章 57: Chapter 56: Noblesse Oblige
Today, while returning to the mansion around mid-afternoon after listening to Alice's singing, I saw two people in the garden, a man and a woman, tied to a tree.
The man was a eunuch and the woman was a maid.
Both were familiar faces in the mansion.
The two were tied to a tree and being whipped by another eunuch.
As I paused to wonder at the unusual sight, Zoe came out from inside the mansion.
"Welcome back, Master."
"What's that?"
When I asked, Zoe blushed and made a complicated face.
"Madam is ... well ..."
"Fumu. All right, I'll ask Audrey directly."
I could tell that this was a very difficult thing to say.
If I questioned her too strongly, Zoe would probably answer, but I didn't have to go that far.
After asking Zoe, I went inside the Mansion and visited Audrey in the living room.
"Ah, welcome home, Lucas-sama."
"I'm home. What's that in the garden?"
"I'm sorry, that was my fault."
"Hmm?"
What do you mean? I asked her to elaborate.
"A while ago, one of the maids told me she saw them naked in their room, hugging each other, so I went to ...."
"Oh."
I could feel my temples twitching.
"Still a Man?"
"It's been changed properly. All castrated – definitely a eunuch."
"Fumu."
There are several ways to castrate a eunuch.
Half castration, in which only the testicles are removed, and full castration, in which the entire genitals are removed.
Of course, considering the nature of eunuchs, it goes without saying that the latter is more 'safe'.
"So they are only doing pretend play?"
"Yes. So, the eunuch was given 30 whippings and the maid was given 10. Since it was an internal matter, I handled it myself."
"Well, that's perfectly reasonable. There's nothing to be concerned about."
Audrey was relieved.
The eunuch was a castrated man, but that didn't mean that he had lost his libido altogether.
Of course, there are eunuchs who have reached zero, and that's fine.
However, eunuchs who still have a little bit of sexual desire will have relationships with lady in waiting in the royal palace, or with maids in the nobleman's mansion.
Sometimes they get into a good relationship and have physical intimacy with each other.
By the way, eunuchs who are completely castrated can't " release " themselves when they have physical intimacy, so they tend to engage in violent acts such as biting or hitting their partners.
If they had not been castrated, then this would be a crime of death, but if they had been properly castrated and were doing "play," it would only take a few dozen lashes.
"Why the difference in numbers?"
"That... eunuch said, "I was the one who asked her out. It's not her fault!" And so he defends her. The maid tried to cover for him as well, but the eunuch got down on his knees with such force that his forehead bled."
"Fumu. ... So it's a two-sided affair."
"Yes."
Audrey nodded quietly.
I thought about it for a minute and then said to Zoe, who came into the living room with me.
"Go to the garden and tell them to come here when the whipping is over."
"Understood, sir."
Zoe walked out of the living room and went to call them.
A short time later, the pair of the eunuch and the maid came in, with their clothes in tatters and swollen lines here and there – ripped and bleeding in some places.
As soon as they entered the living room, they turned extremely pale and got down on their knees.
"F-Forgive us!"
"It won't happen again! So–!
"Ahh, you've already been punished, so stop it."
I held up my hand to stop them from apologizing.
Audrey was right, this was an internal matter.
Now that she's dealt with it, it's not my place to say anything.
Audrey is the legitimate wife of the Prince, in other words, the Princess.
She has a reputation to uphold. If she's wrong, it's obvious, but if she's not and I intervene, no one will listen to her orders in the future.
"That's not what I'm talking about. You guys seem to like each other."
"It's ..."
"Um, ..."
The eunuch and the maid looked at each other.
They had the look of unsure of how to answer.
Eventually, the eunuch made up his mind.
"Yes! We like each other. We came from the same village, she went to His Highness' residence and I went to the royal palace, but when His Highness entered the fief, I requested my superiors to let me accompany her."
"Childhood friends, huh?"
I looked at Audrey and she shook her head in surprise.
It seems that she didn't know.
"Yes, ...."
" You want to stay together forever"
"I do, sir. ... together."
The eunuch replied haltingly.
He seemed unsure of my true intentions.
"One last thing. Are there any more like you in the mansion?"
"—-!"
"I'm not talking about ratting them out. Ohh, I guess the order was wrong. Zoe, I want you to buy up some of the houses around the estate. Preferably in a neighborhood that surrounds the mansion. One of them will be given to you."
""...""
The two of them were puzzled, they didn't know what was going on and didn't seem to be able to follow it at all.
"During the day, you can continue to work at the mansion as before, but at night you can go back to your homes."
"Lucas-sama, ... it looks as if you are arranging ... marriages for your subjects."
Audrey said, and they both snapped out of it.
"I intend to."
After replying to Audrey, I asked them.
"So? We can pretend this never happened if you don't want to be together forever."
"A-Absolutely not!"
"Thank you very much! Thank you very much!"
They bowed their heads to me again and again.
"Such ... an amazing person ..."
"I shall never forget this kindness."
"Hmm. Ah, yes. If you want a daughter, you can adopt one. I'll treat your adopted daughter as a household member. A son is fine, but you don't want to take a son and turn him into a eunuch, do you?"
""–! Thank you very much!""
The two of them were so moved to tears that they kept bowing their heads over and over again, like a bunch of grasshoppers.
"That's why. If any of the servants want to start another 'family', they can do so, the same as now. I leave this matter to you."
"Yes, I understand."
Audrey smiled and nodded.
"But as expected of Lucas-sama. I could never have imagined such a procedure."
"Um, Master ...."
"Hmm?"
I turned to Zoe.
For some reason, she had a troubled look on her face.
"What's wrong?"
"That ... there was an order from Master…"
"Hmm?"
"This year, that ... money is ..."
"... Oh."
Thinking for a moment, I understood why Zoe looked so worried.
In the past, when it came to water maintenance, my brother Oscar couldn't pass the budget for it this year, so I had to cover it out of my own pocket.
"Nothing at all?"
"No, maybe for those who want to. It's just that purchasing them in a circle around the house is ...."
"I see. Well then, let's start with the applicants. The neighbors won't be leaving any time soon. The rest can wait until next year."
"I understand. I'll do it that way."
The next day, while I was relaxing in the living room, playing a mock battle between the newly subordinated Apophis and four of his seniors to raise their levels and determine their ranks, Cecily, the serving maid, came in.
"Master, you have a visitor."
"Who is this?"
"Well, there are a lot of ... mayors."
"What?"
I frowned.
"Mayors, are they from Nisir?"
"Yes."
"All right, lead them into the parlor. And call Don."
"As you wish, sir."
Cecily nodded and left the living room.
I stood up and walked to the parlor, thinking.
Nisir, the capital of Almeria.
This city is divided into a number of "towns".
Each town has its own mayor and based on two or three towns, there is one governor.
And the mayors of these towns came in group?
What the heck.
I thought about it and couldn't figure it out, so I met up with Don on the way and we went into the parlor together.
There were about twenty people standing in the room.
Most of them were old men, with a few middle-aged ones.
That's what they looked like.
"It's a privilege to meet you. My name is Delos."
The old man at the front bowed his head and said.
The other mayors bowed along with him but said nothing.
It seemed that Delos was the leader of the group.
"Umm. Cecily, bring everyone a chair."
"Understood, sir."
I sat down on the couch. Don stood behind me.
I had the maids bring in the chairs, as there were not enough of them in the room for the mayors.
I waited until all the mayors had sat down in their chairs.
"So, what's the occasion?"
I asked Delos.
"Here."
Delos stood up, walked over to me, and held out something with both hands.
I took it and opened it.
It looked like a catalog, with words written on it.
"What's this?"
"This is a donation from the entire town."
"Money?"
"I heard that this year His Highness spent his own money to maintain the waterworks."
...
"Water is the lifeline of this city. We cannot thank you enough, Your Highness."
"That's why you came to me to repay me?"
"Yes."
Delos said so, and, the mayor and others stood up as if in unison, and bowed their heads.
"We apologize for any rudeness. But please accept the feelings of the people."
"""Please do."""
"All right, I'll take it without reservation, then."
"""Thank you very much!!!"""
The mayors looked up again, and all of them had happy faces.
After the mayors left, Don and I remained in the parlor.
I'm looking at the inventory that Delos gave me.
"What a ... story, I've never heard such an amazing story before. It's unheard of for people to voluntarily give money like this. This is another example of His Highness' virtue."
"Don."
"Yes, what is it?"
"Proceed with the purification of the water source to make it special-grade."
"Eh? That was supposed to be done after the budget was set–"
I tossed the inventory to Don.
"You see this?"
....
Don was puzzled.
"But that's His Highness's–"
"It is the duty of a nobleman to answer to the goodwill of his people. I'll get the money I spent back from the Treasury next year. This is the people's money, so spend it on the people."
"By your will. We will definitely use it all for water projects."
"Um."
I nodded and left the parlor, leaving Don behind.
After Lucas left, Don stayed in the parlor for a while to think, and then he left the room to look for Zoe.
Zoe was now the head maid.
As far as Don could see, she was as talented as Evelyn, but she was loyal to Lucas and had no intention of becoming a governor like Evelyn.
He explained to Zoe what had just happened and showed her the catalog he had received.
"That's just like Master. I guess he'll just do what he has to do and say nothing to the people."
"That doesn't make us feel any better, though."
Don said, and Zoe nodded.
"So what do you suggest we do?"
"I'll do everything I can to get the water project going. Zoe, use the maids and eunuchs to spread the word."
"You'll keep the facts under wraps?"
"Yes."
"All right. Leave it to me."
"Appreciated."
Don and Zoe. They nodded at each other and parted ways for the moment.
Lucas didn't like to talk about it, saying 'It's a nobleman's privilege to be putting up with it,' but those who adored him couldn't stand it.
Lucas fame grew even higher without his intention.
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