“Wake up! Wake up you mute son of a...“
A very very rude voice greeted Joe when he woke up.
What the fuck man? Joe wanted to say but he couldn’t. And not just because he found himself in a completely unknown surrounding with a completely unknown person before him but also because he simply couldn’t speak.
He couldn’t speak. He couldn’t speak! Joe got up in alarm.
The fuck! What happened to me!?
“Finally! The mute shows mercy upon us. Get up and moving boy, there’s a carriage for you that’s from the Capital. It seems, for whatever reasons, the Duke wants to see you. I don’t know what reasons he might have for wanting to see such a good-for-nothing idiot like you. Now Get up boy! Fast!”
Joe knew the fatty before him. He was Shah, the one in charge of this villa. Just when Joe was thinking about how he possibly could know who fatty Shah was, fatty lost his patience and just dragged Joe out of the stable.
Hey, hey! Fuck, how is he so strong!
Fatty dragged him outside the villa and dumped him into the carriage and Joe couldn’t do anything at all. The carriage began running as soon as Joe was put inside. After a while, he could see the villa he lived for the sixteen years of his life (how did he know that?).
The villa was the property of some Duke. It was remarkably remote considering that it was a Duke’s property. Nobility like them would never bother to set foot in these part of country and it was not as if the place was a trade hub. Nor was the villa some sort of watchpost. Besides, it was only villa in name. The building was small and the residents could be counted on one hand.
Regardless, he was finally leaving this wretched place. He had longed for so long for this day.
Fuck! What’s wrong with me? Why does this all seem familiar!? Was I not shot? I should be at a hospital. Where’s the doctor? Where’s Adam?
Multiple things were going on inside Joe’s brain that even Joe did not know about. It was a sort of diffusion. Like how sugar cubes would dissolve in water, foreign memories were slowly seeping inside Joe’s consciousness. All those times sweeping that huge villa. Fatty Shah’s curses. Granny’s inedible stews. All of those memories definitely did not belong to him. Thinking about them just gave him a headache. So Joe just tried and stopped thinking. Out of sheer habit, he repeated the breathing exercises that his master had taught him. It was what he did whenever things became too stressful. It used to calm him then. And it calmed him now too. In fact, he found himself drowning in a comfortable sensation. Riding the feeling of comfort and the quite bumpy carriage, Joe set off to the capital.
---
The Royal palace was the most grand architecture ever built on the city of Pirr. Spanning hundreds of acres of land, the palace was something of reverence to the citizens. It was said that the most rarest herbs and fruits of all seasons grew in the garden of the palace. And all sorts of animals were kept in a sanctuary inside the palace. King Robert had also collected arts and literature of all kinds in his private collection. To a normal citizen of Pirr, setting their foot inside the palace was nothing short of a life goal.
Inside the palace, in the royal chambers, two gentlemen were talking to each other.
“How did the Duke react?”
The one to speak first was no other than King Robert, the seventeenth king of Pirr.
“Reporting to your majesty, apparently Duke Renne tore the letter into pieces as soon as he finished reading it.”
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King Robert smiled, “For the Duke to tear the letter knowing that I can punish him for the destruction of royal proclamation, the old man must have been quite angry.”
“Angry is an understatement your majesty,” King’s personal adviser Ricard replied, “After tearing the letter, he ordered the execution of the royal messenger.”
“Oh?” King Robert expressed surprised. To kill the Royal messenger was nothing sort of a mutiny against the crown as the messenger only relayed King’s word.
“Yes, your majesty. Duke’s soldiers even dragged the messenger to the execution grounds but mid-way, the Duke changed his mind. The messenger reported that Duke Renne appeared calm unlike his previously agitated state.”
“How can this be?” King Robert mused, “Has he found an out to this problem?”
Ricard replied, “Your majesty, our spies inside Duke’s residence reported that a carriage was soon dispatched after the messenger returned. I dare say that Duke Renne is up to something.”
“Hmm… tell our spies to keep looking out for new happenings inside his castle. We can’t take any chance this time. We have invested too much into crippling him to this state. This final push and we can get rid of him for good.”
“This servant obeys your majesty,” Ricard bowed and left the room.
“Just you wait Duke Renne, once I get rid of you, the Phoenix manual will surely be mine!”
---
After few days of carriage ride, Joe reached the capital. During these few days, he had made good friends with the carriage driver. The driver was an old man named Tong, who Joe found, was a chatterbox. During the first few days, Joe remained inside the carriage but he quickly got bored so he simply got out of there and sat beside Tong in his driver’s seat. Tong too, didn’t object. Thus began a one-sided conversation between the two in which driver Tong told Joe just about everything related to Tong’s life.
Obviously, Joe ignored the talkative drive soon but he still managed to gather some important information. Apparently, the Duke had two sons but both of the sons were killed in the war of attrition against the neighboring empire. The two sons were famed general and martial artist of impeccable power. Tong described how the eldest of the two sons killed thousands of enemy footsoldiers with nothing but a single sword and how the youngest son accurately hit only the left eyeballs of hundreds of enemies with his bow. Joe found it quite hard to digest but he very well couldn’t express his disbelief for the simple fact that he couldn’t as he couldn’t yet speak. Every morning when he woke up, he would try speaking some simple words but it would come out as meaningless utterances. This was driving him mad.
“The eldest master Rowan couldn’t have any heirs for some reason and perhaps it was because of this that eldest mistress left him. The youngest master Ronald, though, has two children. The two of them are twins, one boy and one girl. Quite mischievous they are. Once, they set the horses free in the back garden. I had to personally go and round up the horses …”
Tong started his monologue again and Joe zoned out.
“... and that’s how it went,” Tong finished speaking just as the two arrived inside the Duke’s palace. It was extremely grand. Much grand compared to his old residence.
“Let’s get you to your room,” Tong said, after handing over the carriage to the guard in the entrance.
“I see you do not have much possessions,” he remarked.
No possessions more like, scoffed Joe inwardly.
He didn’t really have time to collect anything seeing as that blasted Fatty was dragging his arse just after he woke up.
The two of them made their way inside the palace. The first thing he registered about the palace was the lavishness. The villa was decorated with top notch art pieces. Grand paintings of all sort hung over the walls. Chandeliers of immense luxury decorated the ceilings. The walls themselves seemed to emanate a peculiar glow that compelled one to think twice before entering inside lest one inflicted some blemish inside.
With not so small trepidation, Joe entered inside.
“Hey you! Who told you to enter?”
An old butler suddenly came out of nowhere and bellowed at him.
What the hell!
The speed of the butler startled Joe. It was as if he had suddenly appeared out of thin air.
“Why don’t you speak anything? How many times have I told that drunk to not casually let anyone inside the residence. Get out now!”
The butler began shooing him out.
“Head-servant!”
Old Tong quickly came to his rescue.
“He is… err.. What’s your name? Oh right, you can’t talk… Anyways, head-servant, he was invited here by the Duke himself. I only just fetched him from the Ivory village.”
The head servant immediately stopped in his tracks.
“Master invited him?”
“Yes, yes. I was taking him to see the old master. He was quite insistent about seeing him as soon as he arrived.”
“Master isn’t here,” head-servant replied, “You can take him there after he arrives. Oh, and give him a bath first, he smells of pig. Also give him something to wear,” head-servant added with contempt.
Old Tong nodded his head and guided a very confused and slightly offended Joe away.
From Ivory village? And he can’t talk? The age also seems right… head-servant mumbled inwardly after the duo had left.
“As you heard, he is the head-servant of the villa, Heshu. Don’t mind him really, he is just generally unpleasant. But he is also quite reliable. In fact, only a handful of men have the Duke’s ear and he is one of them. A piece of advice for you young man, if you want to remain inside, don’t offend him. Just nod at whatever he says.
“Anyways, here’s your room. You will find some clothes inside. I will find some maid to fetch you hot water. Take a bath, will you? You really stink.”
Old Tong playfully patted his back and went about his way.
You smell of pig, your granny smells of pig! Joe cursed inwardly.