A Dragon’s Curiosity

 

 

“The rest of the factions are basically led by the Dukedoms respectively, making them the Silverwood, Blackburn and Whitehall factions.

Silverwood is in charge of merchants and industry, Blackburn mostly deals with lumber and mining, Whitehall oversees husbandry and farming, although that‘s only a very very rough outline.

This time, someone from the Whitehall faction either instigated Baron Summerguard to act or saw some potential in the conflict and intervened to make the mess bigger and bigger.

Baron Bellridge, on the other side, belongs to the Silverwood faction and received support once it was no longer a matter between barons.

True to the saying, soldiers will face soldiers, knights will knights and generals will face generals.

At the core of the matter, it‘s not difficult for a Viscount to intervene and settle the matter of reparations if it only pertains to a conflict between the Summerguard and Bellridge houses, but it broke down into a confrontation between the factions eventually.“

It had to be said, despite being casual and laid back most of the time, Henry had a gift when it came to politics.

He relied on the bits and pieces along with his knowledge about the factions to infer the actual course of events once he heard the end of the court case, figuring out the cause and effect.

Contrary to that, even the Dukes brought along secretaries and the young candidate from the Silverwood house had the foundation, but failed to put his knowledge into practice and wasted his chance.

As for the nobles on the benches, they could at most recount their experience to their descendants, the place was already squeezed as is, any potential heirs would have to stand in the back with the commoners if they wanted to attend court.

Perhaps it was the different starting point between the heir of a Duke and those below, yet Henry easily grasped the different intentions behind the incident.

 

“Baron Bellridge got compensation and a compliment from the king, just like Baron Summerguard who lost a bit of profit at most.

Together with more contributions and enough development, in several dozen turns they might have the chance to go from an inherited Baron title to Viscount, it depends how much backing they have in their factions.

Regardless of anything else, they made a large profit and that‘s enough for them.

As for the Whitehall faction, it managed to warn the others that they have a method to deal with them as long as they don‘t get caught, whereas the Silverwood faction protected one of their own and limited Whitehall's gains.

Third parties can be adventurers or members of the church, if anyone really gets caught breaking the King‘s verdict, the consequences might not be as simple as a fine.“

It was fine when a situation was not covered by the law, the court sessions were held exactly to address issues not covered by the original regulations.

But knowingly breaking the King‘s ruling was a very different concept, not even contribution could save someone once they incurred the ruler‘s wrath.

Even the different Dukedoms had to strive for the King‘s favour, a slight unhappiness mentioned against any noble was the same as putting a bounty on their life and title.

Hearing Nisha‘s summary of her thoughts, Henry approved of her train of thought.

“There are probably other underlying reasons, Counts often contest over resources between their estates, whereas Barons can get into conflict over small matters as they need face and contributions the most.

It‘s the standard way for confrontations that end up in the court, no one is simple here.

Sometimes the motivation is as simple as not wanting to let someone else benefit, yet everyone also wants to profit and secretly schemes against others.

Pretty much the same as a bandit‘s den, everyone hides a dagger behind their smile.“

Perhaps the young man would have had even more choice words for his disdain in regards to the noble circle, fortunately the timing did not allow him to continue.

No matter how well the enchantment worked, the lounge was not able to prevent others from reading his lips and who knew if an expert capable of that was among the audience.

At this point of time, King Cederic gave the ceremonial master a sign, who immediately knocked his staff on the ground to command the attention of everyone present.

 

“The next plea seeker may enter the court! Your Majesty, the King, in his grace and wisdom wishes to ease the burden of his people.

Step forward and explain your request!“

Even the dragon had to admit that the ceremonial master was rather commanding with his sceptre and forceful voice.

While part of that could be explained with the unknown magic in his voice, it was also a talent of his, giving the whole procedure an aura of grandeur.

Perhaps waiting for this exact moment, an elderly noble was supported by a man about a generation younger than him, tearfully approaching the stairs beneath the throne.

Plopping down on his knees, the older man cried out greatly.

“Your majesty, please give my poor grandson justice! He was killed maliciously!“

It was normal for the court to turn rowdy and erupt in discussions when a new request was opened, given that the factions often had a hand in these matters and had to protect their own interests.

But this time, the accusation was too heavy and it would not be easy to claim responsibility for the act.

No matter how much the nobles schemed against each other and suffered losses or snatched resources, it was taboo to go for the family members and harm them, not to mention killing them.

Due to the competition between the rivalling parties, it was still the kingdom that benefited most at the end of the day.

Although one side would lose out on something, the victor managed to bring away greater spoils and consequently turned those resources into wealth.

The general tax in Leandar was rather low, at about one in ten, which was lower than the Terus Empire, the Twin Kingdoms and the Desert Cities, which generally pleased the commoners, who could pay in coins and goods.

These small and innocent sums added up and all needed up in the treasury of the royal family, growth in the kingdom‘s resources meant a growth in wealth.

However, if the nobility started to pillage and plunder each other, destroying what they could not move away, it would not only harm the nobles and their families, destroy the security of the commoners, it also ruined the kingdom‘s strength and foundation.

The king would be the first to step in and hand out punishment, so the crime of killing a noble was a very grave matter.

While the older man, who lacked the grace and taste in fashion to be a proper gentleman, failed to choke his sobs and reply, it was the middle aged man supporting him that answered to His Majesty.

 

“Pray tell, what woe has befallen your family?”

Due to the serious nature of the incident, King Cederic directly addressed the griefing elder, instead of going through the ceremonial master.

Although some individual nobles eventually grew their confidence to the point where it potentially became their downfall, few of them regarded them above the law or thought they could get away with it if they started murdering rivals.

Whereas the younger generation often had yet to inherit a title and become proper nobility, for most it was only a matter of time until they obtained a lesser title before one of them overtook the role of the head of the family.

If the descendants of noble Houses wantonly died left and right, eventually no one would be left to keep their line alive.

“Your Majesty, pardon me if anything I say is unsuitable for court, it’s my first time attending.

My father-in-law asked me to come over, he is too stricken by grief to answer.

It’s about my son and my nephew, his grandson, who attend the Royal Academy. There was an accident and the staff asked us to come.”

Seeing an elderly noble choke and sob on the steps beneath the throne was rather wretched, some of the audience could resonate with his grief, while others could at least show some understanding even if they did not personally experience it before.

In a political arena, where every emotion was carefully studied beforehand and weaponized, it was a rare sight to see such deep bereavement.

“The recent incident at the Royal Academy? Only one such matter comes to Our mind.

Please elaborate on the details more, so that our devoted subjects can catch up to the current state of affairs.”

With the royal seal of approval, no one would reprimand the current applicants for speaking too much and wasting their time.

While some of the guests already knew parts of the story, no one dared to dig too deeply into the privacy of the Royal Academy with forceful means, so different rumours went around the high society.

Choked sobs formed the background atmosphere as the younger man briefly collected his thoughts and straightened out his thoughts.

Speaking before the ruler of a nation was always an ordeal, not to mention attention from all the major and minor in attendance.

Since the king asked him to provide background, he started rather earlier than to be asked for amendments later on.

 

“My humble self is honoured to have been appointed as Baron Stratherd following the exploits of my grandfather, who passed down the title after clearing a stretch of Wilderness.

It was the youngest son of Viscount Whitford that ran away from home in the past and met my sister, who he eventually deigned to marry.

They lived on our compound while they raised their firstborn, a son, and a daughter.

Once the children were old enough to walk and talk, the son of Viscount Whitford took them back to meet their grandfather.

Since our families are close, my own firstborn went along with them.

My father-in-law, the viscount, forgave his son and adored the children greatly, as he has always been an upstanding and generous man.

Aside from regular visits, it was two turns ago that he decided that the young generation should enjoy the best education in the kingdom and arranged for them to travel to the capital and enrol in the Royal Academy.”

While it did not cover the entirety of the baron‘s life story, it was nearly the same, he was only spared the booing of the audience since the king already gave his agreement to hear the man out.

Fortunately, the middle aged man did not embellish the details or took the opportunity to promote the virtues of his family line, or perhaps even the Dukes would have censured him regardless of anything.

Simultaneously he added a subtle praise for the ruler‘s wisdom, naming the Royal Academy as the greatest education institution.

There was a truth in it as well, despite how other schools and clans had complete heritages and their own advantages when it came to their specialities, the Royal Academy had the most comprehensive and wide reaching spread of paths available for young talents.

For example, the [Blue Sails School] always produced outstanding sailors and very few dared to compete with their vessels on the open sea, but without talent in water element mana or aura, it was pointless to apply to that school.

The Royal Academy, on the other hand, offered possible advancement paths for all elements and nearly all professions.

And as the nominal head of the school, all the praise the academy earned fell back on the king, who looked quite satisfied with the renown he enjoyed from that.