Chapter 5

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Finally, overwhelmed with emotion, they could no longer restrain themselves and threw themselves at each other, swirling in a fiery whirlwind of passionate sucking... or kissing? Taer amused herself by mentally accompanying the conversation between the Lord and Baroness with quotes from love affairs novels. The two cooed like schoolboy lovers... or were they lovebirds? What was going on was reminiscent of a love affair. And a love affair of the lowest kind. Something really trashy, like Flame of Everlasting Love or something. Even though she's not an expert on romance novels, Taer added mentally. Ah, your lips are like scarlet rose petals... The stock of quotations was quickly coming to an end, and the pair kept on going. I never thought I'd regret not reading enough romance novels. Maybe if I'd read more, I wouldn't be tempted to giggle. No, nothing really wild was going on: Their passionate impulses were restrained only by the presence of witnesses. There was nothing unusual about the flirting itself... if you ignore who was flirting with whom.

Taer was just carefully pretending that she didn't want to eat at all and was only sitting at the table by the Lord's orders when she found out that Baroness Rionale was on her way, despite the heroic resistance of the servants. She was already mentally prepared to prevent or clean up a full-blown scandal. With broken dishes, mutual insults, and everything else, a full-blown scandal should have been. But things suddenly took the exact opposite direction.

Alessie, I was so worried about you! the girl mentally mocked the baroness. The Lord had always hated being called Alessie rather than Alex, and he disliked the Baroness, to put it mildly, and as far as she knew, had disliked her since childhood, considering her a nuisance and a naughty girl.

All their meetings at family gatherings inevitably ended in scandals. You... you, it is absolutely impossible to forget. - no, Alex could be understood, he had, after all, forgotten everything and saw before him just a pretty girl, but she remembered everything! The dislike of Lord Cassard and Baroness Rionale was entirely mutual. She disliked him too, to put it mildly - considered him a spoiled and scandalous individual, denigrating House Fyron, whose reputation she regarded with excessive maximalism even for a Guardsman. And here's the change - she's flirting with him all over, making eyes at him, and she's got a dress with a... with a plunging neckline. She hadn't worn one before, as far as I remember, not when she met the Lord. Well, I'll grant you, it's the capital's fashions. But everything else? Did she miss her third cousin so much after two years?

It was clear that the Baroness was up to something, but it was unclear why she was doing it. Well, yes, the Cassard family was shamelessly, mind-bogglingly rich, but the Baroness was not one of the impoverished gentries. Nor was she keen on exorbitant sums to pave the way for them with her "breast"... and through whom? Alessandro Cassard, with his reputation! There's obviously something wrong here, but what?

She was pulled out of her reverie by a distinctive tingling sensation under her communicator bracelet - someone was calling on a secure line.

"I'm sorry, but I have to leave. I'm sorry, but I have to leave. It's an urgent matter," Taer said as she bowed out of the cooing couple. She walked briskly, practically running, to her room, where the secure communications terminal was located.

She ran into the room, flopped down in her chair, and, switching on the suppressor, was finally able to respond to the inviting blinking light on the communicator panel. A sturdily built man in his forties with tenacious light grey eyes and a powerful chin appeared on the screen. Immaculately shaven, wearing a light brown business suit.

Nicklom Forret was one of the finest House Fyron retainers on Copeira. They had worked together during her short retainer career, and afterward, when she entered Lord Cassard's 'arm' they kept in touch and saw each other regularly. Anyway, serving Lord Cassard and not seeing the retainers was almost impossible - minor legal troubles, born of the Lord's spiteful, unruly nature, occurred with depressing regularity.

"Hello, Taer! You look disgusting. Heard you spent the night with the hot guys from SS?" The cheerfulness in Nicklom's voice was clearly artificial, as it always was when something was troubling him.

"Hi, Nick. Yeah, it was a great night. I'm sure you would have loved it!" Taer decided to play the game, waiting for Nicklom to get down to business.

"I don't think so. You know, I don't like noisy gatherings. My choice is an evening at home, with a good book and a glass of wine."

"Well, you should get out once in a while, or your belly might get bigger than necessary to build up respectability. Take it from me if it wasn't for the service..."

"Well, that's an obstacle you can soon part with," Nick's tone became, suddenly, very serious.

"Explain yourself," Taer also got in a businesslike mood.

"A lawsuit has been filed with the Consulate Court to declare Allesandro Cassard incapable."

"How long ago?"

"About ten minutes ago... It's the kind of thing they send a notice to the governor, and I have my people there," he hastened to explain, seeing the puzzlement on Taer's face. "I thought you might be interested."

"More than that. Who filed the lawsuit?"

"Count Disper."

Aushe Disper was a very distant relative, and Taer tried to remember what he looked like. It wasn't working. Unfavorable and uninfluential, his chances of becoming a guardian were minimal. So he was someone's frontman.

"What was the basis of the claim?"

"A medical certificate of..."

Nicklom picked up a flat plate of the infoblock.

"Extensive replacement amnesia," and after reading it, threw it back on the table. "Signed by the attending physician, Professor Ayuyun Lirria of Riena University. By the way, is he really the attending physician?" The retainer asked with genuine interest. Taer only nodded grimly in response.

"Then things are a little worse."

Nicklom was silent in thought, but his eyes said, You understand, girl, how serious this is, don't you? Taer knew it was as serious as it could get, and she began to think feverishly:

So, this is the beginning of the 'golden season' and the entire Consulate is grazing in Copeira for the holidays. Consequently, it will take at least a week to get a quorum together. Or one day if they decide to hold a retreat at the representation office. Could that be possible?

Taer began to nibble her lower lip in anxiety.

Of course, it could. It's an urgent matter! Well, they'll get together, make some noise, and we'll give them one or two more days to do it. Then if the higher realms are involved (and they certainly are), it will be the fate of Cassard that will be vetoed by the Council of Privies. Everything will be decided at the Privy Council. They will only let through the option that suits them. Will they be satisfied with the guardian? Yes, if they have already discussed and divided everything. And no, if there are no agreements - there will be terrible infighting, and perhaps the recognition of Alessandro Cassard as capable will be a pass-through option - "neither ours nor yours". All in all, we need to find out what the Privies think about this as a matter of urgency. We also need very good lawyers.

Taer came out of her reverie and stopped biting her lip, which was already slightly even bleeding:

"Thank you, Nicklom. I'll try to find a way to thank you!"

"It's nothing, we no strangers, after all," Nicklom was not a nobleman either, and he had entered the service from outside, which was a rare thing for a retainer of his level. "You just have to make sure it's an opportunity."

"Can I rely on your guys for legal matters?"

"Yes, you could send out a request, but..." Nicklom looked away and rolled his eyes up, clearly a little uncomfortable. "You know, it's better to get someone from the outside. Someone uninterested."

He lowered his tone, leaned closer to the monitor, and added:

"I've just been contacted by Lord Arteld, and he's been dropping hints, you know..."

Taer held back a heavy sigh: Oh, yes, I understand, it's only the first bird, and then there will be more... birds... more noble and powerful and will make... hints. And aloud, she rounded off the conversation decisively:

"Thanks again! And for the hint, too!" She turned off the terminal and stormed out of the room.

Taer jogged to the small dining room, Let's consider this in lieu of missed training" and, stepping to a step at the door itself, adjusted her uniform, and entered, making the most impassive expression on her face. To her surprise, the lord was not in the dining room - only the blatantly bored Baroness Rionale and Barra, frozen beside her.

"Ah, Taer! How are your urgent matters?" The baroness smiled sweetly."

"Unfortunately, they turned out to be really urgent, Kayrin." At Taer's mute question, Barra pointed his eyes to the corridor door leading to the washroom. "So I have to leave again."

The Baroness just shrugged - Well, what can I do?

Taer went out into the corridor and waited, leaning against the wall. Soon the bathroom door opened, and the lord himself appeared, wet, a bit dazed, and disheveled. As he came closer, she noticed the pupils of his eyes were unnaturally dilated, hiding the iris almost completely, making them appear black.

"My Lord, are you all right?" She asked with genuine concern. Joking is joking, the offense is offense, but if the ward's health suffered again...

"Аh? Now, I would even say it's wonderful." He was about to walk past her into the dining room but suddenly stopped. "By the way, what did you think of Kay?"

I think she's a piece of crap!

Taer raised her eyes to the ceiling thoughtfully:

"Well, an intelligent and very pretty girl, I mean, she was pretty before, but after the surgery, she became... well, you saw."

"Surgery?" The lord was clearly surprised.

"Yes, as far as I know, a year ago in one of the clinics in the capital. The work of one of the Empire's finest biosculptor." The shadow of a malevolent sneer slid across her lips again but vanished instantly. "But what is it about you? Your eyes..."

"Relax, there's nothing wrong with me," Alex brushed her off. "It's just a mild side effect of the Fenote, and by the way, I remind you again, we agreed about Your Lordship.".

"Are you sure you're okay? Shouldn't we call in a medroid? Shadows are with the grudges, the main thing is to deal with the lawsuit quickly! Taer was surprisingly quick to forget things that interfered with the case.

"I'm sure, but in the meantime, just out of pure curiosity, could you check what I ate and drank for various... let's say additives."

"One moment..."

Alex caught her by the sleeve:

"Uh, no. First, we will have a very, very polite conversation with Baroness Rionale, thank her for her attention and concern, and find out how long she intends to grace us with her presence."

No longer Kay, but Baroness Rionale, Taer liked the change. Yes, she liked it, but out of pure spite, she mentally excused herself hastily and returned to what she had run here for:

"You distracted me with your Baroness, and a very unpleasant thing happened."

"Baroness, unfortunately..." Alex thought for a moment. "Or maybe, fortunately, she's not mine. What's the trouble?"

"They want to declare you incapacitated. They've filed a lawsuit in the Consulate court." Taer waved her hands as if apologizing for the bad news.

"The freebies couldn't last forever..."

"What do you mean?" The girl frowned.

"Oh, forget it!" he brushed it off. "Because of the memory, huh?"

"Yes, because of Extensive Replacement Amnesia."

"And who is this well-wisher?"

"Count Aushe Disper, your distant relative, very distant."

"Yes? What interest does he have in it?"

"Most likely, he is someone's screen name, someone closer to him. Only a close relative would be able to take advantage of the results."

"Maybe..." Alex pointed with his eyes toward the dining room, where Kayrin was waiting for them.

"Maybe," Taer shrugged. "But one needs a lot of influence in the Consulate and the Privy Council, and as a political figure, Kayrin Rionale has no weight. And she hasn't had much appetite for money before."

"And what can be done with this lawsuit?"

"You can try to delay the proceedings at the Consulate - until a decision is made, you retain all your rights. You could try to negotiate with the Privies because if they get custody of you, some families will be greatly strengthened. The zero option could be a compromise. You could try to reach out to the ruling Lord of House Fyron, but your reputation..."

"Well, go on," he sighed.

"Frankly, you have a horrible reputation, and it affects the reputation of the whole House. So it will be extremely difficult to gain the support of the Privies or the Reigning Lord," Taer warned him.

"Then we'll do without them. Is there anything we can do right now?"

Taer thought for a moment, reflexively biting her lip. Bad habits, coming back. I'd better not start biting my lip at some party.

"We can hire lawyers, right now."

"Great! Then let's go and have a nice chat with the Baroness, and then let's hire lawyers."

Further communication with the Baroness no longer resembled the cooing of lovers, although Alex continued to be extremely nice, and his gaze periodically, willy-nilly, slid down and dug into the cleavage of Kayrin.

When all else fails, our boobs keep working no matter what! Taer couldn't resist a mental comment, twisting a famous slogan from a droid commercial.

In the course of the conversation, it became clear that the Baroness plans to spend at least the entire "golden season" on Copeira (which was obvious) but has not yet decided where to stay:

"... or at the Fyron representation on Copeira, but it's so... There are all these young nobles, these "blades of honor," I'm afraid there will be dueling again." Kayrin wrinkled her graceful nose and pouted. "Maybe we can rent a decent cottage... But you know how it is, Alessie, all the decent places are sold out a month in advance." The Baroness sighed so heavily and sorrowfully that her breasts almost popped out of her cleavage, catching the Lord's gaze as she did so. "I'm afraid I'm a little late - its ship was two days late because of the ion storms."

She fluttered her arms and bowed her head as if resigned to her fate. What a sly bitch, that poor creature. Of course, Alex immediately offered to let her stay with him if it was convenient for her. The Baroness was a little reluctant, just a little, saying she didn't want to bother... and, of course, she agreed.

Taer stifled a heavy sigh and rolled her eyes, thinking, Boobs did the trick. I wonder, if I'd had cleavage like that, would I have been able to neutralize Kayrin's influence? You fight fire with fire, don't you?

Twenty minutes later, the baroness began to pack up. She asked Barra to contact the Representative office to send a flyer. All her travel luggage was left at the Representation, and she still had some business to solve, the essence of which Alex did not understand. However, Baroness Rionale did not go into much detail, and Alex did not ask. The steward went out into the corridor, and from muffled speech - he seemed to be communicating with someone by comm. When he returned, it appeared that the flyer would arrive in fifteen minutes.

The castle was, after all, monstrously huge. So by the time all three made it to the exit, the flyer had already arrived and was standing at the foot of the front stairs. The silvery machine, eight meters long and of impetuous proportions, was hovering at an elbow's height without making a sound. A red griffin was flaunting on its side, and an open side door showed off the interior of the flier, a dark scarlet velvet material with gold floral ornamentation.

By the door of the flyer stood a young man in a short, thigh-high, dark red tunic with a high-standing collar, belted in a wide black belt with a holster and something resembling a short baton or flashlight. A black leather cape, still bearing the same red griffin, covered his entire right shoulder. He nodded at Taer, ignored Barra, and silently bowed low to Alex, glancing at him with implicit disdain. And he flattered Kayrin, giving her a hand as she got into the car.

Alex shrugged mentally. Must be some sort of local etiquette, or it must be that passionate admirer of Kayrin's, the dueling types she mentioned. He looked at me... eloquently.

You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.

"I don't know how quickly I'll be able to sort things out - there's been so much crap in two years - but I'll try to get back as soon as I can. I think I'll be back here by midnight." The Baroness was already sitting in the flyer, so she was much lower than Alex standing there, and the view of her cleavage was amazing.

"We'll look forward to seeing you when you get back." Through sheer force of will, Alex managed to look solely into Kayrin's eyes, keeping his gaze from sliding lower.

The door of the flyer slid gently into place, and the machine began to gain altitude with a soft, throbbing sound. As it accelerated, the throbbing became more frequent, and when the sound became a monotonous hum, the flyer was out of sight.

"My lord, perhaps, if you will permit me to attend to the rest of the guests, for I fear that my assistant-" There was a clear expression of alarm on Barra's face for his assistant's mental abilities.

"Yeah, of course," the lord said. "By the way, how many relatives have come to see me?"

"Thirty-seven people, including Baroness Rionale, and not counting the attendants."

"And with the attendants, how much?" Holy crap! Not only did they come uninvited, but they also brought a bunch of people with them!

"Sixty-one persons," Barra groaned sorrowfully, as if he, Barra, were the culprit of this kindred invasion.

"Wow..." Alex raised his eyebrows in surprise. "How long have they been here?"

"Most arrived two days ago."

"Did they say when they were going back?"

"I think, my lord, you might find that out from them. For instance, at the dinner party."

"Oh..." Alex couldn't stand his own much smaller family for long, and the prospect of talking to a bunch of total strangers to whom he must have feelings of kinship didn't inspire him at all. "Can we do it sometime... well, later... tell them I'm still not feeling well..."

"I am afraid, my lord, that they will find out that you are on your feet anyway, and it would be impolite..." Barra's tone became very unhappy and begrudging, which was not in keeping with his brave "Chapaev" appearance.

However, Barra's babbling was interrupted by an angry whisper from Taer:

"Your relations with your family, my lord, have always been far from ideal. And that's putting it mildly! And you can throw them all out now, of course, but I would remind you that your disability is about to be examined. And it would be shortsighted of you to cause unnecessary hardship... my Lord."

Once again, "my lord". It seems she was offended by the Baroness. Alex decided with a sigh and told Barra to take care of everything necessary to arrange communication with his kin. The steward bowed and, delighted with the lord's agreement, walked quickly away, giving some instructions to a communicator as he went.

"It was an interesting machine... a silver one... and does it fly fast?" Alex tried to change the subject, avoiding meeting his gaze with Taer.

"This model can reach a top speed of 650 submer, my lord." In the word "my lord," Taer managed to put such a depth of intonation and feeling that Alex even shuddered.

"Look, Taer, let's not get into this whole "my lords" thing again, shall we? I admit I was wrong. Inviting the Baroness to visit wasn't the best idea. But I couldn't help it. Pretty girls are my weakness," Alex said with as apologetic an expression as possible.

"But you suspected her. Is it possible to be so stupid..."

"Yes, it's stupid," he interrupted the girl, who was getting angry. "Yes, I did, and I still do. Anyway, it was a mistake, I understand it. What's the point of making a fuss and sulking? Let's try to fix the situation."

Taer, who resembled a boiling kettle, seemed about to burst into an angry tirade in response but then, perhaps realizing the pointlessness of the event, exhaled and waved her hand as if to say, What's sense to arguing with the brainsick?

Alex was more than happy with this way of looking at things, and to develop success, he tried to switch his security specialist to other problems:

"So, what do we have with lawyers? Don't we have any lawyers of our own?"

"Usually, if there were any legal difficulties, your family would contact the Fyron House Retainer Service."

"And why don't we go there again?" Alex realized that the standard options were a problem, but it always pays to know exactly what the problem is.

"Because," the girl sighed wearily. "We can't be sure of their impartiality - they are, after all, in the service of the House, not your family. And some malcontent in a position to do so might press them."

"And as I understand it, I have a lot of ill-wishers with the position, don't I?"

"Yes, enough," Taer admitted frankly. "Your reputation, your behavior... well, a lot of the Old Nobility and Guards don't like you."

"Is that why the dickhead who came for the Baroness looked at me like Lenin at the capitalists...?" Seeing the girl's eyebrows raised in surprise, Alex hurried to explain. "I mean, very unfriendly..."

And he thought to himself: At this rate, buddy, if you don't get sued now, your own 'security' will give you up because you're messing up all the time.

"The guardsmen, especially the officers, especially those of the Honor Blades, don't even hate you anymore. They despise you." There was gloating in the weary voice of the security specialist. The innate malice of his nature was taking its toll. "Even those who serve on Copeira, though to call it a gathering of the Guard..."

Taer realized that she might have said too much and hurried to change the subject:

"Why don't we go into the castle?"

Alex shrugged and made an inviting gesture toward the door. He didn't care where to talk as long as he didn't let the security expert off the hook since so much interesting stuff had come up:

"A gathering? Looks like the scorn of the Guards doesn't just extend to me, does it, Taer?"

The girl arched an eyebrow and looked back with a look that said, Is that all? You could do better than that!

"No, they don't despise me. They sympathize with me; it's not my fault I have such a... lord," Taer said with a smile. "They know that, despite what you do, I do what I can to protect the House's reputation."

"So this gathering supports you and treats you very positively?" Alex smirked as he let the girl through the door first.

"No, I have the support of the Guard, and I don't care how the "Gathering" treats me." She threw her head up proudly and took a quick step, about to interrupt the conversation. But it didn't work, Alex practically ran beside her and continued to conduct a casual conversation-questioning:

"And what is the difference between the "Guard" and the "Gathering"? Just the fact that the gathering serves on Copeira? And in the rest of the place, then, exclusively noble Guardsmen? Some kind of discrimination by place of service!"

"No, it's not just the location. It's just..." Taer stopped abruptly and spoke quickly. "The competition for the Guard is enormous. Only sixteen percent of the men and two percent of the women pass. Do you understand? People work their asses off to get in. But any little bitch ... daughter of a noble family who wants to play soldiers and wear a nice uniform gets in the Guard. Out of competition! Regardless of ability! Because that's the tradition!"

"Do they also get promoted faster? That's why they get a lot of "love" from their less noble colleagues?" Alex squinted slyly and clarified.

"All noblemen receive at least the rank of Sub-Lieutenant of the Guard upon graduation. But it's not about rank." Taer leaned against the railing of the wide, gently curving staircase they were ascending at that moment and went into a lengthy explanation.

"For several reasons, House Fyron is very interested in ensuring that its Guards are combat-ready and trained. And this is very difficult to achieve under such conditions. If anyone, even a complete idiot but, for example, an earl, becomes an officer of the guard, such a guard will not do much war. That is why the Guard is essentially divided into two parts. One part consists of people who have proved their right to be called Guard," the security specialist poked her chest with her thumb incredulously. "They're the ones who do real work. The other part consists of the offspring of noble families who cannot be refused admission, and the imposition of penalties would cause a political scandal. They are gathered into separate units and sent to places where they are never seriously shot, and their dismal incompetence and complete lack of discipline will not jeopardize the really important cases."

Taer peeled herself off the railing and walked on, gesticulating vigorously:

"For example, the Representation on the Copeira. There, noble dullards can wear nice uniforms as much as they like, stroll around social gatherings, scowl menacingly, and grasp their swords when they think someone has insulted their dignity or the dignity of their House. And, of course, to poke each other with those skewers in duels. It's not just House Fyron's Guards that have noble knuckleheads, but other Houses as well. And those Houses need somewhere to put them, too. As a result, a crowd of freshly minted noble officers of the Guard from various Houses are engaged in drunkenness, womanizing, and dueling. And they sincerely believe that they are the salt of the earth in general and the Guard in particular."

When the girl spoke out, Alex, modestly silent throughout her monologue, could not refrain from a snide comment:

"The only thing I don't understand. Why do you care so much? As I understand it, they don't bother you, and you don't bother them, either. Everybody's happy. And you, you're about to burst. Maybe you're just jealous?"

Taer sighed heavily and said quietly, looking away:

"No, but I served two months in the Representation office on Copeira."

Alex hummed and walked through the door, which was opened by the girl. He decided not to broach the subject further, fearing that the specialist would pout again and stop making contact.

As it turned out, the door led to Lord Cassard's office.

Judging by the pristine cleanliness of the desk, Lord Cassard wasn't into business, though who knows, maybe everything is so computerized that it hasn't been written on paper for five hundred years." Alex sank into the huge high-backed chair that stood behind the desk and looked questioningly at Taer, who was nestled in the chair opposite:

"And what we gonna do?"

The girl shrugged in response:

"I'll look for a good lawyer, and you can answer the mail for once." She was silent for a moment, thinking. "Well, or at least just check it."

She turned on the terminal, which appeared to be hidden in the countertop, and asked for the mail, then leaned back in her chair:

"Cluster! A list of lawyers recommended by the Noble Union!"

A glowing and slightly flickering screen appeared in front of Taer, and lines and pictures ran across it. From time to time, she asked to stop and asked for more details.

Alex, not wanting to distract the specialist from her work, was quietly idling, rocking in his chair. But soon the idleness was interrupted by the appearance of the droid. An enigmatic machine, reminiscent of a medieval knight in scarlet metallic armor, with a quiet whirring marched to the table and hoisted in front of Alex a large tray filled with long shallow boxes. The boxes were neatly stacked with colorful envelopes.

"Your mail for the last three days, my lord," the droid rattled in an "electronic" voice with a bow.

There were definitely more than a hundred envelopes. Thirty letters a day? If I answered all of them, I'd have to spend the whole morning and evening in the epistolary genre!

"And what, I have to read all this and answer everyone?" Alex asked a rhetorical question with a sigh

Taer, absorbed in studying the list, only shrugged, and the droid bowed and rattled again:

"Usually, my lord, it is I or your Office, depending on where the letter came from, that sort it out and answer it."

"You're good," Alex muttered.

And with curiosity (it's always interesting to read other people's letters, even if they are technically yours), I began to open the envelopes:

It was with great sadness that I learned of your accident... my deepest condolences and wishes for your speedy recovery. Agip Therolor, CEO of Tashida Corporation. I wonder who that man is who cares so much about my health.

Alex tossed the letter he had read aside and unsealed the next envelope:

It is with sorrow and dismay that we receive the news ... we wish you a speedy recovery. The Cassard Industrialists Association. Scary, a whole association named after me. I must be their honorary chairman.

The letter flew to the side. The text of the next letter came as no surprise:

I'm shocked by the terrible news... I wish you a speedy recovery. Head of the LatiPro Board of Directors.

Alex opened a couple more letters. The contents were depressingly monotonous as if they were written by the same person.

Well, I bet, thought Alex. The director throws his secretary, 'Sweetheart, send Lord Cassard my condolences and wishes for his recovery! She gives a command to a droid, and the droid writes the letters, the letters come here, and the same droids read them and reply. The result: a fascinating correspondence between droids and droids. Great!

Alex opened the rest of the envelopes, not reading the letters but looking directly at the signatures:

So... from Istal's representative assembly, from Arabund's board of directors, from the director of the First Mutual Aid Bank, from KosMinCorp - what the hell is that anyway? - from Arlit Optics...

In all, there were sixty different companies and a couple of dozen different parliamentary groups, factions, senators, deputies, and other people, and a couple dozen more letters from all sorts of earls, barons, lords, and ladies.

"Who are all these people?" Alex expressed a thought that bothered him.

"Those who are obliged by their position to send you all sorts of wishes," Taer shrugged, and then she turned her attention back to the list of lawyers.

"And why, for example, does the director of Arabund, a certain Gerib Varim, have to congratulate me?"

"I have no idea!" The security specialist brushed me off.

"My lord, the Cassard family owns a blocking 30% stake in Arabund," the droid rattled in my ear.

"Yes?" Alex raised his eyebrows. "That's interesting, but does KosMinCorp also belong? What's that all about?"

"The Free Kosmik Mining Corporation is owned in its entirety by the Cassard family."

"Oh, right here somewhere," Alex rummaged through the pile of open envelopes and letters. "There! ChiVato Pharmaceutical Union. I own that, too?"

The droid's voice sounded apologetic (or did it just seem like it?):

“Unfortunately, my Lord, I have no information about this company. If you want, I can contact the Office. They have information on all the assets of the Cassard family.”

"No," the lord leaned back in his chair and chewed his fingernail thoughtfully. "I'll get in touch with them myself, and you better take these letters and write an answer to them all, telling them how grateful I am for their attention."

The droid bowed, collected the letters back on the tray, and departed with a slight whirr and unmistakable dignity.

So I own factories, newspapers, and steamships, and I don't know a damn thing about it! On the one hand, of course, Alex was pleased to be the owner of it all, but on the other hand, the idea of having to manage it all, and preferably with knowledge, was troubling.

"I own a bunch of companies, and I don't have my own lawyers?" Alex was genuinely surprised. On the one hand: corporations, blocking stakes, and boards of directors. And on the other: a complete lack of in-house lawyers. Somehow these things did not fit together. You can't even sneeze there without a contract and, therefore, without a lawyer!

"Well, the companies certainly have, but these are their lawyers, and they may have their motives. And it's unlikely they have any experience with the court of the Consulate. Not their level."

"Well, who, for example, drafted the contracts with these companies, or what was in their place? I bet there was tons of waste paper."

Taer tore her eyes from the list and, making a disgruntled grimace, said in a teacher's tone:

“I told you before that in the past, any legal problems were solved by the Retainer Service of Fyron House, but in the current situation, we shouldn't turn to them.”

"Okay, okay, sorry to interrupt, but while you're distracted, could you show me how to get in touch with the Office?" Alex pointed his eyes at the terminal and shook his hands regretfully.

Taer got up from her chair and, showing her irritation, walked over, typing a step. She jabbed her finger at the button on the terminal, which appeared to be even signed "Office," and then turned over her left shoulder and marched back to her chair, where she plunged back into it, again staring at the lists.

"Lord" had only to raise his hands again, this time with an apologetic look, like, what do you want from a memoryless man?

After Taer's actions, another holographic screen appeared above the table, showing the now-familiar heraldic beast, a griffin, rising on its hoof. The screen sauntered for three seconds and was replaced by a picture of a light red droid with yellow eyes the size of a nickel... eyes? cameras? sensors?

The droid had just had time to mutter something like "Your Lordship, such an honor than I..." as the picture blinked, and instead of the droid appeared a round-faced man in his late forties with lively and shifty brown eyes. His grayish brown hair had light bald spots, and a white livery with a red vegetable pattern, reminiscent of the steward's livery, accentuated his master's paunch. He looked rather surprised, if not taken aback:

"My Lord, such an unexpected honor for us, how may I serve you?" and must have noticed something in Alex's eyes, he hastened to introduce himself:

"Rist Giom, Your Lordship's Secretary-General," at this, the Secretary-General tried to bow, but as he was seated, he could only demonstrate a slight bow of the head.

"Secretary-General, could you give me a report on my income and also prepare a list of companies in which I have a stake," Alex tried to give his voice an authoritative tone, relieved to think that somehow he managed to keep from inertia and blurted out Comrade Secretary-General.

"It will be ready in a few seconds, Your Lordship," the secretary-general squinted his eyes behind the screen and furrowed his brow, probably hurrying someone out of sight of the camera. "Meanwhile, My Lord, the master plan is being strictly carried out, and the over-fulfillment this year is twenty-four percent! Six percent more than the previous year!"

The round-faced man tried to bow again, but his stomach and the table prevented him again.

For the next dozen seconds, "Comrade Secretary General" ate his superiors with such a loyal expression that the superiors, perhaps unused to it, became a little uncomfortable. But fortunately, soon the line "data transfer in progress" ran under the image of Rist Giom, and after a few seconds, it was replaced by "data transfer completed". And Alex hurried to say goodbye to the secretary, listening to the parting assurances of readiness to fulfill any wishes of "Your Lordship". Having disconnected communication, "My Lord" decided once again to tear his security specialist away from the lists:

"Taer, how do I look at the files?"

"Who do you want to see?" The girl, looking at Alex over the holographic screen, had a look of genuine surprise on her face.

"Well, Giom sent me the income and company reports. How can I look at them?"

"Ah, the data! You'll think of... 'files'," she stared at the screen again, hiding behind it. "Just say open the lists of received data. The cluster is smarter than most droids, he'll understand you just fine and order to activate the help and assistance system, so you don't have to bother me anymore.

"By the way, why did the Secretary-General get so excited?"

"Well, it was the first time in two years that you had contacted them, as I recall. Usually, they'd run after you and ask if Your Lordship would like to see the annual report, and you'd tell them to go off. You even swore at them a couple of times. And rightly so," Taer looked up from her monitor and squinted at her angrily. "He's a nasty piece of work, that Rist."

"Who's watching them, then?" Alex wondered.

"They somehow take care of themselves. At least they don't do anything outrageous," I heard through the screen hanging in the air.

Alex tried to imagine what he could have done in at least two years of total uncontrollability in a very large business, and squeezed his eyes shut:

The size of the theft is beyond even the wildest imagination.

In the decency of people who literally sit on other people's money, he somehow did not believe. He sighed and began to communicate with the terminal, hoping to read the reports.

After following the instructions of the specialist, Alex was rewarded with a melodious ringing, after which a pleasant female voice reported:

"Welcome to the Zarya-Elite cluster. Help and assistance system activated."

"Well, that sounds promising. Come on, Zarya, show me the income figures," as soon as Alex said this, a glowing screen appeared in front of him and began to fill with tables.

Mm-hmm, that's the complete dominance of the voice interface. They just don't know about the mouse here, and the keyboard, according to the "cluster" is only used by professionals.

Alex sighed heavily - it was inconvenient to look through the text every time commanding "Open the next page"! The same thing could be done with a wave of his hand. But even that was "not good enough" - his hand was constantly in the balance, and after half an hour of digging through the data was getting pretty tired.

By all accounts, the Cassard family-owned or had interests in tens of thousands of companies of various sizes. The size of Lord Allesandro's available operating funds was fifty-six billion danari, with a net profit of nearly a billion a year. How much had been stolen by the vigilant secretaries and "managers in the field," one could only guess. The real size of the assets was problematic since most of the money was in the form of real estate and stakes in companies.

Alex sat back in his chair, staring at one point at the ceiling, stunned by the resulting sum - fifty-six billion! A billion is nine zeros, right? The number "fifty-six" and nine zeros... Mm-hm...

No wonder I was poisoned - you don't live long with that much money. Billy Gates, on the other hand, is doing fine without bodyguards.

The number glowing on the screen made the newly minted lord feel uncomfortable. No, he, like most people, often dreamed of becoming a billionaire. But naturally, he did not think about the possible intrigues attached to such a lot of money and in a completely unknown environment. Like most people who dream about it. And now he had... Now the sight of a huge figure with nine zeros did not arouse any positive feelings in him. He was taken out of the trance by a hoarse voice that sounded above his ear - Alex even shuddered:

"My lord, everything is ready for dinner. Your relatives and guests are already gathering in the main dining room of the castle," Barra stood beside him, bowing in a slight bow. It is unknown how he found himself in the office.

"Oh, yes, of course, we are! Taer, are you coming with us?" Alex muttered as he emerged from his stupor.

The girl shrugged in response, turned off the monitor, and with quick steps, caught up with the men who had managed to get out.

As they walked through endless enfilades of halls and corridors, interspersed with air bridges, it occurred to Alex that maybe that 56 billion wasn't so much. He has no idea about the purchasing power of these "denarii". Maybe a loaf of bread costs five thousand?

"Taer, how much is your salary?" He asked the question innocently.

"Forty-five thousand denarii a year. Do you want to cut my salary for being wicked?" The specialist smirked. "I've got a fifteen-year contract, with a fixed sum, plus a condition that you must pay me for the duration of the contract if you terminate it prematurely. By the way, you insisted on it yourself."

"And maybe I want to increase for unhealthiness and give milk for it," Alex smirked back at her. "And now I'm thinking that an attempt on my life was logical, and you're right. There's no reason to increase it... What about you, Barra?"

"Twenty-five thousand danarii a year and a scholarship for my son's education - eight thousand danarii annually - provided by you, My Lord."

That doesn't indicate anything, either. They can both be atypically high-paying or vice versa.

Alex strained his economic knowledge, which had once resulted in an entire diploma, and remembered the Hamburger Index. Well, there's obviously no McDonald's here, but I can get some idea. Let's try...

"How much does it cost to have a meal for two at the average diner where ordinary people who are not overburdened with money go?"

"Depends on your appetite," Taer looked up with interest, like, what's that for, eh? "Probably twenty or twenty-five credits."

"How many denarii are there in the credit? Or is it the other way around?" Alex continued to wonder.

"There are ten credits in one danarii, and ten fractions in one credit," the girl said slowly in a tender voice. The ending, you got it, kid? was begging for it.

You'd be thrown in some oligarch. I'd like to see how you got out., muttered the lord mentally.

"How much is the flyer, you know, not particularly luxurious, in a medium-sized package?"

But there was no further dive into the maze of comparative economics, and Taer did not have time to answer - they came to the main dining room.

* * *