The Lord of Rovinj

‘Strolling through the streets of Rovinj of the Lestia Duchy, I had gathered a few things. Firstly is that since I last came here, the city of Rovinj had changed its governing lord. In my personal opinion, I think that it has changed for the better. The previous lord nearly executed my whole party just for not bowing down to them when they passed by. Pavard, who possessed the blessing of Poseidon, got so angry he unleashed his blessing and blew up half the town. This brings me to my second observation, the foundations of the state feels heavier on one side whilst the other feels a lot lighter, indicating that the city was rebuilt in a haste, meaning that although it is newer on one side, a flood would probably blow it all away. This is the first in a long time where I’ve not had to use this portion of my blessing to detect any hostility. That said, I shouldn’t let down my guard.’

As Celena and Kei, accompanied by Charlotte, strolled through the streets of Rovinj, many things seemed new to Kei, whilst certain old shops were still in place. A bittersweet smile came over Kei as he had just realised that the small droplets of his past were probably what the humans call happy memories, things he will never be able to do anymore. He also noticed just how much the people respect the Lestia family. Every shop had given her gifts of what they were selling. From fresh fruits and vegetables, to small trinkets, it was clear that the people were happy under the new Lestia duchy.

“Lady Celena, would it be rude of me to ask a question?” Kei finally spoke after a while into their stroll.

“Hmm? Not at all. Please, ask anything you’d like!” Celena replied enthusiastically.

“What happened to the previous Lord Radisel?”

“Him? Ah…”

When Kei had brought up the previous lord of the city, her face immediately fell as if something tragic had happened.

‘Do I even have the right to tell him something of that magnitude? It’s something my father has told me to keep silent about… But if it’s him, and for the sake of the mission, honesty is probably the best route I can take here.’

Celena looked at Charlotte and nodded, as if giving her an order. She led Kei to a completely empty cafe and had dismissed Charlotte to run her own errands. When Celena entered the cafe, the owner of the shop was standing behind the counter and immediately understood what was happening and dismissed the rest of the customers and staff. They proceeded to get their seats near the back of the cafe where they wouldn't be seen or heard by others.

“To put it simply, the previous lord has died…” Celena finally began her explanation.

“Died?”

“Well, to be more specific, he was executed.”

“On what charges?”

“Are you familiar with the Holy Empire of Barghest?”

”!”

To the mere mention of the Holy empire, Kei immediately tensed up, as if he knew something. Picking up on this, Celena continued.

”From your reaction, I’m guessing you already know what I’m talking about. Yes, he was colluding with the Empire for his own gains.”

”How so?”

”10 years ago, something alarming happened. The magic barrier surrounding Rovinj had suddenly been taken down. Only two things could make something like that happen. First, is that a person blessed by something stronger than a High God, had attacked the magic barrier. This was highly unlikely as those who can be blessed by a deity on that level no longer exist. Which would bring us to the second possibility, that someone with the proper authority had given the instructions to remove the barrier.”

”So you had immediately suspected Radisel?”

”He was the only one with the authority to do so after all. Naturally he had tried to put the blame on someone with a high God’s blessing. But the fact that the magic barrier was strong enough to withstand that kind of power was information only known to us and the royal family, so his argument was futile from the beginning.”

”If that was so, what was his reasoning for bringing the barrier down in the first place?”

To that question, Celena’s face turned slightly darker. It was as though she was remembering something sad that had happened.

”The barrier thing was just the beginning… Shortly after the barrier was taken down, the Empire forces showed up to occupy Rovinj. It happened all too quickly. At the time, occupation was the only reasoning we thought the Empire had for the invasion.”

”There was a hidden agenda, I presume?”

”Mmm…” Celena nodded.

”Would it be troublesome if you could explain it to me?”

”Have you… Heard about the Holy Empire’s underground research rumours?”

”!”