Raze was seated inside his room, sweat trickling down his forehead as he had just finished a major batch of soaps and perfumes for sale.

He got up and used a towel to clean the sweat from his brows. "Phew, that was a lot," he said as he looked at all the stacked crates before him with a proud smile on his face.

Knock knock.

Suddenly, a knock came from the door.

"Who is that?"

"It's me, young master," Elaine said.

"Oh, Elaine." Raze immediately walked to the door and opened it. Outside was Elaine standing.

"Young master, your father wants to see you, he is in his office."

"Hmmm, alright," Raze replied and walked out. They headed to his father's office.

Knock knock.

Raze knocked and walked into the office. His father was seated behind the table with a mix of heavy and tired expressions. He looked up when Raze walked in.

"Oh, Raze, have a seat, please," he said, gesturing toward a chair. He scanned through some papers that were there.

'Hmmm, something is up with him, wonder what it is,' Raze thought as he walked to a seat.

His father finally dropped the papers to the side and then interlocked his fingers, placing his elbows on the table and both fists under his chin.

"Something has come up, and it comes directly from the Queen," he stated.

'This isn't going to be good,' Raze thought, knowing that nothing the Queen ever did was straightforward or simple; it was always stressful in one way or the other.

"The Queen said she sent people to check on the issues of Viscount Luke, and yes, she found a lot of things there. I don't know what exactly your discussion with her was, but she has pushed the responsibility to us.

According to her, the kingdom currently lacks the manpower to throw at an issue like this since they are dealing with the abominations, and so she wants you to handle it somehow."

"Huh? She wants us to wage battle against the Viscount? Why not just send a letter telling the Viscount to step off, or send some people to arrest him?" Raze asked.

"Noble law: a section of it states that a noble can't be removed without a court hearing, but the throne still has the right to remove them, only they have to use force to carry it out as the noble has the legal rights to protect themselves.

Now, the court hearing would take at least a month due to the current happenings, but the Queen wants it done as fast as possible, and so that's the current situation we are in," he said and then ran his palm down his face. "If we pull it off, the land becomes ours and I become a Viscount after all the issues of the kingdom are dealt with.

But I don't know if this is something that I should be doing. Not only do we lack the manpower for that, we also lack the tools needed," his father said.

'Tsk, no no no, I knew she was up to no good, that Queen. Tsk, she could have easily handled this by herself; she wants to force my hand, see what someone like me would do when presented with such a situation.

But I don't want to push the image that I am capable of such violence. I'll have to turn it down. Ribest will not be the place where war springs from,' Raze thought. He looked up at his father.

"What's the alternative?" he asked.

"Leave it be, and when the time comes the kingdom will handle it, but doing that would simply make the Queen look at us as unreliable," his father said.

"Better unreliable than dead. I'll not have any risk to the people of Ribest. I understand that you are the Baron, but this issue is not for debate. Ribest will not do it," Raze said adamantly.

His father let out a slow nod. "I agree with you, and that also brings me to the next topic. I think it's time I hand over the barony to you. In the last two months you have done what no one else was capable of doing, not me, not my father.

You have fixed the barony, brought joy and stability. It's no overstatement to say you are the savior of Ribest. And I'm getting old; I barely do anything, so now I want to hand it over to you," his father said.

Outside the door, Andrew had been eavesdropping on the entire conversation, paying careful attention to what was being said, and when he heard his father say that last part, his thoughts within his head went dim and he snapped.

He rushed out, leaving the manor at an impossible speed and getting a horse from the stable. He rode out of the compound while he was in a rush, his face twisted with rage unlike anything he had felt before.

But inside the room, Raze sat there frowning. He looked at his father who was still speaking.

"All my life, we were going downhill, and I was just trying to look rich when we were poor, but I've come to realize I was stupid and my actions were—"

"That's enough, Father," Raze cut him short. "Sorry, but for now I'll not be taking the role of Baron or whatever, that's not for me.

You'll remain the Baron going forward, and if you are genuinely tired, hand it over to Andrew. He lived for that, worked for it, and dedicated all of his life to it.

I genuinely don't like him as a brother, but I believe he wants to be Baron beyond anything else; it's his role. And beyond that, there is Michael. He is a better pick at the end of the day," Raze said and then got up.

"Also, stop worrying about the Viscount issue. We will not be partaking in the war like I said."

He walked out of the office, leaving his father with a confused expression.

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