Chapter 224: Dungeons

Chapter 224 The Dungeon
After returning to his residence, Paul told Cecil and the female counselor, who had stayed behind, about what happened at the banquet.

Cecil stroked his chin and tsked, ”Now the drunks in the tavern will have a new talking point. Lord Earl, I guarantee that in less than three days countless versions of the story about the succession of the Duke’s title will pop up in the marketplace.”

“That exaggerated?”

“This kind of thing that reveals a strong flavor of intrigue has always been a delight for people, and even if there wasn’t any intrigue or complicated passage in the first place, it will still be added to.”

“Cecil, we’ll have to strengthen our intelligence gathering on the Kent family in the future. He has had hostility towards us in the past, so even if he doesn’t come after us in the future, we have to be on guard at all times. When Maltz Kent becomes a duke, he’ll have even more power in his hands.”

“Earl-sama, this I know.”

Paul said, “If there’s nothing else, let’s go back tomorrow.”

“Alas? Earl-sama, Sente City will hold a tournament for several days in a row? Won’t you stay and watch?”

“I’m not interested in those things at all, I’m more concerned about how the expansion of the ironworks is going than the tournament right now.”

The female advisor, on the other hand, was very much in favor of Paul’s decision, probably because of that heavy hidden identity, Lardy felt a sense of insecurity as soon as she left Arda.

Before dinner, Myron and Victor returned.

“Very strange!”

This Earl of Garnard said, with his hands spread, somewhat inexplicably.

“At first I was quite excited, but during one of the matches, I suddenly thought that those knight who were strutting their stuff on the field could be taken down by a commoner with a musket with a ‘bang’, and I suddenly felt that the tournament was tasteless.”

“Well, Myron, let’s go back together tomorrow!”

Everyone reached a unanimous opinion.

……

The dungeon within the Duke’s residence was a dark, cold and damp place.

This was especially true in the deepest part of this dungeon, where the air was filthy and a moldy smell filled the room.

Only a few torches plugged into the wall emitted a little light and warmth.

Over the years, countless criminals and enemies of the Ferdinand family had been imprisoned here, and many of them had spent the last miserable hours of their lives here.

Many of them have died in vain, and if one listens carefully in the dungeon, one can hear the murmuring of the dead as if they were talking to themselves, as if their souls were wandering around here, telling of their misfortunes.
In this quiet place that could make people hallucinate, there was a sudden sound of footsteps.

A guard led an old man here, and they came to the door of the deepest cell.

Behind the bars lay a figure, and hearing that someone was coming, he immediately sat up and looked out.

The guard glanced at the figure in the cell and saluted him, “Lord Viscount, your steward has come to see you.”

The person imprisoned here was none other than Viscount Henry who had angered his brother, Duke Ferdinand, because of the succession of titles. But although he was locked up in the deepest part of the dungeon under the Duke’s order, the guards watching the cell did not dare to treat him as an ordinary prisoner.

After all, Henry is a Ferdinand family member, a Viscount, the Duke’s younger brother, although the Duke is now furious and locked up his brother, but they do not slight Henry, if they are rude to him, in case the two brothers make up later, their gang of shrimps are bound to have bad luck.

“Butler, you’re finally here~”

Inside, Henry was crying with a sad face, as if he was suffering from a heavenly grievance and unwillingness.

“Oooh, how could my brother treat me like this, I’m his own brother!”

Saying that, Henry actually cried with a snotty nose and tears.

The butler sighed and spoke out to comfort, “Lord Viscount, don’t be like this. I have already pleaded for you in front of Lord Duke, I think his old man won’t really give you a hard time.”

“Ah? You’ve already met my brother? What did he say?”

“His Excellency the Duke said that he still needs to lock you up for two more days,…….”

Before the butler’s words could speak me, a rush of footsteps sounded outside.

A man dressed as an officer with an iron-colored face barged in, followed by two other guards guarding the cell. The guard who led the steward in earlier felt that something bad was going to happen as soon as he took a look at the color of the two companions behind the officer.

Sure enough, the officer came and hit him in the face, “snapping” and slapping him across the face.

A red five-finger print appeared on the guard’s face, and he covered his face, bowed his head, and waited for his superior to scold him.

The guard was not very familiar with the superior in front of him, the original officer who managed the dungeon was transferred a few days ago and replaced by this one, rumor had it that he had a close relationship with the Lord Earl of Kent, and he had a very good relationship with the Lord Earl of Kent, but he was not very familiar with him.

The officer growled at the guards, “I just went out to take a piss, and you all don’t let me worry about it. How dare you lead an outsider into the cell without my permission!”

The guards looked aggrieved, “But, my lord. He is Viscount Henry’s steward!”

The officer blew out his beard and exclaimed, “That won’t do, anyone who comes in has to have my permission.”

Although he was yelling at the guards, it was clear that he wasn’t just talking to the guards though.

The old butler standing at the side hurriedly came over and apologized, “This lord, please forgive me, I don’t know the rules here.”

The imprisoned Viscount Henry, on the other hand, looked like he was at a loss for words, seemingly in fear.

The officer turned his head to look at the butler, “Mr. Butler, I’m not an unreasonable person, but rules are rules. You see ……”

He glanced at the wooden box the butler was carrying in his hand.

The butler immediately offered the wooden box with both hands, “Oh, here is the food brought for Lord Viscount, I’m afraid he won’t be able to eat the food in the prison. Please check it.”

“Then I’m sorry for my offense.”

The officer didn’t talk nonsense and immediately opened the box, carefully inspecting it one by one.

The inside of the box was indeed full of food, and he returned the box to the steward.

“After delivering the stuff, say a few words and leave. There is a time limit for visiting the prison, and Lord Viscount cannot be an exception.”

“Yes. I will leave immediately.”

The butler’s mouth was full of promises as he handed the box to Viscount Henry on the other side of the iron bars, explaining a few words about taking care of his health and the like before getting up to take his leave.

Before leaving, he pulled out a bag and stuffed it into the officer who was always watching them from the side.

“My lord, please take care of Viscount Henry in the future.”

The officer inverted the bag, and a crisp and pleasant sound came out from inside, and a few smiles squeezed out of his ever-tightened face.

“Well said. I will definitely take care of Lord Duke’s brother.”

Then he led the butler outside.

From behind came Viscount Henry’s voice with a sobbing tone, “Steward, you must go and persuade my brother again! He also received your care when he was a child and will definitely listen to you.”

The sound of the footsteps became smaller and smaller, and eventually faded away completely.

Viscount Henry opened the wooden box, but did not start eating immediately, but took out the bread inside and broke it one by one.

After breaking the third loaf, there was a small paper roll embedded inside.

“Sure enough ……”

The Viscount mumbled to himself while taking out the small paper roll inside the bread.

His previous wimpy look faded away.

“Hmph, my good brother. I thought you forgot what this cell in the deepest part was for. Now it seems you still remember.”

(End of chapter)