Antonio Guiller walked down the castle halls late that night, pausing to peer out the window. Droves of people with torches wound across the castle grounds. As Antonio watched them scurry about with urgency, he thought of his grandmother, Duchess Sonata.
“Cale Henituse… Find out what he and the crown prince backing him are after.”
For the first time in ages, he’d seen his grandmother angry—at herself, no less. The documents provided by Cale’s knight, combined with the Guillers’ findings upon storming the baron’s estate, had given the duchess quite the headache.
Antonio shared her feelings. Crazy bastard.
One of their vassals had gotten involved in the slave trade. The Guillers had yet to get the full details, but that alone was enough to embarrass them. To make matters worse, the citizens had witnessed the whole thing. House Guiller was bound to face punishment from the crown, a loss of their people’s trust, and criticism from other nobles.
All of these things made Antonio’s head throb, but he had yet to meet with Cale Henituse. That was the mountainous task he had to overcome. Of course, the real mountain he needed to scale was the crown prince, whom Cale Henituse represented. Albert was poised to inherit the throne; there was no way he would sweep this incident under the rug.
And Cale Henituse is a noble himself. He’ll use this to blackmail us for his own benefit.
Antonio had seen countless greedy wretches hiding behind noble titles, each one the same as the last. He always strove to comport himself as a prim and proper noble; he didn’t want to give anyone a chance to find something to use against him. He ranked people according to his own set of qualifications for the same reason: It made them easier to deal with.
Arriving at the door of the reception room, Antonio cleared his throat. Hilsmann, the knight serving as Cale’s guard, greeted him with a bow. When Antonio motioned to the door, Hilsmann cautiously knocked.
“Lord Antonio has arrived.”
“Tell him to come in.”
Upon hearing Cale’s response, Antonio stopped the guard and set a hand on the knob. “I’ll let myself in, thank you.”
Antonio had never felt nervous entering this room before. Was this what it meant to be at someone’s mercy?
I’m curious as to what he’ll demand of me.
Just what concession would Cale Henituse exact from him? That question loomed large in Antonio’s mind. At most, he assumed Cale would want House Guiller to lend its support to the crown prince, so his anxiety dissipated as he opened the door.
Creak.
As soon as he stepped over the threshold, he saw Cale Henituse looking out the window. As the Guiller heir, Antonio hadn’t been faced with someone’s back for quite some time. Frustration and annoyance needled him as Cale slowly turned around.
“Hello, Lord Antonio.” His tone casual, Cale asked, “Are they all right?”
Antonio froze mid-stride, staring at him.
Cale repeated his question, as if he thought Antonio hadn’t understood. “Are the people who were kidnapped doing okay?”
“I didn’t think you’d ask such a thing,” Antonio muttered in a daze.
“Pardon?”
Beneath Cale’s expectant gaze, Antonio closed the door with a sigh. “We managed to rescue all of them.”
“That’s a relief.” Cale smiled a moment, then his usual stoic expression returned.
The whole thing gave Antonio a peculiar feeling. Was Cale asking after the citizens as another strategy to force the Guillers into submission? Or had he truly been concerned? I guess I’m about to find out. Everything would be revealed by what Cale asked of him.
Antonio had urgent business to attend to, but he maintained his calm exterior. He made himself comfortable on a couch and gestured for Cale to sit across from him.
Cale didn’t take him up on the offer. “I’m sure you’re busy with territory matters, so I’ll keep this short,” he said, not wanting to drag things out. “As I already mentioned, I have no knack for beating around the bush. I’ll get straight to the point.”
“I’m curious to hear what you have to say.” Antonio lounged on the couch, but his back was stiff. What will he ask for?
Cale withdrew something from his chest pocket and dropped it on the table. Thwack! It was a thick stack of papers.
Are these his conditions? Antonio wondered.
“This document describes how House Krish hired an assassins’ guild to kidnap a child.”
Antonio’s face hardened. The slave trade wasn’t the end of it; there was more. Cale had two cards up his sleeve, and Antonio had just learned of the second one.
The redheaded noble smiled at him. “I didn’t bring this up in front of the citizens. Only I know about it.”
Antonio rubbed his eyes. This one day had brought more than its share of fatigue. “I’m not one for dancing around the issue either. Nor do I have the time to do so,” Antonio said, urging Cale to get on with it. “What is it that you want?”
In lieu of a response, Cale threw another stack onto the table. Thwack! Antonio looked down at the documents.
“This is information about the merchant guild that House Krish sold the slaves to.”
Antonio stuffed down a groan. He had assumed Cale was famed for his honorable actions, but the count’s son was more meticulous than he’d expected. Cale possessed intel that House Guiller hadn’t yet uncovered—the incident had only just occurred today, after all. Antonio had no choice but to let Cale drag him around, but the man’s next reveal nearly knocked him out.
“It’s a merchant guild from the Mogor Empire.”
Antonio closed his eyes, internally cursing Baron Krish. That damn crazy bastard! Not only had the man enslaved his countrymen, but he’d also sold them off to a merchant guild from the Empire. It was challenging enough to move a person from one region of the kingdom to another, but Baron Krish had smuggled them to a foreign nation.
If this got out, it would prove detrimental for House Guiller. Antonio was grateful that Cale had brought this information to him first, but he also felt suffocated. Cale had House Guiller in a choke hold.
It was then that one of his grandmother’s lessons rose to mind: “Antonio, the so-called nobility would be thrilled to stab each other in the back to satisfy their own greed. That is why you must learn to wield the sword as well.”
A sword was pressed to his neck. He was in dire straits.
“Lord Antonio,” Cale said, and Antonio opened his eyes. “Please guard the southwestern region’s gate.”
What? Antonio certainly hadn’t expected that.