Lord of Rot

The young Baron wasn’t being magnanimous; he simply didn’t want his stepmother to have an easy death. Even if she managed to use her personal charm to win the favor of the Iron Bull Hoof Knight and save her own skin, it would be pointless. Because Leech was the Baron of Porcupine Territory, a landed nobleman, Ellesmere, as a Knight’s wife, could never threaten him again.

"I... I... I!" Ellesmere shot to her feet, flustered. She had also heard the legends about the Iron Bull Hoof Knight.

Tears welled in her eyes, and her voice was thick with sobs—far more convincing than the wailing she’d put on for Leech earlier. "My lord, I... I still wish to care for you. I want to stay in Porcupine Territory. I don’t mind growing old; I just want to be here, I..."

"But I do mind," Leech said, rising to his feet with a smile still playing on his lips. "I mind you wasting your youth. If Father were still alive, he would never allow this to happen."

’But...’ She desperately wanted to curse Leech, but she knew she couldn’t. ’Perhaps he’s just waiting for me to curse him so he’ll have an excuse to marry me off to some farmer. Then I’d have to say goodbye to the lavish life of a noble, with no hope of ever making a comeback.’

In Porcupine Territory, Leech was the lord. As a guest, even the Red Rose could only offer suggestions, not sway his decision.

"How about this?" Leech said, cutting his stepmother off before she could speak again. "I hear your father is one of Lord Leopold’s Knights. Leo is growing up. Why not send him to East Port to find your father and become his Attendant? That way, Leo can serve Lord Leopold, and maybe one day, through his own efforts, he’ll become a Knight."

When a great noble house’s title was passed down, the eldest son became the new lord. While the second son wouldn’t inherit the castle, he could still receive his own lands, command his own troops, and even be granted a peerage.

But for a minor noble like the Baron of Porcupine Territory, the eldest son inherited everything. The second son might receive a sum of money, or he could be left with nothing at all.

The only real option for the second son of a minor noble was to become an Attendant to another lord and carry his weapons.

One might even have to start from nothing, just like the previous Baron Porcupine, Lieder. After decades of struggle, he might be ennobled as a Baron by a Duke and granted his own territory.

Some second sons managed to marry a landed noblewoman, vaulting them into power, but that was certainly not a path a twelve-year-old boy could walk.

All in all, as the second son of a noble, Leo’s climb through the ranks would be many times faster than a commoner’s.

But these were times of peace. The ladder of promotion that war provided had vanished with the chaos. It would likely take Leo many, many years of toil just to become a Knight.

"Thank you for your mercy," his stepmother said, lowering her head. Once Leech had decided she would marry the Iron Bull Hoof Knight—with Lord Leopold himself acting as the matchmaker—she knew she had no choice. ’Thankfully, my son doesn’t have to follow me to his death.’ There was no time to vent the hatred in her heart; she had to focus on not getting trampled to death by an iron hoof. Now, she had to think about how to survive.

’Who knows? Maybe she can actually captivate that Iron Bull Hoof Knight with her charms.’ Leech had a strange confidence in his vicious stepmother.

Still, this was Iron Stone City. ’The odds of a middle-aged woman successfully using her charms to captivate a Knight in a "holy land" overflowing with beauties are probably as low as transmigrating to an Otherworld.’

Evangelina was, of course, happy to agree, playing the part of a Chief Judge punishing evil and promoting good. Compared to the vicious stepmother, she had a much more favorable impression of the "kind" Baron, whose attitude had shifted so dramatically.

"I can travel with Leo. I will look after him on the way," Evangelina offered.

She understood that this was Leech’s true "magnanimity." At the very least, he was giving Leo a chance to rise in the world. It might take Leo a decade or more to become a Knight, and even longer to become a Baron, but Leech hadn’t made things difficult for his young half-brother. Instead, he had set him on a long path toward advancement—a long path, but one that held at least a glimmer of hope.

In her eyes, this was a blessing.

’But to Leech, this wasn’t a blessing at all. I just want to get all the unnecessary people out of my hair as soon as possible. Even if I found a chance to dispose of my stepmother, could I really kill my own brother? No. So they need to get lost and not delay my work with the corpses. If anyone finds out about that stuff, it’ll be big trouble. The Church will get involved, and I’ll probably be hanging from a rope or burning at the stake by tomorrow.’

As for what might happen in a few years, or even ten, Leech hadn’t thought that far ahead.

Evangelina Leopold departed, taking the devastated stepmother and young Leo with her. Also leaving were Leo’s manservant, the stepmother’s handmaiden, Leo’s bay horse, and a large cart piled high with old luggage.

As he left, Leo shouted the family motto at Leech: "Covered in Thorns!" He couldn’t take a single thing from his father Lieder’s inheritance. Even his manservant, Hammer, couldn’t travel with him; he would be sent along as part of the dowry when his mother married into the Iron Bull Hoofs. The only thing that would accompany him to a distant land was this family motto he barely understood. Perhaps it would be with him as he charged into battle, or perhaps it would be with him as he polished his lord Knight’s weapons—polishing for a lifetime, forever "covered in thorns."

"Covered in Thorns," Leech called back.

Porcupine Territory was too dilapidated. It didn’t even have a church, meaning one couldn’t get married here without the Church’s blessing. Evangelina would take Ellesmere to Iron Stone City. With a person of her stature mediating, the Iron Bull Hoof Knight could only obediently welcome his new wife home and swear before the Four Gods to protect her for the rest of her life... or at least, until the moment he decided to kick her with his iron-hoofed boot.

Leech tactfully informed them he couldn’t go along. As an injured Baron, he could not leave his territory, but he would pray for them and offer his blessings from afar.

His stepmother certainly didn’t want to see Leech at her wedding, either.

Leo, too, was filled with sorrow. He had to part from his mother, leave the castle he had only just begun to call home, and travel to an unfamiliar city in search of a grandfather he had never met. The young boy’s future was uncertain.

’But then again, whose wasn’t?’

Leech, a transmigrator to this Otherworld, felt just as lost.

’Evangelina Leopold is stunningly beautiful. If I had the chance, I’d really love to make her mine. But a man has to be realistic. After we part ways this time, we’ll probably never see each other again. Even if we did, she might not even remember who I am.’

The Golden Guards of House Leopold escorted the carriage, pulled by Golden Mules, as it receded into the distance. Farmers along the road paused their work, lifting their heads to watch it depart. Children who had heard the news were already standing by the roadside, waiting for it to pass. It was the most magnificent carriage any of them had ever seen, and it would become a tale told around their dinner tables from this day until their last.

They would probably tell it to their children and grandchildren: a golden carriage pulled by golden horses, escorted by Soldiers in golden armor, that had once passed through their simple lives.

Watching the sun slowly set in the west, Leech suddenly realized something. ’It’s about time for my teacher to come out of his coffin.’

’I have work to do.’