Chapter 47: Dear diary ...

Chapter 47 - Dear diary ...Lee was prepared his training would suffer after returning to the capital, but only now he realized how much he missed the morning runs along the fields, woods and the river. Of course, in order to meditate, he only needed a place to sit, so no matter what kind of bed he had, it was fine. The problem was the physical training.

When he woke up with the sunrise, after washing and doing the regular meditation, Lee tried to think of what exercises could he do in his dark, thirty square feet room, most of which was occupied by the bed. Push-ups and sit-ups was the obvious choice, but it quickly became boring.

Obviously he could wear himself out this way and increase the physical strength, but he was used to being more active and train in more pleasant environment.

"Waters!" Lee was disturbed by one of the servants banging on his door, "Sanders is waiting for you in the kitchen!"

"Coming!" Was the only thing Lee could reply while quickly getting dressed.

"I'm busy today, so I need you to go to the marketplace." Sanders said the moment Lee entered, skipping all pleasantries. Ivonna was not around, but there were several other servants, most of which had barely woken up.

"Here's the list and the money." Sanders continued, and pressed a piece of paper in Lee's hand along with a small sack of coins. Then pointed at the people in the kitchen and added, "They'll help."

There was a clear displeasure on their faces – these servants had worked in the Newman's household for a while, but now they had to follow a newcomer who was just a kid.

Lee didn't bother with them, and said, "I need something to write with."



Not everyone knew how to read and write, thus the displeasure grew as the servants took it as a sign of the new guy showing off, but the next part managed to scare the majority.

Lee said, "I need to write down their names so I can remember who was supposed to bring back which goods, or who's trying to make things difficult for me."

He was certain someone was watching or even testing him, thus he didn't intend to make silly mistakes.

On the way to the marketplace they had to cross the central square where a disturbing view greeted every passerby. The bodies of over two dozen people hung on an elevated platform, swaying in the chilly autumn wind as crows feasted on them.

Lee was immediately reminded of the Powel incident, but fortunately this time it was not his fault. At least not directly.

One of the servants seemed to be more knowledgeable and whispered to the others that the numerous people were executed because of the new Ironfist heir, who was even more vicious than her mother. She never even gave suspects a chance to explain themselves or prove their innocence, but announced the deadly verdict right away.

In the following days, after he was appointed as the responsible for supplying the kitchen, Lee saw this sight on a daily basis. The sad part was that every other day new criminals were hung which allowed the crow feast to never end.

Sanders immediately picked up on Lee's meticulousness which allowed him to cut the expenses for the food supplies by almost a half. Without a second thought he entrusted his young subordinate with any duty that involved purchases.

That, in turn, allowed Lee to spend large parts of the day away from the Newman mansion, and gave the illusion of freedom. Ignoring the chilly wind and rain, in the name of their master's health, he went out every morning to buy fresh products like eggs, bread and milk, and it served as a partial replacement for his jogging through the countryside.

But it wasn't enough. A bit more than a month passed since his return to Sunwell when Lee managed to persuade Sanders to perform a thorough inventory of the Newman household. His arguments were simple – if people were ripping them off during regular purchases, there was a high chance someone was directly stealing from their home.

Reasoning was sound and the best part for Sanders was he didn't actually need to do anything – there was a subordinate that was happy to please him. In the morning Lee went out to buy food supplies, but after lunch he scrupulously registered every existing item in the Newman mansion, slowly inspecting one room after another.

Needless to say it caused a slight panic in the lines of servants, but Lee couldn't care less. On one occasion they did try to poison him, but it was only a plant that could give a diarrhea, and Lee easily expelled the toxins without much trouble. After what Prophet did to him this was nothing but a prank in his eyes.

To fulfill his duties, Lee gained basically unlimited access to every room in the house, except he never entered Minister Newman's study or bedroom. But his goal from the start were only Helen's chambers.

He got familiar with her daily routine within the first few days in the mansion. And apart from rare exceptions, it was always the same.

She woke up at the lunch time, had a drink, then ate, then sat at the small lake behind the mansion, staring at the opposite side, probably in hopes to catch a glimpse of Mark Hardwood. Then came back for a drink, and afterwards had dinner. And then had a drink again, and went to bed, or rather – passed out.

Outside her chambers her bodyguards always followed her, but while she slept, they silently guarded the door. Lee wasn't sure how they swapped to have a rest, but it didn't matter – the main thing was they always left with their master when she went out to stare across the lake.

Basically Helen Newman was a living tragedy, but it was hard for Lee to feel for her, especially after he found her diary. Locked in her desk were, in fact, whole six volumes she had written from the day she learned how to write. And it was quite the read.

Lee took his time on this endeavor, fascinated by how an innocent child transformed, either influenced by the world around it or because of own inborn qualities that blossomed with years going by.

"... her name is Cecil. I really like her. I think she is my friend now ..."

This was when it began. Lee turned the pages of the first diary, and it was a cute story of a girl finding her BFF.

"... daddy agreed to let me visit her again!"

"... Cecil said she is afraid of her sister and I said she can be my sister ..."

It all felt too innocent, therefore Lee put the first volume away and opened the third. But this one made him blush right away. The two girls met Mark. As it turns out, the Hardwood boy pressed all the correct buttons from the get go – no wonder the two girls fell madly in love.



He completely ignored them while focusing on his training, never responded to any letters or attempts to get closer, and the only contact they had was polite greetings during the official events.

It drove the two girls, who had nothing better to do, crazy. They created a friendly, but intense competition with Mark as the prize, and only after they courted him for over a year, he generously allowed the three of them to become intimate.

Most of the read was cute and romantic, but the good stuff began in the last volume.

After series of tragedies struck the younger generation of the noble circle, including the Newman family, some kind a rift formed between everyone, not only the three lovers. From what Lee could tell, Hardwood was genuinely taking care of both Helen and Cecil, but an intense spark of jealousy flamed up between the two girls from who knows where.

"... he hasn't come out to practice for days! He's definitely with her!"

Followed by, "... Cecil sent a letter asking if Mark has returned ... He never said anything about leaving! Does he trust her more than me?"

And at some point it became worse. It looked like Mark began to visit them only on occasion, and never two at the same time. Both girls inevitably became more and more jealous, and while they didn't notice it, to an observer it was obvious Hardwood became annoyed with the drama.

It was one thing for a youth to cope with whims of two maidens in the name of doing them. But it's a burden when a young warrior has to lead an army regiment with two women nagging him every time they met.

And there it was. The sentence Lee was looking for.

"I WANT HER DEAD!"