"I am ashamed to face you."
Hugo asked his wife for forgiveness after dealing with everything. The terrible things that happened to her, and the even more horrifying things that could have happened, that he didn't even want to think about, the ringleader of the incident, they were all related to him.
The Count of Ramis and the Countess of Falcon, who were believed to have conspired together. Hugo didn't know exactly how the two of them had hit it off, but he knew that the two of them held ill feelings towards him. But because they couldn't dare to touch him, they targeted his wife.
Especially since the Countess of Falcon was involved, he really could not lift his head in front of his wife. It was an act committed by his ex-lover. It was the result of insufficient settlement and inability to deal with things neatly.
"You must have been disappointed with me."
Lucia wanted to comfort her husband, who has a bitter look on his face. She did not think that this incident was his fault. It was just an unexpected connection, like walking along the streets and unintentionally bumping into people and an accident happened.
"I am not disappointed, Hugh. I won't be disappointed in you with just this."
"…"
Hugo took her hand, which was covering the back of his hand in an attempt to comfort him and kissed the back of her hand.
"I'm sorry."
"It is not your fault."
"You went through something you shouldn't have experienced."
"If it is something I have to go through because I am married to you, I can handle it."
"…You really."
Hugo was touched by her brightly shining clear heart and wondered if he was really qualified to be with her.
"I don't want you to feel sorry towards me due to this incident, but I have something to request."
"What is it?"
Hugo wanted to give her whatever she wanted, even if it was the whole world.
"I want to give the remaining family of my late maid enough compensation. My heart hurts because I was unable to protect her."
"If compensation will make you feel at ease then I will do so. But there is no reason for you to protect your servants. They are hired to protect you."
"You are right. Their work is to protect me. And at the same time, I think I should protect them. Sir. Krotin protect me, and you protected Sir. Krotin in my place, didn't you?"
Hugo thought that employees such as servants, were tools of convenience. He couldn't fully understand what she meant by comparing them with Roy but he roughly understood what she was trying to say.
"They have thoughts and feelings too. They are sad and distressed when they lose their family. The maid's remaining family will resent whoever killed their daughter or sister. Even they resent, there is nothing they can do. But there is no one who wants someone they don't even know to hate them and resent them."
Hugo also didn't find a situation where the rest of the maid's family resented and hated his wife, pleasing.
"Will they have no resentment if they are compensated?"
"How can money replace someone's life? Instead, if they are given heartfelt consolation and sufficient compensation, they will be comforted. When someone is comforted, they will be able to stitch up their wound soon. That is why, Hugh. Give them sincere compensation. Tell them that their late daughter or sister did not die in vain but met with an accident while undergoing an important task, that we are sorry to lose an excellent talent, and that we offer our condolences with enough compensation. If I could, I would like to personally meet the rest of her family but…"
"That can't happen."
"Yes, I know. That is why you will go in my place and be considerate of them."
"…Alright."
* * *
The unprecedented event, that is, the murder of the Duke's heir in the palace, came to an end with the execution of Knight Krotin. People whispered amongst themselves that many parts about the case were lacking, but that was all.
The King declared the end of the case, and the parties concerned, the two Dukes, Taran and Ramis, were silent. People were now looking for something new to talk about and were turning their attention away.
Now, all that was left was to wrap things up. Hugo called Fabian and ordered for the remaining things to be dealt with. In particular, he roughly took care of the things that were to be paid as a price to the King and handed the documents over to Fabian.
As Fabian roughly skimmed over the contents on the spot, his face paled and he trembled. He felt a lump in his throat and only after swallowing once was he able to ask the Duke:
"Your Grace, really…all of this…?"
The things on the document reached about 10% of the Taran family's assets that were revealed. More than 90% of the Taran family's assets were hidden and remained unrevealed. Argumentatively, it was not such a big part, but for Fabian, whose liver shrunk in the face of money, it was too much to bear. That crazy bastard's life is so expensive! Fabian was dazed.
"If you can buy a life with money, the price paid is cheap." (Hugo)
'It is just as you say. I know. But even if I know, it is still too generous. Hoh. The King is also very shameless. What does he think he even did, to take so much?' (Fabian)
Even though it wasn't even his money, Fabian seemed like he was burning with regret inside.
'I knew from the moment he gave the mine away as the Madam's dowry. Is it because master spends money so senselessly that to balance it out, we have a frugal Lady of the House?'
Without any change in expression, Fabian continued to grumble inside.
"How do we usually compensate for the death of a maid?" (Hugo)
"We hand the body over to the family, settle any unpaid salaries, pay for funeral expenses as well as some compensation." (Fabian)
"How much is the compensation?" (Hugo)
"It is the equivalent of five years of that individual's annual salary that they have customarily received." (Fabian)
When a noble killed a commoner, they were not innocent under the law, but once they compensated with money, the case was practically over. With the exception of the capital city which had many nobles gathered in it, there were almost no opportunities for commoners to encounter nobility. The two classes had completely different places of residence and separate scopes of activity.
However, when a commoner voluntarily stepped into a aristocratic domain, that is, when they worked for and belonged to the royal palace or a noble family, they had to be prepared to die if they were unlucky. Despite that, many commoners competed fiercely to work for aristocrats due to the high pay. If you worked in a noble family for ten years, it was possible to support your entire family and buy a decent house.
Like most nations with a caste system, Xenon also established order with a noble-oriented law. Unless it was a case where an innocent commoner was killed by a noble while coincidentally crossing the road, when employees, such as servants or maids, were caught in the affairs of high-ranking people and died, they should be glad to even be returned with an intact corpse.
'The compensation is not that much.'
Hugo recalled the conversation he had had with his wife. He still could not understand his wife's excessive sympathy. But she had asked him to do it and it wasn't anything difficult, so there was no reason not to do so.
"Give the remaining family of the deceased maid, 50 years of compensation for the maid's service and send someone to offer condolences at the funeral. If someone among the remaining family needs it, provide them with a job."
"…"
Fabian momentarily forgot how to speak and vacantly stared at his lord. When Fabian did not reply, Hugo frowned slightly. Fabian was startled and quickly answered in affirmative, going to the extent of even nodding his head.
"What of the others, apart from the maid that were killed by Roy?"
"The royal family will compensate them."
It was a principle that those who worked in the palace were compensated by the royal family for accidents that occurred in the palace. From Kwiz's standpoint, he suffered no loss in this incident. Even if it was said that they had compensate the dead, they only had to pay them with some of the Countess of Falcon's assets, which had been used to replenish the national treasury.
The deceased Countess of Falcon was convicted with the felony of bringing poison into the Royal Palace and conspiring to assassinate the King. They executed her corpse, deprived her of her title, and took all of her possessions into the national treasury.*
"The royal family's compensation will not be that much either." (Hugo)
"That is quite likely." (Fabian)
"Treat them in a similar manner as well." (Hugo)
Since they all died to Roy who was trying to protect his wife, Hugo decided to neatly take care of everything.
Fabian's expression was strange as he came out of the Duke's office. He stood in front of the closed office door for a while, then he turned and looked at the door, thinking of the Duke who was sitting inside.
'So people can change.'
Fabian's way of looking at things was that people could never change. People had their own inborn temperament and the only time it could change was when they were children. He thought that even if they changed, their fundamentals couldn't be changed, and the person that formed as they grew older did not change until the day they died.
Something that could shake Fabian's distinctive personal view had happened under his very own eyes. He could not imagine ever hearing the words 'take care of the late maid's remaining family' from his lord.
The Duke that Fabian knew, rather than calling him a wicked person, he was someone that had no interest in his surroundings. He only did things as he pleased, and apart from the minimum amount of people he kept at his side out of need, he let the others run their course regardless of the turnout and left things to his subordinate's discretion.
Fabian thought that he was nothing more than a convenient tool for the Duke. Sometimes, that fact felt bitter, but still, he comforted himself that he was able to work for the Duke because his ability was recognized.
However, he was honestly moved upon seeing the way his lord had handled Roy's case this time. For the person who risked his life for his master, his master mobilized all his ability and saved him.
Fabian was a realist who thought that surviving was the best and sneered at nobles who clung to honor. Which is why he thought that there was no method more perfect than this to save Roy. Belief rose in his heart that even if he was in a situation to die for his lord, he would not be abandoned nor ignored. He felt relief that even if he died an unlucky death, he wouldn't have to worry about the rest of his family.
'But still, the price of that bastard's life should never be this much.'
Regardless, his way of thinking hadn't changed. Fabian still thought that the money leaving their hands was such a pity.
●
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●
The area of the northern border that Roy returned to after a long time, was close to the village where he was born and grew up. He lost his parents to the invading barbarians when he was young and swore revenge. Because of his extraordinary strength and size, he was called the village hulk from an early age, so he grew up hearing that he would do great things.[1]
And so, he was conceited. He lunged at the barbarians to take revenge, but was caught and taken away.
Because the young boy seemed to have useful strength, the barbarians decided to raise him and use him as a slave; that's why they did not kill Roy. In order to remove malice from the stubborn Roy, they bound him up and whipped him for a month. Just when Roy thought that he was going to die like this, a certain boy secretly approached him and released him, saving his life.
The Roy, who escaped from that route, realized his shortcomings. He hid alone and lived by hunting down animals by himself. The experience taught him life's strengths and weaknesses. Sometimes, he killed one or two barbarians that strayed too far from their tribe and steadily built up his skills.
And then finally, he took revenge for his parents. He could not carry out a frontal attack on the tribal village because he was alone, but he lured a handful of people into the forest and killed them all in the span of a few days.
Although it was refreshing after getting his revenge, he didn't know what to do in the future. He just lived like a wild man, sometimes killing the barbarians that came at him, resolving food issues by hunting and practically spending his days in a lackadaisical manner.
Then, he met his lord. As soon as he saw him, he knew that the man was the benefactor that had helped him when he was a child. When he was asked, 'Do you want to come with me?', he followed along. He thought that he would have a chance to repay the favor if they were together.
"Tch. Just when I thought I repaid it, there's a debt again."
Roy grumbled as he lifted up his body, which was sprawled beneath a tree. Officially he was dead, which was probably why nobody bothered him and just left him alone.
As Roy wandered around near the border, he gradually drew farther away and entered the forest in the barbarian's region. For a few days now, he had not seen anyone. The feeling of being alone for the first time in a long time, was not bad.
The night of the forest came quickly. After roasting the rabbit that he had caught for dinner, Roy covered himself with a blanket next to the bonfire and went to bed.
Around when the darkness of the night had deepened, and the campfire had become smaller after burning all the wood, someone stealthily approached Roy, who was lying down in the darkness.[2]
The mysterious individual pulled out a dagger from their bosom. They carefully went up to Roy's side as he slept and brought down their dagger in the direction of his neck. No, they thought they did, but the mysterious individual's field of vision suddenly flipped over, and they collided with the ground, falling on their back.
Their hand, which was holding the knife, was strongly gripped at the wrist while another powerful grip was fixed to their neck. Unable to last long against the pressure on their neck, they lost consciousness.
When the mysterious individual, Cuya, regained consciousness, the day was already bright. Their body was tightly bound to a tree with their hands behind them, so they could not move. They rummaged through their memories of last night and looked around in a hurry but did not see anyone.
After a while, the sound of rustling could be heard as Roy showed up behind the bushes. On his back, he was carrying a fawn.
He began to disassemble the prey he caught. He indifferently cut its throat, drew out the blood, used a small dagger to skin it and chopped it into pieces at its joint; he was obviously familiar with dismantling a prey.
It was just the process of retrieving meat from an animal but Cuya trembled as if they were looking at the most terrible scene in the world and glared at the sight with a gaze full of spite. As they watched the bastard build a fire, roast the deer, and begin to eat, Cuya thought that he(Roy) ate very well even though he was ignorant.
After a fairly time-consuming meal, Roy curtly spoke to Cuya.
"Who are you?"
[Red Devil!]
As he calmly watched the woman, who was screaming at him with a venomous gaze, Roy said:
[It's been a while since I've heard those words.]
When Roy spoke her familiar tribal tongue, Cuja momentarily flinched before shouting again:
[Don't humiliate me, kill me!]
[What have I done that you're like this? You're the one who tried to kill someone sleeping.]
[You're my family's enemy!]
Roy thought that the woman who was stubbornly grinding her teeth was like a wildcat.
[But I didn't even do anything. Ah, was the deer I just ate your family by any chance? Sorry.]
The woman quivered with emotion and noisily shrieked that she would kill him.
Roy watched as the woman shrieked and writhed to the extent that her face had gone bright red. The petite woman was really energetic. She didn't seem that old. If he were to guess, she had just passed adulthood?
After being flooded with the sight of noblewomen acting graceful in the capital, it was quite fun to see a woman full of venomosity.
[Red Devil. You killed dozens of people in my village as well as my father and my brother. Will you say you don't know about what you did eight years ago?]
Hearing the words of the woman who was huffing as if she had lost her energy after screaming and raving, Roy searched his memory. Eight years ago, there was only one incident where he slaughtered dozens at mass.
[Your parents killed my parents. I was getting revenge too.]
The woman flinched. Then she went silent. After looking at the still woman who had her head bowed for a fairly long time, the bored Roy lay on his back and dozed off.*
Roy woke up from his nap, feeling the urge to pee and incoherently pulled himself together. As he pulled down his pants, he heard a sharp sound and turned his head. The place where Roy chose to pee was a couple of steps away from the woman. The woman was cursing with an expression that spoke disgust.
Roy scratched his head and went somewhere that wasn't visible in the bushes. When Roy returned after resolving his issue, the woman said:
[I acknowledge your fair revenge.]
[Heh. You're really straightforward. So you're not going to kill me now?]
[This and that are different. I have to take revenge for my family.]
[So you have to kill me?]
[Exactly. So you should kill me.]
Roy thought for a moment then he pulled out his dagger and approached the woman.
Cuya closed her eyes. But there was none of expected pain and the rope on her painfully bound hands came loose. Suddenly being able to freely move her body, Cuya was confused but she would never let go of an opportunity. She nimbly dove away and distanced herself from Roy.
[Do you think I won't kill you if you do this?]
[Do it. Since you acknowledge that my revenge was fair, then I also acknowledge you trying to kill me. However, I won't obediently die. If you're confident, go ahead.]
Cuya stared at Roy for a moment. She was a little confused. He didn't match the monstrous figure of the Red Devil that she had imprinted in her head from a young age. But he was the enemy of her parents and brother. Cuya renewed her determination, turned around and disappeared into the forest. Roy chuckled.
"What an aggressive woman."[3]
He didn't know why he let her leave alive. He had never left a source for future trouble alone before.
'Her smell's not bad.'
He wouldn't be bored for a while.