A Familiar Patient

"Hm," Mattheus hummed thoughtfully while internally trying to compose a reply that wouldn't trap him. In the end, he deflected. "Well, my brother seems pretty serious about her and my mother is equally as desperate to get Edgar to marry. As one of the people of the Marcel family, would you not also belong to her faction?"

"I suppose so," Harloch said noncommittally. Then he lowered his voice, "Certainly, if the Crown Prince were to take the throne, war would be inevitable, do you not think so?"

Mattheus did not hide the complex feelings he had toward the Crown Prince from his expression. The Original joined this group because of his hatred for Artorius, after all, and he was aware Harloch might know and was just sounding him out.

And it wasn't as if Artorius Morgaine could hate Mattheus more than he already did if this conversation somehow got back to the blond prince.

"Prince Artorius is an aggressive man that resorts to violence or extreme measures with things that do not go his way. In that sense, the path to the throne for the Duchess would be equally as thorny."

The older baron's eyes glittered a bit strangely but Mattheus could only memorize the expression to mull over later when Harloch replied. "Yes," he said with a sad tone that rang false, "We both have a lot of things to weather in the future, do we not?"

"Succession politics. I'd rather not involve myself in it but…"

"Right, right. Exactly so," Harloch nodded. "Speaking of politics, Lord Mattheus, what is your personal opinion on the reforms on the table of parliament right now?"

"Ah?" He hedged around his reply. "I'm not sure what you mean," Mattheus pretended to be saying this only because it was expected of him. "My father is one of the main members heading this so…"

"Oh, you can tell me, Lord Mattheus," Harloch said in a tone as if they were bosom friends. "I owe a lot to the Marcel family, as you can guess, but I do not exactly agree with the Lady being so for the reforms."

Mattheus hiked a brow.

"It's a money sink, is all. No profit to be had. In fact, quite the opposite with the amount of money needed to fund the reforms if it goes through."

That was complete bullshit but Harloch thought Mattheus Crown was an academic born with a golden spoon and, consequently, wouldn't know any better.

"You're right about that. It would cost a lot of money. And from our own pockets too."

Mattheus was amazed at how he was able to hide the ridicule he felt from his bones toward the other man. Internally, he just kept thinking, 'Short-term loss, long-term investment and gain, asshole.'

One could not make more money without investing money.

Even ignoring the increased standard of living the reforms would result in, the technology involved and making it standard would enrich the country. They would make up the loss in maybe five years and start profiting thereafter. That was pretty quick considering the standards of this world and the fact they were talking about government funding rather than private. (He was also being rather conservative in his estimates too.)

Before the conversation could continue, though Mattheus was not quite sure he was enjoying where it was leading to, they were interrupted by someone calling for the Court Healer.

The young baron looked to see a naval officer, judging by the blue uniform, that looked rather familiar.

"You are…?"

"Captain Mark Vengulls of SS Victoire, Doctor Crown," the middle-aged officer introduced himself.

Mattheus's eyes widened in realization. This was the patient he last saw at the Royal Hospital before seeing Sophily and Brunilda for the first time. The man with a pulmonary nodule and a history of pneumonia.

He glanced at Harloch and knew his time was up. "If you'll excuse me…" he started.

Harloch waved it off. "The office is just down two halls. I will talk to you another time, then."

"Until then."

Mattheus watched the other baron leave, only returning his attention to the naval captain once he was sure Harloch was completely gone.

"How have your lungs faired since we last met, Captain Vengulls?" Mattheus nodded at the military man.

Mark Vengulls was also looking at the treasury officer's retreating back and turned back to meet pale eyes when he was addressed. "I haven't felt this good in years, Doctor Crown. You probably didn't think what you did for me was much, but you essentially saved me from being relegated to permanent land duties. As someone who joined the navy because of my love for the sea…"

"Oh, no, I am glad to hear I saved you from a desk job, Captain Vengulls. I would admit I never thought I'd get such a difficult case during my—rather short tenure as a medical intern, but I am always heartened to hear previous patients doing better for themselves." Mattheus smiled. He was glad to hear one of his very first human patients was doing so well.

A tension Mattheus had put to military discipline seemed to leave the naval officer. Before he could wonder, the middle-aged officer spoke again. "You truly are the consummate healer, Doctor Crown."

Mattheus blinked in surprise.

"I didn't want to interrupt and planned to meet you during your office hours at first, but when I saw you with Baron Harloch…"

Oh. So the naval captain was relieved that Mattheus was unlike Baldroy Harloch?

What was interesting was the fact that Mark Vengulls seemed to know and have a bad impression of the other baron.

"You know Baron Harloch? I wouldn't think you would know him considering how you two run in very different circles," Mattheus commented with surprise. He was fishing for more information, but it was true that a navy man of captain rank would never encounter a managerial member of the treasury department normally.

"I know him by reputation," Mark Vengulls replied, the tension in his jaws showing he was gritting his teeth at the end.

Definitely a notorious reputation then.

"Oh, is that so?" Mattheus wanted to know more. He gave a sheepish, slightly awkward expression that worked very well considering the fact he looked his age. "I must admit I am unfamiliar with a lot of other nobles and members of the government. I was in academia before becoming a Court Healer if you're not aware. Baron Harloch was one of the few that came to me when I started to… show me the ropes?"

Mark Vengulls expression turned grim. "Doctor Crown…" He cleared his throat, which seemed more from long habit than actual need. "I suppose your family would also be unfamiliar considering that Earl Crown and Viscount Crown does…"

At the middle-aged man's contemplative murmur, Mattheus replied, "Ah? Yes, my brother is more familiar with the military and security. My father usually spends his time tinkering and researching if he doesn't need to attend his duties in regards to his seats in the House of Lords either."

In actuality, Albert IV does have overlap. The issue was more that his father would not notice such gossip and the people around him would know better than to think he cared for anything other than innovation. Ironically enough, subtleties of politics that go right over Albert IV's head worked in the earl's favor.

His mother being MVP might also be a factor, though.

The navy captain wavered before giving in. "I would urge you to practice caution when it comes to Baron Harloch. He duped my superior with some type of failing investment and now the commodore owes the baron a favor for saving him when the baron threw the commodore overboard in the first place. Baron Harloch might have approached you with an ulterior motive."

Mattheus stared a bit blankly as he parsed through the story. So Harloch was an actual swindler and con artist? That was…

"It's true," Brunilda piped up.

He looked to the naval officer and saw the man had clammed up. Knowing that was all he'd get from Mark Vengulls, he didn't persist.

"Ah, excuse me for going off on a tangent, Captain Vengulls. You mentioned planning to see me during office hours. Was there a reason why?"

The military man looked much more relaxed when they weren't on such a precarious topic as talking bad about a nobleman. "Other than wanting to take the chance to thank you for fixing my lungs, I wondered if you would take a look at my younger brother. He is a merchant and fell ill shortly after coming back from Leonois."

Oh, Jesus. Please let it be one of the more mundane requests he got as Court Healer and not some burgeoning weird pandemic situation he was going to come across with this patient.

There was a beep from the System.

While Mattheus pretended to be thinking, he reluctantly pulled up a window and went to the tab for Quests.

[The Stone Merchant]

Of course.

The twenty-year-old was extremely unsure how to feel about this new quest. Yes, the System looked out for its host but this might be a convoluted solution where he had to heal the patient before events got out of control and humanity got wiped off the map. It would be par for the course for the quests the System usually gave outside emergencies too.

As it was, Mattheus planned to agree even before the quest (which suspiciously listed the reward as three question marks) popped up. He had taken to do even the dumb house visits where no one was actually sick in the first place, just so he could forget about how aggravating Countess Marcel's case was for an hour or two.

"I have a patient this afternoon. Do you think your brother's condition is fine enough to wait until tomorrow morning?"

"Oh, yes, Jack should be fine to wait for a day."

As the two made parting remarks after working out the details of Mattheus's house visit, the Court Healer truly needing to leave the palace and head over to Cambell for a session with the countess.

While Mattheus was in a carriage heading to the train station—since his father had confiscated the gifted car from Countess Marcel to tinker and "improve" upon—Brunilda expanded on Baldroy Harloch and his bad habits.

She didn't know the details of the commodore that Captain Vengulls mentioned but there were plenty of other people—an alarming amount of people in government positions—essentially tricked. Apparently, if Baldroy Harloch thought he could get away with it, he'd rather connections be a noose around the other's neck rather than mutual give and take.

Mattheus couldn't say he was surprised, to be honest.

What made him confused was how in the world Harloch could get away with such behavior for so long.