After Estefan left, the Duke sat in silence, pondering how to resolve the growing predicant. At first, he was certain the young man he had spoken to was an imposter. But what if he was wrong? He had no backup plan just in case the person was truly his son.
A knock ca. "Enter." The Duke commanded while grabbing another vase because he had a hunch that the next person to co would be Benjamin.
The Duke was correct as it was Benjamin who stepped in, only to duck instinctively as the Duke hurled a vase at him. It shattered against the wall.
"You imbecile!" the Duke bellowed. "You had one job, one simple job and you failed at that."
The old man straightened after dodging that attack by the Duke, he kept his head lowered. "My lord, I don’t understand." He asked the Duke.
"Hah!" the Duke scoffed. "You don’t understand? I should have you executed for such incompetence. I told you to keep an eye on that brat, and now, out of nowhere, he’s stronger than a knight even though he’s spent his whole life rotting in that manor!"
Benjamin remained calm. "My lord, I received consistent reports of him keeping the sa routine. There was no sign of change. We sent different servants each week to clean the manor, to ensure Estefan’s routine didn’t change and to prevent the Lady from doing any harm to your son."
The Duke paced back and forth. "So you’re telling he gained this strength while doing nothing? Could the man who defeated a Knight of rca really be Estefan?"
Benjamin nodded slightly. "It is him. I’ve seen him. His appearance, deanor all match to your eldest son. The only discrepancy is his strength... Perhaps, being her son, it’s not entirely surprising."
The Duke paused, he now believed or suspected that Estefan’s mother might be involved sohow considering the sudden change without any hint of working for it was suspicious.
"Did you sense any magic?" he asked. "If she’s behind this, it can only be done through sorcery."
Benjamin shook his head slowly. "None. I even consulted a few magisters present at the tournant. None sensed any spellwork during the fight. One theory suggests he may be hiding it well, but even that remains unconfird."
"I see..." the Duke murmured.
He mulled over the possibilities. Sudden, unnatural power could only co from two sources: potent magic, or a pact with sothing demonic. If it was magic, he could invoke the wrath of the Covenant of the Nine. If Purgatory was involved, he could turn to the Church or any other religious order and denounce Estefan for heresy as they will handle him.
A path forward was beginning to form in his mind. The only issue: how to stage it.
"Has he asked you for anything?" Benjamin asked carefully. "If he’s claiming succession... it could lead to civil unrest or worse a bloody civil war."
"Yes!" the Duke turned sharply. "He ca for the right of succession. So, let’s test him, considering he is the one demanding so he must prove himself to be capable enough to take my title or else he’ll fail and die with it."
Benjamin frowned. "My lord... Whatever you’re planning may be dangerous, for all of us."
"It will be simple." The Duke said with a sly grin. "Send him to Rammstein."
Benjamin’s eyes widened because Rammstein, the third and final city of the Duchy, was a festering wound. The other cities were clean, developed, and heavily funded. But Rammstein had been left to rot. Ruled unofficially by two cri families, abandoned by the Duke’s governance, and located on the western edge of both the Duchy and the Kingdom, it had beco lawless due to ignorance.
"My lord." Benjamin warned, "Rammstein is not just violent... it is suicidal. Sending him there could cost you a lot, including the embarrassnt of losing an heir to criminals."
"Cancel the ceasefire." The Duke ordered. "We don’t need to play peacekeeper anymore. Estefan will be appointed as the Baron of Rammstein. He must wipe out the criminal filth and rebuild the city or simply die trying as it’ll be a win-win situation for us."
Benjamin knew this was madness. Knights may be flawed and corrupted, but they followed a code. Criminals didn’t and Estefan could be poisoned, ambushed, backstabbed. It was a political exile in disguise.
"If he’s really Estefan." The Duke continued, "He should have no problem cleaning up that city. Let’s see if he’s worthy of my legacy. If he succeeds, I’ll na him my heir and if he fails, I will use that as a justification to burn them all down."
Benjamin exhaled deeply. Arguing further would change nothing. The Duke had made up his mind and at that mont, Mason entered the room hurriedly.
"Why didn’t you knock?" the Duke snapped.
"Apologies, my lord. I have urgent news to report." The Grandmaster answered.
The Duke’s eyes lit up. "So, he was an imposter?"
"No." Mason replied. "The manor was empty. The guards confird that he left a day ago and that they were beaten up by him. His attire, face and everything matched."
"Very well." The Duke said, his smirk returning. "Benjamin, give him the task. Draft a formal declaration naming him Baron of Rammstein and Mason, withdraw all the knights from the city. Let the city guards maintain order since he will be taking over."
Benjamin’s heart sank. Estefan wasn’t being tested, he was being thrown to the wolves since the ceasefire was put in place to prevent the cri families from going overboard.
There were too many dead with streets filled up with bodies as a statent by them when the Duke sent a small battalion of Angeras Knights to bring order. They also killed good administrators and city guards whose heads were impaled on the gates of the Palace at Rammstein.
Benjamin felt as if it was like an execution, without the ceasefire the criminals would begin to conduct their activities in broad daylight and with Estefan the Duke would definitely push the criminals to kill him which would be a cruel ending for the young man.
[To be Continued]
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