CHAPTER 1.5: THE SCHEME OF THE DUCHESS OF BRAUNHAUER

***In some room somewhere in the Holy Palatial Gardens…***

Eris, the Duchess of Braunhauer, was the personal maid assigned by Her Holiness the Human Saint to serve the needs of the Lord Kuro of Arles. Her appointment dates back to the early days of the Imperial War, way past the first dates of the Chersean calendar as one of the privileges of the otherworlder becoming the ‘captain’ of the Paladin Guards Corps. While the Lady Madelaine Ann Rubinforth officially ‘assigned’ her to the position, it was actually the Lady Eris’ request, in exchange for her financial support for the Holy Coalition.

As such, the duchess did her duties to the Lord Kuro with utmost zeal and enthusiasm. And it was no different, the ‘before’ and the ‘now’. Whenever her beloved ‘master’ needed help, she would move people in order to get things done for him.

After all, with the vast wealth of the Duchy of Braunhauer, all it took was a few silver or gold coins, an occasional sweet smile and fragrant words, and everyone would do what the Lady Eris’ desires.

“…”

Inside that room were eleven figures, aside from the Duchess of Braunhauer. Seated on the most prominent spot on the round table at the middle was the Human Saint herself, flanked by her head maid, Lilyhaven Tamriel von Leese, and the paladin captain, Sylvia Henristone. To her left was the Beastman Saint, Ruro of the Wolf, and to her right was the Demon Saint, Natasha Bellingsen. The other three people seated were the Queen of Cherwind, Ursura of the Beastmen, the demon lord president of the Federal Demon Republic, Prince Hurion Devras, and the King of Nerfes, Simon Hugh Reed. The rest were either standing by the window, as was the case of the Saint of the Flame, Seirna Stephanie, or sitting by the sofa on the side, which was occupied by Queen of Amaranth, Jessica von Albert, and the Chancellor of Calabria, Sir Dane Bellingstein.

“I think everyone whom I invited is here?” Eris asked just to be sure.

“Yes,” Maddie answered her.

“Correction,” Seirna countered. “Lady Natasha and Ruro just pulled me here.”

“You can always leave whenever you want,” the wolf saint teased.

“Ahem. Since I’m already here, I’ll see it through the end,” the Saint of the Flame replied.

“Alright then,” Lily took charge. “Before we get distracted by our banters, Lady Eris, may we know why you and Her Holiness the Lady Madelaine called us here?”

As if on cue, everyone in the room went silent as they waited for the young maid to speak. Eris took a deep breath and said, “Yesterday, the Lord Kuro was nearly mobbed and arrested by the Arles militia.”

“What?!” Simon, Ursura, Hurion, Ruro and Natasha rose from their seats in indignation. However, Lily and Sylvia calmed them down.

“The Lord Kuro was looking for work, and a shop owner in Arles initially suspected him for impersonating himself, and created a scene,” Maddie explained. “Then, the Arles militia thought he’s some shady character and nearly arrested him.”

“And who’s going to mob him?” Jessica asked.

“The neighbors of the shop owner the Lord Kuro was talking to,” Eris answered. “In their defense, they also thought of him as some bad guy, and they rose to defend their friend.”

“And what did the Lord Kuro do? This is an outright disrespect for him!” Sir Dane exclaimed.

“Err…you know his character, Lord Bellingstein,” the Braunhauer duchess had an awkward smile on her lips. “As usual, he just let it go, and came back to his room. We only got to know of this issue because the Arles militia and the Baron of Arles sent a representative to formally apologize for the incident.”

“The Lord Kuro is too kind for his own good,” the Prince Hurion commented.

“Well, it’s the same kindness that brought us all here as friends, right?” Maddie pointed out.

“True,” the demon lord president nodded.

“Lords and ladies of this realm and of Cherwind,” Eris brought them back to the topic. “I think that before we get angry towards the conduct of the militia of Arles and its townsfolk, we should first solve the problem of why the Lord Kuro was there in the first place.”

“Isn’t he looking for work?” Simon asked, looking at Maddie and Lily. “I thought you offered him work at his own school?”

Lily shook her head, “He won’t accept it. For this school year, the Academy’s faculty and staff is already full, and he hated making a special office just for him. He also refused taking over some teacher duties because it will cause an employee to lose his or her job in the process.”

“Well, I did give him some odd jobs to do for the meantime,” Maddie revealed. “At least, he won’t be so adamant in accepting what we give him.”

“I see…that’s really Kuro for you…”

“The otherworlder’s one big drama king,” Seirna scoffed. “That guy has a lot of conditions in accepting help; why won’t he look at his situation first before considering the welfare of others?”

“Well, it’s because Sir G is not some selfish asshole, unlike some failed god I know,” Natasha countered.

“You got a problem with the Lord Gaius, Natasha?”

“I don’t know, but you surely got a problem with my teacher,” the Demon Saint never backed down, and sparks began flying between her and the Saint of the Flame.

“Guys, please stop your fight!” Ruro intervened. “I’m sure everyone in this room was helped by my master at least once, including you, Seirna. So, instead of finding who’s at fault, I guess we should just focus on helping him.”

“He’s already an adult, doggie!” the Saint of the Flame said. “Whatever happens to him is his own doing! The otherworlder keeps on refusing your help, so let him be! Let him suffer the consequences of his actions!”

Silence fell inside the room, as everyone else stared at Seirna until it became too awkward for her. As she could peek into their thoughts, everyone was thinking, ‘The Lord Kuro helped you in dealing with the Seductress, and this is how you repay his sacrifices? How shameful!’

“Ahem…” the Saint of the Flame cleared her throat. “W-Well, the otherworlder did help me, so I guess…uhm, I-I should return the favor once.”

“Great!” Eris clapped her hands. “Now that we have a consensus, we should now put the plans I made into motion!”

“Plans?” it was the Beastman Queen. “What do you have in mind, young lady?”

“We can’t allow the Lord Kuro to work,” the Duchess of Braunhauer declared. “I mean, given his reputation and what he already did for our people, it’s a huge disrespect if we allow him to suffer hardships when he already suffered for us. I think he deserved a more ‘relaxed’ way to earn money and secure his finances.”

“Wait, aren’t you guys—at least, almost everyone in this room—aiming to become the otherworlder’s lover?” the Saint of the Flame pointed out. “The Duchess of Braunhauer is the heir to the richest noble house in Chersea. The Queen of Amaranth over there, rules upon the richest kingdom in the human realm. The Human Saint…well, I don’t need to elaborate on that. And also, we got the Beastman Queen and their saint, as well as the demon lord and their saint. Even if it’s just you guys, the otherworlder’s got more power and influence than he wants!”

Another round of silence. Almost all the participants of the meeting had their cheeks blushing, except for the men, who were chuckling in amusement. Nevertheless, Maddie defended their actions.

“Even if we’re Kuro’s lovers, he won’t abuse his privilege,” she told Seirna. “Yes, it kinda irks me at times, but that’s just how he is.”

“And that’s why me and my old classmates love him,” Natasha added. “When all of our teachers demand that we treat them to something before signing our clearances, Sir G would refuse and sign immediately.”

“Haa…” the Saint of the Flame shook her head, and raised her hands, as if to surrender. “Alright, I guess you guys answered my concerns. So, what are we going to do to reward the otherworlder?”

“We would do a silent campaign, promoting the deeds and heroism of the Lord Kuro throughout our respective realms,” Eris revealed her plan, with the help of the Human Saint, who showed them the drawings she did for their scheme. “That way, the people will know his actions, and they’ll reward him in their own ways.”

“Of course,” the Human Saint had a sarcastic grin on her lips. “This plan is designed to force him to accept. See, the Lord Kuro may refuse a few times, but surely, he’ll grow tired of it, and compromise.” She followed that with an evil laugh, and she exchanged high-fives with Eris and Lily.

“Ooh! That’s plausible,” Ursura exclaimed. “We can use our spy agencies to disseminate stories about the Lord Kuro!”

“I like the idea!” the Prince Hurion agreed. “I can ask the newspapers in our republic to run similar articles for his benefit!”

“Great!” Eris smiled and bowed in gratitude. “If anyone needs more funds for this endeavor, the House of Braunhauer is always ready to help.”