Unwanted Attention

Axel felt like a huge burden had been taken off of him; he felt the cool morning breeze, the sounds of the birds chirping, and the murmurs of other servants whining to go back to their camps. Axel couldn't understand a single part of their reasoning, but later that day, the commotion at the manor gave him a clearer picture than words could ever explain.

Axel was returning from work that day and was about to head back to his dorm with Robby. On their way there, they saw the corpses of two of the servants being carried out of the manor. Axel felt like he was about to puke and was surprised to see the indifferent look on Robby's face. "How are you calm after seeing this?" Axel asked Robby, confused by his behavior. Robby put on a bittersweet smile. "You will get used to this." But Robby himself didn't want to get used to seeing the corpses of his colleagues; the resentment in his voice was unmistakable. Though Axel wanted to know the 'why' part of the incident, he knew it wasn't the appropriate time and place and decided to ask Robby later that night.

The crowd dispersed, each with their own theories for the cause of their deaths; some even made it into a heroic tale. Hearing all those, Axel felt like the odd man out for being affected by seeing those corpses. That night, Axel made up his mind to find out what was going on with Robby.

"Robby! What was the deal with that today?" Axel asked Robby as they were lying on the bed. Robby was silent for a bit and had a sudden revelation. "Oh! You mean the corpses you saw today?" Axel nodded his head. "When you are suspected of anything, especially eavesdropping on secrets, stealing documents, and anything similar, you will be tortured till you confess." Axel was a bit taken aback, but it was reasonable. "So what if I was innocent?" Axel was just curious.

"Again, you will be tortured till you confess, either way, and finally be disposed of," Robby said in a monotonous tone. Axel's eyes went wide in shock, but it wasn't that big of a deal; to Axel, any place is better than Marcus' camp. But hearing it firsthand with a sure-fire way of death seemed like way too expensive a price to pay.

"If you want to be on the safe side, just hope that you are taken in by the manor when they recruit the next time around." According to what Robby said, except for the first and second commander, none were allowed to deal with the matters of the manor; they were directly under the boss, unlike other commanders who were part of one of the factions of the five pillars. Axel kept Robby's words in mind.

As if to test Axel on what he learned that night, he got caught in a predicament the next day. Axel and Robby asked the servant of the manor in charge of them to assign them tasks as a pair, and they were granted their request since the manor's servant who was in charge of them had a sweet spot for Robby. Even after all the time he had spent there, Axel was still avoided to the best of the other servant's abilities. But Axel couldn't think of a better situation than that.

Axel and Robby were assigned to clean the annexed building that was connected to the manor, and according to the rules, they left both doors wide open to make sure that people could see them working. But it was just their luck. Albert, Fourth Commander, from Frankton's faction, the First Pillar, decided to talk about some delicate subjects with one of his captains, and just outside the annexed building, they were cleaning. Axel felt like he was holding a bomb that was about to blow off.

Axel noticed a huge bronze vase kept in the corner, collecting dust. He lifted it high in the air and dropped it on the floor; it made a sound loud enough for Albert and the captain to come in running to see what happened. Albert noticed Axel blocking his ears and figured out he did it intentionally; he was about to give him a lesson about not playing around the manor. But, to Albert's surprise, Axel came running to him. "I am sorry for disturbing you, sirs. It was my mistake. We will be done with cleaning here in a couple of minutes; please wait until then." Axel didn't stumble or stutter as if he had planned it, and it didn't take Albert long to realize that Axel planned to get out of there before they took him and Robby to be "interrogated." Albert was impressed by the stunt Axel pulled off and more by how witty he was.

"Well, I'm feeling good today; get out of here fast. I would have killed you both if you hadn't made that apology. It was very 'sincere'." Axel knew his trick was called out, but he let out a huge sigh of relief. Robby, who stood behind Axel, had no clue what was going on. "I am sorry for his mistake; he is new here, sir." Albert took an even greater interest in Axel. "He is dumb, isn't he?" Robby had no idea that Axel was talking about him; the only thing he was focused on was saving Axel and himself from Albert. "Yes, sir, but he is usually diligent and a hard worker." Robby genuinely tried to protect Axel and defend him. "At least he looks to have a good character; well, anyway, get off here and fast." Robby thanked Albert once again and dragged Axel away with him. Axel knew that Albert was talking to him, so when they left, he thanked him and told him he was glad to have Robby with him.

Axel didn't realize how much of a mess he had made by getting Albert's attention. Once the matter was over, in the following days, Albert would call for Axel and Robby to be his errand boys whenever he came to the manor, which was most of the time. Albert made him do a lot of menial tasks, like getting him wine to drink, which was almost two miles away from the manor. Once, he even asked them to clean up five horses by himself within a few hours. He worked Axel and Robby dogs, and Albert found Axel amusing. But at times, Albert put in a word for them to the head servant to give them a day or two off; other servants were green with envy because of this unfair treatment.

News of Axel and Robby being Albert's pets spread like wildfire among the servants, but Axel didn't pay any mind to them; he was relieved from Marcus, and that was enough for him. But Robby was very conscious of it, though there weren't any incidents. And being around Albert gave Axel advantages like getting days off, but the most important one was that it kept Marcus away from him, so for Axel, it was a win-win deal. But the first time Axel came across Marcus when he was walking beside Albert and his men, he started to tremble, which caught Albert's attention, who found even that interesting. But Marcus couldn't do a thing to Axel with a commander around him. He just clicked his tongue and left. From then on, Axel saw Albert as his guardian angel.

Robby understood that Axel had peaked Albert's interest and was concerned for him. Though they worked together, Robby noticed Albert noting how Axel responded eagerly. He tried to talk to Axel about this, but every time he was about to bring it up, he didn't know how to start and changed the topic instantly to get rid of the awkwardness. But today was different; Robby was determined to warn Axel about Albert. When they were on their way back to the dorms, Robby put his hands on Axel's shoulder. "Whatever happens, don't go over to Albert's side!" Robby looked very concerned, and Axel had no idea what he was rambling about. "Speak English, Robby," Axel said with a confused look.

"Don't join Albert's Brigade; I heard from a friend that when you get caught for something you shouldn't have done, you get some insane punishments. A guy who put on a different set of clothes instead of the ones he asked for was left hanging upside down for a whole day," Robby told Axel, and to his and Axel's surprise, Axel didn't seem to find anything wrong with it.

"I think my sense of punishment is messed up after being under Marcus for so long." Axel felt like he was becoming insane. "I will keep it in mind. Thanks for letting me know, Robby." Axel put a gentle smile on his face, and Robby replied with a vibrant smile of his own, trying to comfort Axel.