Former Fake Becomes Grand Duke of the North

I found Viktor and Thomas in the dungeons. When the Coldsteel Knights took Thomas into custody, they placed him in a cell some distance away from Ellen’s. As I entered the dungeons, I heard someone yelling. It sounded like Lord Ulric. Right. Grand Duke Kaltbrand- Dad, ordered for him and Lord Wilhelm to be brought to the dungeons. Even though it happened only a short while ago, it slipped my mind. The revelation from Grand Sage Arend had pushed everything else out.

From the sound of it, Lord Ulric had made a full recovery. Once again, it amazed me what divine power was capable of. When I last saw him, the entire left side of Lord Ulric’s body had been scorched almost beyond recognition. However, in a short few hours, he was up and about again. Part of it was no doubt because of his toughness and endurance as an Aura Expert. However, the majority of it was due to the miracle that was divine power.

I made a mental note to speak with both Lord Ulric and Lord Wilhelm about what happened in the northern gardens. Lady Adelheid told me what happened, but I wanted to hear about it from the primary actors involved. However, that was for later. Right now, I was here for Thomas.

I found Viktor leaning against the wall next to the door leading to Thomas’ cell. From his clenched jaw and crossed arms, it was clear that he was upset about something. The moment he saw me, Viktor pushed himself away from the wall and marched in my direction.

“Lord Wulfe,” he said, stopping before me, “What is going on?”

I raised an eyebrow at his impertinence. However, given the situation, I decided to let it go for now.

“What do you mean?” I asked.

“Don’t play dumb with me.” Viktor said, slashing the air with his hand. “Why is Dame Elise imprisoned here?” He pointed towards the door leading to Thomas’ cell. “And who is that kid? What is his connection to Dame Elise?” He stopped and forced himself to take a deep breath, closing his eyes in the meantime. When he opened them again, he gave me a pleading look. “There are so many rumors flying around that it’s difficult to determine what’s true and what isn’t. I know I may be punished for my behavior, but I need to know what’s going on.”

It occurred to me then that perhaps Viktor’s feelings for Ellen, or the woman she pretended to be, were stronger than I realized. I took a moment to debate with myself on whether or not to tell Viktor the truth. If it got out that an imposter had infiltrated the Coldsteel Knights, it would damage their reputation. While I didn’t particularly care about that, I cared about how it would affect… Mom. Our enemies would use it against her, and I didn’t want that to happen.

In the end, I decided to tell Viktor the truth. He served me well over these past few weeks, and I trusted in his discretion. Ellen had also been his comrade in arms. However, I worried about how he would take it. If I was right and he had romantic feelings for Ellen, I feared that the truth would hurt him.

“Keep what I’m about to tell you to yourself,” I said, after making sure there was no one else within ear shot. “Don’t even tell Sir Kane. If he asks, send him to me and I’ll tell him the truth myself.”

“And what truth is that, my lord?”

I heaved a sigh.

“The Dame Elise you know is an imposter.” I said. “The real Elise Meyers died years ago, and the woman we have in custody was chosen as her substitute.” I nodded towards the door to Thomas’ cell. “That boy is her younger brother, Thomas.”

Viktor’s eyes widened and his jaw dropped.

“That’s-… She’s-… I can’t believe-…” He stammered, before falling silent.

“The woman, whose real name is Ellen, was part of an organization called Fallen Leaves that has spent the past several years infiltrating the Barrens.” I said. “They needed an agent within the Order of the Coldsteel Blade and they chose Elise Meyers. When she died, they found someone to take her place. However, in exchange for her brother’s safety, Ellen decided to defect and tell us everything she knows.” I grimaced. “Unfortunately, Fallen Leaves found out and tried to punish Ellen as well as silence Baron Meyers by killing everyone in Meyers Castle, including Thomas. If we hadn’t arrived when we had, they would have succeeded.”

After I finished speaking, I gave Viktor some time to come to terms with it all. It took him less time to recover his composure than I expected.

“What will happen to… Ellen now?” He asked.

From the look in Viktor’s eyes, he already knew the answer to that question, or so he thought.

“Dad left the decision up to me.” I said.

Viktor gave me a grim look.

“Now I have to let Thomas know, so he doesn’t get into more trouble trying to free his sister.” I said.

I walked past Viktor to get to the door leading to Thomas’ cell, but his next words stopped me cold.

“What is your connection to them?” He asked. “Ellen and Thomas, that is. When I caught Thomas trying to free his sister, he said that he knew you and that he was your friend. And back at Meyers Castle, he called you Wolfie.”

I hesitated, before turning to face Viktor. He studied me through narrowed eyes.

“We grew up in the same orphanage.” I said in a quiet voice.

His eyes narrowed further as he considered the implications of my words.

“Are you even His Grace’s son?” He asked.

I snorted.

“Yes,” I said, “Though I didn’t know until recently.”

With that, I opened the door to Thomas’ cell. From the look of it, he had been pacing. However, the moment I opened the door, he stopped and whirled in my direction. When he saw me, his face twisted with anger.

“You!” he said, his voice full of venom, “I-…”

“Come on,” I said, interrupting him, “Let’s go see your sister.”

I left without giving him a chance to respond and headed towards Ellen’s cell, leaving the door open. Viktor fell in behind me. A few moments later, I heard Thomas scrambling to catch up to us.

“Wolfie!” He yelled. “Wait!”

He reached us around the same time that Viktor and I arrived at Ellen’s cell. I opened the door to find Ellen lying down on her bed staring up at the ceiling. When the door opened, she sat up as the three of us entered. Her eyes widened when she saw her brother.

“Thomas?” She asked.

“Sis!” Thomas said, his voice filled with joy.

Thomas ran past us and embraced his sister. She pulled him into a tight hug. However, I saw conflicting emotions in her eyes. Joy, worry, fear.

“The guards caught Thomas trying to break you free from your cell.” I said. “Rather than risk another incident, I decided to bring him here myself.”

Ellen pulled away from her brother and gave him a stern look.

“Thomas!” she asked. “Why would you take a risk like that?”

“When I heard about what happened to you, I didn’t know what else to do!” Thomas said. He glanced in my direction and glared at me. “This one wasn’t going to help. He’s one of them now. A noble. They don’t care about what happens to people like us.”

Ellen sighed.

“Thomas,” she said, “The only reason why Wol-… Lord Wulfe saved you was because he does care about people like us.”

“But they’re going to execute you!” Thomas wailed. “I heard the knights talking about it. They said you were a traitor and deserved a traitor’s death.”

I glanced back at Viktor. He nodded.

“That’s one of the rumors going around, yes.” He said. “There aren’t many reasons why a knight of the Order of the Coldsteel Blade would end up in the dungeons.”

“Tsk, that’s annoying.” I said, clicking my tongue with displeasure.

It seemed that my plan of keeping Ellen’s situation discrete wasn’t viable anymore. Oh well. This wasn’t beyond the bounds of expectation. People liked to talk, knights included, and nothing stayed secret forever.

“Thomas…” Ellen said, looking like her heart was breaking.

“Don’t worry, Thomas,” I said, “Your sister isn’t going to die.”

“Liar!” Thomas said, turning to glare at me.

Ellen clenched her jaw and gave me a hard look.

“Lord Wulfe-” She started to say, but I interrupted her.

“I’m not lying.” I said. “His Grace, my father, left Ellen’s fate up to me. She isn’t going to die.”

The siblings’ eyes widened as they stared at me in shock.

“Truly?” Ellen asked, a hitch in her breath.

The look in her eyes said that she wanted to believe me, but was afraid to.

“Truly.” I said. “You’ll still face punishment for your actions, but you won’t be executed. I promise.”

Ellen let out a shuddering breath and slumped forward, like a puppet with its strings cut.

“Sis!” Thomas said, catching her.

“Live,” she muttered, “I’m going to live.”

I looked at Viktor.

“Let’s give them some time alone.” I muttered.

Viktor nodded and the two of us exited the cell, closing the door behind us.

“I have to go now,” I said, “But would you mind staying here to let Thomas out of the cell when they’re done talking?”

Viktor nodded.

“I will.” He said.

I smiled.

“Thank you.” I said. “Also, please let Ellen know that I’ll decide her fate in a few days, when the banquet is over.” I paused. “Could you also keep an eye on Thomas for me? With everything going on, my attention is more divided than ever and I can’t afford to let another incident occur. I’m also worried about his safety. Fallen Leaves may target him in order to punish Ellen.”

Viktor’s expression hardened.

“Yes, my lord!” He said, saluting me. “I’ll protect him with my life.”

For some reason, I had the feeling that he wasn’t doing this for me. I nodded at him, before heading towards Lord Ulric’s cell. It was time I had a chat with him and Lord Wilhelm.

My talks with Lord Wilhelm and Lord Ulric went about as well as expected. Neither looked happy to see me, but they weren’t in a position to refuse me. I didn’t learn anything new from them regarding the fight in the northern gardens. They both told the same story, though Lord Ulric swore and threatened to kill Lord Wilhelm several times during his retelling. In short, Lord Wilhelm ambushed Lord Ulric, injuring him in a sneak attack, in order to try and kill him as revenge for the attack on Lady Adelheid.

I also took this opportunity to inform them about the consequences of this incident. Lord Wilhelm’s face fell when he learned that his sister would become a “guest” of House Kaltbrand, as punishment for his actions. He pleaded and begged, but I remained unmoved. Lord Ulric exploded with anger and he almost lunged at me when I informed him, but held himself back at the last moment. Impressive. It seemed that he had more self control than I expected.

When I left the dungeons, I instructed the guards to keep an eye on the two lords. Unless Dad countermanded my orders, I figured it was best to keep those two in their cells for the rest of the banquet. That way, they wouldn’t cause any more trouble.

Afterwards, I headed to my rooms to check in on Rosalind. To my relief, she was awake and in good health, if still a bit pale. Maria was curled up beside her, asleep. We chatted for a bit, keeping our voices low to avoid waking Maria, before I headed off. While Dad had postponed the banquet, there was a lot to do in order to make my plan work.

Over the next two days, Dad and I worked hard in order to bait House Steuben into overextending themselves, which would give us the justification we needed to deal with them. We planted rumors that I wasn’t the real heir to House Kaltbrand, but a fake Dad hired in order to fend off the potential heirs and their families. The Blue Shadows ensured that no one realized that these rumors originated from us.

At first no one gave the rumors much credence, but after Baron Kirch “betrayed” House Kaltbrand and revealed Dad’s scheme to House Steuben, the rumors gained momentum.

After Rosalind recovered, I told the twins the plan and asked for their help. To my surprise, neither one expressed concern about revealing the “truth” to everyone. Instead, they just shared a knowing look with one another. I narrowed my eyes at them, but refused to give them the satisfaction of asking what that look meant.

With their help, the rumors spread like wildfire. I soon noticed a difference in the way everyone treated me, the servants in particular. Most of the servants continued as before. A few, however, viewed me with contempt and derision. This, of course, influenced their actions, though they never outright disrespected me. I never reprimanded anyone, which just emboldened them.

I asked the twins to keep track of the servants who acted this way. The Grand Duke had declared me as his heir. If they treated me with disrespect just because of a few rumors, then it was clear that they couldn’t be trusted. Their loyalty only ran surface deep. Once the banquet was over, I planned on dismissing them from their posts.

The Coldsteel Knights treated me the same as before. To them, it didn’t matter if the rumors were true or not. Their commander treated me as the heir to House Kaltbrand, and so would they. Not only that, but I had fought by their side and I was their commander’s disciple. To disrespect me would be to disrespect her. However, I made sure to tell Sir Kane and Viktor the truth. Since they were my bodyguards, it didn’t feel right to keep them in the dark.

The biggest change came from the northern nobles who supported House Steuben and House Arbeit. While most acted respectful to my face, more and more of them began to insult me behind my back. At first it was just a few, but as the rumors grew so did the insults. House Steuben encouraged this behavior, while House Arbeit kept their mouths shut.

Soon, House Arbeit and House Steuben’s supporters didn’t bother to hide the disdain in their eyes. Some started to openly insult me. None of them were overt about it, however. Their insults were small and petty. Responding to them would just make me seem insecure, which is exactly what I did.

My supporters grew more and more anxious. Some even abandoned me in order to support Lord Klemens. I couldn’t blame them too much for that. If the rumors were true, that meant that I was nothing more than a commoner; a fake heir. From their perspective, Lord Klemens was a much safer choice.

House Gerhard started to panic. After all, they started supporting me in order to elevate their own standing. However, if the rumors proved true and I wasn’t the real heir to House Kaltbrand, then that would leave them in a precarious position. Some even questioned if I had any connection to House Guld at all.

It grew so bad that on the evening before the banquet was set to resume, Lady Adelheid visited me. She wore a calm expression on her face, but I saw through her facade. Beneath the mask, she was anxious. I met with her in my sitting room. Given the late hour, I offered her a glass of wine instead of a cup of tea, which she declined.

“Lady Adelheid, to what do I owe this honor?” I said, before sipping from my own glass of wine.

“Lord Wulfe, over the past few days I’ve heard a number of disturbing rumors.” Lady Adelheid said, looking me right in the eyes. “I’m sure you’ve heard them yourself, so I won’t bother repeating them here. However, I would like to know how you plan on addressing them.”

I shook my head.

“I’m not.”

Lady Adelheid maintained the same facial expression, though I noticed her fingers curling.

“Why not?” she asked.

“There’s no need to.” I said, waving my hand as if it didn’t matter. “People can talk all they want. Unless they have proof to back up their claims, nothing they say matters.”

Lady Adelheid clenched her jaw.

“So you’re not going to do anything while House Steuben and their cronies ruin your reputation?”

“No,” I said, “I don’t care.”

Lady Adelheid started to tremble. Not out of fear or anxiety, but out of anger.

“You might not care about your reputation,” she said in a biting tone. “But I do. I staked my family’s future on you. What affects you affects us as well. However, instead of fighting House Steuben’s and working to consolidate your position, you’re letting them run rampant. At this point, all of the Barrens’ high society will look down on you, meaning they will look down on us as well.”

For a moment, I considered telling Lady Adelheid the truth. However, I didn’t know if I could trust her. While I was sure that Fallen Leaves supported House Steuben and Lord Klemens, there was always the possibility that they were also working with House Gerhard and Lady Adelheid. It wasn’t likely, since they hired assassins to kill her, but it was possible. If I told Lady Adelheid about the plan, I risked letting Fallen Leaves hear about it.

“Let them.” I said. “It changes nothing.”

Lady Adelheid stood up at that, her face flushed with anger.

“Are the rumors true?” She demanded. “Did Grand Duke Kaltbrand hire you to pretend to be his heir?” She clenched her fists. “Do you even have a connection to House Guld, or was that a lie to gain my family’s support?”

I took another sip of my wine before answering.

“Yes, I do have a connection to House Guld.” I said. “Lady Lina is my intended. Don’t worry, Lady Adelheid. Our deal still stands. Regardless of what happens in the near future, you’ll get what I promised you.”

That said, I couldn’t help but feel a bit anxious about that. I hadn’t received a letter from Lina yet, even though a response should have arrived by now. Had something happened? Or was this her way of showing her displeasure towards me?

“Good.” Lady Adelheid said. “If you renege on our agreement, I will make you regret it.”

I smiled at her.

“Careful, Lady Adelheid,” I said, “While I can tolerate insults to a certain degree, threats are another matter. Thanks to your brother’s actions, you are a long-term guest of House Kaltbrand. Keep that in mind.”

Lady Adelheid’s expression twisted and she left my sitting room without saying a word. I felt a little bad about the way I treated her, but it worked in my favor. The more anxious my allies looked, the more the rest of the northern nobles would believe the rumors.

Before long, things would reach a boiling point. That was when House Steuben would make its move. I guessed that they would try something during the ball on the last day of the banquet. It was the perfect stage for them. Little did they know, they were digging their own graves.

Just as I finished off my glass of wine, Rosalind hurried into the sitting room with a panicked expression on her face. I sat at attention when I saw her.

“You need to go to His Grace’s study.” Rosalind said in an urgent tone. “Knight Commander Bardin just returned to the Kaltbrand Castle and she went to see His Grace. She’s… angry.”

Before she even finished speaking, I stood up and rushed out of the sitting room. It was time for Mom and I to have an honest conversation with one another.