Chapter 54

A Resonating Shock

“We are all bound by the laws unseen, within which we are no different than the grains of sand. Yet the arrogance of our existence never ceases to awe me.”

Mind of the Heretic, Vol. IX

News rarely travels quickly through the Lumina Kingdom, and it even more rarely reaches a decent number of people. Yet, within the span of two weeks, a shocking statement had found its way into nearly every home within the Kingdom’s borders, and some from beyond its borders – there was an attempt at Duchess Sylene’s life during which she lost one of her eyes, while the assassin escaped. While the commonmen and commonwomen chattered and gossiped deep into the night, their conversations were hardly filled with insipid worries and anxiousness.

A lot of Lords and Ladies, on the other hand, found it too little to double the number of guards for fear of dying to the unknown assassin. One of the few that didn't make any remarkable moves was Duke Godwind Fyrost who was currently sitting inside his office, wearing loose robes, exposing his hairy chest, sipping wine. There was a strange look in his eyes as he contemplated in silence, one which was interrupted by a set of knocks on his door.

A moment later, a rather handsome face of his youngest son peaked through for a second before he walked in, as well-dressed as ever. Godwind scoffed silently as he indicated the boy sit down on the other end of the massive, lavish table made out of weepwood.

“… I saw you requested more guards.” Godwind said in an indifferent tone, causing Ludwig to swallow a mouthful before replying.

“… y-yes, F-Father…” the boy lowered his head, avoiding the pair of ice-cold eyes staring at his soul.

“Against my explicit orders?”

“…”

“… I will never understand in the name of Light how Lymena has more balls than both you and your brothers,” the Duke said. “Were I a less trustful man, I’d suspect Anna had you two with someone else.”

“…” Ludwig remained silent, having learned a long, long time ago never to speak back at his father.

“Your request is rescinded,” Godwind said. “In addition to your current guards being deployed elsewhere.”

“F-Father…?!” Ludwig’s eyes speared open as he looked up, meeting the ever-frosty eyes of his father who seemed to have no shred of care or love for him.

“It’s my fault I spoilt you two rotten,” Godwind said. “You can’t even have a proper fuck with a woman without a guard in your room. Do you know how embarrassed I am every time I visit other Duchies? No more. You’ve used my name as a shield for long enough; it’s time you learned how to survive.”

“—I…” Ludwig wanted to protest, wanted to explain that he absolutely needed guards because of how many people he'd angered, yet the fear of them was like a drop in the ocean compared to the fear he felt toward his father. Just then, another set of knocks pulled the attention of the two as they glanced back; there, a beautiful young woman draped in a cyan dress with golden linings appeared in full, her eerily silver hair looped twice over into a ponytail, her twilight-eyes meeting the two squarely and fearlessly.

“Brother is here? Shall I come back later, Father?” she ignored Ludwig after a curious glance, causing the latter to gnash his teeth in silence.

“No, Ludwig was leaving,” Godwind said, glancing at his son indifferently for a moment before taking a sip of wine. “Weren’t you, son?”

“A-ah, yes, yes.” Ludwig awkwardly got up and bowed toward his father. “T-thank you for your guidance, as always…” he lowered his head and, in shame, sped past Lymena who merely moved out of the way and closed the door behind him.

“… you took away his guards?” she asked Godwind whose expression finally mellowed out slightly as she sat down opposite of him.

“… ah, on the surface at least,” he sighed. “I’ll still have a few shadow him. He’d die two days in if I didn’t, after all. However much of a wet rag he is, he is still my blood.”

“… will you explain why are we so casual about two extremely important affairs?” she asked directly. “I very much doubt you slept through them, after all.”

"… I received two letters, one two days ago, and one today," he said, pushing two parchments over to her side of the desk, taking another sip of wine. "One is from His Majesty, and the other is… unknown."

“Unknown?” she frowned, glancing at him.

“I found it on my desk this morning,” he said. “No trace of anyone.”

“… Father.”

"It's not," he shook his head at her worried expression, smiling faintly. "Though, if the words in the letter are to be believed, they are associates of some kind."

“… what are they about?” she asked, merely glancing at them without reading, her twilight-colored eyes gleaming in a spark of interest.

“His Majesty probably sent a similar one to every Duchy,” Godwind explained. “It’s the same old spiel, for us to encourage our locals into participating in the tournament. And implying we ought to send one of our own. That’s in addition to informing me my duel has been indefinitely postponed.”

“…” Lymena’s expression distorted momentarily, though recovering quickly. “What about the other?”

“… I think it was only written for me,” Godwind said, picking the letter up and twirling it around his fingers. “The letter explains that it was not an assassination attempt.”

“Huh?”

“Rather, it cites Sylene’s greed and pride as the breaking point,” Godwind said. “Oh, and the fact that the crazy boy, Sunnder, tried to force his sister down before she butchered him.”

“… w-what?!” Lymena’s expression distorted further, a mixture of shock and disbelief.

“Yup, that’s the face I made,” Godwind chuckled, shaking his head. “Is it true? I don’t know. It does sound true, though. I met that boy, once. Full of envy, hate, and anger. I can see him doing something like that in a drunken stupor. Claire killing someone? I don’t know about that. But… hearts are eerily strange. Anything is possible, I suppose.”

“… are they trying to make up a truth so we offer them a roof?”

“No,” Godwind shook his head. “They sent the letter, as they claim, since they’d have some business with us at a later date, and they didn’t want us to see them in a bad light.”

“… Bloodsworn?” Lymena questioned.

“Doesn’t appear to be the case,” Godwind said. “His Majesty would have discovered a Bloodsworn had they used their powers, and last I heard, Lynder is too busy butchering Folkfar Nobles to bother himself with us.”

“… a new player, then.”

“Far more terrifying, no?”

“… hm,” she nodded. “If Myrsells publicized this, then that means they most likely have no clue who the reported assassin is, and that they simply wanted to have the rest of us shake in our boots as well to buy themselves some time to recover."

“Hm,” Godwind nodded. “I also have a feeling they downplayed Sylene’s injury. Not even a fully-healthy soldier endowed with Light survives ‘a loss of an eye’ that easily, let alone a woman with one foot already in the grave. Either she’s already dead, or they sold their entire fortune to invite an Internalizer.”

“… they should have just let her die, no?” Lymena frowned. “Ymmir has consolidated enough influence to weather the temporary storms, and the transition would be far smoother now that both Claire and Sunnder are gone.”

“… she’s the house’s symbol,” Godwind said. “It would be like me dropping dead out of nowhere. Certainly, you’d be able to continue my legacy, but our House would still suffer far too much damage.”

“… that’s true,” Lymena sighed, rubbing her temples. “But still… I don’t know. Would she really risk her House for pride and greed?”

“If the story of Claire and Sunnder is true,” Godwind said. “Wouldn’t you?”

“… ah. It does sound more and more plausible, now that I think about it.”

“We make no conclusions,” he said. “And no absolute assumptions. If the words in the letter are to be believed, we will be approached at a later date. By then, if we still don’t have concrete truth, we’ll walk in with the pretense of trusting their version. Rather, I’m still inclined to believe them over Myrsells; they had no reason to inform us and could have simply used another way of approaching us if they absolutely needed to. This feels more like an introduction rather than 'hey, we aren't really that bad'."

“… it’s too early. I’ll look into it – all the newcomers over the past year and I’ll dig up as much as I can about them.”

“… start with little Ollie’s new Dacent,” Godwind remembered something all of a sudden, speaking out while rubbing his chin. “I hear he popped out of nowhere and is to this day rarely seen.”

“… Dacent?” Lymena glanced at him with a smirk. “Really, Father? Maybe you really have grown old, to fear a Dacent.”

“… I’d fear a slave with a knife in his hand pressed against my throat, Ly,” Godwind smiled back. “Let alone an enigma we know nothing about. As should you.”

"Yes, Father," she bowed while getting up, ready to leave. "Right. Who will we send for the tournament?"

“Send Rythorne.”

“… he’ll embarrass us.” She said, sighing.

“Let him,” Godwind shrugged. “He might finally be useful for us, helping other Houses underestimate us.”

“… I’ll prepare everything, then.”

“I’m counting on you.”

“As always, thank you for your guidance, Father. I will take my leave, now.”

“Godspeed.” Godwind said, resorting to silence and deep thought once she left. Despite being the clever minx she was, he knew that Lymena still far underestimated the ripple effect that the two news would have on the Kingdom. The Holy War, he mused. It’s like the whole world is playing the pieces in just the right way to make it as interesting and as bloody as possible… haai…