dare you…”

“That’s about enough of you two,” Regis ended the argument when he slammed the end of his blade staff on the ground. “It’s already bad enough without you two causing such a ruckus.”

“But this mongrel dared to call me a freeloader!” Martin said, practically screaming at that point.

“Did you pay for the room you’re staying in or for the food?”

“Of course not,” the man retorted indignantly. “It’s a great honour for any inn to…”

“If you live and eat somewhere without paying, that’s being a freeloader,” he stated, freezing the man’s words in his throat. “If you don’t like being called as such, then pay up. If not, then shut up and be glad that you get free lodgings and food.”

“But…”

“No buts,” the dark elf sighed. “Where’s Cornelia?”

“Her Ladyship decided to take a stroll to see the outskirts of the town and the so-called ‘greenhouse’ one of the peasants kept bragging on about.”

“Okay,” he turned around to leave. “And Fabien…”

“Yeah?”

“If Cornelia doesn’t want that boar steak with the wine sauce, I’ll be more than happy to eat it. It sounded delicious.”

“Sure thing,” the infernal said with a smirk. “It will be thirty brass.”

“Deal.” The loremaster agreed as he and Tristan left the inn.

After exiting Thornfell through the gate, the image of the ever-busy farmlands greeted them along with the distant sight of the greenhouse. As the two got closer, they noticed the armoured guards standing in front of the building.

“Halt!” One of the guards said out of reflex, but his face grew pale when he noticed just whom he tried to stop.

“My… my apologies, your Lordship! Lady Cornelia asked us to stop people from bothering her. I didn’t mean to…”

“Why would she ask you to do that?” Tristan asked quickly to prevent Regis from snapping.

“Some of the refugees you took in from Hunor seem to have a grudge against her due to her late father’s actions.”

“Late father?”

“Yes,” the other guard sighed. “Both Lord Verhen and his personal guards had been executed in the capital by the order of the king. The only reason we were spared was because we are Lady Cornelia's guards and had nothing to do with the events that led to the late lord’s demise.”

“I see,” the dark elf hummed as he cooled down a bit. “I imagine the people cared little about her not taking part in their extortion.”

“They did not. Lady Cornelia found it quite vexing, so when she heard of this so-called greenhouse, she wanted to visit it in hopes of finding some peace.”

“That was a good assumption,” The steward remarked. “Beside Miss Letty and her apprentice, only a few people would come here.”

“True enough,” Regis admitted as he headed inside the greenhouse. “Wait here.”

“Understood, milord.” Tristan nodded as he stood beside the guards.

The greenhouse seemed empty as he entered but as the loremaster looked around, he noticed someone moving around in the other wing of the building through the quartz panes. He walked across the small corridor that connected the two sides of the building, finding Letty and Lunet in the far corner of the greenhouse, chatting with Cornelia.

“I see you ladies are having a fun time.” He said aloud, getting their attention.

“Lord Regis,” Cornelia greeted him with a slight curtsy. “I came here to…”

“To get away from the people. I know. Your guards have already explained.”

“Ah, I see.”

“I hate to ruin the mood, but we must talk.”

“What happened?” Letty asked as she looked at him worriedly.

“Some of the guards that came with Cornelia got into a very heated argument with Grego and the other guards.”

“What did they do?” The young noblewoman asked as her face paled somewhat.”

“If what I’ve heard is right, they called them cowards for leaving your family and Grego’s people didn’t take kindly to that. A fight broke out and your soldiers ended up hospitalised. Nothing life-threatening, but bad enough that they would need some serious healing.”

“By the Seven,” she stuttered. “I’m so sorry! I didn’t know this would happen.”

“Neither did I, but I figured it would be for the best if you’d hear it from me. We have to make sure that something like this won’t happen again. The people are already tense enough as it is without your guards causing a scene.”

The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

“I’ll talk to them about it.” Cornelia promised as she turned around to leave.

Letty watched her hurry away, staying silent until she was out of hearing distance.

“She’s not a bad person you know. Just scared of what would happen to her and her people if the war escalated.”

“The same can be said about all of us, Letty. Just… just be careful around her. Please.”

“I know,” she hugged him briefly before turning toward the nearby flower pots. “The next batch of Mandrake plants should be ready for harvesting in a day or two.”

“I’ll make sure you get the necessary fire crystals by then,” the loremaster said after hearing her not-so-subtle excuse to change the subject. “See you at dinner?”

“Not today, I’m afraid. I promised Alicia I’d stay home with her tonight.”

“Alright,” he nodded. “Tell Cruz I said hi. See you later, ladies!”

“Bye!” Lunet said with a sunny smile as she stepped beside her teacher as they watched the dark elf leave.

Regis found Tristan standing outside the greenhouse with a somewhat morose expression.

“What’s wrong?” He asked the steward, earning a sigh.

“I don’t know,” the man said while they headed back to town. “Something feels off about the soldiers serving her.”

“Like what?”

“The two that were here talked about her as if she was more important than their own lives while some of the other guards barely even responded to her orders.”

“It must be hard to keep order when you fall from grace,” the dark elf remarked. “Most of her guards were ordered to serve her by Lord Verhen. They were paid to do their job, but now that the money is gone...

“So is their loyalty,” Tristan finished the train of thought. “But then why come all the way here instead of just leaving when they had the chance?”

“And leave where? The entire kingdom is facing a succession war, remember? Despite all that happened recently, Thornfell is still the safest place around for now.”

As the two of them reached Landwaker Square, they found a sight that would have been quite comical if not for their increasing paranoia. Martin, the supposed steward of Cornelia was slowly circling the barrier, trying to touch it from time to time, only to get zapped slightly.

“You damned...”

“Are you looking for something,” the loremaster asked him loudly, making the man shudder. “Or do you just like getting jolted?”

“L... Lord Regis,” the young man stuttered before his voice turned rougher. “What is the meaning of this? Why is the Landwaker sealed off like this? The Landwaker trees are the gift of the gods. They’re not meant to be locked away like this. It’s...”

“First of all,” Tristan cut into the man’s words. “I suggest you watch your tone when talking to the Lord of Thorn Vale. And secondly. The tree is not being locked away. It’s being protected.”

“Protected? From what? These trees are nigh indestructible.”

“You would be surprised how easy it is to harm them,” the dark elf hummed. “During our travels, we saw how badly damaged the one in East Fork was and the previous one in this village was also poisoned to near destruction. Knowing that we all agreed that it would be for the best to keep the tree protected from any unforeseen accidents.”

“I see,” Martin nodded sagely as he looked at the Landwaker and the barrier. “But what about harvesting it? Won’t it be difficult with this...thing around it?”

“It’s manageable. Not that we have to worry about it for another week or two.”

“So it would seem,” the young man remarked as he turned around. “Anyway. I should find Lady Cornelia. She was quite insistent on talking to the injured soldiers.”

With that, Martin left toward the hospital that was built a few streets from there.

“That guy is suspicious as hell. Tristan...”

“Yes, milord?”

“I want eyes on him at all times. Without him noticing it of course. If he tries anything even remotely dangerous, you have my permission to put him down.”

“Isn’t that a bit of an overreaction, sir?” The steward looked at the loremaster with a newfound apprehension.

“That guy is bad news. I don’t know what he’s planning, but I don’t trust him, nor the guards that started a fight with our own. If you’re a refugee, you would be trying your hardest to lay low and not to cause any trouble because that would get you expelled from whatever safe place you manage to worm your way into. These people don’t have that attitude at all.”

“Glad to hear I’m not the only one who noticed that,” Osmond remarked as he walked closer to the two without making any sound in the process. “I’ve been watching that idiot for a while now. He might have passed Quentin’s interrogation, but that doesn’t mean he’s harmless.”

“Agreed.”

“What about Cornelia,” the bone puppeteer asked. “Do you think she can be trusted?”

“Are you really asking me that after you voted to let her stay?”

“Just because I agreed to let her stay, that does not mean I trust her or anything. I just figured that the risk of letting her stay was outweighed by the benefits she would bring.”

“Some benefits those are,” Regis grumbled. “I doubt that any book she brought along would have such earth-shattering revelations for us. Especially now that we have a roundabout access to Atraune’s largest library.”

“So you think we can trust them?” Osmond asked apprehensively.

“I’m pretty sure we can trust their greed. They need ‘well-made’ and ‘excellent’ grade enchantments and from what I heard, they need them under the radar.”

“Which is where you come in. They’re outsourcing their problems to someone outside the kingdom’s reach. Clever.”

“I don’t mind selling them a few nicknacks as long as it’s beneficial for us.”

“Just make sure they’re not using your creations against us.”

“I won’t sell them any weapon enchantments if that’s what you’re worried about. Only healing and neutral ones.”

“Glad to hear it.”

“Anyway, I should get going. I still want to check up on Grego and the others.”

“About the fight that broke out?” Osmond asked back.

“Looks like the news spread fast.”

“It’s a small town.” He replied with a shrug.

The dark elf walked along the cobblestone street, receiving a few nods from the locals as he made his way to the barracks. As soon as he entered, he heard a familiar voice greet him.

“Hey there, your lordship,” Grego said with a smirk as he watched the youth walk closer. “Did you come here because of the little scuffle that happened?”

“I wouldn’t call sending an entire team into the hospital a little scuffle.” Regis sighed as he sat down on the bench beside the guard captain.

“They’re still alive, so it was only a small scuffle. Hopefully, they’ll have some manners once they get back on their feet.”

“So… what exactly happened?”

“We started our morning training in the afternoon as usual, then those morons showed up. At first, they just joined in and we thought that everything would be fine, but then that Martin showed up and said something that he shouldn’t have.”

“What did he say?” The loremaster turned toward his guard captain with a steadily darkening gaze.

Grego let out a sigh that felt like it was a mixture of frustration and helplessness.“He just remarked how it seemed that we haven’t been wasting our time since leaving house Verhen and that you provided us with a lot of benefits. It didn’t even sound serious at first, more like a compliment. A moment later however those idiots went berserk about it, telling us that we sold out house Verhen for a fancy training ground and some shiny new armour.”

“Ouch.” Regis hissed as he heard those words, watching Grego growling in frustration.

“We began to argue with them, trying to explain the true reason why we left, but they didn’t want to hear it. Then one of them slapped one of our recruits when she tried to speak up in our defence and...”

“All hell broke loose?”

“That’s one way to say it. We practically jumped at each other’s throats, kicking and punching, only stopping when they were all pummelled into the ground.”

“And you think the guy was planning to instigate the fight right from the get-go?”

“I don’t think so. I’ve met plenty of people like him. He might be a boot-licking weasel but he’s far too spineless to try anything serious. That’s not to say that you shouldn’t keep an eye on him.”

“I already asked Tristan to ensure that someone is always watching this... Martin in case he tries to do something stupid.”

“That’s probably a good idea. Don’t lose too much sleep over it though. You have more important things to worry about besides some over-eager fool.”