Doubt

Later,

At Greenfields.

...

Aden sat in a farm carriage staring in disbelief at the rows of white stone buildings in the distance.

The entire community was bustling with motion much unlike what remains of Redwater.

The new buildings were like nothing Aden had ever seen before.

They looked like stone cuboids with chimneys attached to the side. Standing two meters away from one another, each building was about two meters wide, two meters high and about twelve meters long!

The strange structures were made of crude stone held together with a strange whitish mortar. They had thatched roofs while the windows and doors were made of simple wooden panels.

And there were thirty of those buildings!

Aden was flabbergasted.

Ridding in the carriage with Vaiu who sat silently beside, him he digested the sight he just witnessed and wondered to himself.

'How much resources and time would be needed to build something like that. What is this boy up to?'

Not long again, he saw just across the street, a group of about forty men dressed in brown tunics lead by someone who appeared to be Sir Carter, one of his trusted aides, jogging in tandem.

He discreetly observed them until they disappeared behind some buildings.

Although the town's people felt nothing was wrong with the scene and continued with their daily activities, Aden frowned.

He noticed that although the men lacked the physical prowess of a knight they were very disciplined.

He doubted he remembering any of those men aside from Sir Carter being in his Knightage.

Neither could they be mercenaries, they didn't act or look like them at least.

Deep in contemplation, he tried to guess the origins of the group and failed to come up with anything substantial but never did he once assume that the disciplined men were once random peasants from Greenfields.

The duke just didn't believe anyone could make disciplined units out of the ignorant common folk without years of hard work, hence he never considered it!

...

In a nameless Inn

Aden stood at the windowsill of a room on the top floor.

He stared down watching as the now overpopulated town bustled animatedly below him, disbelief faintly shading his face.

"So you are telling me Levi did all this in a few weeks? Just days after I sent news of the capital's fall?"

"Yes, Lord Aden." In the corner, a brown-haired woman stood respectfully besides Vaiu who laid languidly on a bed, tossing melon seeds into her mouth.

The woman was the resident priestess of Greenfields. She governed the activities of the church of the twins in the town.

Although the church of the twins lacked a strong foothold in this small border town due to Aden's machinations their tentacles had long burrowed into the town in various forms such as the inn they were currently in.

Aden turned away from the window and stared questioningly at Vaiu.

"What do you think, Vaiu?" He asked, his words carrying subtle incriminations.

Smiling, Vaiu was quick to catch Aden's meaning.

"I wish I could take credit for this but sorry this wasn't my doing." She shrugged.

Frowning Aden looked away.

Although he didn't say anything it was obvious he didn't believe her. With an exasperated sigh, Vaiu shook her head but refused to comment further.

Looking down again, this time at a journal in his hands, Aden's frown deepened.

"Are you sure everything written inside this is accurate?"

"Yes, Lord Aden. Our men had been monitoring the young lord since the night the nobles rebelled." The unnamed priestess said causing Aden's frown to deepen even more.

He wasn't comfortable with how much the church had infiltrated his household since his departure, but regardless he didn't comment on the issue.

Now wasn't the time, there were more important things to deal with, like...

"Are you sure that person claiming to be Levi isn't an imposter?" Aden asked in doubt.

"I know my son! Regardless of how scholarly he is, he doesn't have the guts to set an entire town ablaze or torture anyone."

"Why would he suddenly become so decisive and ruthless?"

"How did he discover this alchemical wonder named cement."

"How did he single hand-handedly devise such an ingenious method to train these militiamen."

"Or the improvements he made to the matchlock design, Even those he had always been smarter than the rest the results shouldn't be this extreme,"

Aden asked flipping through the journal. From how detailed the reports were it was obvious Levi who thought he was safe had basically no secrets to hide in front of the church.

"I am not sure either, Lord Aden. We were already prepared to ensure the young master's escape in the most likely scenario the Gilbert Hera decides to hunt him down but we were also shocked when he suddenly decided to retaliate instead." The priestess said.

"To be honest, Lord Aden this wasn't the first time. The young master also acted impulsively during the night Sean raided the castle's treasury. If we had been any less lucky the young lord might have already died."

At this point, Aden noticed something weird.

"Why are you so intent on keeping that boy alive? Do you have some ulterior motives?"

Aden asked suspiciously.

It was not that he was being ungrateful, he just found it baffling and somewhat confusing why the church seemed so concerned.

The priestess turned to Vaiu in a questioning manner, as if asking for permission.

"Don't think too much. I was the one who asked them to pay a little attention to this place and render assistance if necessary." Vaiu said waving her hand nonchalantly

Aden's suspicions only grew stronger.

Seeing this Vaiu only shook her head amusedly.

*Knock* *Knock*

"You may enter." She spoke.

The door opened and a man walked in. He had no obvious discerning features but Aden could faintly guess he was a faceless man.

"My Lady, news just arrived that the Prophetess Lovell has disembarked and is en route for the Greenfields with the former Princess and Queen."

"Good. Make sure they reach here early, time is of the essence." Vaiu nodded.

"Yes, My Lady." The man said leaving.

"What are you going to do now, Aden?"

"What else, I have to meet this fellow. Regardless if he is my son or an imposter there is only one path forward." Aden said.

"What about you?"

"Me?" Vaiu said squinting her eyes faintly.

"I think I will just stay back and watch the show. Have fun, hehe."

Aden: "..."