Alaric was currently sitting in his study, having been notified that something major had happened in the court of the throne room.
Their information channels hadn’t entirely been killed or cut off.
House Orlen might’ve been politically isolated but that was only a temporary situation. It didn’t mean that all the noble houses were in a life and death feud with House Orlen.
It wasn’t a matter of being enemies, but of profit.
After reading through what happened in the throne room, Alaric could only sigh.
The battle wasn’t the main issue at all. They would’ve latched onto anything that gave them an excuse to delay the promotion.
Alaric realised he had been worrying about the wrong thing when he heard the rumors.
It didn’t matter if he came clean and reported the version Alice and his hunting squad knew: that the group of unknown people and the beasts had fought each other, and he had arrived afterward and killed the remaining few squires.
The officials sent by the court would use the excuse of finding out the truth themselves to delay the promotion.
What a joke. Why would they simply accept the testimony of the person whose territory they were there to inspect? Of course they would investigate the incident themselves.
As for the Divine Inspectors, even if they were deployed, they could trace the connections of the past, but they couldn’t recreate what had actually happened.
For example, if the Divine Inspectors used their special eyes on the corpses Alaric possessed, they would see countless lines connecting them to people, places, and things from their past. One of those lines would lead back to him.
Alaric had no fear that his combat prowess would be found out.
Yes, if a Divine Inspector were deployed, they would discover that the majority of the corpses’ past connections led back to House Yuglev’s territory. But would they reveal that information?
Alaric wasn’t sure why the king prohibited the Divine Inspectors from being deployed for inspection.
Was it to impede him by keeping House Yuglev’s involvement from coming out in the open? Or some other reason?
Alaric shook his head, putting that out of his mind.
He folded the paper containing information of what happened in the throne room and left the study.
His attendants were standing outside, their faces etched with worry. One of them spoke.
"Young Lord, Steward Edwin is asking if you have any solution for the current situation. If you don’t have anything to say, he’ll take the necessary actions to reassure the people in our territory."
Alaric immediately scowled when he heard that.
The previous Alaric didn’t care when the Steward effectively acted as the head of the house because he was too busy getting drunk. But that definitely needed to stop now.
From the memories I received, it is clear that Marchioness Orlen declared me as the temporary head before leaving. Has power gotten to this Steward’s head?
He didn’t reply to his attendants, walking past them, towards the Steward’s study.
He didn’t care that the door was closed, he opened it with just a slight push of his hand and entered.
"KNOCK AND ASK FOR PERMISSION BEFORE ENTERING!"
Steward yelled even as he worked on the papers before him with his head down.
Alaric folded his hands on his chest and sneered. "Gotten to used to stolen authority Steward?"
Recognising the voice, Edwin looked up in panic before he stood up and bowed.
"I am extremely sorry Young Lord, I didn’t know it was you."
"And? You’ll only be polite to me? Is that why you behaved properly when we met a few times?
"What if it wasn’t me? Is this how you behave with others?"
Edwin kept his head down, not replying, but he inwardly grumbled.
What is this nonsense you’re preaching to me? Aren’t you the same?
Just because you’re behaving differently for a few days, you believe yourself to be a changed man?
Everyone in the mansion had been talking about how the young lord had changed, and Steward was perfectly aware of that.
But Edwin also knew that this was how the young lord would normally act when he was sober and sulking in his room after being rejected by a woman at a tavern.
No one knew about it because the task of contacting young lord in that state would usually be thrusted upon him. He would be all polite and behaved when he was sober.
He was, after all, still an heir to a noble house. Alaric had been raised with knowledge of propriety instilled into him.
He had only turned completely different and tarnished the reputation of House Orlen after he got addicted to drinking once Marchioness Orlen left for the border with the army and majority of the powerhouses of House Orlen.
A few days of being sober and you’re here to lord over me?
Just as Steward grumbled nonstop, Alaric spoke again.
"From here onwards, you’ll stop making decisions for House Orlen. Am I clear?"
Edwin looked at Alaric’s expression in panic, as if to see if he was joking. The young lord had never demanded authority in the past! He was extremely carefree!
Seeing that Edwin wasn’t answering, Alaric raised an eyebrow. "Do you not love your current post?"
Steward Edwin finally squeezed out a bitter smile. "I certainly love fulfilling my duties as a steward, Young Lord."
"Good. Stay within the boundaries of your duties, then. Consult me before making any decisions regarding the House."
As Alaric walked away, he inwardly cursed.
I don’t fear smart enemies, but stupid teammates. If this idiot took some action, it could have very well ruined my plan.
As he walked back to his room to resume his session of constructing mana channels, he contacted Zephyr.
The baby dragon was extremely important for the plan he had in mind!
By the time the sky had darkened, the rumors had circulated all across the House Orlen’s territory.
Nearly everyone knew that unknown people had entered the Moliken Forest, fought powerful beasts, all the while remaining hidden from House Orlen itself.
Unease spread throughout the territory. Safety was one of the paramount factors people take into consideration when living in the territory of a noble house.
If this continued for a long time, one could even say that the official power of those in authority in House Orlen might reduce by a small factor.
Under Alaric’s orders, House Orlen hadn’t stepped forward to reassure the public either.
They didn’t even announce that the intruders had been killed.
Instead, on Alaric’s command, the servants responsible for managing information subtly allowed the rumors to spread beyond House Orlen’s territory and into the lands of other nobles.
Due to the existence of magic items made by magic towers, communication across large distances wasn’t exactly rare.
The next morning, when Alaric woke up, he read updates and realised that the situation was akin to a keg of explosive, ready to blow up at the tiniest ignition.
Since the news had exploded out of control, it was even possible that the officials might arrive early to conduct the inspections.
Exactly what I wanted.
Alaric thought, sipping on his morning coffee.