The two men exited the Bright households, both leaving with different kinds of emotions, Baron Wolfram had a sense of relief, his shoulders feeling light and his lips almost showing a smile.
"Please make sure you do as instructed and I'll do the same"
Wolfram began, they hadn't just exited the Bright household after simply expressing his willingness to betray Bulat, the wife had taken the opportunity to "test" their loyalty in a sense
After all, it's easier to say than it is to act, Wolfram can say all he wants but if he does nothing to show for it, then his words are as good as nothing.
Thus the two men were both tasked with a mission, Luke was to gather statements from the rest of the neighborhood, under the guise of conducting an investigation on Bulat.
Wolfram would submit an official criminal case against Bulat to the noble court. Given his status as the noble in charge of the capital's security and policing, something like this shouldn't take more than a day. Provided that Luke completes his task in a few hours.
Of course, while Wolfram was willing and able, Luke was more than a little hesitant, unlike the noble, his face did not show the same level of enthusiasm.
"Was all that you said true?"
The knight Captain began, having heard the Baron speak to Arthur's wife like she was royalty and even treating her like one, had been surprising, he never knew there was a secret third princess, much like the rest of the people he hadn't believed the rumours last year.
It would have been easy to simply chastise the Baron and threaten him with retaliation from Bulat, however, he would much rather get the whole picture before doing anything impulsive.
"I said a lot of things, be specific"
"The part about the woman being a princess? As far as I know, there are only two princesses in this Kingdom"
"You aren't part of the royal guard and work more with commoners than nobles, so it's understandable you wouldn't know of that, but yes all of it is true…"
Wolfram paused for a moment, letting Luke digest his words a bit more before he continued.
"Keep that information to yourself, if it spreads, both of us are going to be hanged"
He finished with a warning and let Luke continue to process everything. As much as he would like the discuss the plan they were tasked with, he also needed Luke to fully grasp everything and then make the choice to betray Bulat.
"Then what are we going to do?"
"It's simple, Bulat's time is over and we need to protect ourselves"
To the eyes of Wolfram, it really was that simple, he did not see himself as owing Bulat any loyalty, just as Bulat owed no loyalty to him.
On the other hand, Luke couldn't help but let out a hum, his face showing an expression of worry and tension.
"Are you sure that is wise?"
Wolfram gave the guard captain a curious look, he was awfully resistant to the idea. His eyes narrowed, if Luke was loyal to Bulat to the point of going down with him then Wolfram had no qualms with that, he'd sink the man along with whatever loyalties he had to Bulat.
"If you don't want to, then you're going down with him, don't forget your position was given to you by me"
That was true but if Luke is on the fence about this it will be difficult betraying Bulat without getting himself implicated, but if both of them make that choice, then both of them can easily push everything on Bulat.
"None of that please, I was just worried about the money, Bulat may be greedy but he was generous when he felt you were useful"
His shoulders slumped in a bit of disappointment, He supposed the man's time was up, no one could continue such a business forever. It was unfortunate but he had to protect himself first and foremost.
'What a shame'
As a fellow slumrat who just happened to be good at the sword, Luke had managed to find himself a way out of the slums, so he felt a bit of camaraderie with Bulat but that was all there was to it, their common origin did not dictate that he be loyal, in fact, betrayal was expected from a slumrat.
"You have a whole bakery with your wife, you don't need any more money"
Wolfram himself felt a bit of disappointment at the idea of having to lose some passive income, especially considering as a noble he wasn't exactly well off, like the rest of his colleagues who had accumulated wealth for generations upon generations.
Their conversation ended there, both men walking in silence. This was going to be the end of something that both had benefited from, it wasn't easy to let go of something like that.
After a full and long minute, Luke was the first to speak once more.
"Do we tell him? or at least warn him about this?"
"Don't be a fool you commoner, obviously not. What point is there in this if we tell him about it?"
Wolfram shook his head in a bit of disbelief, honestly how stupid was this commoner? Warning Bulat about something like this was essentially a guarantee to have him either flee or retaliate viciously, it's better when it's a surprise giving him little time to prepare a defense.
"Also did you notice that, he lets her talk too much?"
Wolfram questioned, his thoughts going back to how the princess seemed to be running the entire meeting.
"I thought you said she was royalty?"
"Yes but regardless of that, a woman speaking in matters that are not her business is strange. Despite being an Explorer, it's clear that this Arthur fellow isn't that strong as a man"
That last sentence came out of his mouth with a small chuckle, a man letting a woman have a say in such matters was a sign of weakness, an inability to control and lead his household.
"Indeed, it's honestly a bit odd, you'd think an Explorer would be firmer"
Luke wholeheartedly agreed with that, it also reminded him that he had to have a word with Catherine, as she seemed to be very familiar with Arthur. He didn't particularly like that.
...…
Esme let out a deep sigh, relief washing over her as she let her shoulder drop. Her gaze turned to glance at Arthur, with a small crease of her brows, showing a bit of her frustration.
"Why did you do that?"
The question came out of her mouth not as a curiosity but an accusation, as if he had committed an egregious crime, yet the man being questioned could barely suppress his amused smile.
"Do what?"
Once more she gave him a look that told him she wasn't stupid, throughout that entire meeting, he kept his words to a minimum and seemed to force Esme to speak even when unnecessary.
"You know it's improper for a woman to speak on things she has no business in, I've told you this. So why do you insist on it?"
"Esme I don't live alone in this house, it's your home too and I don't care whether it's proper or not, you will have a say in whatever business is being discussed"
Esme could only fold her arms and grumble in annoyance, expecting him to eventually cave to the norms of the kingdom seemed to be a futile endeavor.
She had expected him to at least keep up appearances in front of a noble, letting a woman insert herself in a man's business would only damage his reputation.
"In the event that we meet Duke Lionmane, please try to abide by the norms"
She instructed, in hopes of getting him to at least try when it was necessary.
"We'll see"
He said lazily, his words conveyed the obvious lack of care for her warning, he had no plans on doing any of that