Felix once more adjusted his suit, the enchantments to remove stains and wrinkles were working quite fine but he still couldn’t help himself. Facing his father, especially after what could be deemed a failure was never good for the nerves.

Steeling himself he stepped forward to knock on the study door.

“Come in Felix.” Could be heard from inside the room, slightly muffled by the heavy oak.

Felix allowed a somewhat derisive smile to flash across his face before lowering his hand to push the door open.

His father, a mountain of a man sat behind an intricately carved wooden desk, head lowered as he shuffled papers. Mother said he shared his father’s looks but he just couldn’t see it. His father looked and even felt like… power. It wasn’t just the muscles that threatened the integrity of his shirt with every slight movement, or even the slight scars one could see trailing from under his trimmed greying beard to other parts of his face. No, what made it was simply his personality, his father expected creation to bend to his will and more often than not, it did.

Raising his head, Baron Basileus von Juvleim placed the papers to side. Flashing a disarming smile he motioned for Felix to take the seat in front of him.

“How’s your arm?” asked Basileus, the concern in his voice bellied only by the look of slight amusement on his face.

“It’s already been taken care of. The healers assure me there’s no lasting effects.” Felix replied as he sat on the proffered chair. He was well aware his father knew the state of his arm, as well as anything else in his domain. No, the question was likely less pleasantry than it was an acknowledgment for his failure.

“Well these things happen, what’s important is that we learn from our experiences.” Came the easy-going reply. “So tell me how your scouting trip went. I promise I won’t get bored of the details, so be as lengthy as you like.” And with that Basileus shifted in his chair as to make himself more comfortable and gave Felix his full attention.

Felix understood his father well enough to know that he was not a man who left things to chance, he likely had other sources of information and knew everything already.

With his father’s attention on him, Felix didn’t hesitate anymore and calmly as he could, repeated everything that occurred. Starting from him collecting details on the lay of the land from the closest villages, to securing a guide who’d lead them to a safe part of the forest, down to the moment him and his wards had been ambushed by an entire hoard of goblins and how they only survived by sacrificing the old huntress they met.

The trek home had been mostly uneventful even if shameful as no goblins had followed them. The details from when they met his father’s men waiting in the city would already be explicitly known so Felix saw no need to repeat them.

“Well then, let’s ignore how you all managed to bumble right into a goblin’s den for the moment. You mentioned some helpless old woman whom you literally threw to her death. Let’s hope it was to her death, surviving to die under an angry pile of goblins would be… worse. What I want to know is, why?”

Felix couldn’t help but wince with how blunt his father had been, the huntress wasn’t helpless in the least, and besides, he had Aubrey help her too.

“It was the best option, if we all left together, we would never had outrun the goblins and none of us were in our best condition to fight. For that same reason sacrificing anyone but her would be just a waste of resources a no one would be a distraction long enough to ensure escape. Also with the Feather Light enchantment from squire Aubrey, she shouldn’t be injured in the fall and may even be able to outrun the goblins. This method would give everyone the best chance to survive.”

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With now steepled hands, the joviality disappeared completely from Baron Basileus’ eyes, leaving only the echo of the smile on his face. “That; that is complete sophistry if I ever heard it. What you mean to say is you and yours gained the best chance at survival at the cost of the old woman’s.” Now even the echo of the smile was gone as he leaned back in his chair, eyes never leaving Felix.

“Tell me son, do you truly believe the value of your life, or those with you was worth more than that old woman’s?”

Felix fought back the urge to squirm. What exactly did his father want him to say?! Felix believed he did the best he could, he had no illusions in thinking his party would have escaped without casualty, even with the huntress’ help had they faced the goblins. He could only grit his teeth and be honest with his thoughts.

“Yes. Yes I do, she was only an old commoner while I and all with me are part of the peerage. Am I supposed to believe that blood of nobility is so weak as to be compared with a mere commoner?!”

Felix could feel beads of sweat form and drip down his face after his outburst, some of it threatened to enter his eye but he made no move to wipe it under what felt like minutes under his father’s steely gaze.

The mettle faded from his father’s eyes and was replaced with something he couldn’t define.

“Nobility means nothing child. Blood is blood, life is life. But; but you are not wrong.” Baron Basileus seemed almost to be reminiscent as he gazed away from Felix. “Let me tell you, the most important life to man is his own. To you, your life and those you care for will naturally carry more weight than some stranger you’ve only met. Yet to that stranger, her life would be the most precious, do not lie to yourself that she would agree to throw it away for yours.”

Now, the Baron’s gaze refocused on his son’s, “Of course your life is also much more precious to me than some stranger. I do not fault your decision, but I do find issue with your reasoning. Never lie to yourself, it will only haunt and destroy you in the future. Always acknowledge your actions and their consequences, at least to yourself.”

Whatever impact the Baron looked for on his son’s face he seemed to have found it as his smile and gaze returned to their jovial state without hint of any change, “And what will you do now?”

“Now? I, I don’t understand.” Felix saw the matter as finished, unless, “Do you mean ensure her death? I could have some of your men confirm her death, with your support that is.”

“Although that’s a possibility, no that’s not what I mean. Consider Felix, our family have had a barony awarded to us by the royal family. Most of our manors are also connected and in this area. We were given the right to stand above the people with no actual power or connections to ensure it. So what our ancestors did was simple, we gave the people reason to keep us on top. It’s why our name is so well spoken of here, and also why we place more of our wealth into our cultivated villages than other nobles. It’s also why you do not want to be known as a noble who mistreats his people. If this hunter survives, she could speak of what you’ve done and the villages already know you’ve been in the area and came back injured.

No, what you will do is change the narrative, you will call this woman a hero who intentionally stepped in to save your life. You will speak of her willing sacrifice and offer her a sizeable reward. If she survived, she can either take the reward as her acceptance of the story and the reward itself will ensure no one doubts our story, or she can reject and tell the truth where it’ll be our word against hers, and with our reputation and your offered reward, it will seem like a commoner who became greedy and wishes to blackmail a noble through his good intentions. If she died, we can afford to give a small reward to her family and cement you as a young noble who took after his father’s good nature and is willing to humble himself for the people.

All in all, this will give us a favourable excuse to search for her without raising suspicions and yet still benefit our name. You just have to ensure your wards speak of these matters to no one. Cary them with you in your search and have them vocally agree with your story. Their involvement will likely help control any pesky consciences.

It pays to be kind you know.”

In all of this, the joviality never left his father’s face. This was why Felix always held some level of discomfort around his father. He’s heard priests mention that the eyes were the window to the soul and Felix agreed, most people betrayed their intentions with their eyes. His father was not most people. To everyone, his father was a saint, approachable and honest if only a bit stiff, a man with clear eyes and intentions, none of it was true.