NOVEL ONLINE FREE Chapter 8
The next morning, as soon as day broke, I headed straight to the office where the Count was waiting.
“Count Croilet Your Excellency, SIEL von Croilet has arrived at your summons.”
A brief silence fell before the Count’s voice could be heard from beyond the door.
“Come in.”
As I opened the door and entered, I saw the Count sitting at a wooden desk with a chair. Fortunately, he greeted me not with an angry expression, which meant that at least he did not suspect me.
I’m alive; at least now, unlike Prince Sohyeon from the Joseon era, I’m not facing suspicion from Injo.
“Let’s see, it seems the discussion might be a bit lengthy, so take a seat here.”
“Yes, Father.”
Following his words, I sat upright in the chair the Count indicated, like a candidate in an interview.
Then the Count adopted a serious expression and spoke in a grave tone.
“According to the messenger sent from the village… I have heard that Bailiff Mars has defied my orders and audaciously embezzled a tremendous amount of money from serfs under the pretense of taxes for death duties, mill usage fees, and agricultural tool loans.”
“Yes, that is correct.”
“And furthermore, he even sold serf women who could not pay the death duties to mercenaries as courtesans, while the children were either sold to slave traders or forced to work to death. I heard that the girl named Ela, whom you brought, was presented to you as a distraction in an attempt to sway you.”
“That’s right. It was truly infuriating. Ela’s brother, Jacques…”
The Count raised his hand to stop me as I began to continue and carried on with his tale.
“My story is not yet finished, SIEL von Croilet. I did not teach you to interrupt my account without permission.”
“I’m sorry.”
As I lowered my head to apologize, he withdrew his anger and continued in a voice as cold as ice.
“If you had grasped such circumstances, you should have reported to me and executed the appropriate judgment through a legitimate trial. However, SIEL von Croilet, killing a steward without reporting is unacceptable, regardless of how justified your intention may be. Likewise, it is incomprehensible that you would recover the embezzled assets without my authority. I have never granted you such power. However, I will give you an opportunity. Explain yourself.”
As I heard his words, I sensed something.
The Count surely does not suspect me.
If he did, he wouldn’t have called me in for a one-on-one to provide an explanation. And he certainly wouldn’t be lecturing me like this.
He could simply admonish me in front of other nobles, issue an appropriate punishment, and use that to undermine or weaken my position.
No, it’s rather that he values me, hence giving me the chance to explain, despite my exceeding authority.
“Firstly, the Bailiff violated the lord’s unique authority to impose taxes and failed his duty to protect the serfs. In particular, selling serf girls using fictitious taxes and further more, presenting Ela to me as a distraction is a blatant affront to my father’s honor.”
The Count nodded at my words, indicating agreement.
“Thus, restoring my father’s honor obviously required returning everything to its original state.”
“What you said is correct. I allowed the Bailiff the right to collect taxes on crops, marriage taxes, and occasionally to levy additional taxes on serfs in times of war. To arbitrarily exercise authority beyond that and sell the serfs into slavery constitutes a breach of my duty to protect them.”
“Yes, that is correct.”
Upon hearing this, the Count’s expression slightly softened, and he spoke in a more relaxed tone.
“Therefore, this act shall be considered a just punishment befitting a noble, although I do not particularly like that you exercised the ‘right of life and death’ over the steward without permission. However, you have not yet explained why you arbitrarily distributed the Bailiff’s property and failed to report his disposal to me in advance.”
“Yes, that’s why I endeavored to report the Bailiff’s misdeeds and punish him as much as possible. However, my punishment of the Bailiff stemmed from his bringing Ela into my room. Ela was neither a courtesan nor a mere slave; she was a genuine serf of this territory. Please consider what it means for me, as the heir of the lord of this territory, to have Ela presented to me as a distraction.”
As I expressed, whether slave or beggar, a serf in this world is legally ‘owned by the lord of the territory.’
Thus, even knightly nobles cannot indiscriminately kill serfs without proper justification and must go through the cumbersome process of a trial to punish them.
Otherwise, they would be challenging the lord’s authority and could be executed for treason.
And yet, I would take in a girl whom the deceased Bailiff intended to exploit for nonsensical reasons?
That is clearly an act of treason against the lord, and at that moment, the Bailiff becomes a worthless scoundrel trying to tarnish my loyalty towards my noble father.
Therefore, what I said serves as a perfect justification for how I had no choice but to kill the Bailiff to demonstrate my loyalty to the Count.
Whether this reasoning got through or not, the Count, who had been contemplating my words for quite some time, gradually softened his expression and regarded me with a demeanor that, while not a smile, showed relief.
Thank goodness my explanation worked. No matter how much I’d calculated that things would unfold this way, had he been a madman, reasoning or no reasoning, I could have ended up dead or purged immediately.
“I see. Truly, you are my son. Well done.”
The Count’s voice carried no trace of reproach now.
“Thank you, Father.”
“However, you were somewhat reckless. If I hadn’t trusted you, I would have been outraged by the claim of arbitrarily distributing property. I would have suspected you.”
Hearing that made me think.
Yes, considering groups likened to righteous bandits like Hong Gildong, they would steal thousands of seok worth of rice or various goods from ‘wealthy’ ‘landlords’ and ‘yangbans’ and then distribute it all.
The reason for this distribution was to return loot extorted from the poor to its rightful owners, but the primary motive was to garner public favor to continue their bandit activities in the future.
Moreover, such activities could easily be seen as treason against the king.
In other words, while my actions may have been about rectifying the grievances of the wronged serfs as the heir of this territory, conversely, it might also suggest that I was attempting to buy the goodwill of these serfs to incite rebellion.
Of course, being misunderstood this way would be unjust, but numerous cases have illustrated how gradually building public sentiment in such a manner can lead to rebellion.
Damn, I was too reckless.
Seeing my face scrunch up, the Count chuckled.
“Is that when you finally understood? Hahaha. It’s not easy to conduct oneself in the territory, is it? That’s why I urged you to learn these things at the Academy. There too, various nobles form factions, and minor politics play out.”
“Hahahaha, indeed.”
While I had been trying to laugh moments ago, cold sweat was now running down my back.
While studying history, I had been dismissive of those generals and nobles who lost their heads due to ‘excessive loyalty,’ and yet I had been behaving similarly.
And by acting that way, I could have easily faced the danger of being suspected by my father and could have died.
After watching me, the Count laughed heartily for a while, then looked me in the eyes and said.
“Well, you did well. Honestly speaking, from the moment you said you would inspect the rural territories, I was considering abandoning the idea of sending you to the Academy, given your firm resolve. If a man has set his mind, and if it is right, then… we rural nobles can do without such an institution.”
Hearing this made my heart swell.
Although the person before me is not my biological father, I hadn’t seen anyone like this ‘father’—someone who trusts and supports me so much—in over a decade.
Therefore, the paternal affection emanating from the Count deeply moved me.
“Father…”
“Very well then. I shall not send you to the Academy as you proposed. Now go back. However, for this incident, I will hold a separate trial to scrutinize your mistakes and inflict a nominal punishment. The beheading of a steward without a report was indeed a mistake.”
Well, since the Count already said, “Yes, you pass,” my ‘punishment’ will likely be a slap on the wrist.
Even if a noble were to say, “Count, some things are just too lenient, even for the heir,” I would have no counterargument if I just explained my position.
In fact, I would even consider it fortunate if that discussion did not even turn into a spectacle.
“Yes, I will return.”
***
A few days later, just as my father had mentioned, I was put on trial in front of several knights.
When the trial began, I could see some nobles approaching my half-brother, probably speculating about how I would fare.
As expected, the result concluded as the Count had already hinted—a lenient punishment.
Actually, it was rather beneficial.
It ended with fourteen days of house arrest, so I could use this as an excuse to sleep in, make plans, and enjoy myself.
Ah, and I naturally had to devise plans based on the data I had gathered from this inspection.
Everything worked out really well.
I considered placing Ela in an orphanage, but under the Count’s orders that I take responsibility, she became my nominal ‘personal maid.’
When the Count handed Ela over to me, he remarked:
“Putting her in an orphanage would only result in her becoming a concubine to some noble. The only reason this girl might have a somewhat better life, being so beautiful, is due to that. Typically, orphaned girls end up as courtesans in brothels.”
Hearing this and looking into the state of orphanages, I found that it was true.
Because, in a medieval setting like this world, the orphanages gather children and provide some protection, but the conditions are truly deplorable.
Children entering orphanages do not perform work as hard as adults, but they still work the same hours.
They receive barely a bowl of thin wheat or barley porridge and a piece of bread a day.
Moreover, after leaving the orphanage, they often become impoverished in the city, or girls face the frequent fate of becoming prostitutes.
Occasionally, only the prettiest girls might become a noble’s maid or plaything.
Leaving a cute girl like Ela in such a place would could potentially lead to the orphanage head having a moment of madness.
And deciding to live in this world, regardless, I couldn’t treat the girl I saved as if she were just another stray cat or dog.
I had acted somewhat recklessly.
Thus, under the guise of having her as my personal maid, I kept her.
And as time passed, my house arrest was lifted, and I received a letter of authority from my father.
“To SIEL von Croilet, the territory of Windheim, formerly governed by Bailiff Mars, is hereby granted.”
As soon as I received the letter, I went to find my father to express my gratitude and immediately departed for the village previously governed by the Bailiff.