Family Business 6: Audit 1

Family Business
Chapter 6: Audit 1

-VB-

There was no ceremony for my swearing in. I had made unwanted moves within the royal court which resulted in the Duke of Angrimoria losing his seat. I was made aware by a few gossiping maids that the only reason the duke didn’t lose his title was because of how many favors he’d burned to keep it. As it was, the Duke of Angrimoria, formerly the Steward of the Great Demacia, only just his position in the king’s council and the County of Jorasmang.

So the king, who saw that I was unwanted, chose to see me in his personal office.

“Your Majesty,” I spoke while keeping my head down.

Before me and behind his ornate marble office desk was King Jarvan III of Demacia. He was not what he expected. Instead of the hard features prominent in his son, he seemed kinder and softer.

Perhaps he really was kind, and maybe that’s what got him killed in the future.

“Marris Crownguard,” King Jarvan III spoke in a deep bass voice. “Welcome to my office.”

“Thank you, your majesty.”

“... I wanted to greet the newest of my close subjects, but alas, the court ‘convinced’ me that it would not be a good idea.”

I could hear the sarcasm in that word very clearly, sir. My, do you perhaps hate your own council or see through their lies? Or are you aware of the politics behind the scenes?

“If that was the decision made by your majesty, then it must be a good decision.”

The underlying statements needed not be said for politically acute people like ourselves.

“Thank you for your understanding, Marris Crownguard.” Siiiiinnng. The king walked around the table, and stood before me. He placed his blade on my left shoulder and then my right shoulder. “I am Jarvan III, the King of Demacia. I see a new peerage before me. What is your name?”

The ceremony of peerage.

“I am Marris of the House of Crownguard, your loyal servants.”

“You stand before me as an adult and have received a landed title. Is this true?”

“Yes, your majesty.”

“State your title.”

“Count of Jorasmang.”

The king hummed appreciatively. “Then I name you Count Marris of Jorasmang of the House of Crownguard. Rise, Count Marris. I welcome you to my peerage.”

-VB-

With the ceremony done and over with, I was dismissed. It was only a logical process. The ceremony was done, so the king and my duty to tradition and code of conduct was complete. Since our business was done, I was dismissed because the king had other things to do.

I was also still a child in the eyes of the king and many of my “peers.” I doubted that I was even known by my peers at this state outside of rumors and hearsay.

‘Nothing bad or good about where I am politically,’ I thought to myself.

While it was true that I have made some enemies in the king’s court, I also made some allies.

“Marquis Bronzemoon,” I greeted my senior and peerage superior. “It’s a pleasure to see you.”

“And I you. But also, a Crownguard Count… To think that I would live to see a member of the Crownguard finally leave the service of the crown to strike out as its own noble,” the tall, bronze-skinned, walrus moustached, and buff as fuck man greeted me with a mirthful, if harmless, smile. “And someone who loves justice!”

Not really, but sure, man.

I smiled. “I was only getting justice for my family’s retinue who died keeping me and my sister alive,” I replied. “But what about you, marquis? What can I do for you?”

My words brought up the man short.

First, a little bit of background information for this conversation - and my abrupt prompt to the marquis - to make sense. Marquis Bronzemoon was the lord of the Freljord Marches, a set of four provinces that made up the entirety of the Demacian border with the Freljord region. While three of the four provinces were small mountainous counties not worth a damn, the last county, the County of Bronzemoon right at the coast, was worth something significant.

Rocky and with poor soil, the county couldn’t produce its own food, and thus had to import most of it. Thankfully, the Marquis got a lot of money for being the Marquis of the Freljord Marches, which saw a lot of raids from the more belligerent Freljord tribes.

What sucked for the Marquis up to this point was the fact that he had been a political enemy of the Duke of Angrimoria, who also sat right next to him provincially. So as a political move, the duke cut off food supplies, leaving the Marquis to have to ship food and rely heavily on the fishermen.

And my newly acquired title of the County of Jorasmang was a flat farmland situated right in between the coast, the same river that the Crownguard heartland sat by, and right next to that Bronzemoon County.

“After all, is it not my position as the closest county to you and the Crownguards why you approached me so early?”

The man blinked once and then twice. Then he smiled.

“You are far more politically astute than your older brother.”

I smiled in return. “He is a warrior. I am a bureaucrat, through and through.”

He barked out a laugh. “Alright then, what can you help me with?”

“As I see it, sir, I have both the means to give you access to the wider market, farmland that can produce surplus for your people, and a political connection to tie you closer to the Crownguards, and thus the crown. That is what I can do for you. What can you do for me?”

-VB-

With my business done in the Great City of Demacia, my entourage and I moved to the County of Jorasmang.

The trip took only a week, but it didn’t have to be so. Of those seven days, five were spent on good roads getting to the County of Jorasmang. The last two were spent with our carriage slowly moving through unpaved and unpacked dirt roads.

When we finally arrived at the manor of the Count of Jorasmang - the building for whichever landed nobility ruled the county - and got off, we were greeted with a manor without any servants and overridden by vines.

The mayor of the nearby settlement met with us and looked a little mortified.

“I suppose that the Duke of Angrimoria cut spending?” I asked without prompt.

The mayor, an elderly man with a hunched back, nodded. “Y-Yes, young master. We don’t know why, but he fired all of the staff and stopped taking care of the Jorasmang Manor. As you can see, it’s had a rather defibrillating effect on the state of the building…”

I hummed. “And what about the staff? Have they found new jobs?”

The mayor looked surprised by my question. “Umm… No, not quite.”

“Then recall all those willing to come back to work under a new lord. I will need a lot of hands to fix this place up.”

I turned to Lux and Sona.

“Sorry girls,” I smiled tiredly. “It looks like we only have more work ahead of us.”

Lux giggled, and Sona smiled. Lux glared at her from behind the blue haired girl where Sona couldn’t catch her glare.

I laughed. “Let’s get cleaning!”

The mayor looked horrified by my suggestion.