"You cannot be serious!" Daniel Haldred, the son of a destitute duke eyed me with suspicion.
"It's a brilliant plan is it not? You ask the noblemen contacts of yours for small 'loans' with a promise of an interest of a quarter of what they loaned after an amount of time proportional to the amount they gave. Pay the first guy with the money that you got from the second and keep half for yourself and so the cycle continues"
"Certainly it seems like a fine way to earn money but what I am questioning is the feasibility of such an endeavor, if I am found out I become branded as a fraud and lose the reputation that my father made his legacy."
"The reputation that was built upon your suffering." He was taken aback by my rebuttal so I took advantage of it. "Do not lie Mr. Haldred, your father dragged his whole family down in his martyrdom"
"Do not disrespect my father!"
"What about your mother then? Who died from your father's forced abstinence?" Again he was visibly affected. This piece of information I happen to come upon by piecing bits of information together, first the conversation with the guard about the couple's early death from an unknown ailment, most likely malnourishment manifesting itself one way or another and the second piece of information that confirmed my theory was the lovely paintings of the couple.
The thing with layering is that if done wrong can show the margins and marks of its original form and tracing the different; mostly darker shades I could see a sickly and thin lady who was skin and bones, most likely the painters first drew the truth and further adorned and concealed it to the pleasure of their employers.
"Th-that…how do you know…". Duke Haldred may be an honorable man and a philanthropist but his self-laceration also dragged his family to his destituteness unfitting for even a peasant.
"I'll take a guess and say that your father eats with the servants with the same food; sparing it may be, that all of them have incredible pay, and that your father allows taxes to be ignored at times even when his own son has to live with clothing unwashed and ragged"
"N-no"
"I might even go farther and say you hate the peasants who robbed you of your fortune and the noblemen who ostracized your father and instead of helping increased his sufferings…you despise everyone do you not? I can see it in your eyes"
Finally, the man gave in. "So what if I do?! Yes, I admit it are you happy now?! I despise my father who in his own insanity threw away all his fortune, my mother who stood silent and never spoke a word of complaint even in her death, and every goddamn citizen of this godforsaken country who stood by and commended my father's ravings and called him a saint while I his child was given that same burden!"
"I grant you the chance for revenge as well as recovering your fortune Daniel. You may live as greedily as you can and with the greatest economy but that would not bring you half as much as your father's inheritance and sooner or later you would have to surrender your estate and even your rank for what aristocrat that lives in poverty would ever be accepted?"
"I spit on my father's accursed legacy!"
"Why not trample it then? While of course dragging down all that condemned you. Perhaps it is a curse but why not use it as an opportunity to pass on to others? I do not ask for much, only a coin for every two that you earn and I promise you my assistance in every problem you may face, I would even sign you a contract."
"Oh yeah why don't you then? Write one with your solemn word that you will shoulder my burden if I do as you ask…but also you can have only a coin of every ten I get."
"One every five and you may sign this contract and we shall be partners." I then took out a sheet of yellow enchanted paper with the conditions that he has requrested namely. (1) Spade Escroc is to shoulder the liabilities and/or punishments that should befall Daniel Haldred should any danger resulting from the business befall him. (2) Daniel Haldred is to follow his partner's command regarding the on goings of the enterprise alone. (3) The earnings shall be shared 1 coin for every 5. (4) Any breach in contract would result in the forfeiting of the defendant's life."
Daniel read the contract over twice and seeing that it was to his complete advantage he signed it greedily and the paper shown acknowledging the magic pact that we have made, more than just legally but binding from the rules of the magic world and indisputable.
"So then how shall I begin?" Daniel now taking a more professional air sat down in his desk and eyed me curiously.
"You shall hold a banquet celebrating some special event or whatnot as soon as possible"
"I suppose I could arrange that, it is my father's death anniversary in two days but the problem is that I lack the funds to host high ranking officials which our plan requires."
"Oh as for that. This should suffice." I then took out a pouch filled with silver coins, it made me smile to see what pleasant use the money Rexcarius has given me.
"As for the coercing them? My father's name may be trusted but it is also one of prudence and independence."
"Well in this matter you will have to rely on yours. Implore to their pity and put some blame on your own father, beloved by the peasants I doubt your father has excited much favor from the aristocracy but do it one by one and make it seem more like a personal matter than that of business. Later on we proceed to phase 2"
"So I shall be using the trust my father has procured in dishonest ways, and the pity that his treatment has left me to take advantage of his friends. I must commend your brilliance Spade, this is certainly the best revenge I could ever deal to my father, if only he was here to witness it"
"Before I go I have one more question, you continued your father's legacy of charity. Why?"
He smiled meaningfully at me. "Out of spite, I wanted to show him that there was better ways than what he has done and perhaps you have shown me one. My father was a good man but he overestimated his own fortunes but now with the fortunes of the noblemen perhaps I could estimate correctly the way of true charity."
When I left the sun has begun to sink and I walked leisurely feeling as if I am right where I should be. All this matters of rebellion and war, what have I to do with it? I am simply a con man and to deceive is all I am truly good at, furthermore, I was never given the choice to begin with. With my new found freedom birthed from disaster, perhaps I can decide which side I want to be in but not before I con some of these smug rich assholes out of their money.
The first phase of my pyramid scheme is to spread popularity, Daniel is competent enough to do that certainly which is also why I must be cautious on how I deal with him, if I show him all the cards he will undoubtedly find a way to remove me from the picture, someone who has seen poverty like Daniel is sure to treasure every coin that falls upon his fingers and even just one taken from him is sure to incite his spite but for now he cannot operate without me and I must make sure that it stays that way until there is not enough money to go around where I shall rob him of all he has and leave him to the galleys.
This is my show of power to you Gordy, this body just like everything that I can grasp is mine and mine alone for only I am worthy; anyone who thinks otherwise is free to battle me.
I went back to Penelope's and saw her writing in her desk in her room. I approached quietly to see what she was writing but she closed it as soon as she noticed me.
"Well then done with your hustling I suppose?"
"Oh you know me so well"
"Exactly why I am really deliberating whether I should kill you right now…It wouldn't be difficult you know and if you won't serve me I see no other reason not to do it"
"How about because I know you just as well" I sat next to her grabbing an empty chair and looked at her intensely.
"That's just another reason to do it is it not?" She smiled meeting my gaze.
"Fine I surrender, tell me what you desire and I shall grant it to you" I gave her a courteous bow.
"I've decided I want to kill you. A slave should not act so close to his mistress and besides you know far too much to give me any sort of comfort and I know you can be trusted far too little to be given any consolation"
"Why don't you factor in the slight chance I have written everything I saw in your memories during my time outside then and had someone to send it to the king at the chance that I go missing or dead"
"Threats don't work on me Escroc, if you really did see my memories then you should know how badly it ended with everyone who tried it"
"How about I offer something to you that no one else can grant then"
"Oh and you truly think there is anything YOU have?"
"There is" I then stood up and reached in my pocket and went she went closer to look, I gave her my hand.
"You mean fingers? I suppose I could never have too many of those" She jested.
"No, friendship. You will never have one like mine"
"I've seen how you treat your friends Spade, with friends like you I'd rather have enemies"
"I don't have friends Penelope, no one I ever acknowledged. But it is different with you. I kept on thinking about it the whole day you know, what I should do to deal with you and I have thought of a hundred ways to be rid of you but what surprised me was that I was not willing to do any of them…I did not want to…"
"What exactly are you trying to say? That you're in love with me is that it? Surely you can't be so full of yourself to think you have a chance." She frowned and crossed her arms.
"God no! What I am trying to say is that we have seen each other's true nature and unintentional and terrifying it may seem, neither of us regret it. See even I, heartless bastard I may be, couldn't bring myself to deny our connection how can you? Take my hand Penelope, not as your slave nor your enemy, not even your ally but simply as your friend and confidant." I then once more offered my hand to her.
"Funny to see how confident you are that I would take that" She was hesitating and I could see that.
"You said it yourself didn't you, it would be easy to kill me….and yet you did not, not when you had the chance to and you did not even allow me to do it myself in that fit of insanity when I tried to kill the king. You needed friend as much as I did, and fate has brought us together" It was an odd sensation when an act started to feel real and I felt myself blush at what I said. It took all my self-control to keep my composure but it seemed losing it was what brought Penelope on.
She looked away but gave me her had which at first I intended to simply shake but some odd impulse led me to kiss it, and passionately too. I had stood my ground before and it seems to me that Gordy now takes his. I felt like I was going to regret associating myself with Penelope and something tells me she too felt the same and yet the whole night we drank and talked. I, of my past troubles which I could not believe had only been a month from now, my father abandoning me, and my becoming a slave of Rexcarius, everything that I hoped she would not find in my memories I felt myself to be telling her out of my own volition but on her part she too did the same and told me her story…beautiful, romantic, and …tragic…