and thats all I heard.
how exactly did you manage to hear all that?
I shared the rumors about the royal family related to by my friend in the capital to my father, who reacted half impressed and half worried.
The broken engagents, Sullivans marriage into the Noms house and arrival in the eastern province, the attempted assassination of the margraves heir, its aftermath, and Selenas punishnt.
One month had passed since that series of events agitated the eastern province.
After taking care of all related issues, I took a leave from work to recover in my private residence, with Eliza, Sakuya, and so of my favorite maids.
In my private residence, I enjoyed days of complete leisure accompanying my maids, crossing swords with Shana, and playing a ga called Shogi against Fangs of Steel mbers.
One day, however, I received a visit from an unusual guest: my father.
He was apparently worried about his son and the attempted assassination, so he ca to see how I was doing.
Father and I were sitting at a table in the garden, drinking tea.
I had the maids stand by a bit farther away, so it was our first private ti together in a while.
The damage caused to the garden in the fight against Sullivan was already fixed. The soil drenched with blood had been replaced as well.
In stark contrast to the elegance of the garden decorated by seasonal flowers in bloom, our topics of conversation were rather dreadful.
Peoples mouths cannot be sealed, as they say, no matter how hard Duke Rosais might try. The king letting go of the national treasure, the new king is considered an illegitimate son by the forr kingtheres no way juicy rumors like these would stay hidden forever.
Hnng, my migraine is starting againI shouldnt have co here.
After hearing talk about the many issues that shook the Lamperouge kingdom at its core, father pressed his fingers against his temples with a pained expression.
Let ask, just in casethis isnt my fault, right?
I wonder.
Father answered my question coldly.
The entire tumult brewing in the capital originated from my broken engagent after all.
I honestly felt I owed an apology to Duke Rosais, who was terribly busy dealing with the aftermath.
Fathers next words then made wonder if he just read my thoughts.
If you really feel sorry, why not return Herakles to the royal family? I heard from the soldiers who went to arrest him. He was wearing the royal familys treasured bracelet.
Whats that about? That bracelet disappeared with Sullivan, right?
For heavens sakeso you really plan to make off with that? I must warn you, my son. If they find out you took it, youll be accused of treason. Even if it was all the forr kings or Sullivans doing.
I had never seen father take such a serious expression.
His fierce look would not allow any excuses or loopholes. It was the face of the guardian of the kingdom, the man who had protected the eastern borders since before my birth.
I averted my eyes from his serious look, looked up to the sky, and replied.
Rest easy, I dont want to pick a fight with the royal family. Im not as reckless as to believe I can take on the central nobles with the empire breathing down our necks.
you make it sound like you would do it if it wasnt for the empire.
Dont glare at like that, old man. I have my own plans, thats all.
I wasnt exactly intimidated by my fathers pressure but decided to express my honest thoughts.
I also wanted to know how he would react to what I said, as margrave of the eastern province.
This country is pretty twisted, isnt it? The empire to the north and east, the Evil Armies of the desert to the west, the pirates and island countries to the south. The four margrave houses are fighting endlessly against these threats, but if just one of the Four Houses was defeated or turned to the enemys side, the whole kingdom would crumble just like that.
..
In this castle built on sand, the central nobles live coddled and protected, but look down on us as countryside nobles, as if it was the natural order of things. Sullivan called a murderer to my face, but I imagine the central nobles all see us like that even if they dont say it out loud, you know?
I paused for a mont, took my teacup and brought it to my lips. I sipped on the tea while thoroughly enjoying the aroma of its high quality leaves.
Father did not press and waited until I finished drinking.
Hmm, deliciousanyway, even if I didnt do anything, sothing will burst eventually, be it in the north, south, east, or west. Im just preparing for that. Fifty yearsa country as corrupt as this sure managed to last long, huh?
are you planning to rebel against the kingdom?
As I said before, Im not going to do anything as long as the empires in good health. I dont have enough pawns or weapons anyway.
I tapped the bracelet in my breast pocket, careful not to let father notice.
The immortal bracelet Herakles was the greatest fruit borne by this series of events, but I wasnt satisfied yet. Not by a long shot.
What I wished was not only to be able to win against the central nobles.
My wish was to attain overwhelming power, sothing that could not be opposed by anything or anyone, sothing that appeared invincible in anyones eyes, and ultimately declare the Maxwell territory independent from the Lamperouge kingdom.
I honed my fighting skills, trained the soldiers.
I gathered magic tools with the money I earned via dostic affairs, assimilated the Fangs of Steel into our forces as an assassination spying division.
Such preparations, however, were not nearly enough.
Old man. I love the Maxwell territory. I love this eastern province. You can rest assured that I will never start a war that could bring suffering to the people of the east. As long as the royal family and the central nobles have even the smallest chance of victory, I will not do anything.
I see
Father fell into thoughtful silence for a while, then leaned against the back of the chair.
my headache is getting seriouscan I retire?
I cant move freely if you retire this soon, so no.
I thought soaah, this is painful. I miss my wifeI want to see Grace.
not another word about the old witch in my residence.
I frowned and abruptly cut off fathers words.
At least, I now knew he had no intention to punish .
I breathed a sigh of relief and sipped on my tea.
Oh yeah, I hired a new servant recently. Let introduce her old man.
The serious conversations were done for the day, so I changed the mood.
Father shook his head, a sour expression on his face.
Another one of your lovers, I bet. I cant say Im interested.
Dont say that, just et her. Shes a really intriguing one.
Hm? If you say that, its fine, but
I rang the service bell and told the maid who approached the table to bring the girl here.
The maid quickly complied and led the girl to us.
This girl is
Let introduce you. She is Kanna, the newest mber of the Fangs of Steel.
Father looked at her unusual appearance and swallowed his breath.
The girl I introduced was about 18 years old.
Kanna was completely white, from the tip of her head to her toes.
She had bright white hair, pale white skin, and eyes the color of ash. She wore a kimono, traditional clothing from the Fangs of Steel holand, which was now completely white too.
Only her lips were dyed bright red, looking like bright crimson flowers blooming in completely white plains.
Her facial features could be described as charming but were devoid of any emotion.
Unlike Sakuya, who had learned to hide her emotions through training, she looked purely empty of any emotion, as if she had not felt any since the day she was born.
Father looked at Kanna, perplexed, then whispered.
Kannayou say? That cant be. She isSelena Noms, isnt she?
I grinned at my fathers reaction.
The girl I called Kanna was indeed what beca of Selena Noms.
Kanna the girl forrly known as Selena Noms slowly raised a hand and pointed at .
treasure, woman, collect. Sword, devouring hero cursed black dragon, Fafnir.
What the? What is she saying?
Kanna started speaking in a monotone and father frowned.
She did not even react to my fathers question, but pointed at him instead.
protect, east, heart. South sea, stretching branches, to eternal maiden guardian tree, Sephiroth.
Hey now, Kanna. Dont point at father, thats rude.
ImsorryI, apologize, deeply.
Dyn. What did you do to Selena?
Hearing Kanna listing words and broken pieces of sentences, my father glared at again.
I pursed my lips as if whistling and replied.
I told you, she isnt Selenashes Kanna.
I motioned at Kanna to co closer.
She pranced closer, so I pulled her hands and had her sit on my lap, then hugged her from behind.
Look, Selena would never let do sothing like this, right? She hated to the point she tried having assassinated after all. Look at this. Squeeze!
Squeeze
I buried my head in Kannas whitened hair and enjoyed the light fragrance of her sweat.
Father was rendered speechless.
The kimono Kanna wore was a sort of gown worn by passing your arms through it, which was then tied over the waist.
Its greatest advantage was that it was easy to put your hands inside the chest part. I slipped my hands in between the folds and played a bit with her breasts.
Even if her breasts were being touched, Kannas expression did not change at all.
Her forr self would have surely started crying out of fear if I ever attempted such a barbarous act, but now she accepted it normally.
shes just like a dollwhat in the world did you do?
Father seed sincerely disgusted.
I grinned as I continued playing with Kannas body.
I didnt do anything myself, really. Its all the Fangs of Steel guys doing.
Selena, who I had captured during the aftermath of the incident as Sullivans accomplice, was so shocked her mind was shattered.
She just laughed and laughed, without even eating or going to the toilet, so I was honestly at a loss for what to do.
In a state like that, I couldnt put her to work as I did with Sullivan, nor use her for pleasure in bed.
I thus discussed what could be done with the Fangs of Steel ninjas, and they proposed to take her with them. After about one month, the girl nad Kanna was born.
According to the Fangs of Steel people, she had the potential to be a Miko.
Miko? One of those priestesses of the east, was it ?
Yeah, the female priestesses that can see things not of this world and hear the voice of the gods. They can even predict the future sotis, apparently.
In the Fangs of Steel there was an old woman with a similar talent: under her guidance, Selena could develop her talents.
(Develop her talentsshe must have gone through so horrible experiences though.)
Selena was apparently forced to go through grueling training, such as being forced to drink special potions or being thrown naked in cold water. Based on her pure white hair and ashen eyes, it was evident that she had gone through sothing unimaginable.
After such harsh training, her shattered self was reborn in the twisted form of the white Miko, Kanna.
I havent asked about the details yet, but it looks like Kanna can see a persons soul and their true essence. She also says so bizarre prophecies sotis.
According to Kanna, the true essence of my soul was the cursed black dragon Fafnir.
An evil dragon who snatched away won and hoarded treasures. It did sound fitting for , honestly.
It looks like they taught her all sorts of techniques for night services too. I havent tried yet, but Im looking forward to it.
dont give even more headaches now. How am I supposed to face Baron Noms?
Father held his head tightly and leaned forward on the table.
Incidentally, Baron Noms was cleared of his responsibility for Sullivans rebellion because of his collaboration in Selenas capture.
So of the other nobles in the service of house Maxwell protested as it was too light a punishnt, but I had forced Sullivan on them in the first place. I had great expectations for the next head of house Noms, Cray, so I thought that the dishonor of one of their family mbers having rebelled against their lord was punishnt enough.
Well, just tell him shes doing fine. Its not like hell ever see Selena anymore anyway.
Im going back. You better wrap up this vacation of yours and co back to the manor, theres work to do.
Yes sir, I shall do my very best.
I raised my hands in surrender and looked at my father leave, accompanied by his guards.
sorry for all the trouble I cause you.
So I whispered to myself as I looked at my fathers horse carriage depart.
I did not think of myself as a good son. I was well aware of what kind of weight I exerted on his nerves.
Even so, I could not contain my desires and ambitions. I did not think that containing them was the right thing to do.
I was probably going to continue causing all sorts of trouble and all sorts of headaches.
You better live long, old man.
Live longgreat treenot wither
I embraced Kannas shoulders and went back inside the residence.
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