Last Life

“CAPTAIN, ENOUGH!” Yveline’s alarmed sonorous cry made the mustached man raise a hand.

The retinue soldiers, including the two I’d flipped into snowdrifts, who had started surrounding me on five sides, froze in place while the onlookers gasped in dismay.

I meanwhile, frankly, breathed a furtive sigh of relief. My body had been pushed to the limit over the last few days. In fact, such strain was beneficial and even necessary for making progress on my energy system, but within reasonable limits.

I was still recovering from the draining trick I’d pulled on Gaston. Between the incantation, acceleration, and overburdening of my small reservoir — I would have to pay the price in a few hours. Thankfully, I had the crimson dust. Otherwise, I’d surely have had to spend a few days in bed.

The count’s retinue men were a far cry from the outcast mercenaries, or Trebolt’s enforcers. They would have been a real challenge. Just throwing those two in the snowdrift spent up almost half of the energy I’d built up in my reservoir. And guys like him had to be taken down straight away, preferably for good so they wouldn’t get back up.

But I absolutely could not do that. I was planning to kick up a bit of fuss with my uncle, playing the insulted nephew, but not go to war with him. Our weight classes were just too mismatched. In fact, there were few who could compete with Heinrich de Gramont in all Vestonia. On top of being one of the wealthiest landowners, he was also in favor with the king. So I was basically a bug as far as Max’s uncle was concerned. But I could still frazzle his nerves. Time to drive up my price.

Heinrich de Gramont hasn’t even begun to guess who fate has brought into his path...

“Yveline!” Valerie said indignantly. “Uncle was very clear...”

“Daddy would never approve of such methods,” the blond Yveline interrupted her categorically, biting her lip.

After his command, the count’s retinue men, casting unkind threatening looks in my direction, remounted their horses.

They were hiding their offense for now. Sooner or later, though, I would surely get a response. Take a number, boys.

Yveline, darting out of the coach, hopped over to me and latched her fine little hands into my forearm. As an aside, my scan of Max’s relatives and their companions revealed nothing. Except for the perfume on (now my) cousin, there was nothing magical on them.

“Cousin,” Yveline said to me, smiling welcomingly and looking me in the eyes. I immediately caught a whiff of the stupefying aroma of spring flowers. Woah! The concentration of emerald energy in the viscountess’s magic perfume was off the scale. “Wait! I beg you, talk to me!”

I showily held back a sigh of dismay, continuing to delve into the role of the offended cousin. Honestly though, I wasn’t sure Max would have acted this way. I thought Valerie was not far from the truth when she claimed my lookalike would have been eager to run after the coach on foot just to get out of Abbeville. Based on the number of letters he sent to his wealthy relations begging for money without a hint of shame, marrying a rich, elite bride would have been the most a moron like him could have dreamt of.

“Of course, sweet cousin, I’m at your service,” I replied, knitting my brows with a slight bow. But before that, I nodded for Bertrand to go back inside. The poor man was on his last legs. Out of the corner of my eye, I spotted Trixie emerging from the crowd of onlookers and hopping over to the old man as he slowly made his way back to our annex. Good girl.

“We have never met before,” my green-eyed cousin said, still smiling. “As a matter of fact, I didn’t know you existed until very recently. But still... Max... Actually, would it be okay if I called you Max? And you can call me Yve. Is that okay?”

Inside, I laughed. Well, well. So small and already trying to manipulate. Behind the mask of kindhearted simplicity, a sly kitten laid in wait. Saw a little mouse and wanted to play a game, eh? Alright, game on. By the way, why the hell are you, mademoiselle, showing so much moxie? In fact, same question to your beloved daddy...

He must have needed something badly from the Count de Marbot. And vice versa, seeing how he was willing to give his daughter to a bastard. I would have to give that some serious thought. Perhaps this marriage wouldn’t be so bad for my long-term plans?

“Agreed, Yveline. Hm, sorry... Yve...”

“Max, why are you refusing to come with us?” Yveline got straight to the point. “You’d have a brilliant future ahead of you! The Viscountess de Marbot will make a lovely match. Sure, she may be a bit older than you, but she hails from an ancient and wealthy family. On top of that, she is very pretty. The Count de Marbot has promised a lavish dowry for his daughter. I know you’re in love with another woman, but people in our circles have to put family and house above all else. Our feelings are just that — feelings. Family comes first!”

Hm... Apparently, they knew a lot more about Max than I thought. They even knew he was in love. Their uncle must have been keeping an eye on his brother’s bastard.

Somewhere in the middle of Yveline’s speech, Valerie came and joined us smelling of eastern spices. Hm... A curious combination of scents. I liked it.

As her cousin finished, Valerie curled a lip. I had gotten a clear picture of her. She might as well have been a hostage in her uncle’s home. By the way, why did these two in particular get sent after me? The captain and his boys would have been plenty to collect Max.

“Whose family?” I asked in surprise, which cooled the crafty blonde’s ardor.

“What?” she asked, furrowing her little brow cutely. “What do you mean?”

“You mentioned family,” I explained patiently. “And that got me wondering — what family are you referring to?”

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Valerie’s thin brows shoot into her forehead as she listened glumly.

“Oh, ours of course,” Yveline replied uncomprehendingly.

“A-ah,” I smiled and gave a nod of understanding. “Now I see — yours. Good. Keep going.”

Yveline shot a confused glance at Valerie, making the corners of her lips slightly creep upward before turning her gaze back to me.

“I was referring to our family,” Yveline muttered. “Yours and mine. Ours. We are the de Gramonts! Our family...”

“Are we now?” I interrupted. Heh, she had no clue who she was dealing with. “As far as I remember, your father kicked me out of my home and ordered me to never show my face in the capital again. Meanwhile, he gave me just three hundred crowns to live on. Is that any way to treat family?”

To add a bit of drama, I again shifted to a more formal tone. Yveline mechanically matched that.

“Most likely, daddy was just concerned for your safety,” Yveline tried to object. “And as for money... He never left you penniless...”

“The responses to my letters asking for help written by his secretary are evidence to the contrary,” I snorted. I could have also mentioned that her “daddy” had betrayed his own brother, but I didn’t. When faced with a choice between brother and king, Heinrich de Gramont chose king. Discussing that openly could be taken as me betraying the crown.

“So that was why you never responded to his letters!” Yveline smiled, trying to switch back to a more informal mode. “You were offended!”

“I didn’t respond to your father’s letters because I never received them. In any case, even if I had, I would have refused.”

“Renard, you are aware that you won’t last long without support from the family, aren’t you?” Valerie advanced her argument strictly. She wasn’t even trying to treat me with a modicum of respect. And there was an easy explanation for that. Max was the fruit of her father cheating on her mother. Plus, the bastard’s mother wasn’t even an aristocrat, just the daughter of some merchant. Not to mention the fact that Max himself was embarrassed and scornful of his other family which, to be fair though, repaid him in kind.

“As you can see, I am still alive,” I spread my arms and smiled.

“It’s an order from the head of your family,” Valerie came at it from a different angle.

I could have said that the head of my family, or rather Max’s, had been decapitated and was now worm food, but I didn’t.

First of all, that would have lost me the advantageous role of offended party and turned me into a rebel against the king. I didn’t need anything like that.

Second, the blond Yveline clearly liked me. And based on how her daddy’s retinue men obeyed her, she was far from last position in his heart. In other words, if I insulted her daddy, I would be insulting her as well. No way... Better have her filling his ear with good things about me. Who could say? Maybe that would get me a bit of cash.

And third, when they mentioned my lady love, without suspecting it they gave me a hint. She was clearly a big fan of novels about knights. To her, everything happening around me had a certain air of romance.

“Even the head of the family has no right to order me to go against the laws of honor!” I shot out, my chin held proudly upward.

Based on the blush on Yveline’s cheeks while she looked at me in admiration with her little mouth slightly agape, I realized I was on the right track.

But my little act was only amusing to Valerie the snake.

“Renard, if this is your way of trying to make us pay your debts, I’m sorry to have to disappoint you — you’ll have to handle your creditors on your own,” she announced acridly. “We know you owe money to practically every aristocrat in this town. By the way, there’s another reason for you to get married. I’m sure that after the wedding, your little wife will be happy to settle all your financial issues. The Viscountess de Marbot is a very wealthy bride. So enough bellyaching! Do you really need to chew everything over? I thought better of you.”

Ignoring my sister’s nastiness, I looked over at Yveline. She was still squeezing my forearm in her hands. In her eyes, I saw hope and expectation. She clearly wanted badly for her cousin to lose our verbal sparring match. I was getting the impression that she wanted me to prevail with every fiber of her romantic being. Okay then, I wouldn’t let her down. I desperately needed an ally in the enemy camp.

“Viscountess,” I said coldly to Valerie, puffing out my chest. “I am accustomed to handling financial matters and debts on my own. Beyond that, a few hundred crowns are no reason to wed a woman I do not love. I do not wish to disparage the Viscountess de Marbot’s virtues one bit, but my heart belongs to another. I believe in true love! Too bad you aren’t given to understanding such basic truths.”

Valerie gave a loud sniff and shook her head. Yveline meanwhile seemingly felt like the main character in one of her novels. The triumphant look in her eye was clear indication that she was completely on my side.

“If it isn’t debts, then what?” Valerie asked with a laugh. My passionate speech of course did not move her.

“You are aware of the concept of the code of honor, aren’t you?” I replied with a question and, not letting her get a word in edgewise, continued: “I see you are not. Well, according to an ancient set of rules, a nobleman who has accepted a challenge but runs away before the duel will forever be branded a coward. No one has the right to order me to go against the laws of honor! Not the head of the family, not even the king! I’d rather die for disobedience in a torture chamber than stain my honor and that of my family!”

I said all that with arms proudly akimbo and my chin thrust high. In the end, Yveline was delighted, while Valerie gasped indignantly for air. As an aside, beyond anger at her stupid brother, I saw fear in her eyes. Hm... Where was that coming from? She couldn’t be afraid for my life. Something must have been off about this wedding.

Finally getting her emotions under control, Valerie hissed:

“You managed to challenge someone else to a duel? Wasn’t dying once enough for you?!”

Welp... Apparently, they already knew about the ill-fated duel with de Lamar. They really were well informed.

“Renard! You’re the biggest moron I could ever imagine. You’re a brainless fool.”

Valerie was at her wit’s end. I could practically sense her fear and panic in my skin. What could be wrong with her?

“Who is your opponent?” Yveline asked with concern, paying no attention to her cousin’s tantrum.

“Opponents,” I corrected her, watching with interest for their reaction. “I have two. My first duel is tomorrow. It is against the Chevalier de Nevers. The second duel will be in the next few days. Vincent de Lamar was not satisfied with the outcome of our first duel. He demanded we finish what we started.”

“Oh gods, that will be the end!” Valerie exclaimed and, clenching her fists, turned around sharply and walked back toward the coach.

“Cousin, forgive her,” Yveline said with a quick curtsey. “We spent many hours on the road. She is very tired. We have to go. We will be staying at the Abbeville central hotel. Promise me you’ll think this through, then we can talk again. Promise?”

“I promise,” I bowed and walked her to the coach which Valerie was already seated inside staring unblinkingly at a fixed point.

Yveline, leaning on my arm, climbed into the coach and, giving me a sad smile, closed the curtain. A moment later, the coachman closed the door behind her.

What was that?

Before the coach set off, I heard Yveline’s voice shivering in worry.

“Valerie... Get yourself together. All is not yet lost...”

“Yve, that moron is gonna get killed tomorrow...” my new sister replied fatedly. “This is a disaster! I’d sooner kill myself than get married to that monster!”

Watching the coach as it drove off and catching angry looks from the count’s retinue, I realized I was hopelessly behind on my schedule for the day. I just was not expecting the de Gramonts to need me so soon. Welp... I’d have to pick up the pace. First of all, I would have to seriously work on improving my energy system along with this physical shell.

I had to find out as much as I could about artifacts from the Shadow and this world’s magic overall. At present, I only knew of two people connected with magic who could fill me in.

Ursula Hoog, the local artifactor I immediately dismissed. As soon as she found out about my abilities, I would be hounded. The royal chancery would hear about me. Because by local laws, all strykers were obliged to serve the crown without exception. No way... The life of a dog on a leash was not for me.

Basically, if the artifactor was out of the question, I had only one option left — paying a visit to my new witch friend. She clearly kept her distance from the authorities. Hmm... She would definitely be happy to see me again.

Walking toward the annex Bertrand and I called home, I again turned to look at where the coach had gone.

What monster was Valerie referring to? And what did that have to do with me?

When I stepped through the doorway of my temporary safe haven, my nose was struck by a mind-blowing aroma of freshly baked bread and a rich vegetable stew. Madame Richard’s cook had made some amazing food. An unpleasant tugging sensation in my stomach made me quicken my pace.

In the room, beyond Bertrand lying in bed, there was also Trixie. She had a dreamy smile on her face while she worked her magic on the table, unloading my late breakfast from her serving tray. When she noticed me, she gasped, went slightly red, and gave a curtsey.

“How is he?” I asked, walking over to Bertrand’s bed.

“He fell right asleep,” Trixie responded. “Doesn’t seem too feverish.”

I scanned the old man’s energy system and gave a satisfied nod. After that, rubbing my hands together with a smile, I sat at the table, surveyed my simple fare, and said:

“Well, well. What will you be regaling me with today?”

“Monsieur!” Trixie shot out suddenly, alarmed. “I... I wanted to talk to you... It’s ever so important!”

I frowned and looked at her. Her cheeks were burning, and tears welled up in her eyes. She was nervously drumming her fingers on the edge of her apron.

“Is it urgent?” I asked, angrily setting my fork and knife aside.

“Very!” she nodded quickly and, as if diving headfirst into a dark chasm, shot out:

“I know who in your family wants you dead!”