Chapter 5: 5.
"Hoh? Are you saying that you're making a bet with me?" A towering figure looked at the boy staring at him at the eye with no fear at all.
'His eyes are even smiling, as if he is confident that he will win.' He thought as he looked at the only son of his friend.
"Yes. I am making a bet with you, your highness." I said to him with a smile.
*
<A day before the summon>
News of the arrival of the Duke of Blackwood circulated among the noble circle. They were surprised and thought that the new duke is an idiot.
With the former Duke, dead, many people were eyeing for the new Duke's territory.
It would make more sense if he holed up in his territory. That's why they thought that the new duke is an idiot and considered him not a threat at all.
They thought of the reason why the Duke of Blackwood acknowledged the summon and they could only come up with one thing.
He wanted to be protected by the Royal Family from the Revolutionaries. It made sense, after all, his parents died from them. It wouldn't be an exaggeration if he became scared that he would be the next target of the revolutionaries.
Now, not only did they not put the new Duke in their eyes, they were already deciding on how to divide the territory of the duke by pressuring the emperor.
Meanwhile, inside a room in the Blackwood Manor, an old man and a kid were having a conversation.
"Young Lord, from the information I gathered, many nobles were already not putting you in their eyes as a threat which is a good thing. What's even ridiculous is they are already planning on how to divide the territory." Wilhelm said with a tinge of anger. Noticing the change in his behavior, he sighed and calmed down as he awaited for me who's thinking deeply.
'Hmmm. Its good that they're letting their guards down. But why do I feel like Father screwed me over? What is it...' I thought as I racked my brains over it. I shook it off my head since I don't have any idea at all.
'This is going to be the first change since I'm going to be the one holding the title of duke from the start. In the past, the title of the Duke was officially bestowed to me after graduating from the academy, but now I'm doing my best to hold on to it.' I thought as I calmed myself down and relaxed once more.
"Then all we have to do is to meet the Emperor tomorrow." I said to Wilhelm who seemed to be expecting something. Looking at him, he flinched a little.
"What? Do you think I have something in mind when I meet the Emperor tomorrow? He'll probably just warn me about the nobles, that's it and maybe test me a 'little' to see if I'm fit to be a duke in the future." I said making Wilhelm a little embarrassed from being seen through.
"Anyways, Uncle, what's the situation of the resources back in the territory?" I asked him. When I took the mantle from him in the past run, we only have an iron mine and a coal mine.
"5 Iron mines, 3 copper mines, 1 large gold mine, and probably 3 coal mines. We also have clay pits, and salt mines." Wilhelm counted as I stared in the air.
"How much? Wait." I asked then started cleaning my ear with a piece of cloth then turned to Wilhelm.
"Again. How much?" I asked and Wilhelm repeated his answer.
"WHAT?! WE HAVE THAT MUCH?!" I shouted, surprising Wilhelm so much. He looked at me in confusion while I rubbed the bridge of my nose.
"I'm sorry, I didn't think we have that much." I said as I forced myself to calm down.
'What in the hell happened back then?' I thought to myself deeply for quite a few minutes and I slowly understood everything.
Uncle Wilhelm probably gave them away as offerings to stop them from taking away the title of the duke and the territory.
'I see... then they probably dug it up quickly and transferred them to their territories so that I won't be able to pursue them. Those damn pieces of sh*t.' I thought then I inhaled and exhaled. A grin then started forming slightly scaring Wilhelm. Its not a grin filled with just mischievous intent, it was mixed with malicious intent as well.
"Young Lord, what are you planning to do with them?" Wilhelm asked, a little worried that I have been consumed by greed.
"No, I don't have plans for them, just continue your plans for them." I said making Wilhelm sigh in relief.
'Hehe. You like playing that game, huh? Then I'll get those resources near my territory and the others. Hehehe.' I thought as a mental map spread in my head. The Hebrion Empire is in the east, while in the west is a coalition of numerous kingdoms. The north is the territory of barbarians.
'As for the south, although nothing special is in there, I have a feeling that something happened there. I have no evidence, just a gut feeling. Anyway, the land I'm interested in... is near the Dhulka dukedom, an Earth specialist mage family. That land has a mine of blankšum.' I thought with an eerie grin. Seeing me grin again, Wilhelm sighed, he finally recognized that grin.
'When his parents had a grin like that, they're probably up to no good. Seriously, it runs in the blood.' Wilhelm thought and prayed for the receiver of the Young Lord's grin.
'Hehe. Blankšum, a rare metal. Swordsmen from all over the world heard legends of it and coveted its existence. Weapons and armor forged from this metal were unbreakable. In addition to that, Blankšum was nearly weightless. If an elite army has been equipped by equipments made by blankšum, they are going to be a force to recon with.' I thought to myself, but there's going to be a problem.
'The reason why that land is still not reclaimed... its a swamp. That place is filled with dangerous animals and its hard to make the land hard enough to build houses for the miners. Earth magicians are hard to acquire as well since a rebellion is ongoing and the Dhulka family holds the largest amount of Earthen mage.' I thought as I tried to solve the problem. I shook my head and stopped thinking about it.
'I'm not even sure if what I'm planning tomorrow will work or not.' I thought to myself.
"Uncle, at what time we'll be summoned?" I asked.
"Probably by 10 in the morning." Wilhelm said and we talked for a few more stuff before resting for the night. Kids need sleep if they want to grow after all.
*
"Young Lord, you look dashing today." Melissa said as she fixed my tie.
"Thank you, Aunt Melissa." I said as I looked at the kid in the mirror.
'They say the clothes maketh a man, I mean kid.' I thought to myself before going out. Wilhelm was already standing there wearing a light armor.
"Allow me to be the knight who'll escort you to the palace, Young Lord." Wilhelm said with a bow.
I nodded to him as I passed him. Idom was the carriage driver and Wilhelm got up on the horse to stay beside the carriage.
It didn't take us much time when we arrived at the Royal Castle. Wilhelm showed them the letter of summons to the royal guards and they let us pass through. Idom bowed to us before leaving and returned to the carriage to wait for our return.
"Aegis, no matter who provokes you, don't bite into their ploy, got it?" Wilhelm whispered to me. I just nodded absentmindedly.
Soon, we reach the Throne room. A huge golden door was in front of us. The guards pushed it open and the majestic room lay before our eyes. Others might be mesmerized by it when they see it for the first time but I've been here for so many times already in the past run.
"Bow down to the Emperor." A eunuch announced as we arrived in front of the Emperor. Everyone in the room knelt down and showed respects to the Emperor.
"Rise." The Emperor's voice echoed inside the room and the people rose from the ground.
"So you're Aegis Blackwood." The Emperor asked as he inspects me. His gaze contains pressure that can make a child's legs go weak.
"Greetings, your majesty." I said as I placed my hand on to the family crest on my chest and bowed my head slightly.
"Looks like they taught you well." The emperor said as he glanced at Wilhelm beside me.
"Yes, you're majesty. They've taught me well." I said but the Emperor ignored me as his eyes are still on Wilhelm.
"Why don't you go back to the army, Wilhelm? I've saved the spot of the commander of the army for you." The Emperor asked as he dropped a massive bomb causing others to gossip with hushed voice.
"I apologize, your majesty. I owe my life to the Blackwood family and I will be serving them for the rest of my life." Wilhelm said and the Emperor looked at me. He had not noticed it until now but he could see that the young kid isn't affected by his aura at all, as if he's walking in a park, he even have the time look around and not pay attention to what the Emperor is saying.
"Aegis Blackwood, do you know the reason why I summoned you?" The Emperor asked.
I turned my head and looked at the eyes of the Emperor. His eyes contained the aura of a hidden beast, a beast that would not come out unless he wants it to. The emperor also stared at the eyes of the boy and he was astonished by what he saw.
What he saw was not just a beast, what he saw was something else. His clear blue eyes that was like a sea, was a trap. A trap to lower the guards of anyone who looked over. All of them forgot to look what's beneath the sea and what the Emperor saw made him flinch.
The bottom of the sea, was dark, devoid of light, then all of a sudden, an eye opened up and stared at him.
It was only a few seconds but the Emperor felt like it was a long time.
"Is it about my title of Duke, your majesty?" I asked calmly. The Emperor regained his bearings and looked at me with a serious face but his eyes cannot contain the astonishment he felt.
"Yes." The Emperor nodded to Aegis.
"Wasn't it you guys that said that the title can be inherited by those who had the family's blood running in their veins?" I asked and a noble interjected.
"It is, but you are not qualified for it. We're in a civil war. What if the revolutionary conquers your territory because of your decisions?" The noble said with a smug face, disrespecting the Emperor.
I looked at him and recognized the crest of that family, Nipheleka family.
The noble who interjected stared at me with a smug smile as I kept silent.
"You're saying that I should just give you everything that the Blackwood Family worked hard for their entire lives? After countless contributions that my family gave to the Empire, you're just going to take it away?" I said as I looked at the nobles before setting my eyes at the emperor.
"That's your ancestor's achievement, not yours. It doesn't prove that you're qualified for the title." The noble replied with a haughty attitude.
"You know, I've been thinking about it since you've rudely interjected with our conversation, but..." I paused as I stepped closer to the noble from the Nipheleka family.
"Why are you interjecting on a conversation with the Emperor and a duke? Even if you say I'm unqualified for it, the emperor hasn't taken away the title of the duke from me yet, so technically, I'm still a duke. Would you believe me if... lets just say... I ordered the Blackwood Dukedom to suppress your family, what're you going to do about it? I'm a child, I'm a willful child, I might just do that if I got bored." I said as the noble flinched from my words and looked down. Although my voice sounds like a child, the words that came out of my mouth doesn't match the sound of my voice.
"That's right. Lower your head. Even if you're family becomes a dukedom, we are technically the the strongest family of the Hebrion Empire. If you want to fight, I'll give you a fight if you want to." I got close to the noble and whispered it to him as he shuddered from the thought of it.
"Enough!" The Emperor stood up and his pressure exploded causing everyone to stop and look at the Emperor.
"The meeting is finished. I only wanted to meet the current Duke of Blackwood dukedom. Nothing more, nothing less." The emperor then walked out of the Throne room with the Royal Guards following him. The nobles also started scuttling out of the throne room and the noble from the Nipheleka family glared at me one more time before leaving.
'He looks like Professor Pugman... is he his uncle?' I thought as me and Wilhelm were the last to come out. We were supposed to go back already since the summon is done but a Royal Guard came rushing and stopped us.
"Duke Blackwood, the Emperor would like to meet you personally." The Royal Guard said and a mischievous smile arose from my face.
"Please, lead the way." I said with a small smile as the Royal Guard turned around to lead the way.
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I apologize if the content has cringy stuff but its my impression of reading novels with Nobles. Of course there are good natured and direct but they mostly don't hold the power.
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