Schenk, Lucon, Vitus, and his other most trusted aides all stood up. Schenk signalled Istvan to stand up. His face showed an eager expression. “Spill it Istvan!”

“It’s good news sire.” The messenger smiled before clearing his throat and taking out a scroll of paper. He began to read it out loud. All 50 soldiers in the hall listened. Nobody was talking anymore.

“Earl Alexander of Vostrim, Heir to the Argorus Dukedom has recognized the great danger posed to his realm by the orc tribes and has decided to allocate money to the Baronies bordering the Orc lands. He orders his barons to enlarge their standing armies and modernize the equipment. Vostrim Castle will receive 5.000 gold ducats and is expected to increase the size of its army from 200 to 500 within 5 years.” Istvan concluded.

The entire room remained quiet. Nobody dared to speak. Schenk stood there with an open mouth.

Faust was confused.

‘Was that a lot of money? Why is everybody so shocked?’ He chose to ask Aquila quietly.

“Is that a lot of money?” yet his voice could be heard in the entire room. Faust immediately blushed and wished to sink into the earth as dozens of eyes fell on him. Then the entire room started laughing heartily.

Schenk was the loudest. Faust was confused even more by the cheerful atmosphere. Aquila enlightened him.

“It’s a sum so large it's completely unheard of. Never mind 300 additional soldiers, one can train and equip a thousand men with that money. I would know. My father was the reeve of our village, I learned a lot about finances from him.”

After the initial commotion had died down Schenk held a short speech.

“Comrades! The day has come. Finally, we will be able to strike back at the Bloodhand Tribe. We have endured for long enough! The time of revenge will come. This letter,” he held it up high.

“It’s our ticket to revenge and peace. No longer will families be torn apart, villages burned, and prisoners taken! IT IS OUR TIME TO STRIKE BACK!”

His speech roused the soldiers in the room. Everyone had jumped up and roared with fighting spirit, beating their chests with their fists in unison. Faust was equally excited. His blood boiled when he realized, that in a few years, he might get the opportunity to strike back at the cause of his pain… to take revenge. He stood up and roared with enthusiasm.

Vostrim Castle housed 200 soldiers and could raise 800 levied troops from surrounding villages in the case of war. These levies would perform normal jobs during peacetime and pick up arms in the case of war. The difference between a professional soldier and a levied one was huge.

A professional soldier spent all his time training and performing missions and had seen much more conflict than a levied soldier, mostly farmers and craftsmen. Their value and combat efficiency were multiple times higher.

Such a radical increase in the size of the army meant good chances for promotion, better equipment, and money. In addition to that, almost everyone in the room had lost one or more friends and relatives to the Bloodhand Tribe over the years. They yearned to crush their enemies that had inflicted so much sorrow.

A day later

The castle reacted to the news like an ant’s nest that was poked into. It was bustling with activity. Messengers were sent out to all villages, blacksmiths received large weapon orders, carpenters started building new barracks outside of the castle, soldiers were promoted, and news spread like wildfire.

In the chaos of these changes, Vitus had canceled the planned training to take care of more pressing matters. Schenk and his trusted aides were covered in work from dusk till dawn. Faust used this free time to go for a walk.

In this short week, he had already gained a bit of weight and he felt much better already. He went up the castle walls to look into the distance and enjoy the landscape.

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He was just done staring at a small hill in the distance when he noticed a female laugh behind him.

“What are you doing here all alone? Did they also cancel your training?”

When Faust turned to look his eyes turned round. It was Leona. She was wearing pants and a shirt. Men’s clothing. He wasn’t surprised though. He had seen her a few times in it. Yet every time he saw her in these clothes, he couldn’t help but get inappropriate thoughts. He couldn’t help but let his eyes roam a bit when he looked at her. Her posture and mocking smile radiated confidence.

She knew exactly what effect she had on him and seemed to enjoy the attention.

“My eyes are up here Faust.” She smirked as he blushed.

She raised an eyebrow and stood next to him, looking at him. She smelled of flowers.

“Sorry.” He said, while he obviously wasn’t, and smirked at her. Now it was her turn to blush.

“Bold.” She just said and looked into the distance.

“I’m bored when I can’t train. My instructor is covered in work so he can’t practice with me.” She sighed dejectedly.

“Do you like training so much?” Faust asked and cocked his head.

“I love it. If I could I’d do it all day every day, but sadly there’s a limitation on how much a body can handle.” she giggled and flexed her arms.

The boy smiled.

“It never gets boring?”

“Nope.”

He pondered before frowning.

“I can’t fight at all. I’ve only ever worked on the farm.”

“That’s sad. If you want, I can show you a few things. Nobody else dares to practice with the Baron's daughter.” She shook her head.

“I don’t bite. They’re just afraid of hurting me.” She threw her hands in the air.

“Will you be my practice partner?” she looked at him eagerly with her hands clasped together in front of her body.

Faust gulped and looked up at her. She was slightly taller than him after all.

“I… I…” he stammered.

“I'll take that as a yes!” a bright smile showed on her face as she briefly hugged him, nearly suffocating him, he was quite a bit weaker than her he noticed.

“Thank you! Thank you!” she had a cheeky smirk on her face.

Faust surrendered.

“Alright. I'll be your training partner. Please show me how to fight.” He laughed to himself.

‘I would’ve accepted anyways; how can one be so eager to practice?’

Faust wanted to start learning as fast as possible. He wanted to be strong. He wanted to take revenge. And a good opportunity presented itself to him.

“You know I practiced close combat ever since I was a child. I'll teach you the basics of wrestling. Don’t worry I won’t hit you, but I might throw you.” She winked and Faust laughed nervously which she found cute. She liked the boy. Though it was only a good impression, nothing more.

Leona never cared about the background of the people she interacted with. The entire castle was just like her in this aspect. Much to the distaste of other nobles Schenk, who had risen through the ranks relying on himself, treated his underlings and commoners with respect and empathy.

“Let's go outside of the city, I don’t like the crowded training yards,” Leona suggested and Faust shrugged.

“Whatever you say milady.”

“Stop saying that!” she hissed and punched him on the shoulder before laughing.

“Just call me by my first name. We're friends now.”

Her attitude surprised him and made him laugh. They slowly made their way out of the castle.

As they left a girl watched them laugh and joke with one another from another part of the castle. Flora. She wore a sad smile as she watched the 2 teenagers. She was jealous.

‘There's nothing between them is there?’ she thinks to herself. Mirabella had grown very fond of Flora who showed a passion for the arts, dresses, and elegance her daughter lacked. Mirabella had bonded with Flora a lot already. She was the only other person besides Faust Flora felt she could trust fully.

Mirabella was happy she could impart her knowledge and passions such as embroidery or sewing beautiful clothes to Flora. The girl ran towards Mirabella’s chambers as fast as her feet could carry her. When she arrived she could see Schenk leaving the room hurriedly.

He winked at her and walked off before adding: „Give her a few minutes.”

Flora was confused yet waited outside for a bit before knocking.

“Who is it?” Mirabella’s voice resounded from the inside.

“It's me, Flora.” The girl shouted. Mirabella laughed and told her to come in. When she opened the door and looked inside, she realized why Schenk had told her to wait. Mirabella was making her bed. She had tied her hair up, but Flora could still see that it was a bit messy. The dress Mirabella wore was only hastily pulled over.

Someone with a less keen eye wouldn’t have noticed, but Flora did. When Mirabella smiled at her the girl could see, that her face was flushed. Flora couldn’t look Mirabella in the eyes and blushed profusely, nervously fumbling with her hands.

When Mirabella realized that Flora understood what happened Mirabella laughed.

“Well since you’ve figured it out anyways, I don’t need to hide it. I’m only 30 after all. We just had some marital fun, no need to be ashamed.” Mirabella walked over with a smile.

Yet Flora wasn’t ashamed. She was fighting an inner battle. When Mirabella walked closer Flora had mustered her courage and exclaimed: “Please help me impress Faust!”

When Mirabella heard the girl's request, she smirked.

“He won’t be able to take his eyes off you. Let’s see what we can do for you… After all, I’m a professional at impressing men.” She giggled and Flora was very nervous. Her move was quite bold, but she couldn’t sit still after seeing Faust leave with Leona. Mirabella had already started rummaging through her wardrobe.

‘He’s mine!’ The girl thought, with a determined expression.