Followed by that bellow was the sound of a fatty rolling down. It was Nicholas. In order to gain favor with Selena, he decided to stand up for her.

"Father, don't listen... to this scheming bastard..." Nicholas spat out these words as he tried to catch his breath.

"Nicholas, go back inside..." The Marchioness ordered her son with a stern tone. This was a serious issue where the elders of the manors were talking. Having a younger generation join the discussion was considered an insult to their elders.

"I-I..." Frightened by his mother's tone, Nicholas took half a step back, but remembering his goal, he took full two steps forward and spoke.

"F-Father... I know I have no right to interfere, but have you already forgotten how Big Sister almost died?!"

"Nicholas...!!" The Marchioness was alarmed that her son refused to back out. She looked at the Marquis who had a grim expression on his face.

"This bastard may look pitiful now, but you had not seen him this morning. He was extremely arrogant and domineering as if he owned our manor. He was disrespectful towards Sister and did not care about the fact that Sister tried to kill herself. In fact, he described the incident as 'not a big deal anyway...' straight to Sister's face." Nicholas kept ranting with a livid face, pointing at the kneeling Baron.

The already distressed Baron now sweated from every orifice possible for sweat to come out of. He suddenly had an urge to slap his past self. Why did he ever think it was a good idea to swagger inside the Marquis's manor? 'It was Marquis's Johnson's plan...!!' The Baron thought in fury. He suddenly wished to slap Marquis Johnson too. He also wanted to slap his daughter, Grant Johnson, his wife, for giving birth to such a daughter... well, his list for slapping people was quite long.

The Marquis's face also darkened after hearing this. He almost took pity on the Baron, but to think he was this arrogant this morning. Seeing the situation going against him, the Baron swiftly cried out.

"I admit...!! It's my fault. I was being stupid and ignorant. But I beseech you, Marquis Booker. Think of the bigger picture here. Our conflict could affect thousands of citizens of our country. If we don't stand together now, many people will suffer."

"You...!!" Nicholas was furious. He knew how much his father cared for his citizens and the Baron was holding on to that very subject.

The Marquis did not reply immediately. Instead, he closed his eyes for a second, and after thinking about something he slowly opened his eyes again and said,

"Alright, I will help you."

"Really?!" The baron lifted his head.

"Father...?!" Nicholas called out anxiously.

"Of Course, I do have a request..." The Marquis continued sternly.

"That... Of Course, Of Course...!!" The Baron replied as fast as possible. Once the Marquis was pulled into this, there's no way he would have the time to follow on that demand since he would be busy fighting the Duke. The Baron also thought that if the Marquis took his side, Marquis Johnson will also have to side with him since this issue was started by his son and making amends with Marquis Booker being his top priority. He felt really smart right now.

"Good... here." The Marquis replied and threw something at the Baron's feet.

"Eh?" The Baron looked down and what he saw sent shivers up his spine.

It was a Dagger... A Combat Dagger, which Aristocrats usually carry for Self-Defense.

"This..." The Baron looked at the Marquis in puzzlement.

"Oh... my request is pretty simple... Kill yourself." The Marquis replied with a straight face.

"WWHHHAAATT....?!" The gathered crowd was shocked beyond belief. Even Nicholas took a step back. He now understood where his sister got her cold-bloodedness from.

"B-But... I-I thought we..." The Baron was shivering so much, that if someone handed him a soda, it would explode like a bomb.

"I definitely wish to help your manor." The Marquis replied with a dark smile. "However, my manor was greatly insulted by your actions. So I hope you understand why I would be a laughing stock if I still helped you despite that."

"Th-That..." So far what the Marquis said made sense to Baron.

"So, my solution is, that you kill yourself. If you do, not only your manor's crimes will be forgiven, but I would also be able to openly help your manor without any repercussions."

"I-I..."

"I will also help you resolve any issues you have with Duke Rant, even if it means selling away everything I have. At the same time, I will personally make sure that Grant and Patricia are married without any issues."

The Marquis's offer was extremely favorable to the Baron. It would immediately resolve all of his problems. But the downside was, that the Baron had to die to make amends first.

"M-Marquis, to make me kill myself is..." The Baron stuttered.

"Hmm? What's wrong? Don't you want to save your people? Didn't you say that if we don't hurry up, thousands of your people could very well lose everything? I can't make a move to save them until my grievances are resolved. Otherwise, I might become a laughing stock to other Aristocrats and it will adversely affect my people too."

"I-I..." The Baron was stunned. The Marquis had beautifully returned his own words to him. Didn't the Baron keep bringing up the welfare of the people? Well, now the shoe is on the other foot. To protect the welfare of his people, he must now straight up commit suicide in an attempt to redeem himself.

"Baron Turner, do you dare to kill yourself in order to redeem yourself and protect your people?!" The Marquis asked loudly.

The onlookers kept looking at the Baron with their breath held. Nicholas was also looking at the Baron with an excited face. The Marchioness had a stern face looking at the Baron alongside her husband.

A minute passed...

Two minutes...

Five minutes...

The Baron kept staring at the dagger not moving at all.

But suddenly, he shivered uncontrollably and cried out with huge streams of tears.

"I-I CAN'T DO IT...!!! I WANT TO LIVE...!!"

As soon as those words left his mouth, the Marquis bellowed angrily.

"So what you were saying was just an act? You were simply looking out for yourself and not the people, right?!"

"I... Ye--- Marquis, please...!! I-I beg for you to find a different way."

Even though he stopped in between, the crowd managed to grasp the half-word said out loud. They immediately frowned upon the sight.

"What a shameless guy. He was using his people's plight to fool the Marquis."

"No wonder his daughter stole Lady Selena's fiancé. The apple doesn't fall far from the tree."

"To think, I felt pity for that bastard earlier. Give me back my wasted goodwill."

The Crowd's muttering was loud enough for the Baron to hear. The verbal thrashing broke his spirit completely and he almost vomited blood.

His brain short-circuited and he fell down as his eyes rolled to the back of his head. He had fainted.

"Humph...!! Guards take Baron Turner back to his manor. Also, notify Duke Rant of the Baron's current location. Tell him I am willing to side with him against the Baron, regardless of the issues he has with the Baron." The Marquis turned around to go back inside as he issued the commands.

"Yes Sir...!!" The Guards obeys as two of them lifted the unconscious Baron.

"I-I..." Nicholas panicked as his Father approached him. He has never talked this loud in front of his Father and he knew he was in for a good beating. He quickly looked down and closed his eyes to prepare himself for the beating. But, to his own surprise, he did not regret it. He had seen what Selena was capable of. If she could teach him even half of what she knows, he could very well be the man who could protect his family. But contrary to his expectations, the beatings did not happen. Before he could make sense of what was happening, he felt a huge hand on his head.

"You did well..." The Marquis's voice sounded out.

"Huh?" Nicholas opened his eyes widely and looked up to see his Father's smiling face.

"Now get going... aren't your teachers arriving soon? Just having guts doesn't make one a man, he needs knowledge too." The Marquis patted his head once more before leaving. Even the Marchioness had a huge smile on her face with her eyes being a little teary. She followed the Marquis inside.

"Is... Father proud of me?" Nicholas asked himself after standing there dumbfounded for a whole minute.

This was the first time he felt like this. Sure, his Father and Mother loved him, but he also knew they worried about his future. There was a huge difference between pampering and praising someone. This was not a pamper, but praise. They were proud of him, for the first time.

"I... could get used to this." Nicholas replied to himself with a reddened face. He quickly made his way inside to study. The taste of recognition was like a drug to him. He wasn't satisfied with just a drop. He was going to work hard, to not only be recognized by his family but the whole country too.

***

Selena was watching the whole thing from her window. She couldn't hear the details since it was far away but seeing the Baron knocked out gave her the satisfaction she needed. She didn't bother inquiring about it since the Marquis told her that he would handle this.

"Why did the little piggy go to the Gate too?" Soul asked.

"I don't know..." Selena ignored him and sat down. Soul's radar could only cover a limited distance. Hence, they could not see or hear the conversation at a close distance so most of the incident was only seen by them from far away. If Nicholas knew that Selena wasn't even aware of his deeds, he would probably bang his head on the wall.

Another couple of days passed in a jiffy. A lot of things happened within this time. The Duke met up with Marquis Booker and explained everything that happened. Of Course, the Marquis was livid and almost marched to Marquis Johnson and Baron Turner in order to behead them, but he was barely stopped by his Wife who suggested both of them to seek the help of the Royal Court.

During this time, Grant went through hell. First, he was first heavily beaten up by his father. Then his Father revoked all of Grant's powers within the manor and even made his younger brother the future head of the house. When Grant tried to resist, he was beaten up again and locked inside his room. To make matters worse, an investigation team from the Royal Palace came to visit. They were under the orders of Princess Rose. They were investigating the issue where Grant introduced Patricia as Selena. Lying to Royalty is a criminal offense and he was literally dragged for intensive interrogation. Under the heavy pressure, he ended up confessing about the affair and his blatant disregard for the engagement. When Princess Rose got the report, she frowned and passed it on to the Royal Court which actually helped Marquis Booker make a more solid case against Grant and the Johnson Manor. The hearing would be next week and so far, it looks like Marquis Johnson and Baron Turner are going to be bankrupt with the Duke teaming up with Marquis Booker.

Meanwhile, Selena also had her Life changed, by a lot. Nicholas still kept visiting but instead of causing trouble, he visited to talk about various things and listened to Selena's opinions on those matters with ears wide open. The Marchioness kept bringing Selena to random tea parties to make her more social. But due to her Icy cold nature, she scared off her peers which gave the Marchioness a headache. The Servants and the Maids also trod carefully around Selena. They came to the same conclusion as Nicholas where they understood that gaining her favor would be for the best rather than facing her wrath.

On one such sunny day, as Selena was drinking tea, a maid walked in, bowed and said respectfully,

"My lady, Teacher Walker is here... Should I let her in?"

"Teacher...?" Soul was surprised for a second. "Oh, right. Aristocrats have teachers come to their home to teach their children. So, you are still studying?"

"Yes, it is important for all aristocrats to have a basic knowledge of many subjects. There are even exams, depending on which, one can get a job in the Royal Palace if one is capable enough."

"Really? Then considering your wits, you must at least be an elite student, right?"

"Actually..." Selena showed a rarely seen embarrassed face, "I failed every subject in the mock-exams..."

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