Former Fake Becomes Grand Duke of the North

Under normal circumstances, the northern garden was a lush paradise. It was filled with plants and flowers imported from the Riverlands. The garden also contained several water features, such as fountains and small ponds. Benches dotted the area, allowing visitors to sit down and take in the garden’s beauty. Magic kept it warm year-round, so the garden was never cold and barren.

This made it popular among guests and the castle’s residents alike, especially in the winter. For them, it was a small slice of heaven. For me, it was a reminder of the home that I lost, so I never visited it before. I thought about it, but I feared that visiting the northern garden would weaken my resolve to the point where I would abandon everything and head straight to Guld Manor.

Heat washed over me when I arrived at the northern gardens and I shielded myself with my Aura to keep from getting burned. No traces of the lush paradise remained. Instead, I found a flaming hellscape. Fires raged throughout the garden, burning all the plants and flowers to ash. Smoke filled the air, obscuring my sight. If I hadn’t been an Aura Master, I wouldn’t have been able to see anything at all.

The fountains and small ponds were dried up and scorched beyond repair. None of the benches remained. They were all charred and broken. In the center of it all, surrounded by the flames, were the two people responsible: Lord Wilhelm and Lord Ulric.

It had taken me two minutes to reach the northern gardens. I would have arrived faster, but I had to push through the stream of servants and guests as they fled from the fighting between Lord Wilhelm and Lord Ulric. Many guests were powerful Aura users in their own right, but none of them wanted to get involved in a fight between the heir of House Gerhard and a potential heir of House Kaltbrand.

None of the Coldsteel Knights had arrived yet. Even if they had, there wasn’t much they could do to help. It was too hot for them. Unlike Aura Masters, who could shield their bodies with mana, Aura Experts had no such advantage. While they were tougher and more resilient than regular humans, they weren’t invulnerable.

I watched as Lord Wilhelm and Lord Ulric fought each other, though it was clear that Lord Wilhelm held the advantage. Given the difference in power between the two, I would have expected the opposite to be true. Lord Wilhelm was an Adept, while Lord Ulric was an Aura Expert. Yet, somehow Lord Wilhelm was winning the fight. He kept flinging fireballs at Lord Ulric, pouring as much magic as he could into them. Meanwhile, Lord Ulric struggled to dodge the attacks. I noticed that he was limping, which I suspected contributed to his current state. If he hadn’t been injured, perhaps the fight wouldn’t have gotten this bad.

“Lord Wulfe!”

I turned to find Lady Adelheid rushing in my direction. A barrier protected her, keeping the worst of the flames at bay.

“Lady Adelheid!” I said. “What’s going on? Why is your brother fighting Lord Ulric?”

Lady Adelheid grimaced.

“We received word that a vassal of House Arbeit was the one who hired the assailants who attacked me.” She said. “When Wilhelm found out, he grew so angry that he rushed off to confront Lord Ulric. I tried to stop him, but he ambushed Lord Ulric before I could.”

Damn it! With everything going on with Ellen and House Meyers, I had forgotten about that. Someone must have leaked the knowledge to House Gerhard. I suspected either Fallen Leaves or House Steuben, or maybe both. They were the only ones who benefited from a conflict between House Gerhard and House Arbeit.

“Please, Lord Wulfe,” Lady Adelheid said, “We have to stop Wilhelm. If he kills Lord Ulric, it will mean war between our families.” She gestured to herself. “I’m not powerful enough to subdue Wilhelm and prevent Lord Ulric from killing him, at least not by myself.”

I nodded at Lady Adelheid.

“Hold your breath and follow me.” I said, before I took a deep breath of my own and rushed towards Lord Wilhelm and Lord Ulric. A moment later, Lady Adelheid followed me.

Flames stood in our way, but my Aura protected me while Lady Adelheid’s barrier kept her safe. When we drew close enough, I noticed that Lord Wilhelm and Lord Ulric were both in poor condition. Lord Wilhelm seemed haggard, a sign that he suffered from mana exhaustion. He must have pushed himself to the limit in order to make this far. The entire left side of Lord Ulric’s body was covered in burns.

I rushed over to Lord Wilhelm and punched him in the solar plexus, knocking the wind out of him. He hunched over, unable to move or even breath. I sensed from movement nearby and turned just in time to see Lord Ulric rush towards Lord Wilhelm.

“I’ll kill you!” Lord Ulric shouted, his eyes filled with madness.

Lady Adelheid summoned spectral chains and wrapped them around Lord Ulric. They held him in place for a moment, before he tore them apart. However, this gave me more than enough time to put Lord Ulric in a chokehold. He struggled to break free, to no effect. I was too strong. His movements grew weaker and weaker, until he fell unconscious altogether.

I threw Lord Ulric over my shoulder, before walking over to Lord Wilhelm and doing the same with him. I faced Lady Adelheid and nodded towards the exit. She understood what I wanted and led the way while I carried Lord Wilhelm and Lord Ulric. She used her magic to keep the flames at bay while we escaped the northern gardens.

When we emerged into the open air, we found a small army of servants and Coldsteel Knights waiting for us. A few rushed over to take Lord Wilhelm and Lord Ulric from me, while the rest focused on trying to put out the fire.

After I handed off Lord Wilhelm and Lord Ulric to the servants, I took a deep breath and fell into a coughing fit. Despite my best efforts, I inhaled some of the smoke. My throat felt a little scratchy. To my side, Lady Adelheid had a coughing fit of her own.

Once I recovered, I helped to try and put out the fire. However, it continued to rage, despite our best efforts. The northern gardens were a total loss at this point. I found it impressive that a mere Adept managed to cause this much destruction. I took this as a reminder not to underestimate those weaker than me.

“Everyone move out of the way!” A voice barked out.

I turned to find Grand Duke Kaltbrand marching towards us, his eyes blazing with power. We all obeyed his words and moved back, away from the fire. Once we were all clear, Grand Duke Kaltbrand reached his arm out and a gout of coldfire sprayed out from his hand.

I watched in amazement as the coldfire froze the flames that raged in the northern garden, turning them to ice. I hadn’t even known such a thing was possible. In the span of a few seconds, a layer of ice covered the entirety of the northern gardens. Bitter cold replaced the blazing heat. The most amazing thing of all was that I got the impression that this required little effort on Grand Duke’s part. If the legends about him were even half-true, then he was capable of freezing entire battlefields with his coldfire. Freezing the northern gardens was child’s play for him.

After he froze the fire, Grand Duke Kaltbrand turned towards the rest of us.

“What happened?” He asked, his voice clipped.

Everyone flinched at his tone, Lady Adelheid in particular. Lord Wilhelm had passed out at some point, otherwise he would’ve trembled with fear. I stepped forward, drawing the Grand Duke’s attention.

“A fight broke out between Lord Wilhelm and Lord Ulric.” I said. “From what I heard, Lord Wilhelm initiated it.”

While House Gerhard supported me, too many people had witnessed the fight for me to sweep Lord Wilhelm’s actions under the rug. Even if I could, I wouldn’t have. Lord Wilhelm’s actions endangered innocent people and caused division among the northern nobles. While he had a good reason for it, in his eyes at least, that didn’t make his actions any less egregious. There were many ways he could have handled the situation. Unfortunately, he chose the worst possible one.

“Why?” Grand Duke Kaltbrand asked, turning his attention towards Lady Adelheid.

She bowed her head and trembled.

“We learned from a trustworthy source that a vassal of House Arbeit hired the assailants who attacked me when I first arrived in Frostheart,” she said. “When he heard this, my brother flew into a rage.”

The servants around us started murmuring and whispering with one another. I grimaced. This was bad. Soon, word would spread to the guests and the rest of the Barrens. It appeared that a conflict between House Gerhard and House Arbeit was inevitable.

“Dad,” I said, calling attention to myself, “Perhaps we should discuss this matter somewhere less private.”

The Grand Duke eyed me, before nodding.

“Very well.” He said. He gestured toward Lord Wilhelm and Lord Ulric. “Send for a healer from the Church of Light and darkness. In the meantime, take those two to the dungeons.” He looked around. “Claus.”

The spymaster appeared out of thin air, as if he had been there the entire time.

“Yes, Your Grace?” Claus asked.

“Investigate this matter.” The Grand Duke commanded. “I want to know what happened in exact detail.” He gestured to a nearby servant. “Inform Count Arbeit and Viscount Gerhard that I want to see them both in my study.” He looked at me. “Come along, Wulfe.”

I nodded and followed Grand Duke Kaltbrand as he left the northern gardens. It looked like I wasn’t going to get any rest today.

I watched as Count Arbeit and Viscount Gerhard shouted at each other. The two of them had been at it for the past hour, and it didn’t look like they planned on stopping any time soon. I stood beside Grand Duke Kaltbrand, who observed his two vassals with an indifferent expression on his face.

The four of us were in the Grand Duke’s study. Grand Duke Kaltbrand and I arrived first, with Count Arbeit and Viscount Gerhard arriving soon afterwards. The moment the two of them saw each other, they started throwing accusations and personal insults at one another.

It grew so heated that they almost came to blows several times. The only reason why they hadn’t was because of Grand Duke Kaltbrand. Whenever it looked like either one would cross the line, he kept them in check by releasing his pressure.

At first I didn’t understand why the Grand Duke let this state of affairs continue, but then I realized that he wanted them to get the shouting out of the way now rather than later.

After an hour of this, someone knocked on the door to the Grand Duke’s study. He raised a hand, silencing Count Arbeit and Viscount Gerhard. At first neither one noticed, but then the Grand Duke released his pressure. That shut them up.

“Come in.” Grand Duke Kaltbrand said.

The door opened, revealing Claus. That surprised me. I hadn’t realized he knew how to move about like a normal person. I expected him to appear out of thin air as usual.

The spymaster walked up to the Grand Duke’s desk and bowed.

“Your Grace,” he said, “I have completed my investigation into the fight between Lord Ulric and Lord Wilhelm.”

“What is there to investigate?” Count Arbeit snapped. “Everyone knows that Lord Wilhelm attacked my son first. We should-…”

A look from Claus silenced him.

“Don’t interrupt me again, Count Arbeit.” The spymaster said.

The Count opened his mouth to say something, but remained silent as Claus continued to look at him. In the end, he shut his mouth and didn’t say a word. Viscount Gerhard looked smug at this, but Claus gave him a look as well.

“It is as Count Arbeit said, Your Grace.” The spymaster said, facing the Grand Duke once more. “Lord Wilhelm ambushed Lord Ulric and caused significant damage to the northern gardens.”

I’d say that “significant damage” was an understatement. The northern gardens were nothing more than ash by this point. Grand Duke Kaltbrand’s coldfire managed to freeze the flames, but it couldn’t reverse the damage already done.

An ambush was the only way someone at Lord Wilhelm’s power would be able to contend with someone like Lord Ulric. If I had to guess, I’d say that Lord Wilhelm injured Lord Ulric with his initial attack and kept the pressure on him with a constant barrage of attacks. Otherwise, Lord Ulric would have killed him as soon as the fight began. However, since Lord Wilhelm was only an Adept, he wouldn’t have lasted for long. If Lady Adelheid and I hadn’t intervened, he would have run out of mana within thirty seconds or so.

“Your Grace,” Count Arbeit ground out, “I demand that you punish Lord Wilhelm.” His eyes glinted with malice. “And if you don’t, I will. House Arbeit will not be satisfied until Lord Wilhelm suffers as much as my son has.”

Grand Duke Kaltbrand faced Count Arbeit.

“You demand?” He asked in a low voice. “Tell me, Torsten. Who are you to demand anything of me? Last I recall, I was the overlord and you were the vassal.” He bared his teeth in a smile. “Unless you plan on changing that state of affairs.”

When the Grand Duke started speaking, Count Arbeit seemed incensed by his words. However, he blanched when he realized that he had stepped over the line.

“I… I apologize, Your Grace.” Count Arbeit said, bowing his head. “My son is lying on death’s door because of Lord Wilhelm. As a father yourself, you can understand my feelings on the matter. Please, dispense justice and punish Lord Wilhelm for this unprovoked attack.”

Death’s door? That was an exaggeration… though not by much. When I last saw him, Lord Ulric’s injuries looked severe. Even after being tended to by a healer from the Church of Light and Darkness, he would bear the scars of this day for the rest of his life. That was how bad his burns were.

“Unprovoked?” Viscount Gerhard said, his eyes brimming with fury. “You attacked us first! Your hired thugs tried to kill my daughter!”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about!” Count Arbeit said. “What hired thugs?”

“Liar!”

Grand Duke Kaltbrand released his pressure, silencing the two men. He gestured to Claus.

“Continue.”

Claus cleared his throat before speaking.

“Viscount Gerhard speaks the truth.” He said. “It turns out that a vassal of House Arbeit hired the ones who attacked Lady Adelheid when she first arrived in Frostheart. Viewed in that light, Lord Wilhelm’s attack wasn’t unprovoked. In fact, some would say it was justified.”

Count Arbeit’s face fell when he heard this. Meanwhile, Viscount Gerhard looked vindicated. However, this didn’t last long.

“That doesn’t excuse Lord Wilhelm’s actions.” Grand Duke Kaltbrand said. “Both House Gerhard and House Arbeit are vassals of House Kaltbrand.” He gave Viscount Gerhard a pointed look. “Instead of coming to me, your son decided to act like a hotheaded idiot and almost started a war. Regardless of how justified he was, his actions caused division and strife among my vassals. I’m half a mind to end this once and for all by exterminating both your houses.”

Other than Claus, everyone in the study stared at Grand Duke Kaltbrand in shock and horror.

“Dad…” I started to say, but Viscount Gerhard interrupted me.

“We have been nothing but loyal to House Kaltbrand over the generations,” he cried out. “Why would you exterminate us?”

Grand Duke Kaltbrand gave him a hard look.

“Your son attacked a guest under my protection, which is an unforgivable sin.” He said. “If it had been another member of House Gerhard, perhaps I would consider leniency. However, he is your heir. His actions reflect on the rest of your house as a whole, tainting the rest of you with his sin.”

Viscount Gerhard took a step back, his eyes filled with fear.

“You may be the Grand Duke, but that doesn’t give you the right to act as you please, Your Grace.” Count Arbeit said, glaring at the Grand Duke in defiance. “If you attack us, you will find House Arbeit more than willing to defend itself.”

Instead of growing angry at this, Grand Duke Kaltbrand just smiled and laughed. He stood up.

“You have grown arrogant over the years, Torsten.” The Grand Duke said. He walked around his desk and headed towards Count Arbeit. “You have forgotten your place. I am the lord of the Barrens. Here, my word is law.”

The Count tried to back away, but his feet remained stuck to the floor. I looked down to find a layer of frost coating the ground beneath him. My eyes widened. Grand Duke Kaltbrand must have frozen Count Arbeit’s feet to the floor without anyone noticing. Even I, a fellow Aura Master, hadn’t realized it. The more I learned about coldfire, the more I realized just how terrifying it was.

“Your family’s military strength has given you a false sense of confidence, Torsten,” Grand Duke Kaltbrand said, standing before Count Arbeit. He towered over him, as if the Grand Duke was a mountain rather than a man. “You’ve become more brazen over the years and I’ve grown tired of it.”

Count Arbeit trembled as he looked up at Grand Duke Kaltbrand.

“Wha-What are you going to do?” He asked.

“Oh it’s rather simple, Torsten.” The Grand Duke said. “Your son, Lord Ulric, will remain in Kaltbrand Castle as my guest even after the banquet ends.”

Resignation filled Count Arbeit’s eyes as he realized that the Grand Duke planned on holding Lord Ulric hostage to ensure House Arbeit’s good behavior.

“Your daughter, Lady Adelheid, shall remain here as well, Dietrich,” the Grand Duke said, glancing over at Viscount Gerhard. “Consider this the punishment for your son’s actions.” He gestured to both men. “You may go now.”

Both Count Arbeit and Viscount Gerhard opened their mouths to say something, but Grand Duke Kaltbrand unleashed the full might of his pressure.

“Leave.” He commanded.

Both men paled, before scrambling to escape the study. Once they were gone, Grand Duke Kaltbrand withdrew his pressure.

“That went well.” He said in a cheerful voice. The overbearing attitude from before had disappeared, as if it had never been there in the first place. “What do you think, Claus?”

“It could have gone worse, Your Grace.” The spymaster admitted. “However, I still think you should’ve gone with a different plan. This is bound to cause us problems later on.”

I looked between the Grand Duke and his spymaster.

“What are you two talking about?” I asked. “What’s going on?”

“Oh, I’m the one who revealed that a vassal of House Arbeit hired the assailants who attacked Lady Adelheid.” Grand Duke Kaltbrand said in a nonchalant voice.