chapter 62: Dealings with a noble

"You said it was the prince of the Dreyer Kingdom coming here, right?"

Risa asked, her brows creasing as she did so; she also silently tucked one of her hands under her dress and placed it on the small knife she kept hidden underneath; as a woman born to a house of knights, it was drilled into her to always keep something tucked underneath for self-defence.

"Yes but it's the failure Nathaniel, not anyone that should be dangerous"

He voiced. His wife's action did make him confused, as even if Nathaniel was a B rank or A rank that shouldn't be enough to trigger a response from Lypine's senses.

"I'll have to trust her senses over your words husband, let hope they're wrong"

She remarked, and before the Marquis could even answer, the head maid led the guest into the room, and the marquis felt his beast wife tighten the grip on his hand, and he quickly began stroking her head while also thinking if this might have been a bad idea.

"Welcome to my humble abode, Prince Nathaniel"

He stood up along with both his wives and took a small bow as he welcomed the guest. However, the guest didn't respond to his welcome and instead just hummed and took a couch opposite to them.

"My name is Marquis August Augustine, the one who rules over this land, and these three lovely ladies are my beautiful wives"

He introduced and gestured towards the three women in the room, his wives to introduce themselves.

"Risa Lilia Highnote, a pleasure to meet you, your highness"

The first wife introduced herself with a pleasant smile on her face, taking another bow as she did so.

"Lypine Leone Lionheart, a pleasure to meet you"

The second wife introduced herself, but her voice was strained, and she showed no smile on her face, but she did her best not to show open hostility.

"Martha Wayne, it's a pleasure to meet you, your highness"

The mature woman, who was the head maid, introduced herself and did a gentle curtsey as she did so.

"3 wives?!"

Those were the first words out of the young man's mouth. His eyes were wide open, and one could hear the surprise and curiosity in his voice. At first, he was surprised by the Beastwomen, but the matter of three wives took his attention.

"Indeed, I am unsure how you do it in the Dreyer kingdom but here a man with multiple wives is a common sight, this is true for other kingdoms as well, like the Beastmen kingdom and the Elven kingdom, although I'm unsure of the Dwarven kingdom"

The marquis explained, despite the Dreyer kingdom being close to the Hendrix Kingdom, the marquis had no idea what laws they had regarding marriage, not because they were hidden but because for some reason the Dreyer just seemed to not care about the topic but from what he knows the Dreyer kingdom does follow the traditional man-woman marriage form.

"I see, so are you going to tell me who put the bounty on me?"

Eon quickly moved on, and he wasn't willing to entertain that topic. Maybe he'll tell Reniris about it, and she'll find it interesting.

"Yes, I will, however, your Highness Ah–"

"Don't call me that, my name is Eon Steel, I'm no prince of any nation"

The young lad voiced, interrupting the Marquis mid-sentence, which was technically an offence, but no one in the room reproached Eon for it.

The noble suppressed the urge to ask Eon the reasons for denying his noble position, or rather, it would be more accurate to state that the marquis figured out the reason why the young man denied his position as royalty and thus felt there was no need to ask.

"Very well, Mr Steel, but before we continue, let my wives vacate the room for a moment"

The wives didn't object to that statement. However, the Marquis had to convince Leone a little bit more before she relented and left the room, leaving the three men alone with each other.

"On the matter of the bounty, would you be willing to not seek out the person who placed it on you if I managed to have it taken down?"

He questioned whether he was a supporter of the princess; however, even so, he was still a noble of the Hendrix Kingdom. As such, he was duty-bound to ensure that any harm that may be directed at the royal family is directed elsewhere.

"Are you going to tell me who placed the bounty on my head or not? Don't ask me stupid questions"

Eon expressed with a frown. He wasn't here to just play around the issue, and he decided to make it clear.

The Marquis heaved a sigh. This was going to be much more difficult than he initially thought it was going to be.

"Now Mr Eon, please understand that matters like this need to be handled delicately, and there needs to be an exchange of sorts. You can't just demand something from me without giving me something"

Initially, he had thought he would house the prince and protect him from assassins wanting to collect on the bounty; however, after finding out about his prowess being closer to B-rank, the Marquis thought about something else for the prince.

Unfortunately, he didn't think the young man would be unreasonable from the get-go.

"What do you want then?"

Eon asked curtly. He was more interested in getting what he wanted than speaking to a noble more than necessary.

"Before we talk about what I want, let's talk about what I can give you"

The marquis stated. It is always a good idea to tell the person what they will gain first before telling them your demands; of course, depending on the person and the power dynamic between you and them, it's possible to tell them your demands and then tell them their gains.

" Firstly, I am not sure how long you will stay here, but I can promise to take the bounty down for the duration of your stay and ensure that no one tries to collect the bounty. Secondly, I can give you the name of the person who placed the bounty on your head as well."

Eon hummed in contemplation after hearing what the Marquis had to offer, the first one was certainly ideal, after all, he does plan on staying longer in this city and raising his adventurer rank, while he liked battles he didn't want to have to deal with people like Luke every time he wanted to complete a quest.

"OK, then what are your demands?"

"I have two of them, the first being for taking down the bounty for the remainder of your stay in this city, I want you to participate in the sword tournament a few months from now, on the side of the Hendrix Kingdom"

Eon's brows creased just slightly. He did remember Siegfrued talking about something like that to Reniella. He was certain he had memories about what it was, but he wasn't about to try and remember.

Considering that Siegfrued will be participating in that sword tournament, he didn't think it would be a bad thing to participate and fight against that guy.

His brows creased even deeper as he questioned whether he would be fighting purely for the love of the game or because he was driven by Nathaniel's hate for his brother.

"Very well, I can agree to that"

He voiced while also making a mental note to himself that he agreed because he wanted to, not because some dead prince was driving his actions.

"Thank you, my second demand is if I tell you the name of the person that placed the bounty on you. Can you promise not to kill them? You can hurt them if you want, just don't inflict fatal wounds on him"

The Marquis demanded, scrutinising the young man's gaze and sitting posture; from the very moment Eon entered the room, the Marquis was quick to note that the young lad was confident and cared little about nobility; this was confirmed when he discarded his name, nothing is more valuable to a noble than their name.

"Jesus Christ"

He whispered to himself and rolled his eyes in exasperation; however, the two people in the room heard him, with the Marquis finding the phrase to be a bit familiar but couldn't pinpoint where he knew it from.

"This is the second time today someone has told me not to exact the retribution I'm owed. Fine, tell me who it is. Depending on who they are, I might consider it"

"No, Mr Eon. I need your word on this matter, so I'm afraid I won't take anything less than that"

There was a silence that stretched on for an extended amount of time, one that made the Marquis a bit uncomfortable, although he had faith in June's skill, and there were plenty of guards outside, so things should be fine.

Of course, there were other factors that made him confident that Eon wouldn't use force to get the information out of him

"ugh!! Fine! You have my word. I won't kill the guy who placed the bounty on my head"

The Dragonoid agreed with much reluctance in his voice, this was mostly due to the fact that if he said no, and just forced the information out of the Marquis, he'd be making an unnecessary enemy, not only that but the guy that placed the bounty might go into hiding making it difficult for him to be found.

He didn't like it but he had little choice and had to agree.

"Excellent, now let's visit Count Paul to deal with the matter of having the bounty taken down once I tell you the name you want"

Hearing that, Eon only huffed in dissatisfaction as he felt that he gave the Marquis what he wanted instead of getting what he wanted.