Former Fake Becomes Grand Duke of the North

After talking with Sir Kane, I sent him outside the sitting room so I could talk with Rosaline and Maria. Chances were that he recognized them from Ewald’s tavern. However, he pretended otherwise. Either he knew they were Blue Shadows, or suspected they worked for House Kaltbrand in some capacity. Regardless, he held his tongue, which I appreciated.

As my eyes and ears for the next year, I would be relying on the twins a lot. Since that was the case, I figured I’d get the most urgent order of business out of the way first.

“You wished to see us, Lord Wulfe?” the twins said in unison after Sir Kane left the sitting room.

I raised an eyebrow at both of them.

“It’s just us here,” I said. “You can drop the act.”

The twins glanced at each other. Maria maintained her posture and polite expression, while Rosaline relaxed and slouched. Ah, so they were still pretending to be the other twin.

“Ugh, thank the gods,” Rosaline said in a husky voice, pretending to be Maria. “I don’t know how maids do it, acting all prim and proper and subservient all day.” She grinned and hefted her chest. “I do like the uniforms. They emphasize our…assets.”

This time I rolled my eyes. Maria, pretending to be Rosaline, let out an exasperated sigh.

“What do you think, Wulfe?” Rosaline said, turning her grin towards me, still hefting her chest.

I gave her a flat look and didn’t respond.

“Oh? I see how it is. Acting all high and mighty, like a real lord. That’s no fun.” She stepped forward, until we were just a few feet apart. Her grin turned seductive. “So, why did you want to see my sister and I in private? You looking for a quick tumble between the sheets? You might be a fake heir to House Kaltbrand, but you are still the heir. It is our duty to serve you, in any way necessary.”

I shook my head.

“Stop acting like your sister, Rosaline,” I said. “It doesn’t suit you.”

Rosaline’s expression froze. Maria, on the other hand, started chuckling. It was as if a switch had been flipped. Rosaline’s posture became proper, while Maria’s became more relaxed.

“I told you it wouldn’t work.” Maria said in a husky voice. “We never managed to fool Wulfe before. What made you think it would work this time?”

“It was worth a try.” Rosaline said, her voice now prim.

Despite being twins, Rosaline and Maria had very different personalities. The former was more serious and deadpan, while the latter was…Well, Maria was a tease. There was no better way to put it. However, the twins had no problem acting like one another when they needed to.

“My sister is right, though,” Maria said, eyeing me up and down. “I wouldn’t mind having a go at you. You’re just my type.”

“That will never happen.” I said, narrowing my eyes at her.

Maria pouted.

“Now that’s just mean.” she said. “You could at least pretend to be interested.”

Rosaline snorted.

“You know the kind of women he grew up around.” she said. “Why would he bother with us?”

That wasn’t an unfair statement. Moth-…Duchess Guld and her daughters were incomparable beauties. While they were my family, except for Lina, I wasn’t blind. After growing up surrounded by beauties, my standards were quite high when it came to appearances.

“So, what did you want to talk about, Wulfe?” Maria said, her pout fading away. “The boss said we needed to work with you on this job. Rosaline wasn’t joking when she said that it is our duty to serve you in any way necessary. For the time being, consider us your shadows.”

I sat down in one of the chairs.

“I need information.” I said. “I figured it was best to come to you two, considering who you work for.”

“What information?” Rosaline asked, her eyebrow raised.

“I need to know more about the other three potential heirs of House Kaltbrand.” I said. “If I’m going to play the role of heir for the next year, I need to know who I am dealing with.”

The twins nodded.

“Fair enough,” Maria said. “Thankfully, the boss already had us look into them. What do you need to know?”

“Do you want a detailed briefing?” Rosaline asked. “Or just a general overview?”

I mulled it over for a moment.

“A general overview for now,” I said. “I have to meet with my tutor soon. We’ll save the detailed briefing for later.”

While I still thought going through successor lessons was a waste of time, that didn’t mean I was going to slack off and disregard Grand Duke Kaltbrand’s wishes.

“Who do you want to start with?” Maria asked.

“The one who is the biggest threat,” I said. “We might as well get that out of the way first.”

Maria shook her head.

“That depends on what you mean by threat, Wulfe,” Rosaline said, speaking in her sister’s place. “Each of them is dangerous in their own way. None of them are harmless.”

I took a moment to think it over.

“Good point,” I said. “In that case, start with the one with the largest faction backing them.”

“Oh, that’s easy,” Maria said. “Lord Klemens Steuben. He’s the second oldest child of House Steuben.”

“In terms of military power and wealth, House Steuben is lacking when compared to the other two,” Rosaline said, picking up where her sister left off. “However, they have the most backing. This is because House Steuben is the oldest of the three families. Their roots are deep and they have a lot of influence. It helps that Lord Klemens himself is quite gregarious, or so they say. He is quite good at swaying people to his side.”

Maria shrugged before smirking.

“However, the man is a weakling.” she said. “He’s an Aura user, but he has been stuck as an Aura Warrior for years now. The chances of him becoming an Aura Expert are low. If not, his faction would’ve been much larger than it is now. It’s possible His Grace would have already declared Lord Klemens as his heir.”

I nodded. While influence was important, so was personal strength. House Kaltbrand was a house of warriors. They ruled the Barrens and protected the rest of the Reichwald Empire from demonic beasts. The head of such an illustrious family needed to be strong.

“Next is Lord Ulric Arbeit, the second oldest child of House Arbeit.” Rosaline said.

“I’m beginning to notice a pattern here.” I said in a dry voice.

“Of course,” Maria scoffed. “In order for a noble from a collateral branch to be considered a potential heir of House Kaltbrand, they can’t already be the heir to another noble house.”

Interesting. I hadn’t known that.

“Of the three potential heirs,” Rosaline said. “Lord Ulric is the strongest. House Arbeit is well respected among the northern lords because of their martial prowess, and Lord Ulric is no exception. He is an Aura Expert, though no one knows if he’ll become an Aura Master.”

Becoming an Aura Master was no easy feat. After a certain point, taking in and refining mana wasn’t enough. Once an Aura Expert reached their limit, no amount of mana training would help them grow stronger. They would either cross the threshold and become an Aura Master, or they would stay an Aura Expert for the rest of their life.

Crossing the threshold required a catalyst, a life changing event that pushed the Aura Expert past their limit. Often, but not always, this catalyst was life threatening. For this reason, Aura Experts seeking to become Aura Masters often threw themselves into dangerous situations while attempting to cross the threshold. Most failed, but a rare few succeeded. My catalyst was the battle at Jagged Tooth Pass.

“House Arbeit also has a large military force,” Rosaline continued. “While their soldiers and knights aren’t as strong as the Order of the Coldsteel Blade, they aren’t that far behind.”

I frowned.

“Why are they the second largest faction?” I said. “Given how the Barrens is under constant threat from demonic beasts, I’m surprised they don’t have more support from the other northern lords.”

“This is because Lord Ulrich is an obnoxious asshole.” Maria said in a heated voice.

I blinked at her in surprise. Given her tone, it seemed like she had a personal grievance against this Lord Ulrich.

“My sister and I had the misfortune of encountering him a few years ago.” Rosaline explained. “Lord Ulrich is dismissive towards anyone he considers lesser than himself, to put it mildly. This behavior alienated him from potential allies.”

“He treats everyone below him like dirt and thinks he can do whatever he wants to them just because he has a bit of Kaltbrand blood flowing through his veins.” Maria interjected. “The prick tried to force me into his bed. If he hadn’t been a potential heir to House Kaltbrand, I would have killed him then and there.”

My expression turned dark. I had no tolerance for rapists. Only weaklings and cowards forced themselves on others like that.

“Chances are we’ll encounter this Lord Ulrich at some point in the future,” I said. “If he tries anything like that with either of you, let me know. I’ll handle him. You are my people. An attack against you is akin to an attack against me. That would give me grounds to challenge him to duel, allowing me to legally kill him.”

The twins looked touched by this, Maria in particular.

“Aw, that’s so sweet,” she said. “Are you sure you don’t want to have a little fun? I wouldn’t mind being your mistress.”

I sighed.

“Maria.” I said in a warning tone.

“What?” she asked. “I was being serious.”

I ignored Maria and looked over at her sister.

“The potential heir with the smallest faction is Lady Adelheid Gerhard.” Rosaline said, also ignoring Maria. “In terms of military strength, House Gerhard is the weakest. They are also the newest of the three, so they don’t have as much influence as the other two. However, they are the wealthiest. They own several mana crystal mines and have connections with a number of noble houses located in the Riverlands.” She paused. “Including House Guld.”

I sucked in a breath at that. Things could become complicated if House Gerhard found out about my past with House Guld. While I doubted that anyone would connect me with the missing adopted son of House Guld, the possibility still existed.

“This has actually worked against them, since most don’t consider House Gerhard true northerners.” Maria said. “House Gerhard is rich, but money can only get you so far. It doesn’t help that Lady Adelheid is a magician, not an Aura user. Not many see her as a protector.”

That made sense. Northerners respected martial strength above all else, which was why there were so many Aura users in the Barrens. That wasn’t to say that they were prejudiced against magicians. They found magic useful and interesting, but that was it. The feeling was mutual. Most magicians preferred to live further south, where it was warmer and there weren’t demonic beasts plaguing the land.

“Rumor has it that Lady Adelheid also has a bit of a temper,” Rosaline said. “She is also sensitive to any perceived slight against her house, intended or not. The quickest way to anger her is to insult her family.”

“Sounds like someone has some insecurities,” Maria muttered.

I frowned and mulled over what the twins just told me. When Grand Duke Kaltbrand told me that none of the potential heirs were worthy, I thought he had exaggerated. However, I now realized that he was telling the truth. None of them were suitable to lead House Kaltbrand. Lord Klemens was too weak, Lord Ulrich’s character was lacking, and Lady Adelheid had too little influence. She was also a magician, which didn’t help.

How would I deal with them? In an ideal world, all three would accept Grand Duke Kaltbrand’s decision and leave well enough alone. However, we didn’t live in an ideal world. Becoming the head of House Kaltbrand was too tempting a prospect to just abandon. They, or their families, would fight me tooth and nail. There was also the unseen enemy who had been interfering with House Kaltbrand succession. What was their goal? Who were they working with? One of the potential heirs? All three? I didn’t know.

For now, I would move forward under the assumption that all three of the potential heirs were my enemies and would work against me. I would prefer to have them as my allies, which would shore up my own position, but I didn’t know how amenable they would be to that.

I paused, before shaking my head. For a moment there, I was thinking as if I were the real heir to House Kaltbrand. True, working with the three potential heirs would help me, but my job was to buy time for Grand Duke Kaltbrand’s real heir and disrupt our hidden enemy’s plan. Anything beyond that was secondary.

“What about divine power?” I asked the twins. The two of them had been standing at attention while I was lost in thought.

I didn’t know much about divine power. Priests in service to the gods used it and certain families were blessed with divine power, such as the four ducal families, but I knew little beyond that. The families with divine power remained secretive about it. I had lived with House Guld for years, but all I learned about their blessing was that it had something to do with fertility.

The twins glanced at each other, before shaking their heads.

“None of the potential heirs wield the coldfire,” Rosaline said.

“You’ll need to talk with the big boss if you want to know anything more than that,” Maria said, looking apologetic. “We don’t know anything about divine power. Even if we did, we wouldn’t be able to tell you.”

I shook my head.

“That’s fine.” I said. “I’m just glad I’m not at a disadvantage in that regard.”

If one of the other potential heirs could use coldfire, and I couldn’t, that would weaken my position as the grand duke’s heir. However, since they couldn’t, things were much more even. In fact, I had the advantage. I had the grand duke’s support, I was Knight Commander Bardin’s disciple, and I was an Aura Master in my own right. I had little influence in the Barrens, but that was just a matter of time and effort. If I built a power base of my own, I could hand it off to Grand Duke Kaltbrand’s real heir. That was in keeping with the spirit of the job.

“Thank you,” I said standing up. “If you could prepare more detailed reports about each of the potential heirs, I would much appreciate it. For now, I need to meet with my tutor.”

The twins bowed.

“Of course, Lord Wulfe.” they said, reverting back to their roles as my maid.

The successor lessons took place in Kaltbrand Castle’s library. It was an impressive two-story space that housed thousands, maybe even tens of thousands, of books. Towering bookshelves took up most of the area. Like the rest of the castle, it had a warm and comfortable atmosphere. The library also had private rooms for secluded reading or, in my case, successor lessons.

My tutor turned out to be Lord Wilfried Holtz, Viscount and Viscountess Holtz’s son. He was a man in his late twenties or early thirties, who looked like a younger version of his father. He also exuded the same heir of dignity and gravitas. Given his heritage, he would likely inherit the mantle of butler from Viscount Holtz when the latter either retired or passed away. Like many in the Barrens, Lord Wilfried had pale skin, blue eyes, and black hair.

When we first met, Lord Wilfried seemed cautious and wary around me. I assumed he knew a bit about me and my origins, but nothing more beyond that. This must have led to some erroneous assumptions on his part. However, when he learned the depths of my education and saw that I was willing to take the successor lessons seriously, his caution and wariness turned to eagerness. He turned out to be quite the adept tutor.

Successor lessons involved learning about the family’s history, as well as learning about how to rule a domain. From governing its people, leading its armies, managing the land itself, and so on. I already knew how to do so in a general sense, thanks to my time with House Guld. However, successor lessons also involved learning the specifics of the ruling family’s domain. In House Kaltbrand’s case, that meant the Barrens as a whole as well as the various properties they owned.

Before this, I knew that House Kaltbrand was wealthy. However, seeing just how much they owned and the wealth it all generated left me speechless. Mana crystal mines, the coldsteel mines, a small but profitable timber industry, taxes from vassals and subjects, etc. House Kaltbrand also had various properties all over the Reichwald Empire, including a mansion in the imperial capital of Haven and a beach side villa in the Riverlands.

Everyone believed that House Guld was the wealthiest family in the Reichwald Empire. After seeing everything House Kaltbrand owned, I wasn’t sure about that anymore. I was a bit surprised that the grand duke was willing to let an outsider like me see all of this.

House Kaltbrand’s military power rivaled that of the imperial family’s, which didn’t surprise me. The Barrens was essentially a march, a bastion protecting the rest of the Reichwald Empire from demonic beast incursions. In addition to the Coldsteel Knights, House Kaltbrand also had an army made up of regular humans and weak Aura users.

Many monarchs would fear having a vassal with so much power, but everyone knew that House Kaltbrand’s loyalty to the throne was absolute. This was because of the Pact. Before coming to the Barrens, I knew a bit about the Pact. However, thanks to the successor lessons, I learned even more.

Over a thousand years ago, demons tore through reality and invaded our world, bringing death and corruption. They commanded hordes of demonic beasts, which slaughtered everything in their masters’ path. Countless people lost their lives and even the land itself began to die. It seemed like the end of the world. However, when all hope seemed lost, a hero rose up.

Chosen by the gods to be their champion, this hero rallied the people to drive back the demons and their beasts. At first it seemed futile, but as the hero succeeded time and time again, everyone realized that there was hope. The hero recruited stalwart companions to fight by his side: a mighty warrior, a wise magician, and a holy saint.

Together with these companions, the hero pushed the demons and their hordes far to the north and slew them all. He then sealed the tear in reality, preventing any more demons from invading our world. However, while the demons were dead, their remains continued to emit corruptive demonic energy, which in turn spawned demonic beasts.

Even with the blessings from the gods, the hero and his companions were unable to purify and cleanse the demons’ bodies. Instead, they chose to turn the final battleground into the demons’ graveyard. In time, this graveyard became the Edge of the World, the source of the demonic beasts that plagued the Barrens to this day.

After defeating the demons, the hero formed a kingdom and became its first king. As a reward for their loyal service, he allowed his companions to pick any land of their choosing to take as their own. The holy saint built a temple on her land, which would become the High Temple of the Church of Light and Darkness. The wise magician built a tower where magicians could gather to study and learn magic, which in time would become the Tower of Magic.

The warrior chose the north as his domain. While the demons were all dead, their demonic beasts remained a threat. He chose to stand watch and keep the rest of the kingdom safe. This warrior was the founder of House Kaltbrand.

In honor of his companion’s decision, the hero made a promise. As long as the warrior and his descendants maintained their watch and remained loyal to the throne, they would have a great deal of autonomy and independence compared to other vassals. This became known as the Pact. In time, the hero extended the Pact to the Church of Light and Darkness as well as the Tower of Magic.

To this day, the Pact has remained even when the kingdom expanded its borders and became an empire. It gave House Kaltbrand, the Church of Light and Darkness, and Tower of Magic a lot of rights and privileges that no other vassals of the empire enjoyed. In many ways, the Barrens was a sovereign kingdom unto itself, with the grand duke as its monarch, albeit one under the aegis of the Reichwald Empire.

As I learned more about the Pact, I wondered about that warrior, the founder of House Kaltbrand. What prompted him to make such a sacrifice? And it was a sacrifice. As dire as the situation was now, it must have been much worse back then. Why did he do it? A sense of duty? A desire to protect others? Or did he have a more personal reason? I didn’t know. Even when we moved on from the Pact and focused on other subjects, my mind kept wandering back to the first Kaltbrand and his vigil.