The Lord of Servants 3

Lord Yuwain arrived along with his guards while smoking a cigarette. Lord Yuwain was a frail, but not a weak man in his mid-40s. He wore a high-quality noble purple coat with striking golden accessories on his hands and neck and a monocle.

He had a short black faux hawk hair with a stubble beard, brown eyes, ivory skin, and a snub nose. He spoke with an unfriendly tone and forced polite manner.

As he saw the miners sitting and chatting instead of working, he became furious as he hurried, confronting them while throwing child-like tantrums.

"Hey! I don't pay you all to sit and chat!" he scolded. "Where are my metals?!"

The miners showed him the metals they had gathered; it didn't amuse him in the slightest.

"Only this much?!" Lord Yuwain shouted, enraged.

"P-Pardon us, milord!" Viktor said as politely as he could. "We had an accident today—!"

"Accident you say?!" he said as he stared angrily. "I care not about that! Where are the metals I need?!"

Vixon, enraged because of Lord Yuwain's attitude towards his father, rushed and stood in front of him. His eyes were filled in anger as his blood boiled.

"Hey! One of us almost died!" Vixon blurted out as he stared at Lord Yuwain's eyes. "Give us some rest!"

"Rest?! How dare you all..." Lord Yuwain said in rage. "I expect you to gather some valuable metals for the war, but what have you done today?! You are all but a disappointment! Don’t blame me if I cut your pay—!"

“Bastard!” Vixon shouted in front of his face.

"You...!" Lord Yuwain murmured as he opened his eyes wide, staring at Vixon, but Vixon stared back.

Vixon unnerved Lord Yuwain. While commoners and peasants fear the nobles for their ranks and social stratification, Vixon's eyes showed not a single fear nor doubt; it showed rage and resentment.

A royal guard punched Vixon’s face, enough to make him bleed.

"Keep your distance and watch your tongue!" the royal guard scolded.

Vixon didn't flinch from the punch as he spat the blood on the ground in front of Lord Yuwain.

"Bastard!" the royal guard said as he threw a punch to Vixon's face, but Vixon caught his hand and shoved the guard.

"You bastard—!" Vixon said aloud as he launched his fist, but all the royal guards pinned him down to the ground. Even though they pinned Vixon's head down to the ground, They couldn’t hold him for long.

"We even almost lose a person's life for your damned metals! We worked hard for these, pushing our very lives to do it while you sit down, enjoying your harems and drinking wine! We've got your metals! We've fulfilled it! But what do we get in return?! You want to cut our pay so we have to eat waste to live?!"

Vixon forced his body, almost overpowering the guards.

"What the—?! What's with this strength?!" the guards commented.

"Vixon?!" Viktor said, surprised as he got close to his son, but a guard blocked him..

"Damned wanton!" Lord Yuwain replied angrily. "Know your place, animals! You know nothing of our current situation—!"

"Because I know!!!" Vixon barked. "That same fake excuse again... We barely have enough money to buy a loaf while you nobles could pig everything out every single day using the money from the ‘tax’! For using that lie… Where is your honor as a noble?!"

"How do you know about honor?! You're but a common man brought into this world by a common woman—!"

"You're issuing the womb in which I was born?! Do you think everyone born outside the castle is but cattle?!"

"What will you do if I confirm that?! You're all but cattle for me!"

"We... Cattle, you said?! By whose decree made you dare to say that—?!"

"Tis' God's—!"

Vixon immediately tackled the noble down and punched him in the face. The miners and the guards tried to separate Vixon from Lord Yuwain, but Vixon had been consumed by rage.

"Son! Son! Vixon, please stop it, my son—!" Viktor begged to calm his son's anger.

"Say that again, bastard! I dare you! Say that again—!" Vixon demanded as his anger filled his heart and mind.

The guards pulled Vixon and pinned him to the ground while the miners tried to calm Viktor down.

"Apprehend this bastard!" Lord Yuwain ordered as he stood with his face beaten up. "Don't let this wild animal on the loose!"

The guards immediately apprehended Vixon down. Vixon struggled, giving the guards problems, but eventually, they overcame Vixon.

Lord Yuwain brushed his robe from dirt, and Viktor knelt in front of Lord Yuwain.

"Please milord! Please! I beg your mercy! He's in an unstable condition! Please don't—!" Viktor pleaded as sadness filled his eyes.

"Stand up, father! Don't even kneel in front of a pig who knows no honor—!" Vixon barked, but the guards punched his face and stomach.

"Silence!" the guards ordered as they used violence.

"Please, I beg you, milord! Please punish me instead, but let my son go! Please—!" Viktor begged as he put his head down, touching. Lord Yuwain's foot.

Lord Yuwain felt disgusted because a common-born touched him. In reflex, Lord Yuwain kicked Viktor's face.

"Don't touch me—!" he barked.

Vixon saw what Lord Yuwain did, and rage consumed his heart and mind.

“Adar…” Vixon thought. “Give me power to kill that pig!”

Vixon felt energy rushing into him, but as soon as he saw his father’s eyes, Vixon stopped and calmed down.

“Vixon…” his father said to him. “Don’t…”

Vixon clenched his arms and sealed the rage within his heart.

“What’s wrong?” Adar asked. “Why did you stop?!”

“No…” Vixon thought. “This is not the way.”

The guards chained Vixon’s arms and brought him away from the mine. Lord Yuwain used a horse carriage as his private transportation. But to humiliate Vixon, he removed Vixon's tunic and replaced the horses with only Vixon to carry the carriage while the guards rode the horse.

The guards chained Vixon's arms and neck with 2m chains to the carriage, forcing Vixon to pull the carriage with his strength. Luckily, the sun wasn't glaring because it was afternoon.

Vixon pulled the carriage on the street where everyone could see him. Everyone would just look away from Vixon and move away from the street. On the way, the patrol guards from last night saw Vixon. They were all laughing at him while throwing rocks with disdainful sneer.

"Not so tough anymore, right?!" the guard that Vixon punched last night taunted.

One guard deliberately threw a sizable piece of rock on Vixon's foot, causing him to fall down. The patrol guards laughed as they spitted on him.

"How dare you to fall down!" Lord Yuwain shouted as he started whipping Vixon while the royal guards got down and kicked Vixon.

"Hey, stand up!" one royal guard said.

Vixon gathered his strength to stand up, but the guards from last night joined kicking Vixon. One of them, the one Vixon punched, stepped on Vixon's right hand.

As the guard was about to stomp on Vixon's right hand, he grabbed his foot and shoved him down. The guard fell on the horse, causing it to panic and trampled the guard right on his right hand, breaking it.

Vixon then stood and continued to push the carriage like nothing happened as the guard screamed in pain. Vixon continued to pull the carriage for thirty minutes with his body full of wounds from the whipping and the abuses.

On the way, Rachel saw Vixon. She hurried and followed the carriage, worried of him.

"Vixon! Vixon!" Rachel asked aloud. "What happened?"

Vixon stared at her for a while, then he averted his eyes. Rachel saw Lord Yuwain on the carriage and got closer, begging for Vixon.

"Milord! Please—!" Rachel begged as he got close, but a royal guard pushed her, dropping and damaging her flowers, enough to make Vixon angry.

"Stay away, wench—!" the guard said.

Vixon pulled his left arm with everything he had and broke the hook from the carriage. He punched the guard with his left fist enough to make his face bleed.

"Leave her alone!" Vixon barked aloud. "Don't you dare to—!"

"Who ordered you to stop?!" Lord Yuwain asked furiously as he whipped Vixon.

"Bastard!" the guard said as he punched Vixon's stomach with all of his strength in retaliation.

Vixon withstood the pain and kept pulling the carriage with his neck and right arm.

Rachel collected the fallen flowers and looked at Vixon's injuries. Tears started falling from her eyes as she stood.

"Vixon..." she muttered.

The sun fell, and they reached the jail. As soon as the carriage appeared near the gate, the jail guards opened it and welcomed Lord Yuwain. The jail guards questioned the nobleman, and he told them of Vixon's assault.

The guards chained Vixon's arms behind and put him in a single solitary cell. A guard visited him bringing a dirtied tunic for Vixon.

"Wear it," the guard instructed, but Vixon ignored him. The guard threw the tunic to Vixon's face in anger.

"I said, wear it!" he said aloud, but Vixon just stared at the guard angrily, saying nothing.

"Damned commons!" the guard muttered as he slammed the jail door shut and left Vixon alone.

There were also several prisoners there. They were all men in their early to mid-twenties, and surely, they were all commoners. They all looked hopeless and restless in their eyes.

"Why did you stop at that time?" Adar asked, disappointed.

"Killing that pig will bring naught," Vixon replied.

"Bring naught?" Adar said, surprised. "That moment was a perfect opportunity!"

"Perfect you say?"

"You could have killed him and his guards!" Adar remarked. "I can give you enough power for that and I know those men would keep their mouth shut—!"

"Violence isn't the answer, yet," Vixon replied.

"Words of the weak..." Adar muttered. "You have me, master! What could go wrong?!"

"Pride leads to downfall," Vixon replied calmly.

"Pride hm? I might be prideful, but I'm not as foolish as Satan," Adar said. "I know my powers and limits well."

"And so do I," Vixon muttered as he closed his eyes, resting.

An hour later, a prison wagon arrived, and they forced Vixon to enter the wagon with two other prisoners.

Horse-mounted guards accompanied the wagon. Behind the wagon, Lord Yuwain's carriage followed.

They moved through the night in silence as they forbade the prisoners to talk. The prisoners stared at the moon and stars, reciting silent prayers to The Almighty. Vixon looked at the moon, thinking of his parents with a worried heart.

"What are my parents doing?" Vixon thought, worried as he stared at the castle from afar. "Are they all right? They must be worried..."

Vixon looked at the prisoners; they stopped praying as they drowned into slumber. Vixon waited until his eyes became heavy.

The next morning, the wagon arrived at Central Axyvur, where the noble and the rich lived.

"Hey! Wake up!" the guard shouted to the prisoners to wake them up.

Vixon opened his eyes and looked around. Central Axyvur was beautiful and luxurious. The street and the water were cleaner than Southern.

"It's unfair," Vixon thought as he clenched his fists. "If only the king see what's happening on the east, north, and south..."

They arrived at the castle gate, and the guards lined them in a straight line with their arms chained behind them. The guards opened the gate and forced them to walk inside the castle where the nobles could see them.

The nobles stared at them with a disgusted face and began gossipping, but the prisoners looked forward. They were inside the castle, right in front of the king, the advisor, and the prince. High-ranking nobles were also present there. From barons to dukes, from baronesses to duchesses.

The king, Wilhelm Absalon Nezar II, was a tall and frail man in his mid-50s. He had medium curly whitened hair with a full beard, a pointed nose, azure eyes and pale ivory skin.

The king wore a royal fur collar red coat and a gold crown. He had a short dagger sheathed on his belt and a royal sceptre.

The prince, Algren Tyrone Nezar, was a man in his early 20s. He was slightly shorter than Vixon. He had a slightly muscular build. He had short brown silky hair. He had azure eyes with a mole on the outer corner of his left eye and pale ivory skin.

The prince wore a royal fur collar dark green coat and a gold crown. He also wore a dark stainless steel breastplate. He had a sword, a bastard sword, sheathed on his belt.

"All of you, kneel!" a royal guard ordered as they knocked each prisoner down, forcing them to kneel with their heads on the ground.

Lord Yuwain entered the hall with a scroll with him. He bowed to the three and stood in front of the prisoners. He gave the scroll to the royal guard, and the guard read it aloud. The scroll contained all charges against each prisoner.

"This man had stolen food from the market—!" The guard stood in front of the first prisoner, a man in his early 20s and read aloud the charge against him.

"P-Please!" the first begged. "I barely had anything left to buy food! I need to feed my sick father—!"

Lord Yuwain immediately kicked the man's head with no warning or order.

"Who gave you permission to talk?!" Lord Yuwain asked, angry at the prisoner.

The king hit the ground three times with his sceptre.

"Baron Yuwain." the king commanded. "Stop."

"P-Pardon me," Baron Yuwain said as he bowed and moved back.

The guard moved to the second man and started reading.

"This man assaulted a patrol guard," the guard said to the second man, a man in his mid-20s.

"The guard was assaulting my sister, so I—!" the second man explained, but the guard ignored and stood in front of Vixon.

"This man committed an assault against Baron Yuwain and insulted the nobles," the guard read aloud.

Vixon said nothing in his defense as he stared at Baron Yuwain in hate. The advisor shook his head and began speaking.

"These are very intolerable crimes," the advisor judged the first man. "Especially stealing during these times. For you have stolen with your arms, therefore your arms shall pay the price. Cut his arms!"

"That's too harsh!" Vixon thought. "Those nobles don't even know what we are struggling to live day by day!"

The guards moved to the first man, ready to do the order.

"P-Please! I can't work without my arms! I need to—!" the first man begged as tears fell from his eyes. A guard punched his face to silence him.

"You can't work nor steal anymore," the advisor said coldly.

"H-How about my father?!" the first man begged. "He's dying—!"

Lord Yuwain slapped the man.

"Know your place!" Baron Yuwain said as he slapped the man. "You're in no place to bargain!" Baron Yuwain looked at the imperial guards. "Bring him already!"

Before the guards brought the man, Vixon lamented aloud everything inside his heart and mind. The guard approached and slammed Vixon's head to silence him with a halberd's pole , but Vixon lamented even louder.

"We... only want to feed our families..." he lamented aloud. "We want to keep our families safe... If only... If only you all weren't corrupt...

"We've spilled our blood and sweat but still, you nobles paid us unfairly, causing poverty and hunger while you nobles reap our blood and tears to fill your pockets with coins... The guards? They never protected us... They threaten and assault us instead...

"We just want to take a miserable piece for our families... We want naught but to feed our families... Are those things wrong?! Answer me...

"We have to suffer by drinking and feasting upon our own flesh while you, nobles are sitting on the throne, made from our bones and flesh!" Vixon screamed his heart out, the noise echoed throughout the hall. The prince stood and drew his sword, ready to execute Vixon on spot.

"Algren, sit down, "the king ordered as he blocked Algren with his sceptre.

"But—!"

"Sit down."

The prince sat down as he looked away, unsatisfied.

"M-My King!" Baron Yuwain said as he stood in front of him. "This common dared to insult us with false claims! I suggested a death sentence upon him and his fam—!"

"I should be the one you punish for assaulting, not these two men... They did nothing wrong! Go on! Grant me a death sentence if you desire, but don't you dare to lay your filthy fingers upon my family—!" Vixon threatened as he raised his head and glared at Baron Yuwain.

"How dare you!" Baron Yuwain looked at the king. "Milord, I request a death sentence for his insolence!" he asked as he pointed at Vixon.

The king closed his eyes for a moment, thinking.

"I've heard these before..." the king said. "Nobles being corrupt... Unjust and violent guards... After hearing his words, I want to confirm it, especially regarding these matters. Baron Yuwain! I need clarification. Is everything he said true?"

"Ah! I-It wasn't, Milord! I can guarantee!" Baron Yuwain replied with a worried face.

The king stared at the men.

"I want to hear the truth from all of you, is everything this lad said true?" the king asked.

The men, including Vixon, kept silent

"What's the matter?" the king asked aloud. "I ask you all."

"Do we have your protection?" Vixon asked.

"With my authority as a king!" the king confirmed.

"He's, Milord!" the first confirmed.

"It's correct, just as what he said," the second confirmed.

"I see..." the king said as he nodded.

Baron Yuwain stood in front of the king, trying to reason with him.

"They are lying, Milord—!" Baron Yuwain said.

"Enough!" the king said. "Baron Yuwain, you've disappointed me greatly. Their crimes are tolerable because of your errors! You will no longer be in charge of South Axyvur—!" the king declared.

"You can't be! Please—!" Baron Yuwain said as he got close, but the guards brought Baron Yuwain away.

"Release those three," the king ordered.

The king stood and looked at the prisoners.

"And for you three, I, as the king, beg an apology for the mistreatment we, nobles, had caused," the king apologized.

"We need no apology," Vixon said, blatantly.

"How dare you—!" the prince said angrily, but the king blocked him with his sceptre.

"What do you desire then?" the king asked. "Gold?"

The two other men were happy as soon as they heard gold, but Vixon didn't.

"Neither your gold," Vixon said.

"What is it then?"

"Those prisoners who he falsely held... Set them all free at once!"

"Very well. Release the prisoners!" the king ordered.

The guards freed all the commons held because of Baron Yuwain.

Vixon looked at the prisoners. His eyes widened as resentment filled his heart. Those prisoners lost one or both of their arms from the unjust punishment.

"Yuwain...!" Vixon murmured in rage.

"This trial is over!" the advisor announced. "You are all free to leave!"

The prisoners stood and left. The nobles were still around, gossiping. The king and the advisor left, but the prince stayed. He called a guard and whispered.

"Release Baron Yuwain," the prince ordered. "Don't give any punishment."

The guard nodded and did what the prince ordered.

"How did a common convince my foolish father?!" the prince thought, frustrated.