In the Solar of Raven's Crag's keep, heavy, wine-colored curtains were drawn tight against the windows, locking out the sky as if to hide the room in darkness. The air hung stale and cold. Once a vibrant emerald, the walls were now a faded, mossy green, their paint cracked and peeling in the gloom. The only light came from a single guttering candle, its flame throwing long, restless shadows across the silent room.
In the center of the faded solar stood a heavy oak table, its surface scarred and stained.
On its far side, the Lord of Raven's Crag sat, his broad shoulders tense with suppressed rage. His fist was clenched on the wood, his knuckles white. As if he wants to tear someone apart.
Beside him stood his Steward, a gaunt man clutching a ledger to his chest like a shield. His face was pale, and he nervously mopped his brow with a handkerchief, his eyes constantly darting towards a deep pool of shadows that enveloped the door to their right.
Opposite them, in contemptuous ease, sat a man in his thirties. His legs were crossed, displaying boots of fine leather, dressed in a desaturated, regal red that screamed of corrupted wealth and arrogance. He exudes a noble demeanor, seemed utterly at home, his attention on a single black coin that danced across his knuckles in a smooth, lustrous roll.
Beside his chair stood a burly knight, his arms crossed over his chest. He wore a faint, unsettling smile, watching the baron's fury with open amusement.
On his other side stood a priest in his priestly robes with an uncomfortable and gloomy expression.
“Family is the most precious treasure in the world.” The Viscount stopped playing with his coin.
He looked with a gentle gaze and spoke with a smile. “We can do anything for them to smile at us. Don’t you agree, Lord Baron?”
The Baron’s face flushed a deep, dangerous crimson. A vein throbbed at his temple as his hands clenched into fists on the armrests of his chair, the wood groaning in protest.
‘How dare you spout such nonsense to me,’ he screamed internally wishing to tear him apart, but he remained silent, his furious gaze cutting from the Viscount to the smirking knight beside him.
Seeing his lord’s dangerous silence, the Steward leaped into the breach. “Yes indeed, Sir Viscount. We agree with you wholeheartedly,” he said, his voice oily and ingratiating.
He offered a bootlicking smile that made the magic knight’s disdainful grin widen.
Wiping his forehead again, the Steward gestured nervously toward the darkened door. “Aren’t you going inside, my lord?”
“No, please, don’t mind me,” the Viscount waved a dismissive hand.
“I already have a very beautiful wife and two lovely children. I love them very much. And I am faithful to her.”
Smiling politely, “Not to mention, I have very high standards.”
“Ah! Yes, yes indeed,” the Steward nodded.
After an agonizing moment, the Steward pressed on, his voice strained. “Then, Sir Viscount, we hope the compensation is sufficient and everything is okay now. Can we get the clearance documents?”
The Viscount chuckled, a low, unpleasant sound, “Haha, how can that be so simple?”
“That,” Lazily pointing at the door, “was for the silence of my assistants. You haven’t paid *me* yet.” snapping the baron’s last thread of composure.
Slam!
He exploded, his palms hitting the table with a thunderous crack that echoed in the stifling room.
But the Viscount remained utterly unfazed, as if a dog had barked in a distant yard.
The baron’s mana surged, causing an oppressive pressure, which is negated by the knight by his own, forming a seemingly thin layer of mana barrier protecting the viscount from being affected by it.
“What else do you want then?” he roared, gritting his clenched teeth.
He resumed the knuckle-roll of his black coin, seemingly uninterested in the trivials.
“Please wait. My assistant will be here in a moment.
He is a fast shooter.
”
The knight beside him bit his lip, stifling his laughter, his shoulders shaking.
The Baron and his Steward froze, their confusion momentarily overriding their fury.
‘Creeeak’
Suddenly, they heard the sound of the door opening grabbing everyone’s attention.
A thin man with a sharply crooked nose emerged from the bedchamber, adjusting his tunic with a look of profound satisfaction.
“Speak of the devil and he shall appear,” the Viscount said, shaking his head.
That was the final straw for the knight as he threw his head back and laughed.
But the Baron and his steward were not paying any attention to him as their frown deepened as they heard the moans and screams of many women and wild laughter of men.
Behind the crooked nose man, through the slightly opened door, they saw many maids with torn clothes, crying for help as they were being ravished. While many had lifeless expressions and dead eyes, making the baron more furious and frustrated as he had to hold himself back.
A deep frown etched itself onto the face of the priest standing beside the Viscount. He watched the scene from the bedchamber door with clear disapproval, his lips pressed into a thin, severe line.
The Viscount's assistant closed the door firmly, shutting off the sounds inside. He swiftly walked to his lord's side, his gaze flicking from the laughing knight to the apoplectic Baron.
"Why are you laughing?" he asked the knight curiously.
"Nothing," the knight replied, wiping a tear from his eye. "The lord just praised you. That is all."
"Oh!" The assistant's crooked nose seemed to twitch with pleasure.
Without a word of instruction from the Viscount, the assistant moved with efficiency as if it was a general routine. He retrieved some documents from a bag beside the table.
Without any ceremony, he passed a note across the scarred wood toward the Baron.
"Sir Baron," he stated, his voice devoid of emotion. "We have gone through your records. This amount will be the compensation for our lord's silence."
Looking at the amount written on the paper, the baron and his steward’s faces fell.
“Sir Viscount, this is too much. It is 80% of our entire treasury.” the steward protested.
But the viscount remained silent and aloof, while the assistant replied in his stead.
“Of course. But this is a genuine price.
“Under normal circumstances, we as the royal auditors, it is our duty to report back any embezzlement.
“If that were to happen, you can forget about your noble status, let alone your entire house may be sent to gallows depending on the situation.
“But our lord, out of consideration, decided to keep silent.
“You should know that we are all derelicting our duties, risking our jobs and our lives in order to cover up your mistakes. This much compensation is only natural.”
The assistant places a stack of documents on the table forwarding them.
“But, this is unreasonable. Before anything else, this is not embezzlement. Those mistakes you are pointing out in the accounts are inevitable.
“We are nobles of virtue and we are loyal to the king. We would never perform such disloyal acts.
“You can ask in our territory. Our lord is one of the very few nobles who is still righteous and good natured, and treats his subjects and his territory with fairness.”
“This is also why our lord is only asking for 80%.
“Not to mention, it is irrelevant to our department, whether you are loyal or not. We are not here to see it for all year around right.
“All we can say is we have evidence and that is all it matters to us. For your house, it is enough to lose your noble status and life.”
“But, this is too much, we still have to pay the taxes too. 30% is the most we can give.”
“30%? It is the same as giving us nothing at all.”
“But…”
Both of them continued to argue for sometime.
“That’s enough.” Stopping his coin play, the viscount interjected, silencing their argument.
Straightening his posture, he looks at the Baron, “60%. It is our last bargain line. We won’t accept anything less.”
“But my lord..” the steward tried to speak.
But the viscount completely ignored him and spoke to the Baron.
“Do understand our point of view too.
“Everyone of us has our own needs.
“Take me as an example, I have a daughter who recently fell in love with a count’s son.
“I still need to go to the count to discuss their engagement before I return home. I can’t just go with empty hands now can I?
“And a son who will join the magic academy in a decade or so. Which will be very costly.
“And my wife too has many parties and socializing to do. She is quite high maintenance you know.
“My subordinates have their own situations.
“Not to mention, we won’t get all this money for ourselves. We have to pay our higher ups. We need to keep our bosses satisfied too.
“And there is the perilous journey back while avoiding the bandits and all.
“Yet, I can sympathize with the Baron. So, 60%. What do you say? Lord Raven’s Crag?”
The Baron felt furious listening to all his unreasonable extravagances which are completely unrelated to him. Yet he also felt helpless, understanding that he can do nothing but compromise.
Clenching his fists in frustration, “50…50%” he spoke with gritted teeth.
The Viscount sighs, shaking his head, “Fine, considering the Baron’s righteous rule over his territory and his loyalty to the king, I will compromise. 50% it is. Let’s close the deal.”
“But my lord,” the viscount’s assistant interjects. “It is not profitable at all.”
The viscount turns to say sternly, “that’s enough. I have already spoken.”
The steward sighs, shaking his head, “Alright my lord. You are too kind. If it was someone else, they would just take the entire treasury.”
Then he turns to the baron’s steward, “50% it is.”
“My lord, I will go to make the arrangement.” fearing that they may change their mind, the steward tries to leave.
“Please wait,” the Viscount’s assistant walks to the steward and gives a scroll made of animal skin.
“Please make all the people involved sign this.”
“This is…a magic contract?” the steward recognized it.
It is a scroll made up of animal skin. Its back side is inscribed with an intricate magic circle, while on its front side are terms of the contract written.
“Yes. a contract scroll. Our signs are already placed. It states that all the parties involved will keep quiet. After all, you are paying us. You too need an assurance that we will not break our word.” the assistant grins.
‘So, they want us to keep shut about their bribes.’ the steward sighs internally at their meticulous preparations.
Then he looks at the Baron, who frowns but finally nods in approval to the steward to do so.
The steward quickly peruses the details and suddenly his face stiffens.
‘The compensation details are mentioned as 50%. But the amount was just negotiated, yet the scroll was prepared before itself. Did they have different scrolls for different percentages or was this the amount they aimed for from the start?’
The steward glances at the viscount who once again resumed his coin play.
“Any problems?” the assistant asks, bringing the steward back to his senses.
“Nothing. I will go make the arrangements.”
The steward leaves the room from the door behind the Baron and returns after sometime.
Reaching the baron he places the scroll and a quill in front of him on the table, “My lord, everyone has signed.”
The Baron signs the scroll in frustration and slams the quill on the table.
The steward takes the scroll and passes it on to the viscount’s assistant, who quickly verifies it and passes it to the Viscount.
“My lord, everything is in order.”
The viscount nods and passes it to the priest.
Copyright © [January] [2026] [The Rainy Imp]. All rights reserved.
The priest takes the scroll and starts to chant a prayer in an ethereal voice, activating the scroll.
Per fluctus qui litora tangunt,
Per undas quae saxa formant,
Testem voco, O [daem aqua],
Sacrarum aquarum numen.
Foedus hoc firmetur fideli,
Verba haec ab undis servata,
Qui rumpunt, aquae iram sentiant,
Qui servent, benedictione plenentur.
Soon, the scroll glows and disintegrates into particles.
Everyone involved instantly feels weird, as if they understood that the contract has been placed.
Satisfied, the Viscount looks at his assistant, who acknowledges the silent instruction, takes another bag and retrieves a bunch of books stacking them up one above another.
“What are these?” the steward asks.
“These are the records we prepared after correcting your mistakes.”
“Please burn your old records and show these to anyone who comes.”
“At least from now on, please take care of your accounts properly.” the assistant smirks mockingly.
“Even these documents have some mistakes, but not too many, which can be overlooked by our department as our lord will see to it like that by passing a good word about you to our higher ups.”
The steward’s face twitches.
Creeeak
Suddenly, they hear the door opening and about 20 men, a mix of men and officials come out of the room refreshed.
Behind them, inside the room, lay many maids, in tears and lifeless eyes, torn and disheveled clothes, bruised and traumatized.
“Now that everything is in order, we will not intrude any longer”
The Viscount stands up and starts to walk towards the door behind the baron.
Just before he steps out of the door, he turns to speak, “Oh! By the way, I forgot to mention this before. From next year, the taxes will be increased in cycles, this is what we are asked to inform. Detailed information will be sent later on by the hall of wealth.”
Saying that the Viscount left the room followed by his guards and sub-ordinates, leaving the frowning Baron behind, who understood the true meaning of this.
As soon as they left the room, the baron stood up flipping the table, breaking the items, cursing and swearing.
“Damn it, Damn it, (#$)%#* …. ^#$(* ………^(._#$*$* ^..........%&^ %#….”
He no longer cared if he was heard by the other party who left laughing after hearing the Baron’s furious curses, while his steward stood at a distance silently as he saw his lord venting his anger.
****
A few moments later, a woman in her 30s dressed in noble attire came running inside, rushing as her tears fell and caused the door to be pushed hard causing it to hit the wall grabbing the attention of the baron and the steward.
The Baron who was venting his anger on the innocent items became even more furious at the discourteous intrusion, but the moment he saw the woman, his anger dropped to freezing point.
The woman looked around and soon rushed into the bedroom. Soon, she wailed in sorrow and grief.
A moment later, another noble woman entered the room silently along with some older maids.
After some time, the first wailing woman came out of the room in uncontrolled anger as she ran to the Baron and held his collar, “How could you? How could you do this?”
The Baron’s face is filled with guilt and sorrow and no words came out of his mouth.
“It can’t be helped, there was no other way.” the Baron tried to explain.
“No other way. Haha haha. You always have a way. But you just didn’t choose it.”
“Please don’t be angry sister. It is not our husband’s fault. Our status as nobles and lives are at stake. If it can be traded for by the sacrifice of a girl and a few maids, then it is a low price.” the other noble woman interjected.
“As the daughter of this house, she has the responsibility to protect it.”
“Oh!,” the woman laughed sarcastically, “Then why didn’t you sacrifice your daughter? As the legal wife you are more bound to duty than me, a mere concubine.”
“Oh. no I was wrong, it is because she is not a legitimate heir that you could sacrifice her isn’t it? What a righteous lord we have.”
The legal wife frowned at her sarcastic remarks, looking at the maids, “take her to her room and lock her up. She is very unstable. Let her calm down.”
The maids dragged her away as she cursed them for being hypocrites and cowards.
Then she approached the baron whose heart is filled with remorse and guilt to console him softly, “please don’t be angry my lord. Don’t blame her. Seeing her daughter like that, it is understandable.”
“But it is not your fault either. We really didn’t have a choice. You made the right decision. Please don’t blame yourself.”
The Baron nods, “I am a failure.”
“My lord…”
Before she could say something, the Baron interjects, addressing his steward, “Arrange for her and my daughter to live in another place.”
“My Lord…” the steward tried to speak but the Baron gestured him to stop.
“Please don’t say anything else. I can’t bear to watch them. I will be drowned in guilt whenever we look at each other. They too will not fare any better to see my face in this castle.”
“Also compensate the maids well.”
“Yes, my lord, I will.”
Then she started to instruct the maids who returned, to treat the maids lying in the bedroom and got busy with it.
The baron walked towards the window, opened the curtain to look down. He clenches his fists in frustration, unable to do anything as he sees the Viscount and his entourage loading their carriages with the treasures they negotiated with.
“My lord,” the steward spoke, “can’t we do anything to them?”
The Baron shakes his head, “What can we do? They have the backing of those corrupted noble houses.”
“Especially this guy. He is backed by that disgusting pig, Duke Silas, the one in charge of the entire Hall of wealth, the keeper of the coin himself. If not for that, how can a commoner and an honorary Viscount act so brazenly in front of me.”
“But can’t we get the king’s help? He is a wise ruler. We can raise a complaint to discuss it in the king’s court for justice.”
The Baron snorts, “Yes, he is indeed a wise ruler, and also a good man. But he is also as powerless as us in front of those greedy noble houses.
“As for asking for justice in the court, don’t even mention it. For any one who seeks justice in the King’s court will only be met with even more injustice and defeat.”
A moment later, he continues, “Unless a miracle happens, there is no longer any hope for this kingdom.
It will not be long before it reaches its end.”
(End of chapter)
Copyright © [January] [2026] [The Rainy Imp]. All rights reserved.
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