Firstborn: Return of the heir

“Come on, get off the window. It’s not like the few seconds it took for you to react would have had any impact on events!”

Contrary to Saulus, who was patiently sitting beside the window in his room, Venna couldn’t stop herself from pacing around the room. With her usual maid clothes lying on the bed, this cheeky girl couldn’t stand the idea that her protector and subordinate didn’t share her anxiety.

“My lady, please, calm down.”

Despite using a formal title, Saulus didn’t bother to detach his face from the corner of the window. Observing the streets, waiting for the signal was the one thing left for him to do now.

This was the most agonizing moment for any commander or mastermind. Right before the battle would begin, one’s thoughts would go awry. But the reality was unforgiving. If he were to give himself an opportunity to influence the events, his rash and panicked decisions would only have a devastating effect on the situation.

With all the orders given, people ready in their respective places to perform their respective roles, the best that Saulus could do was to sit and wait patiently for the events to unfold.

“Saulus! How many times did I tell you not to call me that? With no house or lands to speak of, I’m not even a proper lady at all.”

Suddenly stopping in her tracks, Venna threw a stray lock of her long, brown hair back before quickly making her way to Saulus.

“Say it. I want to hear you call my name properly. Once the insurgency starts, I won’t be able to make any claims of being just a simple girl any longer.”

Placing her hands on top of Saulus’ shoulders, Venna indicated that what even the most loyal and trusted retainers would consider a great honor to do, was absolutely nothing much for her. With her dark brown eyes staring directly into Saulus’s pupils, he was at a loss for what to say.

Strictly speaking, she was his direct and absolute lord. All scheming aside, before the Retesian patriarch conquered the household of Brun, Venna was the fourth princess in line to inherit the house, while Saulus was just a simple retainer growing up and groomed on the court.

Yet, several years later, he was head chief of the stationary military of Brun’s conqueror, awaiting when the revolt would start, while she… well, during the time that Saulus used to climb up the steps of the social and military ladder, Venna had to pretend to be his maid, taken prisoner during the crushing defeat of the rebels!

“My lady, it would be unbecoming of me to call you informally.”

Their relationship didn’t used to be this way. Once the harsh reality of life forced them apart, both of them grew up in different ways, putting up a wall between childhood friends. But for Saulus, it wasn’t the hurdle of impropriety in saying Venna’s name, it was the powerful implication behind allowing himself to relax his stance in private, that for the sake of his own sanity, Saulus wouldn’t dare attempt.

“Didn’t I tell you, I’m not a…”

Crack!

Just as the young girl was about to voice her protests once again, a commotion and strange noises coming from beyond the window caught Saulus’ attention. Finally able to free his eyes from Venna’s intense stare, he looked at the streets below, only to see them quickly filling up with rioters!

“Dress up.”

Standing up rapidly, Saulus dashed towards the closet for his own official clothes. Picking up his famed gryphon coat, the general quickly added all the decorations to his outfit. As prestigious as it was, his clean and slick look of an officer in his official uniform… he felt it was wasted by all the compulsory additions, turning him into a damned stand for the military and court decorations.

“I’m ready.”

Surprisingly, Venna could dress up far quicker than the young general. She had to wear her disguise for several years, during which the only times where she could relax were the short moments alone with Saulus. Thanks to this, she mastered the art of quickly doing and undoing her clothes again so as to not waste any of her precious free time.

“Good. May we see each other in a better world.”

Saying those words with a smirk on his face, Saulus pretended not to notice the smile that blossomed on the girl’s lips. It was this kind of expression that made it strangely awkward for him to interact with the girl. Even though he knew perfectly well how she internally mocked those words just as much as he did, Saulus couldn’t help but feel distracted whenever this damned lass appeared in his mind.

And the two of them could uniformly laugh at those words because it was one of the very first secret codes that members of the main revolting organizations used. Bringing it up now, a few years after said organization got rolled over by the patriarch and his forces, now that their revolution was about to erupt…

For some reason, both of them found it hilarious!

Uff… that was close… With how deep he was in the network of his own schemes, interacting with someone who was aware of everything put Saulus in a tough spot. The commander simply wasn’t used to talking with someone so openly. Unable to come up with an idea how he should tackle this problem, he could only praise the paid actors on the streets for timing their performance just right.

Using the opportunity that appeared, Saulus quickly went to the streets, only to find himself instantly surrounded by the angry crowd. Thankfully, when the people realized who was standing before them, the entire mass of people backed away, clearly in fear of infringing upon the general’s mood.

Given his fame, even the lack of any weapon at his side didn’t hinder how scary he had to be in the eyes of the common folk!

“Sir, save us! We can’t afford another war requisition!”

Before long, everyone around Saulus chanted various prayers, hoping that this legendary figure would turn gracious today and save them from the trouble.

“I need to get to the magistrate first!”

War requisition was nothing but a fancy name for the wartime taxes that every lord and deputy loved to place on their subjects. With the names of glory and sacrifice in their mouths, those high nobles would rob the riches from their serfs and citizens alike. What was even worse, was that the money gained in this manner often did nothing but line the coffers of the one that collected the riches, rather than actually supplying the soldiers in need!

People in the eastern area already had to pay quite a lot of additional taxes for the war reparations. This kind of draconic increase was just the right spark to turn the entire city into the boiling point of a rebellion!

That’s why there was not even the smallest chance that the magistrate would place this tax on its people.

Good job! Praising the effects of the hard work of his people, Saulus had to focus his entire attention at preventing a smile from appearing on his face. Thanks to the crowd making a corridor for him to pass through wherever he went, the general made his way to the magistrate in a relatively short amount of time.

“How could this happen?!”

“Who is spreading those false rumors?!”

“We need to do something…”

That was the first voice of reason that Saulus heard once he appeared in the chaotic room of the mayor’s office. And it was also the first to disappear in the commotion made by the people shouting out all their useless ideas.

“Your honor, the town is at the brink of rebellion. According to law, I have the authority to take over now.”

Placing the token that certified Saulus’s status as the warden of the Istoa and eastern provinces, the young commander didn’t even bother to lower his head, keeping his eyes on the target.

“I know, yes. Most importantly at this moment, do you have any ideas on how to calm the city down?”

Looking at the mayor’s tired face and observing the looks in the eyes of the officials surrounding him, Saulus finally let himself smile broadly.

“I might have an idea.”