NOVEL SIMPLE Chapter 30 : A tale of two pawns
Serge's POV
March 22, Year 853, about an hour before the royal courtroom saga. The heir of Flakenberg Barony walks into the empress' chamber. This was his first time meeting the empress. Since he didn't know what the agenda was and why he was summoned in secret, Serge couldn't stop but feel an eerie feeling on entering the chamber.
"Please sit down", a gentle voice echoed from the far end of the chamber as the empress made her way to her seat. The tone of the voice eased his mind as it now confirmed that he wasn't called here to be punished for upsetting any political machinations that the empress had set into motion unbeknownst to him. As he greeted the empress and sat down, he couldn't help but question himself why he was brought here.
"I had a quick chat with Vivienne the other day which I am sure you are aware of. The child has fallen head over heels for you it looks like." informed the empress as she smirked and continued " Do not fret you haven't caused any problems with my political moves. In fact I wish to help you achieve your goal which I'm assuming is to use Vivienne to take over the Sterling family?"
The open discussion of the empress about his plans sent a shiver through his spine at how the empress came to know but he quickly realized the scale of the empress' intelligence network. If the scale of the intelligence network of the Sterlings was also similar then he stood no chance of succeeding in his plan. He thought he hit it big when he was able to easily win over the lady of house sterling with easy tactics that work on commoners but if either the Sterlings or Vivienne found out about his deeds not only him but his entire family might be brought to ruin. Aligning with the empress was the best option for him now and based on the fact that the empress herself acknowledged that Vivienne had fallen madly in love with him he was now confident that his plans were working. Since the empress was opposing House Demontfort, he was sure they wouldn't target him or if they did the empress might protect him now that she had shown interest in his plans.
"Yes, Your Majesty. That was my plan. To be honest I didn't expect it to go smoothly. Typically I find it very hard to seduce maids but as for Lady Vivienne? It went too smoothly that I'm suspicious if it was a setup." replied Serge to which the empress started laughing and soon responded with, " Yes that's right Serge it did go quite smoothly. But the reason is not what you think. Count Bartholomew's father was originally a part of the aristocratic faction. His father contributed quite nicely to help me rise to the position of empress. I was willing to reward them sufficiently but none of that was enough. They coveted the position of the royal houses and wanted to rise to the title of Marquis. I strongly hindered their progress in the same as their ambition would soon be the throne itself if I had allowed them to rise to the position of Marquis. Count Bartholomew feeling betrayed by my family decided to quit the aristocratic faction and join the Demontforts thereby joining the Emperor's faction. As I had informed you, I had spoken to Vivienne and the child is quite naive. The reason your plan went smoothly was probably because she was raised to be a naive spoiled brat who would madly fall in love with Luke and allow them to take in one of the several heirs she was supposed to have with Luke as the next successor to force the royal family to accept them as a Count. They didn't expect you to interfere in the middle. Once they return to the empire I am pretty sure they will stop at nothing from destroying you. Unless,... No, the other possibility is too slim"
Serge couldn't stop sweating. Looks like he had ruined not a simple plan but a plan of several generations for the Sterlings. If things stood as they are now, there is no way he would make it out alive even with the empress' help. Unless... what if it was the other possibility that the empress mentioned? He had to know.
"Pardon my rudeness your highness but what is the other possibility?" questioned Serge sweating profusely.
"The alternate is that the Count cares too much about his daughter which is why he raised her to be naive and spoilt and expects her to get married to a gentleman who cares for her and is also capable of running the County. It's not impossible to assume this as Count Bartholomew Sterling has no male heirs." replying, the empress continued, " Also, I will inform Vivienne to meet up with you and plan for what happens in the trial. Don't worry if it's the former, I will protect you and your family. I need you to elope with Vivienne and escape to your Barony. When the time is right I will call you back and you can fight your claim for the right to be head of the house Sterling. But that is only if you pledge your loyalty to me as your father once did."
" This humble servant pledges his loyalty to Her Majesty the empress and takes an oath to work towards the best interest of the empress for all her future endeavors." replied Serge.
The empress could hold off her joy. She got not one but two pawns working for her and if they succeed the power of house sterling is as good as hers. With that, she dismissed Serge from her chambers and started to proceed towards the Royal Courtroom.
----------------------------------------
Clarice's POV
Clap Clap Clap. Clarice controlled the carriage while Luke was inside it. The carriage driver was killed by the bandits and Clarice had not choice but to change her outfit to that of a maid while using the trick that Luke taught her a few hours ago to change her appearance as she drove the carriage. It was not too long after that they arrived at a small town that was controlled by a Barony that was loyal to the Demontforts. Since the travel of Luke was covert, Clarice decided to opt to stay in an Inn instead of the Baron's house. Now that the carriage driver was dead she had to find someone willing to take them to the Abyssal Borderlands or hire someone willing to drive their carriage there. Since time was of the essence, and since it was not her first time interacting with commoners, Clarice swiftly let Luke stay at the inn once she checked the perimeter to ensure they weren't being followed after which she arranged for a driver who was willing to drive them to the Abyssal Borderlands for a few silver coins which, to be honest, was quite the bargain. Now all that was left was to spend the rest of the day in the town and depart again the next day. These kinds of hiccups were expected and since she was left in charge of Luke's travel she had accounted for such delays.
When she returned to the inn she expected Luke to be ready to take a trip around the town. But she was surprised that he was sleeping. She was disappointed a bit but she didn't know why. She didn't know why but she wanted to touch his forehead. Her instinct was right. Luke was burning with fever. Although it was a trivial issue for nobles who could heal themselves with cores, she was surprised that Luke didn't heal himself. Did he like Vivienne so much that he even put his health on the line? Her heart ached a bit. She didn't know why. Although she wouldn't know the reason for it now, Clarice would soon come to understand that the reason she felt this way was jealousy. There was only one bed available in the inn as it was a small one and not one that particularly garnered a lot of interest except for small merchants. The more wealthy ones would prefer to pay the Baron to host them in his house considering it is a small town. After injecting a little energy into Luke from the core, she got in bed and decided to call it a day. It was already evening and since they had to start the journey again the next morning, it was best to call it a day. She didn't know if the fever would rise again in the night as this was the first time she had seen someone close to her experience it. She hesitating for several minutes she decided to hug Luke. Yes it was because she wanted to ensure that if his fever rose she could heal him. Yes that was right she was doing it for Luke not because she wanted to. Or so she convinced herself.