The moment we arrived, we were split and sent to different rooms. The conclave was organized by rank.
Unfortunately for me, that meant I was placed with people of the same standing as myself. Bluffing would be harder here, though not impossible.
I was still considered the strongest ruler in attendance, and the difference in power between us wasn't exactly subtle.
"Please take a seat on the right."
A servant handed me a drink, a wineglass filled with… well, red wine. The smell was interesting, to say the least. I was guessing I was holding months' worth of an average man's income.
It didn't take long for the second conclave of the day to begin. This one already sounded more interesting than I'd expected.
The empire's borders were barely holding. The sheer onslaught of magical beasts was starting to overwhelm most marquisates—everyone's, it seemed, except mine.
Naturally, it didn't take long for my name to come up.
"Duke Noctierre, do you have anything to add?" the imperial herald called out, his voice booming across the room.
"Your territory is the only one still standing strong. If anyone has the freedom to speak, it's you. Do you have anything to add to this meeting?"
Seriously, how unlucky can I get? I don't know the first thing about ruling—much less ruling a frontier this hostile—but if I'm remotely good at anything, it's bluffing.
"To add?" I smirked. "Other than realizing everyone else here is incompetent, I'm not sure what else there is to say."
I was playing with fire, sure, but I knew being polite wouldn't work. Everyone here was just as bad as the original Cassian.
I had nothing to gain from kindness. Even if I did manage to befriend someone, whatever help they offered would be negligible at best.
All of them were being bled dry by the endless horde at the frontier.
I was the only one in this room with any real power left.
BANG!
Someone to my right slammed his hands on the table—a marquis, and one who definitely did not appreciate my comment.
"The empire's borders are dwindling, and that's all you have to say!?"
"If you can barely hold your own borders," I said, "why do you expect me to have spare resources for you? For all you know, I need every asset I have just to keep my lands from falling."
A bluff.
But a bluff that worked.
There was no way for them to easily contest it. My claim was hard to disprove and even harder to verify. Any speculation would almost inevitably lean in my favor.
"Order, my lords!" the herald called out again. "We'll revisit this topic later. For now, let us discuss imperial aid to those same affected frontiers."
***
The meeting ended without the topic circling back to me, thankfully. Even the herald hadn't expected they'd burn through most of the time just arguing about imperial aid.
Most of the marquises and frontier dukes in the room were practically at each other's throats over who would get the lion's share.
Seriously.
For a world that came from a romance novel, things were pretty bleak beneath all the pretty aesthetics.
For now, I needed to check on Faye and get back to my original tasks. If there was any hope of changing my fate beyond my own actions, it was this system.
SLAP!
I rounded a corner and immediately heard what sounded like a sharp, painful slap. Whatever had just happened, it definitely wasn't good.
And…
What I walked into looked even worse.
"How dare you speak up while Lord Hearthstone was talking? Don't get cocky just because you were chosen."
Faye was staring down at the floor, her left cheek already marked red. She took the verbal abuse without a word of protest.
You have to be kidding me...
"I don't see what Lord Noctierre saw in you…" The noblewoman sighed. "If there's anything you're good at, it's your body."
She smiled then, an unnervingly cruel curve of her lips.
"…Is that what you used to seduce Lord—?"
"Enough."
The word tore out of me as I strode toward the two noblewomen.
They'd already drawn a crowd, yet not a single person had stepped in. Not even the imperial guards were doing anything.
This place was a mess...
"Lord Noctierre…!" The noblewoman who'd slapped Faye quickly bowed, snapping her fan up to cover her mouth.
"I was only teaching her some manners, you wouldn't believe it! This woman dared interrupt a higher noble like—"
"Silence, before I cut out your tongue."
The threat left my mouth before I even thought it through. I could tolerate a lot of things, but if there was anything that really pushed my buttons, it was stuck-up noblewomen like her—a hatred and pet peeve born from reading dozens of stories just like this.
I absolutely hated them.
"Y-yes, my lord," she muttered.
"I said silence, can't you follow a simple command?"
But… that wasn't enough to repay what she'd done to Faye. A simple threat wouldn't cut it.
And while I wasn't going to hit her back—not yet, at least—I had other plans.
"Guards. Take her away for a misdemeanor against a duke."
The guards moved at once. All it took was a simple order. For a so-called security unit, that was honestly pathetic.
"W-what…!? My lord, please reconsider!"
She struggled as they dragged her off, and that only stirred the crowd up further.
However—
"The show's over. The rest of you, mind your own business."
I knew exactly how much power I held now.
And I was damn well going to use it.