A few moments since the last chapter…

???, ???, The study

 

In every novel that Ashton had read about, a Duke was ranked right below the royal family and was often some of the most powerful people in an entire nation. A governor was the closest modern equivalent, one with absolute power within their territory. A cold sweat began to break out all over Ashton’s body, as he quickly analyzed the situation he was in. There was a deep fear in his mind because he had done several papers in high school on things like the Salem witch hunts, in which innocent women were gathered and killed for any reason they could find.

 

They will think I am possessed! And there is no guarantee that death will send me back to my world! He could feel his heart beginning to pound in his chest as his mind began to work in overdrive. 

 

“Can the Duke give me just a few moments to prepare?” Ashton called through the door.

 

“My Lord, he is standing right next to me…” The maid called back with some hesitation.

 

Ashton looked around the room and saw the blood splatter on the side of the wall next to his desk, pieces of bone and brain matter were mixed inside. Enough time had passed that it had dried into a crust on the wall and carpet, he looked around quickly and his eyes focused on the painting, he then ran forward and pulled off the wall. It was much heavier than he expected, but he was able to move around with it after a bit of struggling to find its point of balance.

 

Ashton also picked up the suicide note and pushed it into the drawer of the desk, before he set some of the books on top of the bloodstains on the desktop. He quickly tried to cover up all of the signs of blood in as quick of a manner as possible before he glanced around the room to make sure it looked more presentable. He had to stop himself from laughing as there was no way to make it look presentable and he had no idea what the customs were. Spending a moment to recall the lines on the suicide letter, he used it to get into character as he sat at the large chair.

 

“Enter!” He called out.

 

The door opened and a slightly overweight man in his later years with gray peppering his black hair entered through the door that was opened by the maid. He was wearing a bright purple vest over a light blue shirt that had long flowing sleeves and tight black breeches. It looked like he had been quite the handsome man in his early years and he had a naturally gentle smile and a warm glow in his brown eyes. The smile froze on his face when he looked at his fellow noble who was sitting behind his desk.

 

In Duke Everim’s eyes, he could see the usual relaxedness that Lord Ashe Grayfield used whenever he entreated any member of the nobility. He leaned back in his large chair wearing the thick black coat that was made from the fur of a Sawtooth Worg. Slightly off to his right was a life-sized painting of the man that was leaning against the wall within reach of him. The Duke had to take a moment to process this image he was seeing before he finally remembered himself and gave a greeting.

 

“Lord Grayfield, I have come for business.” The Duke told him before he began playing with the ring on his finger. It was a signet ring with the image of a turtle with a large tree growing on its shell that produced coconuts. “My bastard son is about to get knighted.”

 

“Okay, and what can I do for you?” Ashton asked with his eyes spinning. 

 

“As you know, this son was a bastard I was forced to take in. He has my talent for the spear so he is bound to go places in the army, I don’t want that to happen.” The Duke’s smile had receded and a look of malice appeared on the Duke’s face briefly before he continued. “I Want you to help me get him assigned to a post where an accident can happen to him, the frontlines would do nicely.”

 

The Duke gave his ring a twirl and suddenly a sack appeared in his hand which he tossed on the table where it landed with a heavy thump. It opened under the force of the contents and large gold coins were revealed that were the size of a palm. They were thin but he could tell from the thump that it weighed a considerable amount. Suddenly with a twist of the Duke’s ring, a second bag of gold appeared and landed on the table next to the first.

 

“I also need you to help me get a trading pass from the royal family, that bastard Duke Rainor is charging me tolls every time I use his roads! Next time I want to be able to ask him if he is committing treason when he stops my carriages of coal!” The Duke’s kind smile had disappeared as he began gnashing his teeth in anger. 

 

What kind of noble rank do I have?! I can do things that a Duke can’t! Ashton’s head began spinning and he was having to exert all of his mental power not to drown in his confusion. Until he had to, he was going to pretend to be Ashe Grayfield, but the only thing he had to go on was his suicide note which only gave him some idea of his personality. That was why he could only give an answer that he knew was going to be hard to accomplish.

 

“I see, easy enough,” Ashton said with a smile. “Anything else?”

 

“It is so nice being able to ignore etiquette and just get things done.” Duke Everim said as his signature gentle smile returned.

 

Suddenly his smile became forced when he saw some of the contents in one of the open books on the young House Lord’s desk. It detailed graphically all of the parts of the female body. It was an expensive work that many young nobles kept to learn about the female body, but they didn’t leave it wide open in the presence of others. Ashton himself didn’t realize any of this and continued to look at the Duke with bravado matching the confidence in the painting next to him.

 

“Talk is cheap, only gold carries weight.” Ashton quoted something that was in the letter left by the former House Lord, he felt it was fitting.

 

“Indeed, flattery has become a passion for the nobility. I spent an entire afternoon at Marquis Bloombright’s lands a few days ago and we spent more time with flattery and minor discussions than we did getting to the heart of the matter.” The Duke sighed here and paused for a moment. “It is a shame that his daughter is so set on joining the church and forgoing her rights to inherit her father’s estate, I wanted to wed my son to her.” 

 

“Oh? That is disappointing.” Ashton expressed. “Your son is quite a good man too.”

 

He knew nothing about the boy, but for someone complaining about flattery, he was clearly fishing for some from him. Ashton also hated flattery, as someone who had to compliment every customer and break his back for them, he was all too used to it. 

 

“Right?! I told her that he quit smoking and has stopped drinking as heavily! Braden has even joined the guard, I can’t believe that worthless bastard got promoted over my own son and heir!” The Duke had to pause and take a few deep breaths to contain the fury he was feeling. 

 

What kind of trash did you raise?! No wonder she said no! This thought passed through Ashton’s mind before he quashed it and felt a different thought spring up instead. What kind of person was Lord Grayfield that he had no qualms with getting people killed?

 

“I have decided that I am going to visit the brothel!” The Duke declared before he began fiddling with the signet ring on his finger and a bright platinum coin appeared in his hand which he tossed on the table. “I don’t want any more bastards, you know what this is for?” 

 

“Of course, you have nothing to worry about my friend!” Ashton said with a smile as he scooped up the coin and began rolling it across his knuckles. It had a solid weight to it and featured the picture of a man wearing a crown holding a scepter.

 

I haven’t the faintest idea what this is for! Am I supposed to send men to kill the prostitute?! Ashton wanted to scream out angrily, but he was doing everything he could to match the smile that the man in the painting next to him had. There was never before a situation that made him feel more tension since the Duke should have been familiar with Ashe Grayfield.

 

“Where did you learn to do that? That is quite interesting.” The Duke commented.

 

Ashton realized he was doing something that he shouldn’t be and quickly stopped before he spits out an excuse. “Someone who claimed they were once a pirate was doing it in a bar and I picked it up from watching.” Was he supposed to say that he saw it in a pirate movie and thought that it looked cool? It was a nervous habit he picked up after he found a heavy coin stuck in a washer in a laundromat. 

 

“A pirate? There are still people crazy enough to sail the seas with those monsters attacking the shores?” The Duke seemed stunned to hear this and inquired for more.

 

“I had no way, or care, to confirm his tales, I just saw a neat trick and thought it was interesting,” Ashton responded, he felt like the less he said and the vaguer it was the better off he would be.

 

“I can see why he would settle down here, we don’t have any piracy laws so he wouldn’t be inconvenienced by his past.” The Duke said with a nod. “But not having access to the ocean means I can charge double for my salt! Hahahahaha!” 

 

Ashton smiled in response, but this was mostly because his brain was in overdrive processing all of the information he had received. Making mistakes was bound to happen so he tried to repeat words and phrases that were written in the note that was written by Lord Grayfield. In the back of his mind, he was still hoping this was a dream but the pain in his hand was a constant reminder that he was awake. People don’t suddenly lose their memories, and until he understood the situation he was in he didn’t want to do anything suspicious.

 

At the very least, Ashe Grayfield was corrupt with a lot of pull in the government, this is clear from him bribing me.  The only reason he wasn’t declining the gold was that it seemed like it would be out of character. Since the Duke knew his way around well enough to walk straight to the study, he assumed that he must have a good understanding of Lord Grayfield. From what he had seen of the place, he assumed that it had a room count in the ’50s to ’60s and took up several acres. All he could do was laugh along with the Duke but it was fake.

 

“Oh, that reminds me! Your sister is still in exile, what are your plans for her future?” The Duke asked. “I think uniting our two families could be quite beneficial, although I understand you don’t like talking about her…” The Duke seemed to tiptoe around this idea, which caused Ashton even more confusion.

 

I have a sister? How did she get exiled? Damnit! I need more information! Never before had he wanted a conversation to end more, he knew that if he kept talking he would make mistakes and his cover would be blown. 

 

“It’s a shame too… She was considered the fourth rose of the Five Roses of Tristain, I won’t question why you did it. I have considered exiling some of my children as well at times, but hasn’t it already been over 10 years?” The Duke was pushing him a bit. “I won’t tell you how to run your household, but with your brother dead and your parents gone you two are the only family you have left.”

 

“I understand, I have been thinking the same,” Ashton said this because when the Duke told him some of the circumstances, he felt like this could help get him out of this bad situation.

 

I can tell her I had an accident! While it was a bad idea to bring in a family member, it had been over a decade and he was sure that he could mend whatever damage to the relationship that Ashe had done. The sooner he could learn what Ashe had done to drive himself into such a corner that he felt he needed to kill himself the sooner Ashton could do everything in his power to fix it. 

 

“Really? And her marriage to my worthless son?!” The Duke was so excited he uttered something he shouldn’t, too bad Ashton was from the modern world.

 

“I will not decide her marriage for her, she is a Grayfield and has the right to choose who she loves and I will support her full-heartedly.”  Ashton knew that this comment was out of character, but he decided that he needed to have some things said on the record. “But yes, I will more than likely have her brought back to the estate.”

 

Crash!

 

The maid at the corner of the room fell over and landed on her butt, she had a look of fright on her elven-looking face and her pupils were dilated.

 

“Lady Grayfield is coming back to the mansion… gods… save us…” The maid muttered in horror before she looked at the two surprised nobles and sprang to her feet with a blank expression on her face. 

 

“Hahaha! Wonderful, you told me that she is staying at Windy Run. I can send my son to pick her up for you if you would like?” The Duke offered with a smile.

 

“No, it would be better if I arranged for it myself. I should take responsibility for my actions.” Ashton explained.

 

“Wow, this is quite a new side of you, before when we brought up your sister it would be normal for you to throw us out.” The Duke said.

 

Damnit! This is why I didn’t want to talk to anyone until I spent more time learning about this world! Ashton’s head was spinning as he felt like he was making a lot of mistakes today. He kept telling himself that there was no way he could have known something like this was possible. 

 

“By the way, have you been having issues in your territory with Fairy Dust?” The Duke asked him.

 

“No, I haven’t heard anything of it.” For once he could answer honestly.

 

“I wouldn’t care if they were willing to give me a cut of the profits, but some of the commoners have been dying from it. Last week our blacksmith got some of it and took too much, he died shortly after. We found some in his workshop, he was using the fires in his forge to heat it.” The Duke said this with anger. “The heaviest distribution is in the southeast, quite far from here actually, we think that the source of the drug might be the desert nomads, but we are searching every territory nonetheless.”

 

So they have linked the drug with overdosing, that is quite something… Opium was something that had been used in ancient Greece and was used for its narcotic properties. It was so well known that he had learned about it in college during history classes he had taken as electives. Yeah, I have enough to worry about…

 

“Of course, I will also do my part, but I must also prepare to welcome my sister back,” Ashton said with a smile on his face.

 

The maid in the corner began shaking in fear when she saw how excited her Lord seemed to be to have his sister come back. Remembering the woman in question a deep fear began to grow in her heart when she thought of the two siblings having a friendly relationship.

 

***

Meanwhile…

???, Grayfield territory, Windy Run Estate

 

Windy Run was a small section of the Grayfield territory that was known for one thing, that was the sunflower field that covered several miles. A small lake existed in the area that was shared with their neighboring noble house, House Fellowes. It provided a lovely territory where a large two-story estate was built with white walls and large windows to allow the occupants to observe the picturesque scenery. A young woman who was in her late twenties was sitting on a blanket in the grass outside of the estate plucking the petals from a sunflower.

 

“He loves me… He needs me… He loves me… He needs me…. Fufufufu! Dearest brother! I can feel you thinking about me!” The woman was tall with a lithe frame and a modest figure. She had long black hair and the same piercing eyes that her brother had, but she radiated a madness inside of her that was different from her brother. “It only took ten years for him to recognize his feelings for me! Oh… I need to reign it in or he might become scared again…”

 

The maids in attendance were shaking in fear as they watched their Lady’s behavior. It was well known to the staff that the brother was cruel and the sister was crazy. 

 

“Do you think Lord Grayfield will call the Lady back?” A maid whispered to another.

 

“It’s hard to tell, she has been like a doll for the last ten years… look at how excited she is…” Another maid answered. 

 

“Quiet, she will hear you!” One of them muttered.

 

“I have been gone for too long, my brother has probably been surrounded by filth…Fufufuf! … I will need to do some cleaning when I return to the capitol.” A smile spread over her cold face. “Dearest brother… I will begin packing immediately, I won’t keep you waiting any longer…”

 

***

Meanwhile…

???, Royal Capital, Grayfield Estate

 

“House Lord Carlyle would have a fit if he knew you were displaying his father’s rifle in your study.” The Duke said and pointed to the rifle and sword on the wall. “I had heard a rumor that his son had made a bet at one of your gambling dens and lost something valuable.”

 

Ashton looked back to the rifle on his wall and suddenly felt elated to know the origins of the rifle, he was secretly afraid that Ashe Grayfield had been involved in the military. It would have been catastrophic if he had to lead an army into battle since he had no combat experience at all. It was a relief to know that he wouldn’t have to worry about being shot at.

 

“If you make the bet then you should be prepared to pay up, that is all there is to it,” Ashton said, trying to sound carefree, but the Duke’s next words made him pause.

 

“You may want to be careful, I heard Edgar was preparing for a duel. If it was you that he lost that rifle too, then it is almost certain that he will send a challenge letter soon.” The Duke replied. “Quite a hothead that one.”

A duel… was this the reason he killed himself… was he afraid of the results?! Ashton knew what dueling was, it usually involved using pistols and taking a shot at each other. The guns were so inaccurate that it was uncommon for people to get injured but a deep fear began to gnaw at the pit of his stomach. Can I reject it somehow?

 

“That boy is a fool if he thinks he can dishonor you. I remember when you put a bullet in Count Tindle’s head for insulting your father and forced his daughter to take over the estate.” The Duke recalled this memory fondly. “That man was a traitor to his class!”

 

The duke began to grumble about the deceased man as he looked out the window and noticed that it was already late into the afternoon. They had chatted for several hours with most of it being about minor details happening in the kingdom. Ashton was forced to smile and nod along and could only agree with him on most of what he said. The more he had heard from the Duke the more questions that he had about how this kingdom operated. He could tell from the Duke’s treatment of him that he was on a higher level than the Duke yet his rank was only a house lord with that as his title. 

 

“Indeed, the nobility should not muddy their hands with the peasants. It is just a losing situation for everyone if you try to raise people who were meant to crawl.” Ashton hated saying words like this because no modern person would ever believe it, but he had to stay in character. “I prefer to weigh my friendships with things I can hold in my hands, like gold.”

 

He had counted out the gold on his desk while the Duke was chatting to him about things like bandits, monsters, and adventurers. There were two hundred large gold pieces with a gem embedded in the scepter and the crown of the image of an old man. The kingdom was called Tristain, that was what the coin said on the front of it. 

 

“Indeed! Well said!” The Duke laughed happily. “Anyway, I have stayed too long.” 

 

The Duke stood up and stretched his legs that were cramped from sitting for so long in the chair. Ashton had to fight to not breathe out a sigh of relief when he heard the Duke’s words because it meant that he would be alone with all of the books in the study. Ashton also tried to stand from his chair but felt something clamp on his leg from under the table. Sitting back down, he gave his pants a few tugs but whatever was holding them wouldn’t let go.

 

Peeking under the desk, he was greeted with the sight of his pants leg being stuck on the hammer of the gun that was mounted to the bottom. The blunderbuss was a flintlock contraption and he had been swinging the spring-loaded hammer right next to the striker. The image of Duke Everim being turned into a bloody paste and smeared on his wall appeared in his mind and he sucked in a cold breath and forced himself to try to calm down. He wanted to reach under the desk and release the hammer from his pants when he saw a hand appear in front of him on the desk. 

 

Ashton was currently sitting with one leg elevated to keep the hammer of the gun from going off. His leg was slightly bent over the one in front of it to look like it was crossed over his lap. He knew what the man wanted, but he didn’t want to alert him of what Ashe Grayfield had prepared for people.

 

This is not the time to be shaking hands! Ashton smiled warmly at the Duke before he reached forward in an awkward position to grasp the man’s hand firmly. With a few firm shakes the Duke began speaking to him again.

 

“Not going to see me off?” He joked.

 

Ashton looked under the desk at the sawn-off blunderbuss that was currently pointed at the Duke’s crotch. You don’t want me to see you off… “My lunch has already gone cold, with how easily you found your way here I am sure you can find your way out.” He instead began moving the gold into a monogrammed bag with a drawstring he had found in the desk when he was listening to the Duke talk. 

 

He used this as cover to quickly start fumbling with the hammer to get it to lock again but he found that the catch wasn’t locking. Feeling closer he found a section of his pants that had engaged the trigger, but with the design of it, he couldn’t release it when it was loaded without fear of the striker going off. He thought that it might have worked as a match and if it did just rubbing the two together might set it off.

 

“I see, you always have treated gold as something sacred.” The Duke said as he turned and began heading to the door, he eyed the maid one last time before he exited the study leaving him alone with the maid.

 

Ashton tossed the bag of gold at the elven-looking woman’s feet and pointed at the door of the study. “Go distribute that to all of the workers at the mansion.” 

 

“But my Lord, these are large gold pieces.” She said in shock.

 

“So.” He replied simply.

 

“An average family might only make a gold coin in a year, and a large gold coin is worth one hundred gold coins!” The maid told him seriously.

 

Ashton was so surprised by the information that he just received that his leg slipped and he almost dropped the hammer of the gun. His brain had to pause for a few moments to realize that he had made the equivalent of half a million dollars in bribes. Suddenly the price of his favors became much more incredible when he was given this piece of information. A cold sweat began to break out on his body when he realized the stakes he was up against.

 

“Just take it and leave!” He ordered.

 

“Yes, my Lord!” The maid panicked as she bolted out of the study, closing the door firmly behind her. 

 

Ashton finally felt able to relax now that he was alone.

 

BOOM!

 

The hammer of the gun slipped off of his pants leg and struck the back of the striker, sending a spark into the flash pan. A jet of flames and shrapnel was formed as the front of his desk exploded and shredded the chair and door in front of it. Ashton saw several holes ripped through the thick door that reached into the hallway. Fortunately, the maid had left or she might have still been hit from behind the door.

 

He couldn’t even care about it because he was aware of the numbers in the accounting book, even if they were fake. In a month his family brought in several thousand large gold coins, that was all recorded as profits after taxes were paid. The amount of taxes were quite large at nearly fifty percent of all the income earned, but this was only if the income coming in was correct according to the accounting. With what he was beginning to understand about Ashe Grayfield, he was certain that the amount of money coming in was much higher and he was defrauding the kingdom.

 

“My Lord, are you alright?” A voice called through the various holes in the wall and door.

 

“I am great, I have never been better!” Ashton expressed sarcastically.