At the banquet, you could sort the commune members almost evenly into three camps based on their attitude toward me. Honestly, it was kind of funny. One group was the “as rotten as he is, he’s a viscount, so let’s try to make acquaintances” camp. Another was the “can’t he hurry up and get the hell back to the capital” camp, and the last was the “I can use this brat!” camp. Of course, there were people who treated me kindly as well, but they were the minority.
Among the “I can use this brat!” camp, there was someone who tried to get his daughter and me in bed together by urging me to drink to excess and urging his daughter to sneak into my room in the residence of the local lord while that was happening. I had predicted this outcome, so I put Sir Kesten on standby in my quarters. The girl had been captured before the event even ended.
Plus, I hadn’t returned to my quarters that day but instead had joined Goecke’s band of mercenaries outside the town, spending the night in their encampment. Naturally, nothing could have happened between his daughter and me.
Sir Kesten caught the girl right in the act of unlawfully entering the lord’s manor. Having foreseen these events, I’d emphasized that he shouldn’t hesitate to throw her into the dungeon, even if she was a young woman. She was given a separate cell, of course, but beside and opposite her were the bandits we had captured. She spent the night surrounded by their shouts and cries. She must have been scared out of her mind.
The next morning, I returned to the manor, ate breakfast, and got to work when the girl’s father made a shameless visit. He had come to apologize for his daughter’s “rashness.” Since he was a member of the commune, I agreed to meet with him, but after letting his pleasantries go in one ear and out the other, I asked if he remembered what my first orders had been upon entering Anheim, and the blood rushed from his face—it had been to execute the bandits.
In the end, I told the man that crimes were crimes and dismissed him. Punishing his daughter for her misdeeds would come after the bandits were dealt with, but as there had been no victims, I secretly decided that I would let her go with a fine. Still, she could spend a few more days in the dungeon. It might be hard for a criminal like her to find a lawful way of earning the funds needed to pay such a high fine, but that wasn’t my problem.
I also ordered that the butler to the lord’s manor be shackled to the front gate. He’d taken a bribe from the girl’s father and guided her in himself, and for that he was punished with public humiliation.
“But seriously? ‘Please try to have compassion for a young girl who fell in love at first sight’? What a joke,” I grumbled.
“I do believe it is quite common to make such appeals to emotion,” Frenssen said.
I decided to turn it back on him. “How stupid. I don’t remember her ever getting any good looks at me.”
I had no memories of getting such attention from any of the girls at the academy. Mazel’s popularity had eclipsed mine. As viscount, I didn’t have the time to deal with people who were so indiscreet with their hidden agenda, anyway.
Perhaps my displeasure had seeped into my voice, since Frenssen suddenly decided to change the subject
“Where were you last night?”
“I knew the day of my appointment was when the most talk would go around. The pubs and streets were full of rumors about me.”
As long as I wore a helmet to cover my face and concealed my distinctive hair, I could hide my identity. Though I doubted Mazel could say the same, given how famous he had come to be. I made use of my youth to pass myself off as a mercenary—or rather, their errand boy—then did the rounds through the pubs and listened in on the rumors being spread about me. Maybe this wasn’t something a noble like myself should do, but I wanted to hear them for myself.
“Please avoid walking around unaccompanied.”
“I will. I’m sorry.”
True, we weren’t yet certain that the town was safe enough for me to be out by myself. But at the same time, I was also quite sure any gangs lurking nearby would be lying low the day of the deputy count’s appointment. Stirring up trouble would mean sullying my name, which meant picking a fight with a deputy whose first order on the job had been to put bandits to death. Thus, I concluded that they would wait to see how things went for a while. Still, it was true I had caused him some worry. It took some weight away from my apology, but hopefully he would look the other way.