章 40: Royal Visit
Austria, June 3rd 1792
3:21 PM
Lukas was in one of the living rooms of the mansion, getting ready to go to the training session with Herman.
Soon, Elias showed up and walked towards Lukas. "Lukas, apparently the Royal Family found out about Karl's death. They're coming over today to investigate the death," the brown-haired man said.
Lukas raised his brow. "Why did they not do the same thing with mother's situation?" he asked.
"We were not in times of war," Elias answered.
"Besides, it's the second death in this household in a span of six months. It's just natural that they are coming over," he explained.
'Yep, makes sense,' Lukas thought. "Is the king coming himself?" he asked.
Elias shook his head. "Of course not. One of his counsellors is coming over and then he'll report our meeting to the king," he answered.
"When are they coming over?" the blonde boy asked.
"Today, at around 5:15 PM," Elias answered. "You'll still be training around that time," he said.
"Why did you not ask Herman to come over a bit earlier, so I could be present too?" Lukas asked.
"Because I only received the letter today," Elias answered. "The King thinks he can do whatever he wants, whenever he wants, and unfortunately, he's partially right," he sighed. "Anyway, come to meet us once you are done training," the brown-haired man said.
Lukas nodded his head. "Okay," he answered.
Elias then nodded his head back and left the living room.
After Elias left the living room, Lukas sighed. 'It's so weird to talk to my father like this.
Unfortunately, he's the only adult noble left in this mansion, so there isn't much I can do," he thought.
Lukas rested his head back on his arms. 'Well, I am pretty sure there isn't much to be afraid of,' he thought. 'It goes without saying that the King is sure that France has ordered Karl's murder, so the counsellor will probably just ask about what happened during the last days of his life, his daily routine and stuff like that... well, I would hate to be the one to answer the daily routine part,' the blonde boy concluded.
Lukas cleared his throat. 'Still, the counsellor will probably see me training and he will naturally be intrigued with my skills, mainly if he asks my father how old I am. Now that my mother isn't here, there's nobody who particularly cares whether or not I stand out,' he thought.
Lukas stretched one of his arms. 'Still, I wonder if it's a good idea for the Royal Family to notice me when I am so young? I can always pretend that I can barely lift the sword or swing it... no way, Herman will notice it and will kick my ass once he sees that I'm not giving my all in the training,' the blonde boy concluded.
Lukas then stood up and stretched himself. 'Well, it's not like it's going to be the end of the world if one of the counsellors of the Royal Family notices me,' he thought. "I'd better go to the training already, Herman will extend the time of the training if I am late," the blonde boy murmured.
-----
Austria, June 3rd 1792
5:14 PM
Herman and Lukas were dueling in the garden of the mansion. Lukas had told Herman about the visit of the Royal Family, however, he just decided that the training would go as usual.
After trying to land a blow on Herman a few times, attempts which were easily blocked by the bulky man, Lukas revolved his whole body and tried to hit Herman, however, he promptly defended Lukas's blow once again.
"At this rate you'll not be able to land a blow on me! Not even in 1000 years!" Herman said.
Lukas snorted at Herman's comment. 'I bet you don't want me to land a blow on you with this real sword either!' he thought.
After that Lukas kept attacking the bulky man.
Not long after, a fancy-looking carriage arrived to the mansion. Soon, a serious-looking man left the carriage. He had black hair and brown eyes, along with a long moustache
After walking a bit into the garden of the mansion, surrounded by a few guards, he noticed both Lukas and Herman dueling.
The man just raised his brow at the duel. 'Is that Lukas Von Neumann Hügel, the heir of the Von Neumann house? No, it can't be him, he is just three years old,' he thought.
After walking for a while, he stood in front of the door of the mansion and knocked. Not long after, a humble-looking woman opened the door.
Olivia smiled. "Good afternoon, Mr. Cristoph! Mr. Hügel is waiting for you in the living room," she said.
Cristoph nodded his head. "Thank you," he said.
Olivia guided Cristoph to the living room where Elias was sitting. Cristoph then sat on the couch across Elias.
"Thank you, Olivia, you may go," Elias said.
Olivia left the room, leaving the two men alone there. They only started talking when they heard the door closing.
"So, I am going straight to the point, Mr. Elias," Cristoph started. "How did Mr. Karl's death happen?" he asked.
"I don't know much about it," Elias started. 'How am I going to say this?' he wondered.
Cristoph raised his brow at Elias. He was taking a bit too long to answer him.
Finally, Elias started speaking. "Karl had a lot of slaves and he spent a lot of time with them in the middle of the night," he said.
Cristoph raised his brow once again. "Spent a lot of time? What did he do during that time?" he asked.
Elias sighed. "Torture," he said. "My brother bought slaves who could no longer work for a very cheap price and tortured them," he said.
Cristoph nodded his head in understanding. "Please, proceed," he ordered.
"When one of the servants found his corpse. When I went to check to on it, I found one of his slaves laying beside him holding a knife and my brother's throat was cut," Elias explained.
"Was the slave alive?" Cristoph asked.
"No," Elias answered as he shook his head. "I checked on the corpse of the slave and he didn't have any lethal wounds. When I called a doctor after that, he confirmed my suspects, the slave died from lack of assistance," he explained.
Cristoph nodded his head. "So, everything indicates that it was the slave who killed his master," he said. 'This is not what we expected.'
"Excuse me, Mr. Cristoph, but I have a different idea," Elias said.
Cristoph nodded his head. "Proceed with your explanation," he answered.
"My brother was clever, I have no doubt that he always made sure that the ropes were properly tied and that the slave could not escape. Besides, it is even more unlikely that the slave would be able to break free from the ropes with his wounds," Elias explained.
"Could you tell me about the state of the slave?" Cristoph asked.
Elias put his thumb on his lip. "Well, both his shoulders and one of his knees were pierced," he started. "Besides, most of his nails were cut off and some of his fingers were broken," the brown-haired man described.
Cristoph nodded his head. "Indeed, I do not think that the slave would be able to break free from his ropes either," he said. "It probably was a mercenary who invaded the mansion and killed him."
"But why would they kill Karl? The Hügel house has not even have sent any men to the battlefield for obvious reasons," Elias said.
"The Von Neumann house did," Cristoph answered.
Elias raised his brow.
"The marriage between Frida Von Neumann and yourself made both the Hügel and the Von Neumann house become one. However, since most members of the Von Neumann house are protected in Vienna, they decided to send a mercenary to Salzburg, a city which is not under so much protection," Cristoph explained.
"But why would they do that?" Elias asked. "There is no obvious reason for that," he said.
"They just wanted to taunt us," Cristoph answered.
'That's a very obvious reason,' Elias thought before sighing. "Well, is there anything I can help you with?" the brown-haired man asked.
Cristoph nodded his head. "Yes," he answered. "Tell me more about his habits and daily routine."
-----
Austria, June 3rd 1792
5:32 PM
Lukas and Herman were organizing the training equipment. "Well, one of the Royal counsellors coming here made you more behaved," the bulky man said with a grin.
"Don't get the wrong idea. I'm just helping you because I wanna go there fast," Lukas said.
Herman raised his brow. "Why?" he asked.
"I'm a bit curious to know what they are talking about. Besides, I still have to take a quick bath before going there," Lukas answered.
Herman chuckled. "Bath this, bath that. This new generation sure is lost," he said.
Lukas rolled his eyes. "Whatever, dude. We are done here, right?" he asked.
Herman chuckled. "Yes, yes, you may go," he said as he nodded his head.
-----
Austria, June 3rd 1792
5:45 PM
"And this is all I can tell you about Karl's routine and habits, I know it's not much, but he was not a very active person," Elias said.
Cristoph nodded his head. "No problem, Mr. Elias. It was still of great help, I will go bac-" he was interrupted by a knock on the door.
"Come in," Elias said.
The door then opened, showing Lukas and Olivia beside him. "Mr. Hügel, young master is done training and he can now take part in this meeting," the humble-looking woman said.
Elias raised his brow. "But we had already finished the meeting," he said.
Cristoph smiled. "No problem, Mr. Hügel. I do not mind staying a little longer to meet the heir of the Von Neumann house," he said, right before looking at Lukas.
'He actually is... the boy who was dueling back then. And he's just three years old,' Cristoph thought.
"Thank you," Lukas said as he smiled. After that, he sat beside his father.
Cristoph looked at the blonde boy in front of him. 'His eyes are... peculiar,' he thought. 'Not just their color, but also the aura they give off.'
Cristoph cleared his throat. "So, you already started your military training, Mr. Lukas?" he asked.
Elias raised his brow. '"Mister"?' he wondered.
Lukas nodded his head with a smile. "Yes, I have. My father hired me an instructor about 7 months ago," he said.
Cristoph widened his eyes. '7 months...' he thought. After that, he chuckled. "You started pretty young, may I know the reason?" he asked.
Lukas shrugged his shoulders. "I am sure that my father can give you a better answer," he replied.
'The way he speaks too... he has a perfect pronunciation already. Impressive,' he thought.
After that, Cristoph looked at Elias, waiting for an answer.
'Why did this brat have to put the pressure on me?' Elias wondered.
Elias sighed. "I just thought it would be better for him. We have been in agitated times, so I considered that giving him military training as soon as possible would be the best," he answered.
Cristoph nodded his head in understanding. "Was he already capable of dueling back then?" he asked.
Elias looked at Lukas, cueing him to answer the question, a cue that Lukas noticed right away. "Not at all," he answered as he shook his head. "I could barely lift the wooden sword back then," the blonde boy said.
Cristoph chuckled. "But I can see that you are already using real swords," he said.
Lukas nodded his head. "Yes, we started quite recently to be honest. If you had come last week, you would have seen me training with a wooden sword," he explained.
Cristoph nodded his head. "I see," he said.
After a few more minutes of conversation, Cristoph left the room and headed to carriage. Lukas and Elias accompanied him to his vehicle and bid their farewell to him.
'This dude didn't even try to hide that he just asking about me, I actually felt a bit uncomfortable,' the blonde boy thought. 'Well, at least the subject of Uncle Karl's death will no longer be touched anytime soon. I am going to focus on my training from now on.'
-----
Austria, June 6th 1792
12:32 PM
Cristoph had finally arrived to Vienna and now was bowing before the king. "I see you arrived, Cristoph. What's your report from the Erik mansion?" he asked.
Cristoph explained everything to the King, about Karl and the weird circumstances of his death.
"I see," the King said. "Do you have anything else to tell me?" he asked.
"Yes, your Majesty. I do," he said. "When I went there, I saw the heir of the Von Neumann house," a grin started forming on his face. "He is a very interesting boy," Cristoph said.
The King raised his brow. He had already heard a few rumors about the boy. "Please, proceed to tell everything that you know about that boy," he ordered.
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