Chapter 61: Chapter 61

DAHLIA:

“Countess Abell?... What in the world are you doing here?”

Lady Livia’s jaw was hanging wide open as she said this, and I understood her perfectly. Surely, she did not expect me to come. I didn’t expect to find her soon too at the heart of the city.

“Lady Livia,” I said, smiling at her more as an instinct rather than reflective of what I truly felt. Appearing at the middle of the street did save me some time. At least now I don’t have to look for her. “I’m glad to see you here. Are you busy?”

“Busy,” her face gave an alarmed look. “Did you perhaps come here for me?”

“Well,” I said, nervous whether she will buy my excuse. “We came here to give out some food and medicine. We will need some help. Are you perhaps free?”

I can’t possibly tell her that I sought her because I heard someone she knew was sick. I really took a chance to go here and start a mass feeding activity, so I could lure her and her sick charge out. Before we can start with that though, we saw each other already.

I didn’t expect to find her in the middle of the road when a commotion took place. The carriage had to stop due to a mishap.

Apparently, there was a quarrel in the streets, and Lady Livia was in the middle of it.

“You,” a burly man with tight-fitting waistcoat that looked as if it will burst on the seams was shouting at us. I could instantly tell that he was a commoner, perhaps a merchant based on his clothes.

He carried a whip in his right hand and was presently pointing a finger against Lady Livia. “Do you know this woman?”

I looked back at Lady Livia. Today, she was not dressed in fancy clothes, but in the commoner’s fashion. Still, she was so beautiful that her very presence stood out. Her face was as emotionless as ever though.

“Leave her out of this,” Lady Livia said in an icy tone. “This is between you and me. Don’t try to drag other people into this!”

“Oh-ho, look at this! This woman here is someone important to you, is she not,” he sneered. The man shifted his attention towards me. “This woman here is demanding me to let go of my slave without any fair compensation!”

“What the hell are you saying, Ulrich? Maredem is not a slave! She’s a free woman! The money she owed you had been long paid with her many years of service! Does your greed have no bounds? Let her go!”

“Says who? I am the master here! I’ll tell you when the price for her freedom has been paid! Besides, she signed a contract with me that says she is my slave for the rest of her life!”

“You animal!”

Despite my nervousness, I stepped forward to the man before us.

“Good sir, if you have such a document, can you show it to us?”

“Yea – huh,” The man looked dumbfounded. It seemed he really was unprepared to hear that question.

“If you say that the person who was enslaved had signed a contract with you, can you show it to us? We can show it at the Council Office and make your claim legitimate by producing the contract, right?”

“Um, eh, the contracts I hold were burned in a fire before.”

“Burned?... Then, without any proof, you cannot claim that a slave and owner relationship exists between the two of you, don’t you agree, good sir?”

Under the current Talandor law, forced slavery is only given as a form of capital punishment. Consented slavery is regulated by contracts. Without a contract, the agreement is null and void.

The man’s eyes flashed with uncontrollable rage. He raised his hand bearing the whip against me. “Why you!”

Suddenly, Sir Milo, my escort knight, drew his sword and aimed it at the man’s neck. “Raise your hand against my lady, and I’ll cut your neck open!”

Grateful to his quickness and immediate presence, I cautioned Sir Milo to control his behavior. “Sir Milo, be careful. A champion knight like you should not involve himself in such a petty fight.”

I went back to the man who caused the commotion in the streets by dragging Lady Livia here. “I’m sure, good sir, that you understand that by law, a slave is free when no contract is produced. I’m sure you won’t lose his temper over such a matter and wouldn’t try to harm a person from another noble household just for this, or am I wrong?”

“N-Noble household?”

“Yes. Both this lady and I are part of noble houses. I am Countess Dahlia Hurst-Abell, and this lady is Count Claude Jeteris’ daughter.”

“Count Jeteris’ daughter? Who are you kidding? That girl is from here in the slums! That old fool Maredem cared for her for many years herself and provided for her. You’re telling me that this girl is a noble man’s daughter?”

“Indeed, sir… I am sorry to reveal this to you. She was the lost daughter of the count and was recently found. She only went back to correct this injustice you’ve done to her carer. I’m afraid though that this wouldn’t be a simple matter now since you’ve raised your hand to members of the nobility.”

I lied about Lady Livia’s background. I don’t know why she’s here, but I thought that if the count brought her over to the villa and revealed her to be his daughter in front of other nobles that the case was such as I had described…

The burly man’s face went pale. His demeanor changed too.

“Lady… would it be possible to settle this peacefully? I-I will let the old maid go… Let’s just settle this among ourselves… No need to involve the palace for this…”

“Ten bags of gold,” I replied quietly.

“T-Ten bags of what?”

“You must release Maredem and give her ten bags of gold as compensation since you continued to use her service even before her contract was lost, which would be deemed illegal.”

“That’s too much for a feeble scum-”

“Then, shall we call the palace guards for this?”

“Ah no, no, my lady. Ten bags are fine…” Reluctantly, he called an assistant and asked him to fetch the needed amount immediately.

“Please bring some quill and parchment too. Write an official declaration that Maredem’s days as a slave are over and that she is a free woman from this point onward.”

The man seemed about to protest, but after taking just one look at Sir Milo’s pissed expression, he sighed and complied. By the time he finished the letter and had delivered the ten bags of gold, he was already wiping the generous amount of sweat in his forehead.

“Thank you, sir… Now if you’ll excuse us, we’ve got some food and medicines to deliver.”

I turned to Lady Livia, who surprisingly stayed close to my side through the whole ordeal.

“Lady Livia, shall you lead the way?”

“Where to?” For the first time, I saw her face dawn with an expression – a surprised one.

“Why to Miss Maredem’s house of course… I remember you mentioned her needing some medicines too. Shall we go and see her then?”

All throughout the way to Maredem’s house and even after I had finished checking up on her condition and preparing her medicines, Lady Livia stayed silent.

It was only after we had finished distributing the rest of the food and medicines that we had packed to the rest of the villagers that Lady Livia began to speak.

We were standing by a bridge just the two of us, and the sun was just about to set in the horizon.

“Go ahead and ask me again,” Lady Livia said.

“Ask you what,” I asked, taken aback.

“Ask me who the hell I really am again, and why I am against you and your husband’s union… I know you’re absolutely dying to know that.”