Lord of The Mysterious Realms Chapter 1059

Raindrops tapped against the windowpane as the two men sat looking at each other in the study. The atmosphere, Jenkins felt, was at least amicable.

"There is something I wanted to discuss, if you don't mind, Baron Williamette. Have you heard about Her Majesty's illness?"

Earl Hersha was remarkably direct, dispensing with pleasantries after a single sentence and cutting straight to the heart of the matter. He served in the Nolan Navy, and his appearance was that of a resolute and decisive military man.

Jenkins much preferred this sort of man to the politician-like Marquis Mikhail.

"I've heard a few things. It seems the postponement of my peerage is due to Her Majesty's condition." Thıs text ıs hosted at noⅴelfire.net

"That is indeed the case... Have you heard anything else?"

The Earl asked a strange question.

Jenkins wasn't sure what the man was getting at, so he could only answer honestly:

"No, I haven't heard anything else... What is it you're asking?"

The Earl's tone was perfectly level, which only made the abrupt shift in topic more jarring. Jenkins had been about to press for more details on the Queen's condition, but the Earl had blindsided him. It was a perilous question, one Jenkins couldn't answer. He had responsibilities to others, and until he could sort out the tangled web of his relationships, he had no reply to give.

It was a shameful answer, and he despised his own greedy heart for it. He braced himself for the Earl's follow-up questions. Although Jenkins held a certain leverage over the man and didn't truly fear him, the person before him was still Hathaway's father. As an elder, he deserved a measure of respect.

"Friends? That's good. Hathaway is lucky to have a friend like you."

The Earl didn't press the matter, skimming over it as lightly as he had the question of the Queen's health.

"What on earth is he trying to do?"

Jenkins was missing too many crucial pieces of information to connect the two topics. He was beginning to wonder if something had happened to make Earl Hersha speak in such a strange, disjointed manner, when the man introduced a third topic:

"Have you heard? The entire Quake family in Bel Diran has been arrested, and their hereditary title has been revoked."

"I have. Bishop Parrold mentioned it to me. Apparently, the Quake family was discovered performing human sacrifices to gain wealth and power. They were arrested after the whole affair came to light."

That was the truth of the matter, as Jenkins recounted. This time, however, only the main perpetrators and their immediate family were sentenced to death; the investigation hadn't implicated anyone further. The kingdom was, after all, in a precarious position with troubles both at home and abroad. For the sake of stability, the crown couldn't afford a wider scandal.

But even this "lenient" sentence was the result of immense pressure. The kingdom had initially intended to execute only the main offenders, but the Quake family had crossed a major line by using the power of a Mysterious Object. The Twelve Orthodox Churches had directly invoked the articles of the High Tower Accord to pressure the crown. As unyielding as the Fidektri Kingdom might be, it could not stand against all twelve churches simultaneously.

Of course, the crown was also furious with Duke Quake for his treason—he had been secretly communicating with the Antak family of the Cheslan Kingdom. Before a war, it was always necessary to make a decisive example of any wavering fence-sitters. Weighing both factors, the Quake family was summarily dealt with.

"So I've heard. I also heard that the Quake family's ritual had something to do with the death of the younger Quake."

The Earl remarked. Jenkins just shook his head, offering no comment. He had no desire to revisit the murders at the snowbound villa. That business was finished, and the younger Quake had deserved his fate.

As an earl serving in the Nolan Navy, Earl Hersha knew a great deal about its recent campaigns in the outer seas, even if he hadn't been part of the deployment to the Shattered Isles. When Jenkins inquired about it, the earl didn't hold back, though his expression grew heavy with concern:

"The newspapers have been tactfully silent about the naval battle a week ago, but the truth is, the navy has already engaged the main forces of the Seven Pirate Kings... The outcome was not favorable."

The phrase "not favorable" was a loaded one. In this context, it meant the navy had come out on the losing end of its first major engagement with the pirates.

It wasn't a catastrophic blow; after all, the main force of the Nolan Navy had not been deployed all at once. But if the powers that be in Bel Diran used this defeat as a pretext to force Marquis Mikhail to dispatch more reinforcements from Nolan, he would likely be at a disadvantage in the looming succession crisis before the end of summer.

All these thoughts flashed through Jenkins's mind in an instant. Across from him, Earl Hersha saw the pensive look on his face and fell silent. The earl knew, of course, that the navy was hardly Marquis Mikhail's trump card. His real ace was sitting right in front of him.

After that, their conversation drifted to other matters. While Jenkins could get updates on the kingdom's affairs from Bishop Parrold, he found that the perspectives of the Church and the nobility often revealed very different pictures.

The only truly new information Jenkins gleaned from the earl concerned conscription. The exact timing for a declaration of war remained uncertain, but a conflict between the two kingdoms was now inevitable. The Cheslan Kingdom had already begun drafting soldiers in its southern provinces, but the first phase of the Fidektri Kingdom's conscription would not include Nolan.

"Perhaps the gentlemen in Bel Diran are aware that Nolan has already suffered a great deal, and since we're still shouldering the duty of fighting the pirates, they've decided to spare us."

So the Earl speculated, and Jenkins felt much the same.

Just as Jenkins had predicted, it took Hathaway over an hour to get ready. Despite his blunt comment that she was just as beautiful with or without makeup, Hathaway showed no sign of annoyance.

She simply instructed him that next time he wanted to ask her out, he ought to send a letter or a short note beforehand so she could prepare.

Chocolate had been sullen ever since they'd set foot in Earl Hersha's residence. Even now, after Jenkins and the red-haired young woman had taken their leave of the earl and settled into a dessert shop, the cat showed a complete lack of interest in the colorful sweets.

"Chocolate hasn't seemed to have much of an appetite lately."

A flicker of worry passed through Jenkins. As he perused the menu, he made a point of ordering a slice of the fruitcake his cat adored, hoping to see if it would react.