CHAPTER 9 - II -
The Duke of Braunhauer entertained us together with his wives in the main room of the guesthouse. Eris and her stepsister, the Marquise of Monfort, joined us, with the paladin captain taking a position on our side and the daughter standing in-between our two groups.
Aside from the key parties, the douchebag Ban of Kistral stood nearby, ready for any request his lord might ask from him.
“My apologies for suddenly coming over, Your Excellency.” Maddie began, all prim and proper.
“It’s all fine, Your Holiness.” the Duke reassured her, “We expected you to come; it’s just that we don’t know when. Good thing the Marquise of Monfort sent a message telling us about your arrival.”
“Ah yes, the Marquise is a reliable servant of mine indeed.”
The Duke stared at the Marquise of Monfort like how a proud father looked at his daughter. I think the Marquise was happy about the praises; however, because of the situation, she opted not to show it.
“Well then, let me start with the introductions of my companions.” Maddie pointed towards Lily, “As you may have known already, she is my servant, Princess Lilyhaven Tamriel von Leese of Nerfes.”
The Head Maid graciously curtsied before the esteemed noble.
“Oh! If I remember correctly, aren’t you that brave young Nerfes princess who fought against us in the Dawson Valley campaign back in the last war?”
“Pleased to make your acquaintance, Your Excellency.” was Lily’s reply to him.
“And this man beside me is Sir Kuro, a commoner from a faraway country and a friend of mine.”
“Hoh?” the Duke’s interest suddenly became apparent when Maddie mentioned that I’m a commoner, “Are you that Kuro that my daughter Eris has always been telling me?”
“I-I am, Your Excellency!”
“He’s also the one who led the Paladin Corps to victory at the Battle of Cullen; though we’re outnumbered, we never had casualties because of his leadership.” the Marquise of Monfort added.
Aren’t you adding too much credit for me, Marquise? What’s your deal, lady?
“Oh…” everyone’s eyes fell on me. It’s as if they’re peering past my skin and into my very soul.
“Nice!” the noble smiled, but then, his face’s expression immediately changed to a serious, menacing one. He also intentionally used a gruff voice to amplify his threatening aura, “Just so you know, I’m Eris’ and Luisa’s father.”
“Err…hello?”
“You may have fooled Luisa and Eris into thinking that they like you, but I’m their first love! I’m their dad after all!”
You’re getting creepy, sir.
“I know all of their three sizes, and I always watch them from afar. And finally, I won’t easily hand over my daughters to you.”
The Ban of Kistral had a nasty smile on his face, as if telling me I get what I deserved.
Am I dealing with children?
“…”
“You won’t get my approval to marry them in a flash, Sir Kuro! Let me be clear about that!”
What? This again? Well, I’m not asking for Eris or the Marquise of Monfort, and you shouldn’t do that; I’m a commoner and you’re a noble. Think of our difference in social status!
I think I heard Maddie chuckled. She’s reading my mind once again…
“!!!”
We’re all surprised when Lady Ulrika Marie Hanna Marie Hana brought out a paper fan and hit her husband on the head.
“Get serious, my dear.” the lady reminded him with an ominous expression on her face, “Stop embarrassing our house to our esteemed guests. And Sir Kuro isn’t here to get your approval for the hands of our daughters, so please stop with your baseless presumptions.”
“A-Ah…I-I’m sorry, love.”
I can’t help but wonder, is this guy even right in the head?
The Marquise of Monfort was trying her best to keep herself from bursting from laughing. And Eris’ face was unusually red, probably because of embarrassment. Meanwhile, I could feel the sharp stares being thrown at me by the Duke’s supporters, led by the childish Ban of Kistral.
“Anyway, Your Excellency, shall we start with the talks?” with the introductions done, Maddie proceeded with the purpose of her visit.
We prepared ourselves for the long talk just as the Duke also readied his documents, aided by his wives. Eris was also helping, too. But she was serving tea and cookies, along with the maids in her house.
“First off, Your Excellency, I’d like to call your attention to what happened in Cullen.” Her Holiness began, “I believe it is inexcusable that such armed groups would go on rampaging and destroying the lands under the jurisdiction and protection of the lords who had the responsibility of governing them.”
“What do you mean, Your Holiness?” the Duke had a serious look on his face; he couldn’t take this issue lightly.
“We captured a few of those mercenaries alive, Your Excellency, and of course, my paladins asked questions.” Maddie motioned for the Marquise of Monfort to hand over a piece of paper to her father, “Those are the results from our interrogation. According to these people, they were hired by the lord of the fief herself, the Viscountess of Lascerny, to ravage the land that was suspected of harboring royalist sympathies.”
The Duke remained silent as he read the contents of the letter. And then his eyebrows drew a frown.
“The Viscountess of Lascerny is under your authority, right? With all these simmering tensions waiting to explode, do we really have to act with violence to the common folk who had nothing to do with such matters?”
“You Holiness…” the Duke folded the paper and placed it neatly on the table nearby, “I really would like to offer my apologies for what happened at Cullen. When your paladins arrived here to bring in the siege’s news, I ordered the Ban of Kistral to rush there with his cavalry. And once the battle was over, I also sent in some precious supplies from my fief. These are out of my own pockets.”
“Noted, Your Excellency. And on behalf of the people, I thank you for your efforts.” Maddie told him, “However, can’t you do something about your supporters? Your opponent here is the royal family, and not the people.”
“I wish I could that, Your Holiness…but alas, I am only but a figurehead of the opposition to the crown prince. The nobility rallied behind me, but unless we’re under great pressure to unite, we are each to his own.”
“I understand. However, I’d like to reiterate my stand on this matter. The Holy Office would only side with the people. And we would tolerate no harm being done to them, as you and the other nobility from Chersea signed the terms in the peace agreement.”
“Yes, Your Holiness.”
“That’s why, for what happened at Cullen, I demand justice for the people. I’d like to see that the Viscountess of Lascerny be punished for what she did in allowing the murder of her own subjects.”
“B-But Your Holiness, the Viscountess—”
“I won’t hear any excuses from you, Your Excellency. I hope I made my point clear.” Maddie had a steel resolve to back her demands, “This problem was of you and of the crown prince’s making. And as the Saint, I insist on the quick resolution of this matter.”
The entire room had an extremely awkward air hanging around, all the while Maddie stood her ground. The Duke could say nothing back to her, other than…
“Y-Yes Your Holiness. I deeply apologized for this fiasco.”
“Apology accepted. But please move with haste; the people are suffering.”
“Yes, Your Holiness.” Seeing that further resistance was futile, the Duke humbled himself before Maddie, and so we proceeded to the next topic.
“If you have nothing else to object with, Your Excellency, then let’s talk about the next issue at hand.”
I guess the Duke was in a hurry to move on to other matters as well, for the Battle of Cullen was an embarrassing note to their cause. If such news appeared on Earth’s modern media, I doubt if the support for their movement would even last a day…
Honestly, I was amazed by how Maddie handled someone of the Duke’s age. I mean, back on Earth, teenage girls like her would be usually concerned about making themselves famous or dreaming of the ideal man that existed only in fantasies or fight some fan-wars over Korean boy groups. While I don’t think that’s wrong, Maddie’s case was a good exception; she’d been trouncing adults who didn’t agree with her vision for Chersea.
She’s much wiser than these fellows, who should’ve been setting an example to her.
