Chapter 5

"I noticed Young Master Trive return home battered and bruised. The situation was extremely queer, so I set out to investigate. It turns out that rumors had spread among the people of Herish Village that Trive... Violated a girl's integrity and was being beaten up by her brothers. The entire village was up in arms in agitation and seemed to be bordering on revolt. I decided to placate the villagers by promising a thorough investigation on the matter before returning and informing Master Hess." Locke explained in a single breath.

"And what did you glean from the matter?" The Baron asked with a raised eye. Locke could see the hint of anger, clearly directed at Trive on his face.

"I believe the accusations are entirely out of character with Young Master Trive's personality. He may have certain...undesirable traits, but rape? I do not think it is unlikely. Not to mention that Trive almost never leaves the town, yet he somehow came across a girl from Herish Village.

I thus went to meet Young Master Trive, trying to understand his perspective. My interrogation might have been a bit forceful and direct, exceeding my status. I apologize to Young Master Trive for my misdemeanour. However as a result, my hunch that master Trive was innocent only became more firm."

The Baron turned to Hess. "What do you think?" He asked.

"My lord, Young Master Locke has excellent perception on these matters. Perhaps even better than mine when it comes to the behavior of commoners. I would put weight on his judgement. Also, if true, it would mean someone was trying to frame master Trive." Hess analyzed carefully.

The Baron was tapping his fingers on the desk in front of him. "Combined with Locke's accident yesterday, and the news from today...I'm forced to agree with the analysis!"

Locke raised an eye in surprise. Clearly the expression was a display of curiosity at the 'news from today' bit. The Baron did not fail to notice it, for Locke was being entirely intentional.

"The girl in question, in this incident, has been brutally murdered. The violence was so excessive, that it seems like a poor attempt at framing that delinquent Trive. Herish Village completely rose in revolt today. Our guards are clashing with them as we speak. They are denouncing the Barony and especially Trive." The Baron explained with an untold amount of seriousness in his eyes.

Locke displayed an expression of serious shock. The Baron finally sighed. "You may leave." He said to Locke in a perfectly neutral voice.

When Locke left, the Baron looked towards Hess. "Who do you think planned this? Trying to implicate Trive, what do you think the purpose is?"

"The most obvious purpose might be to eliminate competition. But Trive is only third in line to your Lordship's title by the hereditary laws. The other possibility is that, the plotter never imagined that Locke would see through the scheme. They could have plotted for Locke to reveal Trive as a defiler." Hess carefully analyzed

"If that is the case, then the attempt on Locke's life makes even more sense. So does the murder of the girl in question. The attempt was to clearly put a blame on Trive, and then use the opportunity to blame Locke as a conspirator of the event! How scheming!" The Baron's eyes were flaring with rage.

Trive, who was pacing around restlessly in his room learnt about the events in the Herish Village. Soon, a short but deceptive looking man appeared in the room.

"What have you done?" Trive asked him in an angry whisper, careful not to shout.

"I did as you asked, master! I killed her with a poison. There were no traces left!" The man replied honestly.

"No traces my ass!" Trive almost screamed. He flung a scroll towards the man who held it dumbly.

"Your servant can't read, master!" He said respectfully.

Trive was dumbfounded and then almost threw his boots at the man. He calmed down and spoke. "The girl was mauled to death. Her blood splattered everywhere and the words 'Dirty Whore' written across the wall. The entire village has drummed up a revolt against the Barony!" He screamed. However, the more he described the more shock and horror he saw on his servant's face and the more relaxed he got.

"Impossible!" The servant replied. "I did nothing of such sort! This is the most disgraceful and vile behavior imaginable."

"Nevermind. Looks like someone is trying to plot against me." Trive replied after calming down.

When the servant left, Trive continued nervously pacing around the room, until the summons for lunch arrived.

Walking to the banquet hall, Trive sat down on his seat, looking agitated. Soon, Jain, their Mother Philora and Baron himself arrived and calmly sat down for lunch.

Before lunch was even served, Philora began pleading earnestly. "My dear Lord, what blasphemous things are being heard from the stupid village in the west?"

The Baron looked at everyone. Jain looked confused. Philora had a pitiful expression on her face. While Trive looked pale.

"First we have lunch. Then we talk." The Baron announced seriously.

The lunch was an awkward and stiff one. There was an atmosphere of nervousness in the air. Jain seemed to not have sensed it, but Philora had an ugly expression on her face while Trive's hands were trembling.

Finally after lunch ended, the four looked at each other. The Baron spoke again. He turned towards Trive.

"Son, are the accusations against you true?" He asked seriously.

"No!" Trive almost screamed. He was inwardly shocked by his reflexive response. If he hadn't done it, he might have even believed his own performance.

The Baron nodded. "Very well. It is as I suspected, someone is plotting against us. The villagers in Herish Village are in open revolt against us."

Philora calmed down. But then soon sneered. "It should be obvious who is trying to smear my little boy's name."

"Oh?" Asked the Baron. "Who could it be?"

"Who but that bastard? Who else could come up with such a convoluted way to implicate my dear son? He wants to usurp the title!" Philora spoke, her voice increasing in tenor with every word she spoke, indicating the rising confidence in her own accusations.

"Oh, is that so?" The Baron asked coldly. "Do you know who worked hard to clear this delinquent son's name?"

"What do you mean?"

"First, you will address my son with the respect he deserves. You shall call Locke by his name! Secondly, it was Locke who convinced me that this pathetic wastrel is innocent!" The Baron replied in a voice so cold that the Baroness began to feel her heart chill.

Trive on the other hand couldn't suppress his glee. 'Thank the Sun God for Locke! He really did manage to save me from this mess!' Trive's thoughts then began to wander even further. 'The one who would benefit the most from my implication would be Locke, yet he was the one who saved me. Could what he have said be true? He believes that I am the one who can lead this Barony forward? I need to quickly improve my relations with Locke. If it is true, he can become my greatest ally against this musclehead and the stupid wench of a mage!'

"He...he convinced you of Trive's innocence?" Philora asked in shock.

"Yes. Whoever it was, clearly was quite cunning and malicious. They even tried to take away Locke's life." The Baron replied. "However, their plot was seen through by Locke. Now, however, I must deal with the revolt on hand! Jain, follow me!"

"Yes father!" Jain excitedly replied.