—3rd Person POV—
Hearing a commotion on the ground level of his home, Balcus rose from his desk to investigate what was happening. Before he could start moving, Luce burst into the room with a worried expression. Opening his mouth to speak, he quickly closed it when Zola appeared behind her. Caught off guard by her unplanned visit, Balcus cleared his throat and greeted his wife.
"Good Afternoon, Zola. What brings you here today?", Balcus asked, uneasy about this surprise visit, "Can we get you some refreshments or food?"
"It is fine, I do not plan on staying long.", Zola said, suppressing her twisted smile, "I am here today to ask for money to purchase a gift for Rutart. As you may be unaware, my son is ranked among the top one hundred students in his class this year."
'There are only eighty students in this year's class. Just showing up guaranteed him a spot in the top one hundred…', Balcus thought, not daring to argue her point, "Of course, that sounds like a wonderful idea. Should we buy him an air bike or a custom sword to commemorate this occasion?"
Recalling his time at the Academy, it was typical for boys to receive one or both items from their families. Since boys needed to stand out to attract potential spouses, racing and sword fighting were the easiest methods. Hoping to avoid buying both, as he knew Rutart was proficient in neither, Balcus wanted to dodge wasting precious money on him.
"If he were a student in our day, that would work but times have changed Balcus. Buying beautiful slaves is the new craze in the capital, and Rutart wants a new one. His current slaves are just not up to par with the other boy's slaves.", Zola informed him.
"Another slave? I thought Rutart was already accompanied by six or seven rather beautiful servants.", Luce interjected, believing the ones he had were already too beautiful for Rutart.
"I suppose you would consider them beautiful, seeing as you do not understand style or trends.", Zola remarked, cracking a smile, "Unfortunately, two of his servants passed away in their sleep for unknown reasons. The other three slaves are also on their last legs as they are unable to keep up with Rutart's needs anymore. They lack the combat abilities he requires and cannot perform the daily duties he needs them for. To that end, I think we should purchase him a slave from the Desmond Slave Trading Company, specifically from one of their private auctions."
'What in the hell?! It costs ten million dia to even get a seat in those auctions. Not only that, the starting price for most slaves begins at half a million dia!', Balcus thought, falling back into his desk chair, "I am sorry dear, but we do not have that sort of money right now. Could we potentially buy him one from their regular stock?"
"Do you want OUR son to become an outcast among his peers?!", Zola gasped, pretending to be hurt and shocked by his suggestion, "He would become the laughingstock of his peers if we bought him a normal slave. It has to be a premium slave from the private auction!"
Unwilling to compromise on this, Balcus saw no alternative but to give in. Refusing her would not end well for him or the household. Knowing Zola, she would take this straight to the Royal Court who would immediately side with her as he was a man. They would force him to pay an outrageous amount of money and potentially strip him of his title. If that were to happen, Zola's household would not hesitate to torment him and his family for the rest of their days.
"Alright…I will see what I can do to raise the funds. You will have them in two months.", Balcus agreed, letting out an internal sigh of defeat.
"That will not do, he needs the slave as soon as possible. The next private auction is in two weeks, I need the money now.", Zola demanded.
"Dear, where am I going to get that money on such short notice!? If I leave now, it will take at least two weeks to secure a loan for the money.", Balcus argued, unable to comprehend where she thought the money was hiding.
"You have subjects in your territory, raise the taxes and collect the next year's amount now.", Zola told him, matter-of-factly.
Without even needing to look into it, Balcus knew his people did not have that sort of money in their coffers. Due to the yearly tax increases to keep Zola happy, everyone was barely putting food on the table. Demanding such a large amount of money at once would force his people to sell off their children to make the payment. Realizing this, Leon's words echoed in his mind causing him to discover the real reason for her visit.
"Wait a moment, this has nothing to do with a gift for Rutart. This is your retribution for what Leon did several years ago!", Balcus shouted, putting the pieces together, "Zola, I beg you, please do not go down this path! I understand you are furious at him for beating Rutart, but this is going too far. If Leon finds out he will-"
"He will do nothing because he is nothing! That brat may be in the good graces of the upper crust of our country, but that does not mean his little bitch of a friend is!", Zola spat, no longer hiding her reason for visiting, "Since I cannot do anything to him directly, using his friend is the next best thing. Now, go collect the funds I need for Rutart or prepare to deal with the Royal Court!"
"You heartless witch!! Why are you hell-bent on making my children suffer!!", Luce berated her, no longer able to suppress her motherly rage, "Your son almost crippled Nicks, and has made my sons' lives a living hell every time you visit. Why can you not be happy that Leon is putting our household on the map?!"
"If your boys understood their place in the world, I would not need to go to these lengths. Rutart and Merce come from an esteemed bloodline, your children are essentially commoners! You are the daughter of a first-generation knight, I am the daughter of a well-established viscount family…we are not the same.", Zola reminded her, "The best your children should be hoping for is a position as a tradesman or foot soldier in the military. Your brat is stepping outside his station, all I am doing is reminding him of that. Do not worry, once Rutart is done playing with the girl I will make sure she is sent back…or whatever is left of her anyway."
Hearing what her end goal was, Balcus and Luce stared at her in disbelief. Not wanting their son to endure that heartache and pain, Luce quickly came up with an idea.
"Dear, I suppose we do not have a choice in the matter now. Shall I request a slaver from the Desmond Company to come here?", Luce inquired, 'All I need to do is have Lucoa get a message to Leon in the capital. If he can get back here quickly, he can quickly marry her and stop Zola's plan!'
"Oh there is no need, I brought one of their slavers with me.", Zola informed them, with a wicked smile, "Did you really think I would not come prepared? One way or another that girl is going to Rutart."
Realizing that there was nothing they could do now, Balcus and Luce hung their heads in defeat. Seeing no alternatives now, he let out a sigh and rose from his seat.
"Let us get this over with…", Balcus said bitterly, "Some of us do not take pleasure in watching others sell their loved ones."
"If you had raised him right, I would not be here right now.", Zola remarked, "Come on, Baron Bartfort needs to be the one to make this announcement. My acquaintance is already appraising potential children, this should not take too long."
'Leon…I am sorry dear.', Luce thought, overwhelmed with sadness, 'I hope you can forgive us one day for what we are about to do.'
—Twenty Minutes Later—
Gathering up the citizens of his main island, Balcus stood before his people with a downcast look. Looking at the sea of nervous faces in the crowd, many parents knew what was about to happen here. Clutching their loved ones tightly, a sense of overwhelming sadness and shame came over Balcus.
"I…I am sorry to summon you all here on short notice, but I have an announcement to make. My eldest son, Rutart, has ranked among the top one hundred new students in the Academy. To commemorate this achievement, we have decided to purchase a reward for him to honor his hard work. This is a tall order to ask of everyone, but I will need to increase the taxes again and request that you pay next year's taxes today.", he said, barely able to keep it together.
Immediately after finishing his announcement, several dozen mothers began wailing loudly as they fell to their knees clutching their children. Standing there unable to do anything, their husbands struggled to keep their emotions in check as guilt welled up in each of them. Regretting their decisions to stay here and tough it out, their worst nightmare was coming true as they all had to decide which children they could sell off to pay their taxes.
"I know that many of you will struggle to pick which children to sell off, but I can assure you that you will get a fair price for them.", Zola's acquaintance spoke up, having already eyed several potential moneymakers among the crowd.
Having not understood what was going on till now, the children began pleading with their parents not to sell them. Offering to cut back on meals, sell some of their toys, and even sleep outside, each one of them was desperate not to be taken away. Knowing what would become of them as slaves, they were willing to do whatever it took to avoid becoming one. Watching this scene play out from the doorway of the Guild Hall, Lucoa immediately ran to Roxanne's family who were among those wailing the loudest.
"Roxanne, you need to flee now!", Lucoa said, pulling her toward Leon's boat, "If you leave now, you can go join Leon in the capital. He is with the most powerful people in the nation right now, he can protect you!"
"No, I will not abandon my aunt, uncle, and cousins!", Roxanne refused, "If I do not stay, they will have to sell off two or three of my cousins! I know what it is like to lose your parents…I do not want my cousins to go through that. The slaver would give my aunt and uncle good money for me, right? Since Leon and I did a lot of adventuring, I am worth a lot right?"
"Roxanne, we cannot ask you to give up your future.", her uncle said, listening to her speak, "Leon proposed to you, the two of you have a bright future together. Do not throw that away for us!"
"You gave up so much taking me in after my parents died, this is the least I can do. I know you skipped many meals so we could eat, tore pieces of your clothing to fix ours, and worked long hours to keep a roof over our heads. Thank you for everything you did for me, Aunty and Uncle.", Roxanne said, pulling the money Leon gave her out of her pouch, "I do not know how much money you need, but if I am not enough, use this to cover the rest. Leon said to use it for emergencies."
Turning to Lucoa, Roxanne took off Leon's necklace and shakily handed it to her. Tearing up, Roxanne asked her to deliver a message to Leon for her.
"Please let Leon know I was very happy to receive a proposal from him. He is the only person who ever understood me and is my only friend in the entire world. All I wanted was to continue adventuring with him, but now…now I cannot.", Roxanne choked up, "Let…let him know that I do like him too, and that…that I hope he…he finds someone else like me one day."
"Roxanne…", Lucoa sniffled.
"Come on uncle…let's go.", Roxanne said, grabbing his hand tightly, "Thank you for all the adventures, Miss Lucoa."
Watching Roxanne and her family wander over to the slaver, Lucoa turned her attention toward Balcus. Enraged that he was letting this happen without a fight, she stormed up to him firmly holding onto the necklace.
"What kind of heartless, spineless bastard are you!? The young girl your son loves is selling herself into slavery for her family, and you are not doing a damn thing about it!!", Lucoa shouted, showing him the handmade necklace, "He proposed to her, and you are just standing there like a tree!"
"It is out of my hands, Zola wants revenge for the humiliation Rutart received from Leon during a sparring session several years ago. All of this is just to make Roxanne Rutart's slave…", Balcus informed her, quietly enough so only she could hear, "Rutart is going to-"
"You do not need to explain to me what that horrible excuse for a boy will do to her!", Lucoa growled, fire flickering out from between her teeth, "I have heard the rumors and seen photos of what he does to women."
"...I am sorry, there is nothing I can do.", Balcus said, looking her in the eyes.
"Yes there is something you can do, tell Leon!", Lucoa exclaimed, slapping him across the face, "If Leon can raise the funds necessary to purchase her freedom, there is still a chance to save her!"
Shaking his head, Balcus knew that was not possible in two weeks. Since Zola had mentioned the private auction, she likely had already arranged to have Roxanne sold there.
"Lucoa, Roxanne is going to be sold off at one of the Desmond Company's private auctions. There is no way Leon is going to be able to raise the funds to purchase Roxanne let alone buy a seat in the auction.", Balcus told her.
"You do not know what your son is capable of doing. That boy is not normal by any means, if it is him, I know he can find a way to do it.", Lucoa stated, certain that Leon was capable of far more than he led on, "Now I am going to the capital to tell him what has happened. You can either come with me and try to soften the blow, or you can wait here for him to return and probably kill you for betraying him. The choice is yours."
"She is right dear, you swore to Leon you would protect her and we failed him. He deserves to hear the news straight from our mouths. We have potentially cost him the love of his life, it is the least we can do for him.", Luce said.
"I agree, I gave my boy my word and I failed him. Hopefully, he does not kill me though, everything would go right to Rutart if he does.", Balcus reminded everyone, 'If Leon pulls this off, I am stripping Rutart of his birthright and giving it to Leon. I will have enough justification with everything he has done up till now to push it through.'
Leaving Zola and the slaver, the Bartfort Family returned home to quickly pack for an emergency flight to the capital. Returning to the Guild Hall, Lucoa collected her things and closed the Guild Hall down for what would likely be her last time. Abandoning her assigned post here in the Bartfort Territory would almost certainly cost her job and livelihood, but that was fine with her.
'It was a terrible job to begin with so it is not that big of a loss.', Lucoa thought, 'Now I can freely help Leon and Roxanne without being tied down here. The three of us can become strong adventurers and one day retire when we are ready to have a family. Hehe, I like the sound of that!'
Loading her belongings onto the boat, Balcus, Luce, and Nicks soon joined her onboard. Leaving Jenna behind, as she did not give a crap about Leon and Roxanne, Balcus got behind the helm and got them headed toward the capital.