Chapter 5 – The Bastard of Westphalen (5)
“This isn’t the first time someone put poison in my food, is it?”
At those words, Head Maid Chloe shot up from her seat.
“I-I don’t know anything about—ah.”
She immediately shut her mouth after realizing she had made a mistake.
I gave her a faint smile, walked closer, and whispered into her ear.
“Did the Countess order you to do it?”
“……”
Her silence was as good as an answer.
This was giving me a headache.
The true power in the Westphalen territory wasn’t my father, Count Michael.
It was the former Count of Westphalen, his daughter Countess Lorian, and her son, Young Lord Noah.
Those three were the real rulers here.
Even if I caused a huge scene over the attempted poisoning, Countess Lorian wouldn’t suffer much damage.
The only one who would end up dying would be that poor little maid.
Still, I can’t just let this slide. At the very least, I should take this head maid away from her.
Head Maid Chloe might act somewhat airheaded at times, but she was intelligent and extremely capable when it came to handling work.
The fact that she had become the head maid while still only in her mid-twenties proved it.
Having someone like her serving as Countess Lorian’s right hand was troublesome.
She’s useful.
If possible, I should make her my subordinate.
I stared at Chloe for a moment before speaking.
“Even if you testify that you were only following orders, the only ones who’ll lose their heads are you and that maid.”
“Eek!”
“Head Maid. Someday, I’m going to call for you. When that time comes, if you refuse me, you die.”
With that, I turned around and left.
She was smart.
She would figure out the right choice on her own.
Time passed quickly.
Soon, it was the morning of my coming-of-age ceremony.
Martin immediately started nagging me.
“That little maid worked hard to iron those clothes. If you lean back against the chair like that, they’ll wrinkle.”
“Martin, it’s our last day together and you’re still nagging me? Anyway, what are you going to do after this?”
Once I was assigned to another region, Martin’s duties as my personal guard would also change.
“I’ll probably return to the knight order.”
“Won’t that mess up the seniority structure?”
“Well, if that happens…”
Martin raised his fist and grinned.
“I’ll just show them who the senior is with strength.”
I narrowed my eyes at him.
“Martin, you seem to have gotten pretty confident lately. Why don’t we have a spar for the first time in a while and see just how much you’ve grown?”
“Eek!”
Martin jumped back.
“I oppose violence! I absolutely refuse!”
We were joking around to ease the tension when—
Knock, knock, knock.
A maid’s voice came from outside.
“Lady Maria has arrived.”
Mother.
Martin instantly rushed to the door and stood straight.
I also rose from my chair and tidied my clothes.
The door opened, and my mother, Maria, entered with her maid.
“Eric, have you finished preparing for the coming-of-age ceremony?”
“Of course. Don’t worry.”
Mother gently patted my arm.
“Even if you receive an unexpected position, don’t be too disappointed.”
“As long as it isn’t some backwater village, I’ll be fine.”
I said it with a slight smile.
Mother looked somewhat relieved.
She really didn’t need to worry that much.
I wasn’t expecting a good position in the first place.
“My uselessness has made you suffer.”
“Suffer? I’ve lived comfortably as a noble all this time.”
“Still…”
Mother looked apologetic.
“I couldn’t do anything about your position, but I’ll at least find you a good marriage.”
I couldn’t help but chuckle.
A good marriage?
I was single even in my previous life.
Marriage, huh…
I had never really thought about it.
Mother then clasped her hands together and offered a short prayer.
“O God, please watch over my son’s future.”
I had no idea which god she was praying to.
One thing was certain.
It wasn’t the Sun God.
If she worshipped the Church of the Sun God, there would be no reason to hide it.
At that moment, another knock came from the door.
A servant spoke from outside.
“Young Master, preparations for the ceremony are complete. Please come with me.”
I opened the door and stepped out.
The servant led the way.
A short while later, we arrived at the venue for the coming-of-age ceremony.
Since I was an illegitimate son, there was normally no reason to invite important people from other regions.
They should have only sent invitations to influential figures within the territory.
Then why are there so many people here?
It looked like even the knights stationed throughout the fiefs had been summoned.
Most of the knight order was present.
Every administrative official working in the lord’s castle was also there.
Even the heads of families who had entered into vassal relationships with Westphalen had personally attended.
And there was more.
Even Countess Lorian’s father, the former Count of Westphalen, had come.
We weren’t even related by blood.
Why was he here?
Did Father summon everyone?
This isn’t normally an event important enough for that.
Unable to understand Father’s intentions, I felt a little nervous as I stood below the platform and waited for the ceremony to begin.
Then the herald shouted.
“His Excellency, the blessed leader of Westphalen and Viscount of Marcel, Count Michael Marcel Westphalen, has arrived!”
Everyone stood straight and watched Father enter.
Behind him came Young Lord Noah, Countess Lorian, my mother—Count Michael’s concubine—and several other childless concubines.
The coming-of-age ceremony had no complicated procedures.
Father immediately stepped onto the platform in front of me and raised his voice.
“My son Eric has finally reached adulthood and will soon leave this place.”
Everyone went silent.
“The intelligent Eric has contributed to the administration of the territory from a young age, while the courageous Eric has eliminated enemies who threatened our lands.”
Father looked around the hall.
“Therefore, I intend to grant him a position and reward befitting his achievements. If anyone objects, speak now.”
Anyone stupid enough to open their mouth just because he told them to would probably lose their head.
Naturally, the hall remained completely silent.
Father nodded.
“I will take that as there being no objections.”
Then he continued.
“I, Michael Marcel Westphalen, hereby grant my son Eric the surname ‘Marcel’ and raise him to the rank of Viscount.”
The crowd froze.
“His territory shall consist of the entirety of the current Marcel territory.”
My eyes widened.
Father wasn’t finished.
“Furthermore, I hereby dissolve Eric’s vassal relationship with Westphalen. From this day forward, the Marcel territory shall become an independent domain.”
Everyone stared blankly.
Countess Lorian looked as if her jaw might drop.
Even the knights broke their stiff posture and started looking at each other.
“Making an illegitimate son a Viscount? Isn’t that a little excessive?”
“Shh! Keep quiet. Do you want to die?”
“That bastard son is lucky. The Count gave him one incredible gift.”
“Indeed. His Excellency must truly love his biological son.”
Everyone was talking as if I had just won the lottery.
But the person involved—me—couldn’t understand what was happening.
Why give it to me?
Wait.
Is he trying to abandon the territory?
There was one fact that ninety-nine percent of the people gathered here didn’t know.
The Marcel territory was drowning in poverty and operated at a deficit every single year.
It bordered the Great Forest, which meant it had to defend itself against monster attacks.
However, its military strength was so weak that it couldn’t even properly subjugate monsters.
Forget monsters.
Bandits were everywhere.
Since its lord lived far away in the Germania Empire, the territory was also poorly managed.
A large number of displaced people had moved into the region as well.
Naturally, those refugees weren’t registered as official residents.
That meant they paid no taxes while still consuming the territory’s budget.
On top of that, the farmland couldn’t be expanded, so agricultural output had been declining year after year.
Because of that, the territory issued bonds every year to cover its deficit.
And every time, the Westphalen family bought those bonds and destroyed them.
So they’re planning to abandon Marcel and stop buying its bonds?
The pieces fell into place.
Then they’ll dump the Marcel territory on me and the Westphalen family will wash their hands of it.
They didn’t want to bear the disgrace of being nobles who abandoned their territory.
So that’s their plan!
If a noble abandoned his own territory or sold it off for money, his reputation would suffer greatly.
Other nobles would say that he had abandoned his responsibilities.
That disgrace could follow the family for generations.
