Chapter 35: Aftermath (1/3)
Thud!
The bound butler of the Boreas family was thrown on the ground in the courtyard, surrounded by the Boreas family members – Sauros, Philip, Hilda; as well as Rudeus and their various estate guards.
It had been an hour since Rudeus arrived at the Boreas estate. He had since gone over to visit Master Ghislaine, only to find her weak and in pain. He had immediately administered Detoxification and Healing magic, but even those miraculous abilities weren't true miracles. Even Advanced Healing magic could not treat organ damage.
The internal damage she had sustained from the poison remained and she still had to remain resting in bed for some time before she could fully recover.
The guards proceeded to scour the grounds for Thomas while Rudeus cleaned himself up.
"Lord Sauros, we caught him trying to flee out of the back gate. He had with him a bag full of clothes as well as a pouch with 50 Asura Gold Coins."
Thomas the butler was tied up, and he wriggled on the floor so that he could look up.
"Milord, please! I'm innocent! This is a conspiracy! I'm being framed!"
Sauros' gaze was cold. He approached the butler slowly before kneeling down and roughly grabbed a fistful of old Thomas' hair. It was evident the Lord of Fittoa was summoning the force of his entire willpower to stop himself from crushing Thomas' throat.
"Who did you sell us out to? Speak."
"Nobody! I am loyal, milord! I would never, ever betray you!" Thomas cried out, tears speckled his eyes.
Sauros grunted, "Hmph! Even if you do not tell us, I can guess who it was that you contacted. Don't worry, you won't die today. After all, you are our only piece of evidence against that coward Notos!"
The Lord of Fittoa waved his hand, commanding the guards to bring Thomas away and for the rest to leave the vicinity as well.. The Boreas family was to have a discussion.
Rudeus quietly gazed at the treacherous butler being dragged off, though his eyes were filled with a silent fury.
It was pretty easy to guess who hired the assassins to kill Rudeus. After Eris was brought back to her room, the Greyrat men sat down to discuss their findings. Firstly, Thomas' betrayal was uncontroversial. There were only a handful of people in the world who knew Rudeus' position as Eris' bodyguard, and even less who knew Ghislaine bestowed the title of North Saint to Rudeus.
Within the Boreas household, those people included Sauros, Philip, Hilda, Eris, Rudeus and Thomas. Back at Buena Village, only Paul, Zenith and Lilia knew of it. Amongst these people, those who bore the surname of Greyrat obviously had no motive to let slip this information. Lilia had raised Rudeus since he was a child, so she was even less of a suspect. That meant that the only person who would possibly have any motive was Thomas.
His guilt was further cemented after his deception to Rudeus and Philip. To Rudeus, he had lied by saying that Ghislaine had been called away, and so she couldn't accompany Eris and Rudeus on their day trip. He further insisted that Philip had given his permission for just the two of them to leave the Boreas estate.
Towards Philip, Thomas had told him that Rudeus and Eris had already left the Boreas estate before he could inform them of the decision to remain on Boreas grounds, and then lying that he had sent men to retrieve the pair from the city markets.
His deception resulted in the brief window of opportunity for the assassins to strike. It was also very likely that he had been the person who poisoned Ghislaine, spiking her food with an odourless and tasteless poison. A poison that could slip past the senses of a beastwoman with the instincts and vitality of a Sword King was extremely rare.
The poison wasn't strong enough to kill her or cause any permanent damage because he didn't want to alert the family before the assassination succeeded. It was just enough to leave her weak and sick, preventing her from being able to join Eris and Rudeus or save them when the assassination happened.
As for the mastermind behind the whole thing? It wasn't difficult to figure out either. Rudeus was only seven years old, and had never left Buena Village before taking up the job of Eris' bodyguard. The only reason why someone would want to kill Rudeus was to get at either the Boreas family or his parents. The first reason was flimsy, because why would they specifically target Eris' bodyguard instead of the little lady herself if they intended to damage the Boreas family?
And as for the people who might want to get rid of Rudeus because of who his parents were, there was only one suspect who would have the resources and motive to engage a Saint-rank assassin to do their dirty work – Pilemon Notos Greyrat! Paul's brother and Rudeus' uncle!
After just a brief investigation, they had found out that the North Saint Kaballah was actually rather infamous amongst the criminal underbelly of Central Continent. He was one of the highest ranking members of the notorious Assassin's Guild.
The Assassin's Guild motto was, "As long as the price is right, we can kill even a king." They were well known for their effectiveness and exorbitant cost to contract their services.
Most who used their services were of the most nefarious sort. Though their fee was expensive, they were very effective as well. The cost of contracting a Saint-rank assassin was ridiculously high. Not even Roa's Boreas branch family could afford one without forking out a large chunk of their treasury. So it wasn't difficult to deduce that only organizations at the level of the Notos family could fork out such a sum casually.
Rudeus never knew his uncle, and only heard about him in passing rarely from his father. And whenever Paul did speak of him, it would be with a disdainful and dismissive tone. It was only after the assassination attempt did he learn more about the Notos family.
Paul Notos Greyrat, born into the Notos family, was the eldest son who was meant to succeed the Notos lordship. However, when Paul was 12, he left behind his noble lineage and was subsequently disinherited from the Notos family. This never came up as an issue because Paul's brother, Pilemon the second born, was more than happy to inherit the lordship in his place.
Yet, because Rudeus had been born and was now working with the Boreas family, it suddenly became a huge problem. This was because the current head of the Notos family, Pilemon, was a cowardly and conniving fox. Even if Rudeus did not have any designs on the Notos inheritance, Pilemon who was naturally crafty and sly would only think it logical for Paul's son to desire what was Rudeus might perceive as his birth right.
It wouldn't be farfetched for Pilemon to think, 'Paul's son is working with the Boreas family to snatch away the Notos lordship.' This was likely the reason why Pilemon had sent assassins to eliminate a potential problem before Rudeus could grow up.
Thomas, after finding out that Rudeus was the son of Paul, and apparently had Saint-level strength, probably knew that this information was extremely valuable to the head of the Notos family. Thomas contacted Pilemon and received payment after arranging for Rudeus' assassination – this was the conclusion Philip and Sauros had deduced after gathering the evidence and clues.
Of course, there was also the possibility, however slim, that this entire incident was a huge conspiracy, and that the Notos family was being framed. But the Boreas men could not be bothered with what-ifs or hypotheticals. In their eyes, the circumstantial and speculative evidence was sufficient.
"Philip! Gather the men! At dawn we ride to slaughter the Notos bloodline!" Sauros ordered with a commanding tone that left no room to argue.
His son, while sharing a similar indignation, was more coolheaded than the Lord of Fittoa.
"Father, we cannot attack the Notos family with no reason."
Sauros glared at his son, "No reason!? They employed assassins to kidnap Eris! And those very same assassins tried to kill Rudeus who is under our protection! Tell me, is this not ample provocation!?"
Philip felt helpless. He agreed with everything his father said. However, though their branch of the Boreas family was powerful, they were still ultimately a branch family. Even the lordship of Fittoa, while technically belonging to Sauros, was officially under the rule of the Head of the Boreas family. Sauros had only been put in charge of managing the region for the main family. This was a show of filial respect by the current Boreas Head for his father.
Pilemon on the other hand, was the legitimate head of the Notos family, with an aristocratic title and prominent position in the Royal Court. Their political capital, resources, and men-at-arms all surpassed what their powerless branch family was capable of matching.
In other words, the Notos family wasn't a force they could contend against without the Head of the Boreas family's full support.
"It's not that we have no reason. It is that we have no evidence to support those reasons! All we have is the word of our treacherous butler. In order to legally act against the cowardly Notos, we will first need to petition the King, submit our evidence and wait for His Royal judgement. Forget the evidence, even petitioning the King will require my brother to extend his complete support and the full weight of his influence in the Capital. That is just not something I can see happening…"
Sauros fumed, "Philip… are you telling me that there is nothing we can do except quietly sitting down and swallow this…this provocation, this humiliation, like nothing happened!?"
"Yes. As much as I hate to admit, we simply don't have the political capital to do anything against the Notos family... What's more, Eris wasn't harmed and Rudeus managed to keep his life as well. Pursuing this matter would only be an issue of pride!"
"PHILIP!" Sauros swung his fist and punched Philip who firmly planted his feet and took the punch with his jaw, but remained standing. "Bastard! Did a dog eat your balls!? Are you thinking straight? Do you have no courage to fight for your family!?
Philip wiped away the small smidge of blood from his lip stoically. He looked back at his father defiant but still with a deference from a son to his patriarch.
"I am the one who is thinking straight. If we ignore all decorum and declare war does Father understand what will happen? You should be clearer than me on that!"
Sauros fell silent.
Philip continued, "The moment we gather soldiers and form a punitive force without His Royal judgement, our surrounding political enemies will immediately pounce and accuse of us trying to launch a revolt. The main Boreas family will disavow us, and we will become isolated and ostracised amongst the Asura nobility."
"The Notos family sent a saint rank assassin to kill Rudeus simply for associating with us. Imagine what they will do if we officially declare that he is under our protection. Not even my brother, your son, would take such defiance lightly. Don't forget, my sons, your grandsons, are still being held as hostages in the royal capital."
"They didn't bother eliminating Thomas to get rid of the witness simply because they didn't need to. They know we have would have no recourse politically, and that is the unpleasant reality of our status. Otherwise, do you think that Pilemon that scoundrel would make such a big mistake? He wanted us to know that they were the masterminds because they want to send us a message. If not, there would be no point to an assassination attempt if we didn't know why it happened."
"If we ignore this warning, and try to start a war without Royal permission, Notos will have ample justification to execute all three generations of our family. Eris will probably be captured and forced to serve as a political puppet. Tell me, do you still think we should attack them without considering the consequences? Do you still think it is craven to swallow your rage and humiliation and stay silent?"
"It would be different if back then I had won the competition for the position of Head of the Boreas family. But I lost, and so I was chased out of the Royal Capital and exiled to this countryside Fittoa region. Back then, you backed my play for the head position. Unfortunately, neither of us predicted that James would be able to obtain the support of the prime minister. As a result, I lost the competition and you were also exiled to Fittoa…"
"Ever since we came here, we were resolved to keep our heads low and not raise any commotion, because we knew that the moment we make a misstep, whatever peace and prosperity we have left will be taken away by those with real power without a second thought. And now you are seeking to throw anything we have left and put my sons in danger. For what? Pride!"
"Dear... don't say anymore..." Hilda, who until now had remained quiet, choked out, holding back tears.
"..." Sauros didn't say anything in response, but it was clear for all to see that he was only barely able to hold in his rage. Not because he had been rebuked by Philip. But because he knew deep down that what his son said was true. His large frame trembled, not out of anger but out of bitterness. He resented his helplessness, for he could not think of any way to counter his argument.
This was the dirty world of politics. The winners took the entire pot while the losers would be beaten down, and had to learn to be subservient or be put down. Being given a position as Mayor of Roa and Lord of Fittoa could already be considered a degree of mercy from the main Boreas family. And similarly, this mercy that was given could just as easily be taken away.
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