Konrad rolled out a large parchment map he had drawn on a makeshift table, Eyna holding its corners down. It showed parts of the duchy he explored, but he left much of the area undrawn.
It was about a third of the way done, so he started with an apology.
"Sorry, it's been one week in the making," he admitted. "And the Church left me nothing to work with. No ledgers, not even a scrap of paper. As you can tell, I'm no cartographer—"
"What are you on about?" Helena leaned in to take a closer look.
Her eyes shone—she looked impressed—tracing the thin lines he had crafted.
The focused breaths she took prickled Konrad's skin. No boundaries whatsoever.
"Wow, I've only seen worse sketches from my brother's strategists, and they do this for a living."
To follow up on his compliment, the princess slammed his back. Hard.
She had the strength to crack a rib, and she wasn't holding it in.
Konrad tried his manliest to suppress a yelp and made a show of not falling over or stepping away. But damn, it hurt. With or without her hammer, the Bladebreaker was a menace.
"You're a man of many talents," Helena smirked, her voice almost flirty. "I like that."
"Glad the old Erwin Halstadt left something behind, right?" Vargas asked, and it almost made Konrad blush. What was it with the atmosphere? The woman stood closer than his haremette.
Eyna's purple eyes flared with jealousy.
That was new.
It was something he hadn't seen from her before, even with Lily and Gabrielle around. They must have had an inner hierarchy—but he had spent too much time analyzing the situation.
He couldn't describe this with his beloved numbers.
Seeing how much he was out of his element, the captain had to come to his rescue again.
"He's good with his spells, too," Vargas claimed. "And all the peddlers seem to like him. It's useful when you're trying to govern the borderlands and tax the busiest trade routes."
There it was. Numbers. That was his game.
"Right, um—"
What was he trying to say? The compliments threw him off, even if he knew the reason.
To the captain, this was a mere sales pitch. All he wanted was to put him in a position he could profit from later. But, well, that meant Konrad would've profited, too.
As long as their interests aligned, he could live with it, even if those words sounded hollow.
"Uh, these five hundred acres here—" he tried to get back on track with his map.
They might have broken the ice with that duel earlier, but the effects have worn off already.
He was mumbling and stuttering again, but Helena interrupted.
"Part of the old Halstadt fief," she offered. "In name, it's my brother's, but—it's empty, isn't it?"
"Um, yes, no," Konrad bumbled, surprised about how prepared the steward was. It should have been him, not her. "I've found neglected lands with no existing records."
The princess gave him a look, leaning back to raise an eyebrow.
"Didn't the king send them to you?"
It was Konrad's turn to feel stupid.
"I, uh—the only letter I've got from His Majesty was about the Halaima Code of Conduct," he said. "He focused on my obligations in it. It had an impressive little illusion, though."
Boot licking, that was what it was.
His illusions were much better. Lifelike to the level of being confusing.
But, well, he couldn't tie them to a letter and send them to people hundreds of miles away. Yet.
Helena let out a sigh—this time, not against his neck.
"Typical. I bet the Church had them instead," she said, rubbing her temples. "Or what, you thought, all it takes is a little rebellion and all earlier records would be gone for good?"
There it was again, his father's rebellion, that he knew nothing about.
The Church versus Erwin and the local tribes—but why and when?
Somehow, everyone always made a mention of the event, but nobody bothered to explain.
"I'll get you the documents later. And sorry about that," Helena promised, grabbing his fleeting attention again. "The Code wasn't about obligations, it was about order and control."
"Order?" Konrad repeated, his eyes landing on Vargas for a moment.
He said that, too. The king did not care who ruled this area, or if they turned a profit or not.
The Halaima Pass was the lifeblood and the biggest threat to the Kasserlane kingdom. Order was of the utmost importance here. And the Church undermined it all.
"His generous final clause about the Inquisition taking over backfired," the princess said.
"Mhm, yes, they skipped my thirty-day trial, too, and threw me into the catacombs," Konrad nodded along. "Most local nobles ended up in the same place."
He didn't even have to mention the torture and the moldy bread.
"Okay, let's change the topic. This is depressing," Helena scowled. "He needs to learn. The king, I mean. I'll talk to him. And as for you, consider your position granted."
"Consi—you mean I'll be the baron of Halaima?" Konrad asked, his mouth gaping open.
Vargas grinned, too, and Eyna's eyes glistened with a warm light.
"Given, if you can pay the king's taxes," the steward warned him. "A thousand silver florins right away. Though that much would take you higher than a baron. A count or a duke mayb—"
"That is too much, Your Highness," Konrad yelled, almost scared of the sudden success.
He didn't feel like he had earned it.
"Your father was a count in name, too, but he held all the relevant titles needed to lead the duchy," Vargas pointed out. "And the lack of that final title might've been the nail in his coffin."
"M-master is amazing. And we have that money," Eyna tried to encourage him, too.
He couldn't tell which one was worse.
No recognition for something he did, or having undeserved greatness fall onto his lap.
Even if nothing else, it was suspicious, and having fallen into others' traps over and over—
"Y-yes, we've about seven hundred florins from ransoming the Church's blades." He calculated it out loud. "We have the adamantite coins, too. Together they'd make up the thousand."
"Adamantite?" Helena's eyes lit up.
Of course, he didn't put on his armor or use his personal sword in their duel.
"A Church experiment—or torture method," Konrad explained. "It should've been deadly, rendering me and another servant defenseless. But breaking the restraints was rewarding."
A little boasting couldn't hurt, but he didn't want to overdo it.
"So you're a mage indeed," the princess mused, staring straight into his eyes. "And a decent swordsman, too. I'd be more than happy to elevate you to a ducal rank right away, but—"
"It's the king's call," Vargas stated, but sounded almost as excited as before their bout.
For Konrad, it all felt surreal. All too sudden.
But he'd entertain the thought of reaching a higher noble rank than even his father ever did.
As if Lu smiled down on him from the heavens, though he hadn't seen his angel in a while.
"Fine, we'll see," he nodded at Eyna, asking. "Bring the purses and the deed, please."
He was either on a straight path towards true greatness or was about to make his biggest blunder yet.