Chapter 34 — Nighttime Invasion
Chapter 34 — Nighttime Invasion
As expected, as soon as I arrived at the castle, I had to give explanations to my father. He called me to his office, and he didn't look very happy...
— Was it you who intervened? — asked Marquess Arl.
— Ehh, yeah... You know, I didn't have much of a choice. This situation was very complicated...
— Really? And what were you doing on the rooftops of the houses?
— I was playing with Katriny.
— Do you have any real idea that if your mother finds out you were running along the high gutters, she's going to skin both of us alive? I will suffer the punishment for not keeping you locked in your quarters and you for getting into trouble once again.
— Sir, please, he saved me! If it weren't for him, I'd still be in the hands of my kidnappers... — intervened Yara.
— You don't understand the gravity of his behavior — pondered Lord Arl, softening his tone with the guest. — He has barely turned twelve years old and this is not the first time he pulls off this kind of irrational stunt. He already caused us severe concern in the past, and lately he has been mysteriously disappearing over the weekends... Isn't that right, Kaelen? — The Marquess shot me an absolutely scorching look.
I let out a weak laugh, remembering that I always beat Katriny at hide-and-seek.
— Do you think I don't monitor your outings beyond the citadel walls?
— I've been lenient, but now your obligation is to take care of our guest and keep her safe. Can I count on you for that?
— Yeah, you can...
— And as for you, Katriny... — Lord Arl turned to the panda-monk. — ...you will assist in guarding both of them until this crisis is resolved and Duke Nerius arrives in the province. You are strictly forbidden from crossing the castle gates.
— Why do I feel like my father is enjoying this? — I thought, glaring at him.
— Lord Marquess — Yara intervened, looking at me with genuine curiosity. — Is he really your legitimate son? From the stories, I even considered that he might be some disguised dwarf artisan given his intellect, but he doesn't have that race's features. And the way he freed me... He uses very strange magic.
Lord Arl let out a contained laugh.
— I apologize for the late introductions, Lady Yara. I am Marquess Arl Vance, governor of this province, and this reckless boy is my heir, Kaelen. My wife, Lady Sylvia, will soon come down to this hall to greet you and help you settle into the guest quarters until your father arrives.
Yara widened her eyes in surprise:
— So he is the prodigy of House Vance that everyone whispers about in the capital? But the court chronicles never mentioned that he had an aptitude for fencing, hand-to-hand combat, or invisible spells. They always gave the impression that he was just a genius focused on mechanical creations or government bureaucracy.
At that moment, I rested the palm of my hand on my face, feeling the onset of a headache from the rumor mill.
Lord Arl began to laugh openly, pointing at my despair.
— See that, Kaelen? Because you ignore my warnings about etiquette, refuse to reply to court letters, and run away from your responsibilities, look at the erroneous image other nobles cultivate of you!
— Fine, you won this time, Dad...
— So the one who rescued me in the alley was the prodigy Kaelen himself... — muttered Yara, processing the information.
— I'm no genius... — I retorted promptly. — I'm just pragmatic. I like to execute certain engineering feats and solutions differently than usual, but there's no need to exaggerate.
— Differently? — mocked Lord Arl, raising an eyebrow. — Differently like what you pulled off at your birthday banquet? Or differently from when you insisted on restructuring urban infrastructure by installing copper pipes and public washrooms for the commoners? Do you have any real idea how much gold that prank cost and the logistical headache it caused me?
— But, Dad, there's no need to bring up sensitive financial points... The project worked perfectly and reduced the outbreak of diseases, didn't it?
Yara, watching the scene unfold, burst out laughing.
— Well, Lady Yara — concluded the Marquess, ending the meeting. — I will leave my heir in charge of escorting you alongside the castle guard. If you need any supplies or assistance, feel free to ask the servants or Kaelen himself; he will make it an absolute priority to comply. — My father stared at me with a firm expression. — Right, Kaelen?
I swallowed hard under his authority, lowered my head, and replied:
— Yes, Dad...
— Ah, Sylvia has arrived.
My mother entered the office with elegant strides, her eyes shining instantly upon spotting the blue-haired young woman in the room.
— My, what do we have here? — she exclaimed, approaching with a radiant smile. — Such a lovely young lady brought by my very own son... Could she perhaps be your secret suitor, Kaelen? But wait... Those deep blue hairs... By any chance do you belong to the lineage of Duke Nerius Oceanus?
Yara stood up promptly, executing a flawless, formal greeting before the Marchioness.
— Yes, milady, I am Yara Nerius. It was thanks to Kaelen's intervention that I am safe in this castle today. Otherwise, I would still be trapped in the restrictive bonds of my kidnappers. He heroically saved me.
— Ah, I understand completely, dear... It's wonderful to hear that — replied Lady Sylvia, casting a look loaded with secondary intentions in my direction. — Isn't that right, Kaelen? I vehemently hope you treat her with the utmost courtesy! Otherwise, you'll have to explain to me in detail how you managed this feat.
I sensed imminent danger and tried to plot an escape route:
— Ah, Mom... You know how it is, I have training right now and I need to bake a cake later, so can we postpone this conversation for later?
— NO! — replied Lord Arl and Lady Sylvia in unison, their voices cutting off any chance of evasion.
I lowered my head, my shoulders slumping.
— I knew it... — I muttered with total discouragement.
Katriny, watching the whole scene from the corner of the hall, began to let out muffled giggles from behind her paw, amused by my social captivity. — Well, young master... You've been cornered perfectly this time, — she thought.
On Sunday, during the walk, Yara displayed an extremely cheerful and lively temperament, a drastic behavioral fluctuation compared to the panic she showed when I found her in the alley. She bombarded me with a succession of technical questions: she wanted to understand how I managed to negate gravity to levitate or what invisible mechanism I had used to knock out the thugs without touching them.
I had to carefully weigh every answer. To make matters worse, Katriny wasn't even by my side; that traitress had made sure to leave us alone. It was clearly a conspiracy.
Since a medieval castle doesn't offer many attractions, even I got bored sometimes. So I had an impromptu idea to break the routine and change up the walk.
— Would you like to come with me to a different place, Lady Yara?
— Where? — she asked, tilting her head.
— Well, a much more secure perimeter with a better view. What do you say? — I offered her the palm of my hand.
Yara broke into a radiant smile and accepted the invitation.
— Yes!
As soon as her fingers touched my hand, I activated my psychokinesis, projecting a sequence of invisible platforms in the air beneath our heels.
— Just follow my steps — I instructed, guiding her as we climbed the kinetic steps until we reached a stable altitude of fifteen meters above the courtyard floor. — Don't be afraid, the mechanical resistance of the support is absolute and the panoramic view from up here is fantastic. The only truly beautiful place in this castle is my mother's private garden, which she loves. The fastest and most uninterrupted path is to go over the top.
Surprised to be walking through the sky, Yara asked, startled:
— Aren't you afraid of falling? Or of the wind dragging you away?
— There's no need to worry about air currents — I answered with total naturalness. — I can precisely control the wind vector around us. Even if a hurricane swept across the province right now, it would be converted into a mere gentle breeze for you. Of course, if we suffered an enemy ballistic attack or an arcane firestorm, the variables would change, but I'd have other physical ways to react.
Yara swallowed hard, staring at me with a perplexed expression. — If a hurricane hit us, we'd be dead! And he talks about it this calmly, as if rewriting the world's forces were no big deal... — she reflected inwardly, startled by my level of power.
Soon we crossed the upper perimeter and landed in the fortress's suspended garden. I showed her the layout of the place: it was a planned environment, featuring a rustic carved wooden gazebo right at its central axis.
— Kaelen... This is gorgeous! — exclaimed Yara, her eyes shining as she gazed at the petals. — Who was the architect who designed the layout of this garden?
— This was my reconciliation gift to my mother, after I caused her a monumental headache in the past — I explained, remembering my period of domestic punishment. — I wanted her to be able to have tea in a different place. Since space is scarce here in the castle, I asked my father to bring saplings from outside. I designed the structure myself, and my father's builders executed the construction work. However, I insisted that they place a fruit tree in each cardinal direction and a yellow-flowering conifer right in the center of the gazebo, so that when the wind blows, the falling golden petals create an excellent visual aesthetic. Don't you think?
— It's magnificent... — she murmured, touching one of the wooden pillars. — You're telling me you designed all of this by yourself?
— Yeah, I did.
— Young Master Kaelen... Did you really engineer all of this?
— First, since we've established a friendly perimeter here, please dispense with the title of "young master," okay? — I requested, sighing. — It mentally exhausts me to hear that formality every single second in the hallways. You can just call me Kaelen. And second, yes, I was the one who drafted the technical blueprints.
— Sometimes my father comes here to spend time with my mother, and I wanted them to be able to disconnect from the routine a little bit. I don't know about you, but I hardly ever get to see them properly...
Yara blushed lightly and asked:
— Kaelen... Can you do me a favor?
— ?? Yeah... As long as it's within my reach and not absurd.
— Can you answer why you never replied to my letter?
— Your letter...? Ah, right... It's just that I was a bit busy doing tasks for the adventurers' guild, so I apologize... — I tried to come up with a far-fetched excuse to change the subject. — If I answer it now, is that okay? I'll hand-deliver it to you.
— Really? So you agree and accept?
— ?? What do you mean...? — I thought, confused. — Oh... yeah, I guess.
— So you won't go back on your word? You'll answer yes and agree to my letter? After all, I was the one who wrote it!
— Damn, I feel like I'm walking right into a trap... But if I say no, my mother will skin me alive. What kind of answer do I give here?!
— Kaelen...? So you don't want to reply? — Yara made a convincingly tearful face.
— All right, all right, fine! I don't know what it's about, but as long as it's nothing extreme, I'll say yes, okay? I'll write back to your letter and give it back to you.
— Promise?
— I already said yes...
— Then can you take me to your mother? Lady Sylvia?
— Yeah, yeah, I'll take you right now. She shouldn't be far, probably in her office handling administration and accounting.
Fifteen minutes later, we reached Sylvia's office.
— Lady Sylvia! — announced Yara, with undisguised joy in her voice. — May I speak with you? Kaelen just agreed to formally reply to my letter and said yes to the terms!
Lady Sylvia dropped her quill pen instantly, her eyes shining with triumphant satisfaction.
— Really?! What a wonderful and splendid piece of news! — exclaimed the Marchioness, rising from her chair. — Come, dear, let's sit down to talk. I'll interrupt the accounting work immediately, because we need to discuss the preparations for some important variables... Kaelen! — My mother turned to me with absolute authority. — Your obligation right now is to march straight to your room and draft the reply to her letter. You have exactly one useful hour to finish.
At that exact moment, I felt a chill run down my spine. — Could my mother have been plotting behind my back...? No, that's impossible... Correction: it's entirely possible! But I need to see this letter, because if it's what I think it is, I am seriously screwed.
I hurried to my room as fast as possible. Incredibly, Katriny was there, sitting quietly and humming. She saw me arrive and dash toward the pile of mail I had cast aside.
After rummaging through everything, following a few seconds of frantic searching, I located the parchment bearing the Oceanus crest and Yara's signature. The letter was right in the middle of the stack of suitors — the exact ones I planned to throw away or burn in secret, but could never manage to because of Katriny's watchful eye.
I began reading the paper in desperation and ended up collapsing onto the floor. It was a formal marriage proposal sent by Duke Nerius offering his legitimate daughter, Yara, and her letter was a personal acceptance of the terms, clear as day.
I had walked straight into my mother's trap.
That's when Katriny couldn't hold it in anymore and burst out laughing:
— Young master... — mocked the panda-monk, wiping away tears of laughter. — I believe that from now on the senhor will have an official and legitimate fiancée tied to his foot, isn't that right?
— So you knew about the whole setup, you traitress?! — I snapped, pointing at her. — You knew she was also one of the suitors in the package!
— Of course I did, young master. I read all the letters. I just didn't expect destiny to be so ironic as to put her right in your path. The goddess of love must really like you! — she laughed.
— Now everything makes sense! My mother telling me to look after her... And you leaving me free to take her to the garden... You guys planned this together!
— Young master, I wasn't the one who had the brilliant idea to play the romantic heartthrob and lead the young lady to the garden... I just gave a little nudge. And by the looks of it, you don't have much time left, correct?
— So you and my mother really wove this plot against my freedom?
— Young master, wasn't you looking for a sweet bride resembling your mother? There you go! Now there's no way out. After all, didn't you say yes?
— But this isn't fair...!
— And are you going to go back on your word of honor as the heir of House Vance? — she inquired, arching an eyebrow.
I placed my hand over my face, defeated:
— Fine, I get it... I lost the war.
A while later, with the parchment properly signed and sealed with our House crest, I returned to my mother's study. I found Lady Sylvia and Yara chatting happily about fabrics and banquets. I approached with slow steps and handed the official document directly into Yara's hands.
Sylvia looked at me triumphantly:
— See what I told you, dear? — smiled Lady Sylvia, caressing the young woman's blue hair. — Kaelen is a good boy, an exemplary heir who will always keep his promises. — My mother shot a victorious look in my direction.
— Yeah, yeah, I won't take back my word... I just think you guys could have been a bit more honest.
Sylvia shrugged:
— For what? So you could try to run away again? And when would I ever get to see my grandchildren?
— But wouldn't it be much easier for you to just have another child for that?!
With feigned irritation, Sylvia struck a blow with her folding fan against my head. Yara, standing beside her, covered her mouth to stifle a laugh.
— You brat! — scolded she, her cheeks flushing red.
— Well — said my mother, adjusting her posture —, since you two are going to be formally engaged, your father the duke needs to be officially informed.
— In the meantime, Yara, take this.
I pulled out from my pocket a small bracelet forged from treated iron alloy infused with kinetic micro-frequencies that I had developed in Master Balin's workshop. I extended the item and gently fastened it around Yara's wrist.
— If you ever have any trouble, just touch it and think of me, and I'll find you, okay?
— Yes! Thank you so much! — replied Yara, radiant with happiness. — I will guard this gift with my life.
Unfortunately, all that calm and happiness wouldn't last long.
It was around 11:00 PM when we heard a loud commotion outside. I had a terrible premonition and a pang in my chest: Yara had been kidnapped again, right in the middle of the night, from inside the castle itself.
