Chapter 16: Protection
"Aldred. You're back."
The Count looked up. That face, permanently composed, showed nothing.
Aldred let himself in without a sound. He had changed out of the day's immaculate tailcoat into a plain dark grey coat. On the collar were a few spots of moisture, barely visible: the night fog.
"How did it go?"
"It's been handled, my lord."
Aldred crossed to the desk and inclined his head slightly. His voice was as even as if he were reporting on the day's weather.
"Leibkuchner. A commoner. Sold honey cakes at the capital's market for a living."
He paused.
"He was the last person to witness the young master and young lady's movements."
The Count's brow moved, barely.
"He won't be saying anything he shouldn't."
A faint cold light passed through Aldred's eyes as he said it. Brief, almost nothing. But the temperature in the study seemed to drop a degree.
The Count didn't ask for details.
He only needed the result.
"Was it clean?"
"Everyone will assume Eight Fingers was responsible."
There was a quiet certainty in Aldred's voice. Thirty years in service to the Aindra family. The things he had managed in that time made this one look straightforward.
One small commoner vendor. Not even worth extra thought.
The only real work had been making sure the trail pointed in the right direction.
But that was a complication, not a difficulty.
The Count gave a small nod.
That was, after all, one of Eight Fingers' uses.
Those rats in the shadows, years of malice accumulating behind them. But precisely because of that, they were the perfect scapegoats. Any death that couldn't be explained, any trace that needed covering, all of it could be laid at their door.
No one would question it.
And even if someone did, no one would pursue it.
After all, who cared about the death of a commoner?
"Well done." A note of approval entered the Count's voice.
Aldred gave a slight bow and said nothing to claim the credit.
Silence spread through the study for a few seconds.
"My lord."
Aldred spoke again, something tentative entering his voice.
"Regarding the commoner girl."
A pause.
"Shall she be dealt with as well?"
The Count's gaze shifted slightly.
The girl.
He thought of Lucian kneeling on the study floor, making his argument: take her back, keep her, make her a sworn blade.
Those pale green eyes raised to look at him, carrying calculation that had arrived far too early. But the Count had seen something more than that.
"No."
He set down the document in his hand and leaned back.
"I gave Lucian my word. Leave the commoner girl alone."
His voice was entirely level, as though settling something of no particular importance.
Aldred's expression didn't change. He bowed his head slightly.
"Understood, my lord."
"Tomorrow, take Lucian back to the domain and stay there for a while."
"Yes, my lord."
"You may go."
"Yes, my lord."
Aldred turned and left. The door closed softly.
The study was quiet again. The Count picked up a report and looked at it.
His eyes rested on the words.
He didn't turn a single page.
From his conversation with Lakyus, the Count had already assembled the whole picture.
Leibkuchner, the honey cake vendor. The few words he had said to Lucian and Lakyus at the market.
"Baron Livian again. Another little girl caught up in it. Poor child. May the gods protect her."
It was a deliberate nudge. Framed on the surface as a prayer for an innocent girl.
But the Count's judgment was that Leibkuchner had wanted those two children to walk into danger. Or he had wanted to stir up trouble and use someone else's hand to do his dirty work.
A commoner vendor had dared to use words to lead the Aindra heir into something like this.
He had earned what he got.
As for the commoner girl.
The Count had never intended to have her killed.
He remembered the brightness in Lakyus's eyes when she described the scene: "My brother and I defeated the demon together and protected her!"
That pride. That joy.
If the girl had died, that would have been too cruel to Lakyus.
The Count knew he was not a particularly good father.
He was strict with Lucian, dismissive of Lakyus's knight fantasies, and rarely held them with the warmth his wife gave so easily. He gave them lessons and studies and the rules of the nobility.
But he did not want to see the light go out of their eyes.
So when Lucian knelt on his study floor and said take her back, make her a sworn blade, the Count had taken the opening given to him.
It was one of the few quiet kindnesses he knew how to give.
Let the foolish boy think he was the one who saved that commoner girl.
* * *
"Onii-chan, you're back."
"Ah, my dear imouto. I'm back."
Lucian kept his voice light, covering his exhaustion with the joke, and pulled the door closed behind him.
Lakyus blinked, the unfamiliar word briefly catching her attention, but something more pressing replaced it almost immediately.
"Was onii-chan spending all afternoon dealing with the demon's spirit?"
Her eyes were bright, full of curiosity and something close to reverence.
Lucian looked at those eyes and was quiet for a second.
The temple. The injuries. Being called to the study and put through the full accounting. None of that could be said. Saying it would only worry her, make her feel like she had done something wrong.
More deception, then.
"Of course not." He walked over and sat down beside her. "It only took a moment to dispatch the demon's soul. After that your brother went to the temple for a look around."
"It's a wonderful place, actually. The clerics are very kind."
"Oh, and your brother also had a little chat with a bat. A scheming bat. It tried to get the better of me, but I saw straight through it."
Not exactly a lie.
He had genuinely been to the temple. He had genuinely spent time in conversation with a certain "bat."
He had simply left out the parts about the injuries and the treatment in between.
Lakyus smiled, as though he had said something funny.
But after a moment she tilted her head and looked at him more carefully, those pale green eyes carrying a small searching quality, like a cautious animal picking up a scent.
She leaned in a little and studied his face.
Close. Very close.
Lucian could smell the faint soap and herbs from her hair, could see the slight curve of her lashes as they moved.
"Onii-chan, are you hiding something from me?"
Something dropped in Lucian's chest. He kept his expression perfectly easy. "What would I be hiding?"
How old was Lakyus? And her instincts were already this sharp?
"Onii-chan always uses that exact tone of voice when he's being sneaky." Lakyus announced this with the certainty of a detective who has cracked the case.
"No such thing. Actually, speaking of which, your brother is going back to the family domain tomorrow for a while." Lucian changed direction before she could press further.
He didn't want Lakyus to know he had been hurt.
Let this foolish little sister think she was the one who successfully protected that commoner girl.
***
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