Chapter 125: Fourteenth Episode: Chapter 7 (2/2)
”Oh, my grandfather's body had not been the greatest, and the massive workload did a number on him, so…” Minsk shrugged in helplessness.
”Duke Kachev is a role model for the ministers of the empire. You should be proud of him, young man.”
”Yes, I am proud of my family!”
Dortmund smiled slightly, ”What about your mother? Is she well?”
Immediately, the young man's face darkened. His mother is the Emperor's lover, everyone in the Titan Empire knew that. He only felt shame toward her.
”My mother… is still the same.” Minsk Drakas Ferdinand was uneasy at this point. He realized Duke Andrew wasn't really interested in him.
”So… My lord, I shall take my leave. My visit here today was to extend the invitation to you in place of my grandfather to a private feast. Here is the invitation letter.”
”Ah, thank you for the trip!” Dortmund took the invitation letter lined with golden embellishments.
Minsk turned toward Young Lady Sasha, but he realized Sasha was a little far away, stopping him from speaking more.
”Sir, Young Lady, House Ferdinand will be looking forward for your attendance.” Minsk gave his superior a bow, and left led by an officer of Narcissus Knights.
Looking at the back of Viscount Ferdinand, Dortmund sighed, ”Sasha, come here.” He opened his arms at his young daughter.
Sasha's tears burst out in her father's broad chest, ”Brother Oscar… Is he no longer coming back?”
Dortmund smiled, ”Did the viscount tell you this?”
Sasha looked into his father eyes, ”How did you know?”
Duke Andrew winked at his daughter, ”it's not difficult to guess. I can see that young man likes you, so naturally he wouldn't want Oscar to come back to you.”
Sasha had a sudden air of seriousness, ”Father, Viscount Ferdinand is not that kind of person!”
”Thank God of Light!” Dortmund led his daughter to the chairs, ”My girl! Thank goodness! You call him Viscount Ferdinand, that means you two are just normal friends.”
”What are… I don't understand what you mean, father.”
”What I mean is, my corolla! It would be in your best interest to keep a distance from him! Better yet… You have to leave Dulin today!” Duke Andrew was serious.
”Father! I don't understand! Why do I have to leave Dulin?” Sasha was shocked.
Dortmund held his daughter's shoulder, this lady is the treasure of the whole family!
”Sasha, you've always been an obedient child, listen to me! In a little while, Ferry will bring you and Countess Antonia away from here to a safe place. Major General Reynold will receive you then, and he will arrange for everything you need.”
Sasha kept shaking her head, ”Father, of course I will obey you, but I am no longer a child! Could you not at least tell me why I have to leave Dulin? Besides, who's Major General Reynold?”
”Reynold Hewitt Preston!” Duke Andrew released his knitted brows, ”Have you forgotten? He's the grandson of Marshal Alan, and has a position in the ranks of our knights.”
”Father!” Sasha objected, ”That's not what I meant, I don't care who Reynold is! I only wanted to know why you are sending-”
”Sasha!” Dortmund stopped her, ”Look at me, and tell me the truth! What else did the Viscount Minsk Drakas Ferdinand say to you?”
Sasha turned away, ”Why do you ask?”
”Answer me!” Dortmund shook her shoulders,utilizing his parental authority.
”He… he said he didn't want to see me being sad, and that he would protect me forever… something like that!”
”As expected!” Dortmund sneered, his cold expression caused his daughter to shrink away in surprised.
”Is… is there a problem, father?” Sasha asked timidly. She didn't want to bring up Viscount Ferdinand, she had already said she wasn't interested in him, but the viscount didn't seem to know what rejections mean.
”Yes, there is. And it's a serious issue!” Duke Andrew let go of his daughter and sat on the side, ”Just as I thought, someone, or some people in our house, would rather see you together with that viscount.”
”Father! Are you teasing me?” Sasha was visibly shaken, ”You have got to tell me what happened!”
”Promise me, Sasha, do not bring this up with anyone else!” Dortmund nodded seeing his daughter's response, ”Alright, listen. Before this, when the house was discussing about Oscar's abduction, I realized those conservative geezers and troublemaking delinquents kept silence, coupled with the flaws that appeared in the military system in Dulin and the appearance of people who shouldn't have! All this indicated someone in our House was involved in something dangerous, like betrayal and conspiracy!”
Sasha's mouth dropped wide open. She couldn't believe what was being told to her, but it was the leader of the House who was telling her this.
”So... what you mean is that... the failure of the rescue operation... is because of one of our own?”
Duke Andrew nodded lightly.
”They should go to hell!” Sasha jumped up from the sofa, ”What are they thinking? Father, you should look for this person as soon as possible, and then...”
”My child!” Duke Andrew hugged his disconcerted daughter in his arms, ”Don't think about these things, your brother Oscar is still fighting to survive, and I am too in Dulin, what you need to do is to leave here as soon as possible! Not only that, you should only trust me, Lady Antonia, Ferry, and Major General Reynold Hewitt Preston right now. Aside from the few of us, don't listen to anybody else, and don't think about anything else.”
”No! No!” Sasha struggled to get away from her father's grip, ”I don't want to leave you! What will you do if I left? If none of those people were trustworthy, wouldn't you be left alone in Dulin?”
”Listen to me Sasha!” Duke Andrew roared, but his daughter only shook her head violently.
”Alright, fine! You stubborn girl, when did you turn into little Oscar?” Dortmund closed his distance with Sasha and whispered in her ears.
”Figg?” Young Lady Sasha had already squealed in joy.
”My God, Sasha!” Dortmund covered his daughter's mouth, ”You're still so careless! Be quiet! Shush!”
Sasha giggled embarrassedly, and settled into her father's arms.
”Okay, now, you should feel better!” Dortmund looked at the entrance as he said, where Ferry was already waiting, ”Okay Sasha, go now! The next time we meet will be when the whole family come together again!”
”Would brother Oscar be there?” Sasha asked hopefully, her blood seemingly frozen in anticipation.
”I promise! Oscar would appear in front of you like an effervescent piglet!”
Sasha jumped in joy, and kissed her father's face. However, her face turned sour almost immediately, who could possibly give a guarantee like that? ”Father, please be careful!”
”Of course, haha!” Duke Andrew kissed his beloved daughter goodbye and saw her take leave through the secret path.
Colonel Peter entered the hall and looked at his commander, slightly spaced out. As Duke Andrew's Confidential Secretary, Peter knew this perfectly. If Marshal needed to keep something a secret even from one of his closest officers, a catastrophic event may soon befall them.
”What is the matter, Peter?” Dortmund finally noticed his right hand man standing beside him.
”I have the result!” Colonel Peter opened his document folder, ”Narcissus County Front confirmed Lord Berkley from Military Investigation Bureau had passed his daily commitments to assistant in the Eighth Month, and the bureau had not had communication with him since. There is something else...”
”Is it hard to say?” Dortmund smiled.
”Um... yes. It's about Count Racheff Andrew Nedgabel.”
”Tell me!” The commander of Narcissus's face fell. If his analysis is correct, he will be met with a threat from one of his bloodline.
”Lord Racheff Andrew Nedgabel had already lost touch with the bureau for half a month, but his department had never reported this to higher authority. It was only discovered when Lady Celia asked about Racheff's whereabout!”
”Peter, tell me, what do you think of those self-proclaimed progressive and conservative in our House?” Dortmund asked suddenly.
”The progressive...” Colonel Peter gave the question a long thought, this question involves the deep-rooted conflicts within House Andrew, ”I think the ideas of the progressives would be more realistic. As the economic developments of the people and the war stabilizes, people would of course want a wider, better living space, so the expansion the progressive suggested would attract young people who wanted these. After all, to those young people, armed family would sound too rigid for their ideals no matter what.”
”What about the conservative?” Duke Andrew nodded as he spoke.
Colonel Peter had let go of his reservations, his thought pattern was also under the influence of both parties, ”The conservative are even easier to understand! There will always be a group of people who are afraid of changes. Some older people and the devout believers of the church's teachings would definitely not wish Andrew to defy the God's will, so they only want the Persians and the Morisette Dynasty to maintain the status quo!”
”It basically boils down to one thing.” Colonel Peter didn't mind concluding his thoughts, ”The difference between the conservative and the progressive lies in their attitude toward the imperial household. The former think it should stay as it is now, and the latter think it is imperative to escape from the control. That's all!”
”That's exactly right! Very concise!” Dortmund almost wanted to applaud his Confidential Secretary. He pulled his secretary to his side, ”Peter, do you know why the representatives of both the progressive and conservative sides, Berkley Andrew Nedgabel and my son would disappear at the same time?”
”They... they must have reached some sort of agreement!” Colonel Peter dared not say too much, he was trying to avoid using the word 'betrayal'.
”No, no! Their ideals and wants were fundamentally different, so it's impossible they reached an understanding and agreement!” Duke Andrew kept shaking his head, and as he finishes his face turned into something that can only be described as vicious.
”Do you know something? I am very sure, both representatives are working together, and this collaboration is only to ensure their survival, because there is someone who could turn the whole chessboard around. He would be able to break the current relationship between the imperial family and ours, and at the same time strengthen the hold the imperial family has on us! The benefits to both parties were threatened because of him, so they will definitely work together! I should've realized sooner!”
Dortmund held his head in his hands. He lamented slightly about pushing Oscar onto the front end of the intrigue as someone with such a special identity. Obviously, most people in the House was not ready for his youngest son's double identity!
”Marshal!” Peter's voice caught Dortmund's attention, ”I have followed your instruction, and summoned the guards from Swan Hill Castle and Kenshin Palace. They have already been placed in all corners of the manor. Unless it was the Emperor himself who wanted your life, no one would be able to even threaten your safety.”
”I'm not worried about this!” Dortmund waved his hand dismissively, ”My life is worth nothing. Even if I die, the power in the house would still be passed down according to my will. I'm only concerned about my young son, my little Oscar! He is in the center of the power struggle. If he could return safely, none of those plotting would work out!”
”So... what can we do now?” Peter was lost, unlike he had ever experienced before.
”We wait!” Duke Andrew squeezed out the words with difficulty.
***************
”W-w-wait?” The little stammerer stumbled on the words with even more difficulty, ”How, how, how long more should we, should we wait?
Ricky rolled his eyes, it was a chore talking to this pretty lady, ”What else can we do? The water level of the streams is high right now, if we just choose one waterway to stop, what if the water ebbs and we get stranded?”
”I-I-I'm only, only asking!” The little stammerer felt a little misunderstood. The ship was full of injured people, and the past few days, there were only her and Mr. Edward the Scissorhands taking care of everyone. She wanted only to get rid of their pursuers, and get as far away from Deiss as she could.
”Hey! Little girl!” Ricky propped himself up onto a sitting position, the stammerer supported him hastily, ”Don't worry, alright? The Deiss ships could never catch up to us, and they could never stop us! Besides, the upstream of Laufenkamen River is wide, it's even harder for land troops to get close to us. We need to only stake out for a few days before we'll arrive at the jurisdiction of the Olliers Kingdom. From Olliers, we'll sail into the sea and we'll be able to go home through Don River!”
”Oh!” The stammerer nodded, her eyes pinkish. That was for a sailor who didn't make it. These few days, she had seen too many deaths.
”Bring me to the deck, I wanna walk around a bit.” Ricky caressed the girl's head, as if he was her father.
She blinked a few times before supporting the liar extraordinaire out of his cabin. The two stayed very close to each other, the man's breath circling her neck, it's as if his musky smell and the ticklish feeling it brings were trying to drill into her heart.
Laufenkamen River showed its charm in the silence of the night, its indigo-colored waves flowing soundlessly as the night draft breezed, bringing the fresh scents of aquatic plants and muddy riverbank. The night sky was reflected in the quiet water, shining luminously like diamonds. The river wore the star lights on its back, forming a mesmerizing strip of light on the surface of the river. The first quarter moon shone its brilliance, its projection on the water as sharp as a knife.
”Such beautiful stars!”
Ricky felt a little weird. This was her first sentence that is not choppy…
”Ow! Ssss...” The liar extraordinaire's wound was hit!
”You, you-you're laughing at, at me!”
”I did not!” Ricky explained.
”Y-you did!”
Ricky looked at the girl's timid eyes. He didn't know what she was trying to avoid, or what she looked forward to. He only remembered the girl's silhouette, she was busy on the ship, yet she still tried to entertain the discouraged men with smiles and her funny accent. She seemed to have been by his side for several days! So then... Ricky realized the beautiful girl had closed her eyes, her lips luscious. He leaned in, anticipating the pressing of their lips.
”Deiss army! They're here!” The barrelman on top of the mast yelled.
The immobile ship immediately leapt into action, even the lips parted before they get a chance to meet.
Sailors poured out of each walkway, pulling the ropes hung on the mast, raising the damaged sail. The ship shot forward as archers and javelin throwers fall into their formation in the violent swaying of the ship. They stared vehemently into the distance, the starry skies had broke into shades of red and purple, those are the pursuers in Deiss warships propelled by sails and oars.
Ricky smiled bitterly and brushed aside the hair of the girl in his arms.
”These Deiss hyenas just won't give up!”
The girl responded to the older man with her sweet smile.
Dark clouds spreaded all over the sky as the moon corona traced bright silver outlines on them.
Birds soared through the sky as the tree branches quivered, sending the leaves into a cacophony of swishing. In this muted night, all the sounds and sceneries were colored with a layer of sadness, as if it was the only scenery suitable to end this tragic story.
***************
The Deiss caught up, they closed into the woods carefully. The army dogs barked, and the Deiss Warriors lunged out of their hiding place.
The grayback wolfdog circled the body. It was a little disappointed, there was no resistance, nor was there biting that it hoped for, this target was just lying there without a sound.
The Deiss Warriors got to the site, and flipped the body with their shoes.
Aeolia opened her eyes slowly. She saw the sky, it was so, so magnificent!
”Where's the medic? I need a medic here!” Harriens yelled into the woods. The commanding officer lifted Aeolia's chin, smiling dirtily, ”Don't die on me, you're my savior after all.”