"Is that so? That's unfortunate. I'm not interested in love at all," Quentin explained.
"I knew you'd say that. You're only interested in power and money!" revealed Arabelle.
"Love won't make you satisfied, well-fed, or popular, but power and money will," Quentin insisted.
"As long as I get those two, I don't need any love!" replied Quentin.
Quentin turned around, put his feet forward and walked away. Arabelle was speechless, standing at attention looking at the back of Quentin's body that was moving away from her.
'What is the thing that made him change?' asked Arabelle silently, feeling both sad and scared for Quentin.
Power with love creates wisdom, but power without love creates cruelty. Right now, Arabelle could see the result of a power without love, the work of constructing buildings.
Just before leaving to tail Quentin, Arabelle made a turn to reach the soldiers' camp. She met the foreman who had talked to Quentin earlier, Arabelle's arrival at him suddenly made the foreman gasp.
"Lady Arabelle," greeted the foreman.
He put the papers back to his partner, the two soldiers bowed their heads as Arabelle walked towards them.
"I see a lack in this job. You provide the necessities they need. As for the cost, I will cover it," Arabelle explained.
The woman reached into the pocket of her dress, took out five cloth bags and gave them to the worker foreman. One cloth bag contained 15 gold pieces, a total of 75 gold pieces to fulfill the needs of the bridge workers.
"But Lord Quentin said that I—"
"Don't tell him. He won't be inspecting this place all the time anyway," Arabelle replied, interrupting the foreman ahead of her.
The foreman turned his head slowly to the side, looking at his fellow soldier. The fellow soldier nodded, the money could be used to fulfill other needs for the workers, such as food, tools, carts and so on.
"Thank you, Lady Arabelle. We will make sure Lord Quentin does not know about it," the foreman told her.
The soldier grasped the five cloth bags tightly, bowing his head as he said goodbye to Lady Arabelle. Arabelle smiled, pleased that she could help solve the fundamental problem of this place.
'I have saved your face from Archibald's humiliation recently, Quentin,' Arabelle said, speaking to herself.
That day, the Helferich family members were scheduled to return to Calden Castle. Marcella, though still recovering from her illness, had decided to come along.
Arabelle began to approach her horse, saddled up and rode away from the Helferich soldiers' camp, unlike Quentin who had arrived at the inn earlier.
***
Castlebourne.
Telmarath.
"What exactly do you want?" asked Howard Hildemar.
"I want the bandits who control the trade routes from the south to be destroyed. Many merchants from my company have been robbed. It's affecting my business," replied a middle-aged man, dressed in the fancy clothes typical of Telmarath businessmen.
To hear all these complaints, Howard had to do it in the throne room. Now, the Duke of Athalaris sat on the throne with the responsibility of being the King's right-hand.
This was in accordance with the rules of Athalaris. If the King was ill and unable to rule properly, the position of responsibility to command was handed over to the Crown Prince.
If the crown prince is not available, then it will be handed over to another prince, if there is no other prince, then it will be handed over to the Duke.
No one would argue with Howard since he was carrying out his duty to give orders against any complaints of the people of Athalaris Kingdom.
He would remain on the throne until the Crown Prince or another prince came to Castlebourne. Howard only hoped it would be Prince Edmund, not Quentin.
"It says here that you have a large amount of profit from your trade. Why don't you hire a bodyguard? Adventurers would be happy to get an escort quest," Howard replied.
"Isn't it your duty to ensure the safety of your people?" the middle-aged man asked.
"Correct, but for peaceful lands. The Highvale lands is still shrouded in conflict between the two houses," Howard explained.
"Most likely the bandits who attacked your merchants were people from House Southtown," Howard replied, placing a paper on the nightstand near the throne.
"So, what should I do?" asked the man, the businessman.
"I suggest reducing trade to the south for the time being until the conflict in Highvale settle down. I suggest you start trading to Tregaron or Redfair," Howard replied.
"If you must trade to Highvale, make sure to inform Castlebourne. They wouldn't dare attack Castlebourne's escort soldiers," Howard revealed.
"Is the escort free?" asked the businessman.
"No, but it's better than inexperienced adventurers," Howard replied.
Howard smiled as he continued to stare at the businessman from the King's throne, "I think that's enough. You may leave."
The palace soldiers began to escort the businessman to leave the throne hall. Now, it was the turn of other people to come to express their grievances.
But that activity was delayed when a soldier walked up to Howard, whispering something in the Duke of Athalaris' ear.
"My apologies, Duke Howard. Archmage Dieter requests your presence in his chambers," the soldier replied.
"Doesn't he know I'm listening to their complaints?" asked Howard.
"The Archmage says it is urgent, regarding His Majesty's condition," the soldier replied again.
Howard was silent for a moment, sitting back in the throne chair as his gaze focused straight ahead. In the end, the man could be heard sighing and standing up.
"I end this session of hearing complaints. We will resume tomorrow," Howard ordered.
The soldiers immediately carried out Howard's order. They went out one by one from the throne room to inform the people of Telmarath who were queuing at the palace door. The soldiers told them to disperse.
After the throne hall was completely cleared, Howard walked down the steps of the throne and strode through the corridor accompanied by the soldiers to Archmage Dieter's study.
Arriving before Dieter's room, Howard without knocking immediately opened the door and saw an inappropriate scene. Two undressed women were surrounding Dieter's same naked body, sharing sexual pleasure together.
"You invited me here just to see your orgy? I have to put a halt to my activities," declared Howard, visibly angered by Dieter's behavior.
Hearing someone talking to him made the three people before Howard gasp in surprise. They fell silent, focusing their eyes on the Duke of Athalaris.
"Go away, you both!" commanded Howard.
Both whores nodded. Picked up the blanket and walked away, covering their naked bodies with it.
"Don't you ever learn, Dieter?" asked Howard, annoyed as he locked the door.
Dieter was still leaning back on his wide sofa, with his fat body unclothed. He pulled out the pre-attached contraceptive and threw it into the trash can.
"I always take preventative measures, Howard," Dieter replied, his voice hoarse.
Howard walked over to the table, poured water from the pitcher into a glass, then handed the glass over to soothe Dieter's dry throat.
Dieter drank the water quickly in one gulp, as if he had been on a desert adventure. He placed the empty glass nearby, on the empty sofa.
"What did you want to discuss with me?" asked Howard, sternly.
"It has to do with His Majesty. It seems my potion has made him recover," Dieter replied.
"Recovered? He's rid of Skinny Doom?" asked Howard.
"No, no. The symptoms of the disease are still there, but I only eased the pain in his body," replied Dieter.
The old man pulled on his Archmage robe and wrapped his naked white body quickly. Howard followed Dieter who seemed to be walking towards his workbench, full of mysterious pills and powders.
Howard squinted, stepping closer to Dieter's desk as he picked up a small black pill. He lifted the pill and tried to smell the odor of Dieter's concocted pills.
The Duke of Athalaris squinted, sensing the distinctive aroma that was actually banned in the Kingdom of Athalaris. However, some people used it for medical treatment of pain relief.
"Are you using Ether?" asked Howard, staring intently.
"You seem to recognized it even though you haven't tasted it," Dieter replied, indirectly praising Howard's olfactory ability.
"Ether is banned on Athalaris. How dare you use this stuff to treat His Majesty?!" said Howard.
"It is not forbidden if used for medicine," replied Dieter, holding up one finger, "I have checked all the written rules of Athalaris. Only an Archmage or Sage has the right to compound Ether."
Dieter reached forward and snatched the black pill from Howard's grasp, "I was trying to heal Your Majesty after all. You're the one who tricked His Majesty into using those whores in the first place!"
Howard sat on the wooden chair in front of Dieter's desk, "I did it out of pity for his fate. Queen Isabella and Queen Catherine dead, he needed someone to vent his sexual desire."
"That's right. Of all the pleasure houses, why did you take a whore from Elis? Is it because Elis is an acquaintance of yours?" asked Dieter, squinting at Howard.
"Don't start this topic, Dieter!" threatened Howard.
"What a disgusting business, you set the price of the whores sold to His Majesty, then Elis shares the revenue from the King's money with you," asserted Dieter.
"Am I to conclude that you are also the cause of His Majesty's Skinny Doom?" asked Dieter, stern and intimidating.
Howard remained silent, and then smiled as he stood up from his seat, "I wouldn't do such a filthy thing. I'm Otto's friend, there's no way I'd harm my own friend."
"But in absolute power, friends sometimes become obstacles for us. You look so happy sitting on that throne, Howard!"
"This is a pointless accusation. Prince Edmund is on his way to Castlebourne, he will hold the reins of government during His Majesty's illness," Howard insisted.
Dieter and Howard looked at each other in seriousness, then Dieter laughed out loud as Howard seemed intimidated by his every word.
"You're right. I almost forgot about Edmund. You will never take the throne of Athalaris as long as he exists, right?" asked Dieter.
"I will not take the throne from Edmund."