Chapter 8: Change (1)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 8: Change (1)
Inside Viscount Lawrence’s office.
A meeting had been underway for some time.
“What are the Barco family’s movements?”
“It seems they’ve made their decision. According to our latest intelligence, the Barco family has secured a massive loan from the Golden Bank. Since they have no other major source of income, the only reason to take out such a loan is to prepare for war. We must move quickly to secure skilled mercenaries for ourselves before they hire them all. War is now just a matter of time.”
“…Sigh.”
At the words of Doppler, the family’s vassal and strategist, Viscount Lawrence could not hide his troubled expression.
“So it has come to war after all.”
The conflict began a year ago.
The Lawrence territory was located in the northeastern part of the Cairo Kingdom. Due to the mountainous terrain, arable land was scarce. However, Lawrence possessed far more fertile land than the other territories, so much so that it was said most of the crops in the northeast came from Lawrence.
Then, one day, the Barco family presented a document.
It claimed that a Lawrence family ancestor had incurred a debt, using their fertile land as collateral.
The conflict erupted from there.
Lawrence refused to honor a promise based on a document of questionable authenticity, while the Barco family pressured them, asserting their rights over the paperwork. In truth, no one had expected the situation to deteriorate this far. The authenticity of the Barco family’s document was highly suspect, but the problem was that a relative of the Barco family held a high-ranking position in the Central Government.
The Central Government recognized the Barco family’s claim.
Faced with a ruling to either repay the massive debt or surrender the land, the Lawrence family had locked their gates in defiance.
When words failed to settle right and wrong, only one path remained.
War.
The Barco family began preparing for it. Lawrence had attempted to negotiate several times, but now, rumors had reached them that the Barco family had even taken a loan from the Golden Bank.
Doppler spoke.
“War is now unavoidable. Rather than accepting the Barco family’s demands and having the very pillars of our house torn down, it is better to steel ourselves for war and fight to the death. Our only saving grace is the marriage alliance with the Dmitry family. Though the Dmitry family is of commoner origin, are they not renowned magnates in the northeast? I don’t know what the Barco family used as collateral to borrow from the Golden Bank, but the funds they possess can’t possibly exceed those of the Dmitry family.”
“Indeed. That’s precisely why I agreed to send my only daughter to marry the Fool of Dmitry.”
“My Lord, it was a decision for the sake of Lawrence. As our lord, you made the right choice. Do not blame yourself.”
“…I understand.”
His expression belied his words.
Even now, his heart ached whenever he thought of his daughter Flora’s future.
The moment we surrender our land to Barco, our family is finished. Other families, like hyenas circling a carcass, will try to tear us apart. This is the right decision, even for my daughter’s sake. If our family’s prestige falls, a girl admired by all for her beauty will be doomed to a future of despair. At least if she marries while our family still stands strong, she will be treated with respect, even in the Dmitry household.
He swallowed his bitterness.
This was reality.
To resolve the crisis at hand, sometimes a man had to make a decision he knew would bring him pain.
The meeting drew to a close. Once the marriage alliance with Dmitry was finalized, they would begin hiring mercenaries and preparing for war. No matter how strong the Barco family’s military might was in the northeast, the support of the Dmitry family was not something they could ignore.
But it was then.
Slam!
“My Lord! We have a crisis!”
A soldier burst into the office. The news he delivered to Viscount Lawrence was nothing short of shocking.
“…Is that really true?”
“Yes, my Lord.”
“Ahem.”
It was unbelievable.
Roman Dmitry.
They say a tiger doesn’t sire a dog, but according to the rumors, Roman was a good-for-nothing steeped in elitist arrogance.
Yet a man like that had wiped out Blood Fang?
It made no sense.
For one, he couldn’t believe Roman possessed such martial prowess. Furthermore, wasn’t Blood Fang a decentralized organization whose headquarters had never been found? If they were so easily exposed, they wouldn't have survived this long.
He questioned the soldier in detail.
From beginning to end.
What exactly had the soldier seen?
“When Roman Dmitry first arrived at the estate, there was nothing unusual. Since he is betrothed to Lady Flora, we allowed him entry without suspicion. But about an hour later, as I was returning to the barracks for a guard shift change, I saw Roman dragging a man by his hair through Lawrence Square. And that man was none other than Ben Miles, the leader of Blood Fang. I don’t know what happened between Roman and Blood Fang, but Roman recited Blood Fang’s crimes in front of the citizens of Lawrence and executed him on the spot.”
It defied all common sense.
The news was shocking. The eradication of Blood Fang was certainly something to celebrate, but the issue wasn’t so simple.
Even if Roman was Flora’s fiancé, he had acted rashly, taking matters into his own hands on Lawrence soil.
Sure enough, Doppler spoke up from the side.
“He committed murder without your permission, my Lord of Lawrence. This is not a matter we can simply overlook.”
His voice was firm.
Viscount Lawrence’s expression grew complex.
A matter of protocol?
That wasn’t what was important right now.
His future son-in-law.
He wanted to see the face of Roman Dmitry—the man who had supposedly taken down Blood Fang—with his own eyes.
“Bring Roman Dmitry here immediately. I will see him myself and hear the circumstances of this matter.”
It didn’t take long to bring Roman to him. The Lawrence guards had already located him, so he appeared in the office shortly after being summoned.
Roman was not alone.
When Roman walked in, accompanied by Knight Commander Jonathan, Viscount Lawrence showed a flicker of disappointment.
As expected.
This wasn’t something a single person could have resolved alone. The presence of the Dmitry Knights’ commander suggested they had dealt with Blood Fang with the help of the knights.
“Roman Dmitry greets Viscount Lawrence.”
“Dispense with the pleasantries. Explain yourself. Why did you come all the way to Lawrence just to commit such a brutal act?”
The question was sharp.
Roman’s expression remained calm. Despite the tense gazes directed at him, his voice did not waver in the slightest.
“This incident began a few days ago. Blood Fang was preying on the innocent citizens of Dmitry, so I executed them on the spot. In retaliation, Blood Fang targeted my life. I was ambushed by them while traveling, and I decided they could no longer be left unchecked. That is the full account of what happened here. After learning they had a base in Lawrence, I raided it and captured their leader, Ben Miles.”
“What I am questioning is your authority. You have no right to execute anyone on Lawrence soil.”
“I am aware.”
Authority.
It was important. It was a matter of justification, and Roman had no intention of crossing that line—at least, not until he had uncovered a certain fact while interrogating a member of Blood Fang.
“But I doubted whether Lawrence would punish Blood Fang properly. Ben Miles is no unknown. While he wasn’t publicly known as the leader of Blood Fang, he was infamous in Lawrence for his various crimes. Yet how has Lawrence dealt with him? You turned a blind eye. Ben Miles was arrested multiple times, yet on each occasion, he was released after posting a massive bail. So I made a decision. Since I could not trust Lawrence’s methods, I had no choice but to handle this myself.”
“How dare you!”
“Y-Young Master!”
It was an audacious statement.
Doppler’s face flushed red as he bellowed, while a flustered Jonathan tried to hold Roman back.
Their opponent was Viscount Lawrence. A viscount’s house, which held a higher status than the Dmitry family.
Yet, even with such a figure right before him, Roman did not admit his guilt; instead, he took an offensive stance.
Roman spoke.
“To be honest, I am somewhat disappointed. I expected to be commended for eliminating Blood Fang, not reprimanded over a matter of protocol. I stained my hands with blood to solve a problem that Lawrence simply watched and ignored. Let me ask you, Viscount. Was I truly in the wrong?”
Viscount Lawrence’s expression stiffened.
He looked at Doppler.
“Is what he said true?”
“What do you mean…”
“That Ben Miles was already a known criminal. I’m asking if that’s true.”
Doppler panicked.
Ben Miles.
He knew of him, too. He hadn’t known the man was the leader of Blood Fang, but Miles was so notorious that Doppler recalled hearing his name.
Doppler’s hesitant reaction spoke volumes.
No verbal answer was needed.
Viscount Lawrence turned his gaze back to Roman, who was looking right at him.
“I will not hold this incident against you. Although you had no right to execute anyone on Lawrence land, if we had done our jobs properly, this problem wouldn’t have arisen in the first place. I will see to it that you are compensated for this.”
“Thank you.”
“You may leave.”
“Yes, my Lord.”
Roman bowed his head.
Jonathan, who felt as though he had been walking on thin ice, hastily followed Roman out of the office.
The moment they stepped out and the door clicked shut.
Click.
“Hahahaha! He really put me on the spot. So that is Roman Dmitry?”
Viscount Lawrence.
A broad smile bloomed across his face.
A tiger’s cub was a tiger after all.
Recalling Roman’s confident demeanor, Viscount Lawrence evaluated him through the lens of a future father-in-law.
“Indeed. A man ought to have that kind of confidence. A successor who personally stains his hands with blood for his people… Who on earth called that boy a fool? He is a man, a truly splendid man.”
He couldn’t help but laugh.
Roman’s argument was sophistry, and by all rights, he deserved punishment.
Yet, the Viscount couldn’t bring himself to do it.
Thinking of a man like Roman as his son-in-law, an affection he hadn't felt before welled up inside him, and laughter spilled past his lips.
The gaze that had looked straight into his eyes.
The dignified attitude.
It was magnificent.
The disastrous image he had formed of the "Fool of Dmitry" was completely shattered upon meeting him in person.
“My Lord. Even so, we cannot let this matter slide.”
“And why not? He is the man who will soon be Flora’s husband. To achieve great things, a man needs that kind of decisiveness and execution. Besides, it’s not as if he killed an innocent citizen. He disposed of Blood Fang, who had been plaguing us for ages. If anything, we should be commending him, just as he said.”
“But…”
“Let us drop the matter. I am in an excellent mood. To think Roman would turn out to be a man worthy of Flora.”
He was elated.
The political marriage with Dmitry had always weighed heavily on his heart.
But now, it was different.
Flora.
He wanted to see his daughter.
He wanted to tell her what a splendid man Roman truly was.
“Go and bring Flora here at once.”
At that moment, he did not know.
That the marriage alliance between their families was already broken beyond repair.