Chapter 31: Heresy
The first method for estimating the intelligence of a ruler is to look at the men he has around him.
Niccolo Machiavelli
Wilbert Manor.
The air was still, quiet.
Sheets of paper littered the tiled floor.
His chin resting in his hand, lost in thought.
Knock.
"Sir Tobey." Karis' voice came from the other side of the door.
"Come on in." Tobey fixed his dress, pulling the sleeves down to cover the golden ruins on his arm.
"More evidence has been given to the council about my cousin's connections to the lord of the crimes," Karis placed a bundle of documents on his table.
He frowned, picking up the sheets and glancing through them.
"They really did get Master this time." Tobey sighed. The documents contained accurate information.
"He did like being overly flashy." Karis gave a wry smile.
"Any information on who the source of all this information is?" Tobey asked, crumpling a file that had a picture of Adrian sitting on the previous godfather's throne.
"Every time I try, it just leads me in circles." Karis replied.
"Master's recovery?" He turned to his window, looking towards the large hole in the city wall.
"Adrian is unique, none of the doctors can tell us a thing." Karis answered.
"Even the ones Eloise brought?"
"Yes… but Lady Eloise said, that he still has a lot of life left in him." She said.
"What about Zethar and Chris." He asked, all of them were sent into a disarray after two weeks of living in that null dome. They grew stronger yes – but at the cost of what: Hillan's head and Adrian's sanity.
"They refuse to return until he wakes."
_ _ _
On the fractured city walls.
"You know, there is a home detainment order on all those involved in the outer city." Tobey walked out of a portal, towards Chris who looked over the ruined outer city, his hand resting on the hilt of his sword.
"I grew up with him you know." Chris said.
"You have been the longest serving servant of the master." Tobey nodded.
"However, I failed him… in more ways than one." Chris' voice became heavy with guilt, but his eyes did not water.
Tobey walked up to his side, overlooking the ruins below/
"In more ways than one, I doubted his ways. Now I had grown so useless as to allow harm befall him." Chris then turned to one of the mountains to the south… one with its side missing.
"As mature as he forced himself to be, as mighty as he is… he is just a lonely child beneath it."
_Clench_
Tobey's fists clenched "Our Master will awaken soon, I expect a smile across your face."
Chris turned to look at his long sleeves, wanting to say something, then, his golden eyes glowing with understanding "I used to wonder how you would mindlessly follow any order he gave, but now, I understand… it was the only right thing."
_ _ _
_Crack_
His foot smashed into his chair.
"How dare those filthy noblemen!" He roared.
_Boom_
He moved the table across the room.
"Stripping us of nobility… huh! They deserve nothing but to bow before your excellence." He calmed down, walking towards his desk.
Silence returned.
The scattered papers.
The cracked chair.
The displaced table.
All of it… disorder.
He adjusted his sleeves.
Slowly.
Deliberately.
"They misunderstand their position."
His voice was low now. Controlled.
"They believe nobility is authority." He picked up one of the fallen documents, smoothing its creases. "They believe titles define power."
A pause.
"They believe they can judge him."
His fingers tightened around the paper.
Crack.
It tore in half.
"They believe they can strip him of worth."
He exhaled.
Then placed the torn pieces neatly on the table.
Then he looked to the portrait of Adrian on his wall.
"I thought I could emulate your excellence."
"I thought I could be as smart as you are." He felt the smooth texture of the picture.
"Your power." His hands clenched into a fist.
"Yet I let so much harm before you… your family." He muttered.
_Knock_
He frowned, not bothering to turn "Who is it?"
"I heard some noise, I just wanted to check up on you." Maria's voice came from the other side, sounding with the weight of someone who had spent nights crying.
"Hold up." His face quickly morphed into one of confusion and guilt, as he pulled his sleeves down once again.
_Creak_
He turned the door knob, but Maria didn't say a word, she only observed the room, then her eyes flashed to his sleeves.
"I thought you took pride in those marks?" She asked.
"I do… but I don't deserve them –"
"So you'd rather hide them." She cut him short.
"You don't deserve to feel guilt, you don't deserve to feel sorrow." She stared sharply into his eyes. "My son is lying unconscious in his room right now.
"My husband waiting just for a call back –"
"I failed my master." Tobey interjected.
_Thud_
A slap echoed through the room.
"You have not failed him yet…" She looked to him once more, her eyes teary "Get your shit together and don't disappoint him… or me."
Tobey stood there for a while, his hand still feeling his slapped cheek, then
He bowed "Thank you for bringing me back to my senses… I shall resolve all the issues until Master's awakening."
Maria looked at him for a while, tears pouring from her eyes, then she nodded and left.
As her footsteps faded, he raised his head,
He turned toward the window once more, gaze fixed on the broken city.
"Master built this system."
"Master broke this system."
"Master will rebuild it."
A faint smile formed across his face
Cold and unforgiving.
"And when he does…"
His eyes narrowed.
"…those who think they stand above him will kneel."
Later that night.
Karis stood before his door once more, more papers in her hand.
"Tobey, the council has issued a final notice—"
"Delay it."
Karis paused. "Tobey… that would be—"
"Heresy?" Tobey finished calmly, he didn't care.
Silence.
He didn't turn.
"Then let it be recorded as such."
A pause.
Then—
"I do not serve those groups of heretics." He said.
Another pause.
"I serve Adrian Wilbert."
The room fell still.
"Stall it, until master comes, I'm in charge."