They had slaves in this kingdom.

  Big yikes, I know.

  Then there was the pompous part of society involving the so-called high-citizens. We weren’t necessarily a part of their inner circle, but we weren’t exactly outsiders either. The strength of my mother and our wealth had put us in a bit of a unique situation.

  This was particularly the case whenever she took me out to the busier parts of the city. We would have a crowd of guards about us clearing the path ahead — aka ensuring the low-class citizens of the kingdom wouldn’t hamper us with their lowly existences. A shop would be vacated right away the second we decided to get in, the shopkeeper happily ambling toward us while rubbing their hands in glee.

  It was mostly about me, of course, our outside ventures. Mother was adamant about me getting familiar with the place I lived in, even though this protective circle of our guards kept me isolated just the same. Still, I got to talk with shopkeepers, see new places, hear about the news, and try local things.

  Ultimately, however, a rich adventurer’s reputation was nothing against the true aristocracy. Some Duke’s fifth cousin’s wife, for example, would get a King’s welcome in the inner city market. Watching a crowd of slaves make way for them never failed to give me the creeps, alright.

  “Mom,” I said as we strolled across one of the wide shopping streets, beyond which loomed the rich villas of higher-citizens sitting atop various fake mountains. “They don’t know you’re a Celestial Knight, do they?”

  Mother gave me a sideways look, then smiled. She wore lady’s clothing today, unlike her usual set of leather armor. Like this, she was beyond the word gorgeous and made all kinds of heads turn toward her.

  “There’s wisdom in keeping your cards secret, my Leo. Wisdom in keeping appearances so that your enemies will think less of you. Show them a part of your strength, but never let them know the reaches of it.”

  “So we do have enemies in this kingdom?” I muttered.

  “Depends on what you think an enemy means,” she said, ever the mysterious planner. “In this case, they’re roadblocks we must face in the future, and their attitude will determine the nature of our… interference. Spilling blood is simple, effective, yes, but it is often destructive. So best to keep it as your last resort.”

  “Why would you spill blood?” I asked, confused. “Why did we come here? I thought we were here to let me experience the wider world and familiarize myself with the rules of the Planar System.”

  “There are no rules,” she said simply. “And the reason for our existence here… that is not something you should burden yourself with. I just want you to keep being diligent with your studies. Can you do that for me, Leo?”

  “Uh…”

  “Did you say something?” She gave a slight glare at my poor attempt to make a point about my unhappiness with this arrangement.

  “Yes, mom. You can trust me.”

  “Good.” She nodded happily, then gestured at Mary, who tailed us like a shadow with Belfray. “Take your Young Master to one of the local restaurants. I’ve heard Needlefish Soup is especially delightful in the Palark Kingdom.”

  “Of course, Lady Morwind,” Mary said dutifully.

  “You’re not coming?” I blurted out.

  “I’m afraid I have a different business to attend to, my dear. We’ll meet back up in the mansion.”

  “Fine…” I sighed out a long breath.

  This change of personalities was messing with my mind. Whenever we were in a training session, I would get the Celestial Knight Veyra with me. Once we were out of the stone arena and sat for dinner, though, she would turn into a doting mother who couldn’t just stop showing her love.

  With that, Mary and the staff who were on guard duty ushered me gently toward one of the big restaurants while Mother and Belfray took a different turn. I didn’t like being kept in the dark, but you’d be surprised how little there was I could do to justify a seven-year-old’s involvement in big, adult things.

  At least there was one good thing going for me. Everything here tasted heavenly, and I didn’t mind being sent about on occasion if there was some quality food in question.

  ….

  Belfray’s POV

  To take a kingdom without causing an uproar, you need three things:

  A good justification for the coup.

  A good prep work in case things go wrong.

  A great group of people to patch the holes and the possible breaches.

  We had all those, and then some. We made sure to plant the right seeds in the right positions for these last few years. Of course, the Grand Marshall’s arrival was earlier than expected, but as they said, a good butler knows time and occasion wouldn’t make for excuses. One has to be prepared for every possible development.

  “There is a varying degree of respect shown to the Lord Master’s inner council. General Depenhart appears to be his most trusted aide — a Diamond Knight whose expertise and composure against the bigger players of this world make him a sparkling figure of trust and safety. Lord Garlor would have a few words on this matter, however, as the Head Secretary of the Kingdom he favors a more active approach in… certain fields. He’s a Diamond Mage.”

  “That’s the prime target on the list, right? Is he Runed?” the Grand Marshall asked.

  “Only a bunch of Grade 5 ones,” I said. “I’m afraid killing him right away would bring about with his death a great deal of chaos. He has quite the supporters in the kingdom, especially in aristocratic circles.”

  “Sway him to our side, if we can, then have him retire at his own will,” the Grand Marshall said. As always, she was quick to the point and quite practical. “We can have Marcus take his post.”

  “Then we have the Three Dukes and Five Marquises of Palark. These are great houses with long legacies. Prior to the Lord Master’s ascendance, the tradition was that a King would be selected by vote from these eight families.”

  “There ought to be some bad feelings involved, then,” the Grand Marshall said and shook her head. “It’s too risky and unnecessarily complicated to use them against the throne. Our time is limited.”

  “Then we do as planned. Eradicate them right after the rule change.”

  “Make it clean.”

  “Oh, it will be clean, my Lady. Their long history of abusing slavery will be more than enough to satiate crowds and bring the new rule a most effective momentum.”

  We turned a corner and strolled toward a two-story building, etched into its entrance the words Polmer’s Inn. It wasn’t an inn in the general sense, but more like a place available for use only to the most distinguished guests.

  The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there.

  A fancy young lady welcomed us in, after which we parted from her to take our place on the second floor, where a secured booth awaited us. Nobody was inside. I closed the drapes once we were in.

  “A delicate world, indeed.” The Grand Marshall poured herself onto one of the large couches, reaching to take a green olive from the table. “The food tastes good, though.”

  “Local produce,” I said, having carried out a detailed operation before ultimately making the decision to settle into this little kingdom. “We have big neighbors, however.”

  “Anything that could alert our old friends?”

  “Not to my knowledge, but we will hear the news soon enough. That will be the final point we have to check.”

  The service in secure booths was different from that of a normal restaurant. Back in The Empire, the use of these little places was mostly decorative in nature since wooden walls could only offer so much protection. Here, though, there were hardly any Herald Sound Mages who could pry into our conversation.

  There was even a window.

  Clumsy work, definitely.

  The menu was a fixed five-meal course, the order already delivered through Mary, who did the reservation. The staff consisted of decisively mortal individuals who lacked considerable mana and internal energy. The structure seemed plain and quite easy to dismiss in case any troubles occurred.

  It was after the courses were delivered that I caught a change in the air. So little was the disturbance that even an able Herald Mage who wasn’t familiar with his mana sign would simply take him as a disciple.

  The Grand Marshall, as expected, had already sensed his presence. There was a glint in her eye and a certain expectation. It had been more than seven years since the last time they had a chance to meet, after all.

  Strangely, the footsteps stopped before actually reaching our drapes.

  “Should’ve brought a gift, damn it.”

  Then they continued.

  A figure walked in while grumbling under his breath, paused when his eyes fell on my person, wavered when his head swiveled to the Grand Marshall, who looked him in the eye with one stuffed pastry clasped tightly in her right hand. He jerked back when the Grand Marshall favored the pastry instead of granting him a real welcome, waiting in painful silence until the little thing was devoured by the Bloody Mistress for good.

  “Sit,” she said after wiping her mouth, Radek dutifully following her command by throwing himself onto the other couch. “It’s been some time.”

  “Deprived of meaningful service and cast alone into the dark.” Radek seemed deeply hurt as he pinched the bridge of his nose. “Must you torture me like this, Grand Mars—“

  “Lady Morwind,” I corrected him.

  “Charming.” He glared at me, his green eyes brightening with inner light.

  “I could have your neck snapped with a whiff of wind, or could snap it myself if you will,” I said, in part since I missed this back and forth between us. “Which one do you prefer, Mage?”

  “Once a brute, ever the brute. To think they call it the Path of Glory…”

  “I happen to walk the same path as him, Radek. Do you find me a brute as well?” the Grand Marshall smiled at him in a clear play of one of her usual traps.

  “You’re the most eloquent warrior I have ever known, my Lady. Forgive this old man, but in my recent years I’ve grown a certain disliking for butlers of any kind.”

  “A hound on the hunt barks at the one holding it by the leash. One would expect to see better judgment from a Mage hailed as The Silver Cipher,” I said.

  It wasn’t long until I felt a probe at my mind, especially toward my anger, which nearly rose until I clamped it shut with my inner will. A fool would know better than to mess with a Celestial Knight’s mind, but then you could never trust fools. As demonstrated in this case, some of them could be beyond stupid to even attempt to fuel a Celestial Knight’s anger.

  “You’ve grown rusty, old friend,” I said as I studied his gray beard, hacked in which a set of white teeth always sneered this way or that. It was kept short, much like his hair, which I had to admit made him look younger than he actually was.

  Perhaps I’d been too occupied with acting the perfect butler to consider how I came across to possible candidates in this kingdom.

  “I’ll give you the bad news first, my Lady.” Radek ignored me and took one of the lady’s prized pastries with ease.

  He was granted a pardon since the Grand Marshall appeared rather eager to hear these so-called bad news. I, on the other hand, could sniff the foul air from a mile away, which stank like a rotten corpse.

  “Around seventy percent of this world’s local production is being sent to the Calanth Dominion, including the fifty-seven planes spanning across all the kingdoms. Of the other thirty percent, a generous five is being given to a single individual who took residence in one of the remote forests of the western region. A certain Herald Mage.”

  “The Crimson Strand, eh?” the Grand Marshall muttered, her face barely showing any emotion. “I’ve heard he’s quite the adept at working anyone’s heart.”

  I frowned.

  “An overly blown reputation. That happens when you deal specifically with a bunch of ants. I could have him lick your door with such dedication that he would polish it like it’s made of silver, and make sure he’d enjoy every part of it,” Radek scoffed. “He keeps a small circle of disciples around him, mostly the promising kids of the Dominion hand-picked by their respectable Mage Council to be trained in his… arts.”

  “No one would miss a few disciples,” I said.

  Children died every day.

  “You would think that, but there’s one particular child who happens to share a disturbing connection with one of the Five.”

  The Five, here, were the five families who ruled the Calanth Dominion with equal shares. Any child of those would be entitled to a legacy spanning likely dozens of small worlds with an occasional big world in the mix. Considering the whole Dominion ruled over ten big worlds, the number wasn’t anything to scoff at.

  But legacies meant little if there was no one to take up the mantle. For people with real strength, bearing children was like picking the right star out of a trillion. The loss of them could be enough to force the whole family to face extinction.

  “How long?” The Grand Marshall tapped a finger on the table.

  “At least two decades until his discipleship is over,” Radek muttered heavily. “Another two if the Crimson Strand decides to get serious about him.”

  “We don’t have decades,” I said. We barely had five years, give or take, if we didn’t want Young Master to miss his chance.

  “I could just kill him.” The Grand Marshall’s words sounded so simple and easy that for a moment I was nearly tempted to take them at face value. “But then I’ll have to destroy the whole Dominion. Can’t have that, can we?”

  “I’m afraid not, my Lady.” Radek exhaled a long breath and wiped the sweat dotting his forehead. How hot this place was, exactly? “The Dominion’s sudden demise wouldn’t go unnoticed in the Planar System.”

  My thoughts exactly.

  We needed this process to go smooth and silent. Plenty of fish lived in the Planar System, and the wrong word to a wrong ear could erase what hopes we bore for the future. Destroying a Dominion would not, in this case, help with anything. We had to find a better way to send this kid back to his home along with his master.

  “We’ll think about that after we’ve secured our foothold,” the Grand Marshall said, leaning closer to the table. “Tell me about the spies.”

  “The number is nothing unusual,” Radek said.

  He’d spent the last seven years roaming every part of this big world, gathering valuable intelligence including, but not limited to, the hidden pieces of bigger companies taking shares from local production. The Calanth Dominion wasn’t a player big enough to claim all the resources for itself, meaning that there was a big brother out there taking the lion’s share.

  We knew who that big brother was, of course. The question here was whether our actions in this kingdom would alert them in any way.

  “I don’t like to admit it, but Belfray picked a good one,” Radek said after a beat, which pulled my eyebrows quite apart. “Save for that troubling little child, we have nothing to worry about. We can work this world step by step until it’s too late for them to take notice.”

  “I want this done in silence,” the Grand Marshall said. “We can’t afford to be clumsy about it. Check your lists and keep the men sharp and ready. How many do we have here?”

  “Around fifty thousand,” I said. “All residing close to the capital, with some of them having taken important posts in the Royal Palace itself.”

  “Good,” the Grand Marshall said, then glanced at Radek. “There’s another reason why I’ve decided to set up this early meeting.”

  “Pray tell, my Lady!” Radek’s eyes brightened.

  “Leo is facing some difficulties.” The Grand Marshall frowned so deeply that you’d think the Young Master had lost an arm and a leg. “Lately, he’s been angry. A lot.”

  “Did you try to talk with him?” Radek said.

  I nearly slapped him right there and then.

  “I’ve told him I wouldn’t be there for him if he’s not making an effort to get it under control.”

  “That…” Radek swallowed. “I can see the reason in there, my Lady.”

  “You think I did wrong?”

  “Well, certainly it’s hard to talk about what is right or wrong when the matter involves the heart of a seven-year-old, isn’t it?” Radek forced out a smile. “But perhaps, if you may hear me, we could try a more delicate approach? You want me to have a session with him?”

  The Grand Marshall balled a fist, the air about the room vibrating ever so slightly. She looked rather troubled, indeed.

  On any occasion, I would find it shameful, even humiliating, should my Lady decide to refer this matter to a pompous Mage who manipulated people’s emotions for a living rather than her closest aide, but matters involving Young Master were too important for me to put myself first.

  “Not a session, no,” the Grand Marshall said. “Just watch him closely. Interfere only when you think he can’t handle it by himself.”

  “Understood.”

  I let out a relieved breath. Radek spent the better part of his life dealing with criminals, lords, murderers, and high-nosed killers whose minds were twisted beyond reason. He’d dabbled in a few magical schools and taught lessons to bright minds as well, but still, I didn’t want him to twist Young Master’s emotions in any way.

  Better keep an eye on him, though.

  You can never be sure about these sorts of Mages.

  ……

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