Hi. It's been a while. At least for me, that is. I couldn't pick up a pencil for some time until now.
It's been a week since the assassination attempt. For most of that time, I've been recuperating at the Beifong estate's private clinic. I hadn't even known we had an on-site medical facility, but apparently it's reserved strictly for family members... I'll touch on that in a bit.
I suppose anyone reading this (assuming anyone is reading this) would want the deets of what happened... What a weird way to say the word. "Deets" is short for "details," for anyone unfamiliar; it's one of the interesting words from Zero's vocabulary.
Back to the matter at hand. From what the physician gathered through the staff's not-so-subtle gossip, the attack itself was a ploy from the Fire Nation.
The foreign kingdom had identified the Beifong family as a vital component in sustaining the war effort against the Nation. Iron, after all, was indispensable; it was used in weapons, armor, construction, infrastructure, and countless other necessities that kept armies standing and cities functioning.
They had tried peaceful methods first. Well—peaceful by Fire Nation standards, including but not limited to political pressure that aimed at isolating the Beifongs within Earth Kingdom trade circles, interference through disrupting supply routes and contracts tied to Beifong iron, diplomatic sabotage by spreading doubt and suspicion among allied states and merchants...
Props to Lord Beifong, though; none of that produced the desired result that the Fire Nation sought when the iron continued to flow.
So, drastic measures were taken.
The assassins were composed primarily of contracted Earth Benders with nothing left to lose, along with non-benders who had infiltrated the servant staff, people who were desperate enough to risk everything for the reward promised upon completing the mission.
As morbid as it is, I had to give props to the Fire Nation; they sure do have exceptional ethics.
(I was being sarcastic when writing this sentence, Sokka, if you haven't noticed.)
How did we obtain this information? Simple enough.
Lord Beifong recovered the few perpetrators who were taken alive and got the information from them. Once they had served their purpose, they were promptly executed.
Severely screwed up in Zero's time, here, however, it is disturbingly entirely legal.
Now, after all that, Lord Beifong had decided that enough was enough.
Together with Madam Beifong, he ordered a full internal purge. Every member of the estate staff was screened, their backgrounds uncovered and scrutinized in exhaustive detail, all to ensure that something like this would never happen again.
The assassination attempt had been meant as a warning for Lord Beifong to step away from the war.
And in the end, he did.
He gave up after nearly witnessing his daughter, his own flesh and blood, being murdered over profits and business.
I can't say I blame him. My heart ran cold the moment Toph was in danger.
Receding his business interests from the warfront, Lord Beifong had decided to instead redirect his resources toward civilian infrastructure instead: rebuilding cities, reinforcing roads, and restoring what the war had already broken. Surprisingly, the Fire Nation didn't object.
Personally, I think they simply decided that reconstructing ruined cities was more trouble than it was worth.
Either way, Lord Beifong had made his choice. No contract and war effort was worth the life of his heir.
But what remained was only a shadow of his former self. Where there had once been confidence, there was now paranoia. In the name of protection, Lord Beifong, against Madam Beifong's wishes, had chosen to cage the young lady for the foreseeable future. At the same time, her studies were intensified, particularly her training to navigate the world while blind.
Moving back to a previous topic, I was hospitalized for a good few days.
I had circulated far too much of my Chi into my organs, pushing my body well beyond its limits. Muscles tore; my whole being was in complete exhaustion; I think I even bled from my eyes a little. Not only that, the sudden spike in energy burning within was the cause of the temperature around me rising to the point that steam emitted from my whole body.
Never trying that again soon; it hurt like a mother trucker.
And speaking of mother...
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"Come on, Renji, here's your allowance for the week~"
The Madam called me over as I passed by. I dropped to one knee, carefully receiving the pouch from her hand. It felt surprisingly heavy.
"W-Week? But my paycheck is not till three weeks from now—"
"This is a weekly allowance from me; do enjoy it with Toph, alright? And use it to take care of your body too; we can't have you ruining it before the time comes~"
"Thank you so much—Huh?! Madam! T-This is?!" I choked as I opened the pouch, revealing half a dozen gold coins.
"Oh, it's not that much. Only a few gold coins. Now shoo, go buy something to treat my baby!" With a quick pat of my head, she strolled away to who-knows-where.
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And then on the other hand...
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"My lord, you wish to speak with me?" With the pouch that the Madam gifted secured tightly in my person, I politely knocked on the door to the Lord's office, waiting for a response.
"Enter."
I followed suit, revealing Lord Beifong, who was reviewing documents filled with words and numbers, no doubt business-related. With the sudden transition in business, it seemed that he was busy working away.
"My lord, you've called for me?"
"Yes, boy—No. Renji."
Calling me by my name, I looked up to see Lord Beifong setting aside his documents to stare at me directly.
"I heard from Baon; he mentioned that you found the culprits before they made a move."
His expression morphed as, to my surprise, the man actually bowed his head to me.
"Thank you for saving my daughter. Truly."
Seeing the honest gratitude towards my actions, it felt disorienting in a sense. The servant was being bowed to by the master.
"Uh, it's not that big of a deal, my lord. I'm only doing my job as her butler." I scratched the side of my cheek, embarrassed, as Lord Beifong reached for a slip of rare, expensive paper from his desk alongside a badge engraved with the Beifong emblem.
"Be that as it may, you have done a great service to this house. I now grant you the title of Huan. With this, you are an honorary member of the Beifong clan and will be respected as one."
Gently taking the gift, I set aside the shock just long enough to admire the craftsmanship of the badge before bowing deeply.
"Thank you, my Lord. I am honored."
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Ahem. Do you know the significance of this badge?! People would kill for it, literally! With this, you are basically announcing to the world that, "This person is under the Beifong's protection!" kind of intimidation. And the Beifong had deep, deep pockets!
Oh, baby! A somewhat salary raise from the Madam, a new title and a badge that makes me one of the most powerful people in Gaoling, and I managed to help the Beifong family and baby Toph as a bonus? All that was definitely worth the effort!
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A/N: I got sick. Really sick. Like, horribly sick. It's always during the Chinese New Year period. IMO it's the sudden rain and sunny day that always causes me to get sick during this period.
I usually update anything that happens to me on Patre0n—status updates are for all members, free and paid—so perhaps you could join to get any news when stuff like this happens?
And happy belated Chinese New Year, everyone! Hope you guys enjoyed the festive celebrations!
Also it's becoming more apparent that Fridays just don't work for me, so I'm changing my upload schedule to:
Wednesday: Take a Deep Breath, Deep Breath
Saturday: Take a Deep Breath, Deep Breath
Sunday: The Butler Who Can Bend Fire
Hope you enjoyed this chapter!
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A/N (2): Each fic will have their own NEXT UPDATE section to avoid confusion.
NEXT UPDATE: 8 March, Sunday
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Please consider supporting me on my Patre0n where I post advance chapters and new story ideas not on any websites yet.
Your support, even if it's only for a month or even a whole year, helps me dedicate more effort and resources to writing more of my work!
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