Ch#142
142
Responding in a calm voice, Barkas slowly straightened his posture.
Eyes hazed as if with fever followed him vacantly. He stared into those eyes for a long moment, and just as he was about to turn away with great reluctance, slender fingertips caught and clung to his sleeve.
“You have to come back quickly.”
“…….”
“It’s inconvenient in many ways if you’re not here to attend to me.”
He bit down hard on the inside of his cheek.
Only after wetting his parched throat with blood and saliva was he finally able to force a voice out.
“……I will return shortly. Please, take a nap while I am gone.”
He gently brushed back her slightly disheveled hair before quietly stepping out of the room.
Inhaling the cold air pooled in the hallway, the heat burning inside him—hot as if he’d downed a bottle of strong liquor—subsided just a fraction.
Raking his hand roughly through his hair, he issued an order to the servant waiting in the corridor.
“Prepare the bathwater in the sauna. Get a change of clothes ready as well.”
He began to stride away, but feeling the tightening constraint of his trousers, he let out a sharp, impatient sigh.
“There is no need to light a fire. Tell them to prepare the water ice-cold.”
Lowell Draven moistened his lips with the premium wine the servants had provided as he gazed out the window at the panoramic view of Raedgo Castle.
As expected of the stronghold of a powerful family whose influence stretched across the East and into the North and South, not a single corner appeared neglected or weak.
Inside the massive fortress, enclosed by double walls, stone buildings designed with functional beauty stood in orderly rows. Between them, waterways of clear, flowing water branched out like a spider’s web.
A massive barrack and training ground occupied the front of the castle, appearing at a glance to house over a thousand troops. Including the Kalmor security forces, there were likely around five thousand soldiers permanently stationed in this area alone.
When factoring in the garrison forces throughout the Eastern Region and the border guards, the total military strength held by the Sheikan Grand Duchy numbered roughly fifty-eight to sixty thousand. This was a scale comparable to the Imperial Army itself.
Furthermore, since most of the Khan people were said to receive cavalry training from childhood, it would be possible to organize an even larger army if additional recruits were mobilized.
Lowell ran various calculations in his head while observing the castle’s internal structure. Suddenly, he felt a chilling presence and whipped his head around.
Standing at the entrance of the wide-open drawing room was a man wearing a black velvet tunic with a grey fur-trimmed cloak draped over his shoulders.
Lowell hurriedly placed a hand over his chest and offered a respectful bow.
“It is late, but I offer my greetings, Your Grace. I am Lowell Draven, Guild Master of the Northern Merchant Guild. Thank you for inviting me to the castle.”
“Sit.”
The man gave a slight nod and took a seat at the end of the long table.
Lowell pulled out a chair to the side and sat, scrutinizing the young lord of the East with a cautious gaze.
The man possessed a refined beauty that resembled a marble sculpture. Delicate features, a bone structure of perfect proportions, and eyes of a rare hue… Judging by appearances alone, he looked more like a troubadour or a stage actor.
Had Lowell not witnessed this man’s monstrous strength firsthand, he would have dismissed him as just another handsome, well-bred noble.
“Finished with your spying?”
Startled by the low, dry resonance of the voice, Lowell broke the uncomfortable silence with an awkward laugh.
“I was momentarily lost in Your Grace’s striking appearance. Please forgive my rudeness.”
The corners of the man’s mouth curled upward. It was a smooth smile, yet one that sent a shiver down the spine.
“You certainly have a silver tongue.”
“Haha, is a merchant’s tongue not his very livelihood? I have frequent occasions to meet with noble personages, so my eloquence has naturally improved.”
“Indeed, it seems you have been using that silver tongue to sow seeds of guile here and there.”
The man spoke smoothly as he accepted a goblet handed to him by a young page.
Lowell forced a smile onto his face, which threatened to stiffen into a mask.
“I am not quite sure what you mean by that….”
“I am already aware that you have been selling information regarding the East’s strategic military points to the North. Let us refrain from a tedious battle of words.”
The man said indifferently, swirling his glass.
Lowell swallowed hard. For a moment, the thought of feigning innocence crossed his mind, but it seemed such an act would only result in provoking the young lord’s wrath.
Deciding on a direct approach, he spoke with a composed expression.
“I am a Northerner, Your Grace. It is my duty to obey the orders of my liege lord.”
“So you are saying you merely followed the orders of Bjorn Blodar Heimdal?”
Lowell bit his lip.
The name of the current Duke Heimdal was Cailus. However, the man before him seemed to already know that the actual power in the North had shifted to the son.
Feeling cold sweat dampen his spine, Lowell spoke urgently.
“What I passed on was information far too trivial to be considered military secrets. It is the kind of thing anyone with a sharp eye could easily discover. Road conditions, logistics routes in the markets, the size of the army…. Is this not the sort of information a trader ought to know? I am aware that Your Grace also collects detailed information on the North’s situation through merchants.”
“True. Normally, using a merchant’s information network to look into a neighbor’s affairs isn’t such a grave matter….”
The man’s voice trailed off.
Lowell watched the cool line of the man’s lips with tense eyes.
After a few seconds of silence that made Lowell’s insides wither with anxiety, the man finally detonated the powder keg.
“However, collaborating with a rebel is a different story, is it not?”
Lowell’s shoulders slumped as if he had been struck by lightning.
He sprang up from his seat with a panicked face.
“T-Treason! That is a gross slander. How can you speak of such terrifying things…!”
“I heard that the circulation of silver coins in the North has increased dramatically since last spring. A very strange thing… considering the scale of trade hasn’t changed much since last year.”
Lowell, who had been putting on a show of indignation, froze solid.
The Grand Duke of Sheikan took a sip of wine and continued slowly.
“The state of the North was so pathetic that I looked into it, and I happened upon something quite interesting. A certain fearless metalsmith made a very convincing replica of the Roem Imperial family’s minting plates. To whom do you think that smith belonged?”
Lowell’s legs gave out, and he slumped back into his chair.
While he had expected some measure of reprimand and pressure during his journey here, he never imagined the man would have uncovered his secrets to the very bottom. He looked up at the young Grand Duke with eyes filled with terror.
The man set down his empty glass with a sharp clack and let out a regretful sigh.
“Violating the Imperial family’s right to mint currency is a capital crime deserving of the execution of three generations. And since those coins were used to fill the pockets of rebels… it will likely be difficult for you to be buried in one piece. I shall offer my condolences in advance.”
Lowell immediately dropped to his knees before the man.
This was no longer the time to weigh the cards his opponent held. There was surely a reason he had been summoned to Raedgo Castle instead of being handed over to the Imperial Court. He cast aside all pride and began to beg.
“I—I had absolutely no intention of joining a rebellion! I was in a position where I didn’t know what would happen to my business or my family’s safety if I didn’t cooperate, so I had no choice but to help with the minting. Please, have mercy!”
“Do you ask for it knowing that overlooking your crime is also an act of treason? What profit is there for me to take such a risk?”
The man tilted his head toward him. His expressionless, beautiful face looked like that of an angel of punishment.
Between trembling lips, Lowell managed to force out his next words.
“If you spare my life just this once, I swear that no matter what happens in the future, your name will never be mentioned. Furthermore, I will become your hands and feet and will not shrink from any dirty work. From this moment on, I am your servant.”
Lowell instinctively knew that this man had invited him here expecting those very words.
The young lord stared at his face in silence before the corner of his mouth quirked slightly. It was a smile as sharp as a honed blade.
“I shall place my trust in that silver tongue of yours for once.”
It seemed she had drifted off to sleep while reading a book in bed.
Talia, breathing softly with her eyelids closed, felt something cool touch her lips and unconsciously opened her mouth. Soon after, a small, bead-like object was pushed inside.
When she bit down lightly, sweet and sour juice spread across her palate. She swallowed the slightly crushed fruit and rubbed her heavy eyelids with the back of her hand; as her vision cleared, Barkas came into focus.
She slightly knit her brows. He was sitting with his elbows resting on his knees, fiddling with something.
“What is that?”
“Pomegranate. The visitors brought it as a gift. Open your mouth.”
He carefully picked out a red seed from the halved pomegranate and brought it to her lips.
Talia stared at it blankly for a moment before slowly opening her mouth. He placed the pomegranate seed inside and immediately began to pick out another.
