Chapter 106
Chapter 106
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 106
Chapter Title: A Deal with the Illegitimate Children
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"Oh no... Looks like that kick from earlier was a critical hit after all."
I'd only given him a light tap, but maybe it packed more punch than I thought? He wiggled his leg a few times, then shook his head. It was clear he couldn't fight anymore. Limping over to me, he set down his axe and dropped to one knee. Then he rummaged in his pocket and held something out to me.
"Viscount Lucas...! I, Arthur, dare to ask for your grace! This is my mother's keepsake! It's more precious than my life, and proof that I'm the count's son. Please accept it as evidence of the favor you've shown me!"
Whoosh!
I lit a candle, and only then could I make out what he'd offered me. A small ring resting in Arthur's palm. It was a signet ring bearing the seal of the Osland Count's family.
"You're giving this to me? More importantly, where did you even get it?"
A signet ring. This wasn't just any ring. It was like a family emblem. Not all were identical, of course, but that didn't change how valuable it was. Point was, this guy had no business possessing one.
"My mother brought this ring with her."
Arthur's mother had instinctively known the count would cast her out once she got pregnant with him. And that the only thing she could do for her son was pass on something valuable enough to bargain with the count.
She'd frequented the count's study in Osland—catching his eye—and secretly swiped the signet ring from there. It had turned the count's household upside down for a while, putting her in danger.
In truth, she probably hadn't known it was a signet ring or its true worth when she took it. What would a slave know? She just figured it must be precious since the count kept it close. And because of that, he still used a newly made one to this day.
"And... inside this ring is an engraving from the founding patriarch. The vassals might not know, but the artisan family that made it has records proving it's authentic."
I took the ring and examined it closely. Sure enough, there was a tiny emblem inside, just as he said. If the artisans' records confirmed that fakes didn't have it and this marked the real deal, it'd be solid proof on its own. Not many people could lay hands on a signet ring, after all.
The head maid's testimony would make it even stronger. But honestly, whether Arthur was truly the count's son didn't matter. As long as I backed him and he took over the family, that was enough. I accepted the ring.
"I shall grant you my favor. Let this ring be the proof."
"Thank you! I will never forget this grace! Viscount Lucas!"
With my support promised, he bowed deeply, his face beaming. He mentioned there was someone in a similar situation at the Wayne Viscount's estate and that he'd send her my way, then left the way he came—over the window and the wall.
Right around when Arthur must've slipped out of the castle. I'd been watching discreetly, then smashed the window and shouted.
"Assassin! An assassin's broken in!"
Ding-dong-
Soldiers and knights burst through the door at my sudden yell. Lights flared up all over the castle, and the emergency bells rang out. Even in the pre-dawn darkness, soldiers and knights swarmed the mansion.
"My lord! Are you alright?"
"My lord!"
The soldiers moved faster than I'd expected. I hadn't held high hopes for the new recruits, but if I'd yelled right after Arthur fled, he might've been in danger.
Or maybe the soldiers would've been. I sighed inwardly with relief and issued orders to the men surrounding the mansion.
"The assassin's still inside the castle! Guard the gates and search every inch inside!"
Not that they'd catch anyone, but it was all for show. Partly to put on a display for the Osland Count, and partly so he'd remember Arthur as his loyal dog.
Either way, because of my little deception ploy, the soldiers chased a nonexistent intruder until morning.
"We found no suspicious persons. We're sorry, my lord..."
The officers knelt and apologized. The knights beside them hung their heads in shame. But they'd done their jobs perfectly.
How do you catch what isn't there? And I'd deliberately ordered a search inside the castle, not out— an impossible task from the start.
They couldn't let on, though, so I put on a merciful expression and personally helped the kneeling officers to their feet.
"Enough. How can I blame you? The fault's partly mine for not catching him myself—I held back to keep you from getting hurt."
At that, soldiers, officers, and knights alike reddened around the eyes.
"No! It's our fault!"
"How could it be your fault, my lord, facing an assassin yourself just to spare lowly scum like us!"
Some even wiped away tears and sniffled—they seemed genuinely moved by my words. And the search... at their insistence, it continued for two extra days. Determined to catch the culprit somehow.
I warned them to avoid harming innocents just in case, but later even the townsfolk formed their own patrols at night, which improved castle security a bit.
The assassination scare forced us to abruptly cancel the grand party we'd prepared. The nobles didn't want to risk getting stabbed in their sleep either, so they grabbed my gifts and bolted.
A few grumbled, but not at me. If anything, they pitied me. I'd shelled out a fortune for that party, nearly gotten knifed, and had to shut it down after just one day—how bitter must that taste?
One day, amid distributing the party foodstuffs to the castle and nearby villages and stowing the decorations in storage, I was getting reports on village development and castle expansions when a commotion reached my study.
Peering out the window at the noise, I saw a woman arguing with soldiers. Dressed like a commoner, she was clinging to a guard's pant leg.
"I need to see the lord! For real! Just tell him Arthur sent me!"
"Hey now! No dice! Why would the lord see a girl like you? And Arthur—who's that?"
"Please!"
People occasionally sought me out, but nobody showed up empty-handed demanding an audience like that. A lord's position wasn't that casual, after all.
Commoners bowed their heads even to knights who hadn't earned blue blood. Anyway, blocked by the guards, she eventually gave up and pulled something from her bosom. The racket quieted down, audible even to the mansion.
"## #### #####!"
"#... ## ## #####."
The woman flashed something and chattered away. The guards eyed her suspiciously and led her to a secluded spot. Probably searching her amid the tense atmosphere lately. I told Cutter to sneak her in that evening.
"Are you well, my lord?"
Even Lenia, who'd been glued to me like velcro, was fast asleep in the deep night. The visitor resembled Viscount Wayne in many ways—eye shape, nose bridge, that sort.
Yet she was quite the beauty, so she'd clearly inherited much from her mother. Her hair and eye color, though, were totally different from the viscount's.
Black eyes and black hair. Not rare, but that deep shade was uncommon enough to draw the eye naturally.
Unlike her looks, she wore plain commoner's rags and introduced herself as Viscount Wayne's bastard daughter. Her face was weary from the rough journey here, but her eyes sparkled.
"Does the lord find my hair and eye color curious too?"
I chuckled and shook my head at her words. What was curious about colors I'd seen countless times before? They just stirred nostalgia. She then gave her name and bowed politely.
"I'm Cisella."
Wayne Cisella. Not an imperial-style name, and "Wayne" was self-proclaimed, no doubt. Just to emphasize her noble blood.
"My mother was a slave. She gave me this name."
Another bastard. Her mother a slave, just like Arthur's. She chattered on about how she met him—initially just a maid in the viscount's house. She talked a lot.
"So... how do you plan to prove you're of Viscount Wayne's blood?"
I cut in midway, and Cisella pulled a letter and a small gold piece from her bosom.
"Fortunately, Father acknowledged and protected my mother. He even gave us a little house in the castle town, though that's all."
Her speech was oddly archaic. "Though"? Like something from 1900s Korea. Still, the letter and gold were no ordinary items. The gold bore the Wayne family's crest, and she said the viscount wrote the letter himself.
[To Miguel. I don't know how you'll take having my child. Escaping slavery might feel like fortune, or an unwanted pregnancy like misfortune. But I've ensured neither you nor your child will be branded bastards. Use this letter and gold piece wisely—it'll keep you fed for life without hardship.]
Contrary to expectations, Viscount Wayne seemed a responsible man. Or maybe Miguel captivated him deeply. Perhaps he felt more than lust for the slave.
But nobles and slaves could never wed properly, even in death. I had Lenia as a rare case nearby, but our situations differed. Without her aura talent, she'd top out as a count's knight at best.
I handed the letter back to Cisella.
"I see... So you want my support? You don't seem overly ambitious for the viscount's seat, though."
"Well..."
She paused, eyes closing. When they reopened, they burned with a strange fervor. Ambition for power? No. Desire to reclaim her place? Not that either.
"I just want to formally unite my mother with my father. That's all."