32 The one Behind it all

[General POV]

It was known that the Damsels of the Lady wander around the lands of Brettonia seeking children gifted with talents in magic, yet only the women comeback silent as to what happened to the boys. That was why there was a rumor called the 'Boys of Brettonia' who were said to be knights gifted with magic being the guards of the place where the Lady of the Lake resides.

Thus most noble houses when finding out their heirs were gifted with magic, they send them far away or have them study in wizard colleges in Altdorf. But with the money of a small town surely it would not be able to support a child to become a wizard so being sent far away was another viable option.

"I'm sorry if I have been rude to Lord Mark." Lady Francine was flustered as she knew that most would come back to Brettonia scarred of their experience outside. Maybe that was why the man in front of her seemed more mature, she also felt guilty of having him remember bad memories.

"It's okay, the past is the past. There is no point in dwelling on it further, I just came home as I have received letter my father has passed away. It did take me a year to come back here." Mark smiled as he acted like it was okay, pulling sympathy was very easy for a master of hypnotism like him. Just from the conversation alone he had been giving signs and actions that made the group in front of him more cordial to him.

"It was unbecoming of me Lord Mark showing you such a poor side of me." Lady Francine also apologized at her sudden outburst as she was quite a bookworm. She had read about tales of Cathay and many of its mysteries, so she couldn't help herself knowing the man in front of her had been to the fabled land.

"I understand Lady Francine, I can see you are a woman of culture." Mark smiled in his mind as he said this." It is obvious you want more knowledge as I have heard little is known of Cathay in this Kingdom. If you have any questions then I'll answer to the best of my abilities."

"Really? Then I would not hold back Lord Mark." Lady Francine smiled as she started a barrage of questions. This made the atmosphere light and amiable, like the unconscious men nearby doesn't bother the two. Even the maids and handmaidens of Lady Francine looked attentive hearing tales of the Mighty Dragons of Cathay.

Especially hearing of the Great Bastion where a wall raised by magic by the Celestial Dragon Emperor Xen Yang. About how endless hordes of Chaos armies are defeated by the people guarding the great wall. Mark talked about how he followed a Hermit in his journey and learned the disciplines of various Martial Arts. Mark just spoke enough to enchant the listeners that even the old Knight relaxed and listened.

Mark was not that knowledgeable in every aspect of the History and lore of the Warhammer fantasy world but making stories up by using movies and stuff from his last world made it easy to use bullsh*t-no-jutsu. Besides there was indeed a monkey king in Cathay which was quite a strong adversary as well. As they were talking Mark also didn't forget to use some small micro actions to slightly affect the perception of the audience making them hypnotized unknowingly.

But he didn't do much as he just wanted to leave a good impression to the listeners if his plan is to go well. Soon about thirty minutes passed by and the commander of the men from Marienberg woke up slightly dizzy as the blow from Mark really made him go to dreamland instantly. Mark stopped talking stories as the others also noticed this, Lady Francine had a displeased expression in his face as she saw the detestable commoner wake up.

Even if she was nice inside it was still hard to get rid of generation of noble behavior within a family. Brettonians really have strict views towards the differences of a commoner and nobles as they mostly look at them like pets to be kept for necessity. There were indeed some who were nicer but being raised as such made them uncomfortable dealing with common descent.

"Commander it seems you have taken a liking in resting on the floors of my Hall. If you would like I could send some stone slabs with you on your journey back." Mark said sarcastically.

"Yo-you will pay for this!! Our lord supports the Emperor of Middenland!! We will rain terror upon your lands!" the commander went on a spiel of threats but Mark smiled as he had known one crucial knowledge that might have been hidden from the nobles of Mousillon.

"Really? You can march your armies here and the Duke of Artois would let you? Would you even get past Fort Bergbres? And even if your Lord supports the Emperor, do you think he could waste time here when they have two more enemies to face?" Mark smiled as he asked this question.

Lady Francine was confused as to what Mark was talking about and this was noticed by Mark. He sighed heavily realizing how horrifying could an organization be that they could stop information flowing to a large area owned by a Duke. He was indeed confused as he had not heard news from the empire side going into this side of Brettonia.

But he remembered a hidden player here that could influence the flow of information as well as the intrigues of various empires and Kingdoms. Neferata the Vampire Queen, first of the Vampires as well as ruler of the Silver Pinnacle. A ruler who has vampires all over the world of Warhammer acting as spies for her. It seems she is also the reason for the decline of Mousillon for it to become a place ridden with Vampire.

It doesn't make sense about how other nobles oppose the rule of a Duke and the Duke is powerless to do anything about it. Unless there are Dozens of Lahmian Vampires within the circle of nobles in Mousillon. Or else how could they hide the information that the Duke of L'Anguille has already occupied Marienberg since last year. Sure it was not as accurate as to what he remembered but it was supposed to happen which he had just learned earlier.

He had this suspicion earlier already from guessing the purpose of gaining the support of the Duke of Mousillon. He didn't consider this before as he thought that maybe it was an Alternate Universe but major event are hard to avoid. He had the Golem earlier pat the commander for other things like weapons but he had instead found a letter from the Baron of Westerland himself.

That was for the third son which said that to get the support of the Duke of Mousillon as well as a fleet of Ships but why would they need that when they are a sea faring traders which meant they have a fleet of their own. In other words they could not access their fleet and they wanted to use the Fleet of another Duke of Brettonia to lower the guards of the other side.

Then they could sneak in to get their ships loose while the fleet of Mousillon would get the heat from his fellow Duke. But he did not hear this happen before or did the fleet sink before arriving? Most likely, which meant he could save the fleet of the Duke which was one of the only deterrents he has over the other nobles that covets his seat.

If the Duke is gone then a civil dispute will happen, peasants will die due to the conflict then it would breed more places for undead to fester the lands. Only left with two daughters as well as spoiled sons then the land will further fall into decline, thus makes them easy to manipulate in the dark. Maybe this was the trigger that would inevitably lead to the birth of the Mad Duke Merovech.

But Mark would not let that happen, the Fleet is something that he might need to finish his quest of populating his Backyard with wild life. So Mark would play his cards now to leave a strong impression to the young Miss as well as make him appear to support the Duke. Now the Situation of the house of the Duke is dire then it is a better chance for him to get their support right now.

"Wh-what? How dare you!! Y-y-you!!" The commander was not able to answer the rapid questions immediately but Lady Francine noticed something different from the conversation.

"Lord Mark why are you agitating the commander of Marienberg? It seems you are not afraid of their retaliation." Lady Francine was quite confused as this was noticed too by the guards and maids of hers. They thought it was just the disgruntlement of Signeur Mark to show hostility because of the disrespect he receives but it seems there are much more that they did not know of.

"I see, Lady Francine is not yet informed. Marienberg is currently occupied by the Duke of L'Anguille himself, which means they don't have the means to threaten me. But I am showing this hostility because of this my Lady." The Golem appeared from the shadows which made the guards of the Lady alert as they did not notice this guy at all standing there.

"This?" Lady Francine was still shocked at the information she received but she calmed herself down and read the letter. She looked confused for a minute and was thoughtful but from the information Mark just gave she was able to piece things together eventually.

"Encule de ta mere!!" Mark was surprised at the sudden outburst that it reminded him that Brettonia was based on medieval France thus the curse words somehow became similar. And to think such a delicate lady could speak such vulgar words.

Even her guards and maids were shocked as to why their young miss could spout such vulgarities. Mark smiled deep inside but he was somber on the outside.

"It seems lady Francine noticed it too. These imbeciles wanted to use your father the Duke to free their ships from the hands of the Duke of L'Anguille. Their marriage proposal has nothing to profit the people of Mousillon other than gold that would mean nothing should the Duke be gone with the Fleet." Mark said in a small accented voice as he looked menacing to the Commander who was sweating real hard.

"L-lies!! Lady Francine this man speaks lies! He is just a uncouth barbarian who attacks for no reason!!" The commander was making lots of slander saying thing about not to believe Mark but it was too late as the impression these people have with Mark is already on the positive side.