Interlude 2: Daemon
As the deputy of Dolkness County, Daemon was fully responsible for the management of the territory. Today, he was working in his office, as he often did, endeavoring to fulfill his duties. As he flipped through various reports from his subordinates, he couldn’t help but begin reminiscing about the past.
Daemon’s family had served the Dolkness family as civil officials for generations. When he’d been young, he’d worked as a lower-ranking public official in the Royal Capital in order to train to take over as deputy in the future. When he’d returned to the county, prepared to use his skills to help those living within the Dolkness’s territory flourish, he’d been surprised to find Dolkness County had begun to show signs of a decline.
At that time, a young new count had just taken over the territory, as his father, the former Count Dolkness, had passed away early in his life. Apparently, almost immediately after he’d received his father’s title, the young man had run off to the Royal Capital, never to be seen again. Daemon’s superior, who was the deputy at the time, had told him that it was better that their rakish young master wasn’t around.
For the first few years after the count’s departure for the Royal Capital, things in the county had run relatively smoothly. That had been thanks in part to several continuous years of abundant harvest.
“But things got rough after that...” Daemon mumbled to himself, recalling the man who had once been his superior.
With those initial years of plenty behind them, the decline of Dolkness County had soon become inevitable. Things had come to a head when there had been a record-breaking lean harvest, which had sent those who were running the county scrambling to negotiate a decrease in taxes with a number of Dolkness County’s villages. They’d also been busy breaking open their food supply reserves to keep everyone fed. It was then that a notice had arrived from the Royal Capital, reading, “The funds you typically send me seem to have decreased. Send enough money to match last year’s sum. Immediately.”
The deputy had been furious with the count’s message, especially since the man had been spending all his time fooling around in the Royal Capital, unaware of what was happening in his county. He’d sent him a curt reply, informing the count that it was not possible for the moment for him to send the same amount of money as he had in previous years, as the harvest had fallen short.
What had returned was a letter with only one line, stating that the deputy had been released from his position. It had just been a single sheet of paper, but the weight of the count’s signature had been heavy indeed. After that, the deputy had fallen into despair and retired, both from work and from society.
Soon after, Daemon had taken his superior’s place. Now that he’d become deputy, he was suddenly responsible for the entirety of the county’s management. One after another, he’d watched skilled workers quit, sickened by the count’s actions, and eventually he’d sunk to dabbling in forgery in order to alter the county’s financial statements. Taking advantage of the count’s lack of interest in his county, Daemon had hidden the tax revenue from years of plenty and saved it, then used those savings to make up for the years that the harvest was lean. The result was a pile of statements that made it appear as if the county’s profits were increasing with every year.
The reality, however, was more grim. Daemon hadn’t been able to spare the money needed to maintain the county’s roads or to fund flood-control projects, and no matter how frugal he was, the county’s debt seemed to grow with every year.
Recalling the disaster that had been his life for years, Daemon sighed. Now that his mind was so firmly in the past, he couldn’t help but remember a young Yumiella.
“Oh, I’ll never be able to take back how I treated Lady Yumiella back then...” he mumbled to himself.
It had been several years since Daemon had become the deputy of Dolkness County when a maid arrived from the Royal Capital, escorting the count’s daughter. Yumiella had been so young she couldn’t even speak yet, but she’d already been able to stand steady on her two feet.
Once Yumiella had moved into the mansion, she had taken to lingering around the mansion like a doll. Daemon had tried to speak to the black-haired little girl a number of times, but her unsmiling countenance had unsettled him. Eventually, he’d left her alone altogether, trusting that the maids would at least provide her with the bare minimum level of care she needed.
That had perhaps been the reason why he hadn’t noticed the changes the young girl had gone through over the following years. He’d received reports that she was sneaking out of the mansion but had ultimately decided to let her do as she pleased, since she always returned without a scratch on her.
“Things were probably tough for her...” Daemon muttered guiltily. “Maybe she wouldn’t have gone to such extremes if I had been on her side...”
Now that he knew the truth of what had gone on, he couldn’t help but think of all the details he’d learned of Yumiella’s style of grinding for experience. Regret flooded him.
“Lady Yumiella said that those days were fun for her, but there’s no way that’s true...”
He was wrong, of course—Yumiella had enjoyed her time back in those days, indulging in daily trips to grind experience. There was no way someone like Daemon could understand her point of view, however. It was far too aberrant from those of normal people.
When he’d first heard Yumiella was taking over Dolkness County, Daemon had been filled with guilt and fear. In the face of how terribly he’d treated her as a young girl, her eminent return had felt distinctly ominous. It wasn’t that he’d been afraid of being punished himself—no, what he’d been afraid of was that the county he’d worked so hard to protect would become a victim of her revenge.
It hadn’t helped that the rumors of Yumiella that had reached Dolkness County were all terrifying. They had been incredibly detailed, laying out how she was a cruel girl whose expression remained unchanged no matter how terrible the things were that she did, and how she’d tamed an evil dragon, with whom’s help she’d destroyed any domains that she didn’t care for. He’d even heard that she was actually a monster birthed in the depths of a dungeon, which had somehow managed to take on human form.
Faced with this news, Daemon had been deeply apprehensive about meeting Yumiella. He’d known that the person those rumors spoke of could demolish his precious county with ease.
A knock came at the door of Daemon’s office, and he jerked in his chair, his thoughts of the past evaporating. Startled, the deputy could only stare as Patrick pulled open the door and stepped inside.
“Oh, hello, Sir Patrick,” he finally said. “What brings you here?”
“I was wondering if you had some...” A wrinkle appeared in Patrick’s forehead. “Is there something wrong, Daemon? You look paler than usual.”
The deputy shook his head. “I apologize, I was just reminiscing on the past a little bit.”
“The past?”
“Specifically, I was thinking of all the rumors that reached here from the Royal Capital regarding Lady Yumiella. They were all absolutely appalling.”
Patrick let out a bitter laugh, his mind straying to his endlessly misunderstood partner. “Well, with how Yumiella talks and acts...” he muttered, recalling his own history with her. “I mean, remember when she first arrived? It was horrible.”
“Well...yes.”
From what Yumiella had said that first day, everyone had been under the impression that she’d sworn to never forgive them for any of the trespasses they’d committed in the past, all the while warning them that escape was impossible. Later, Daemon had asked her about it, and found out she’d actually meant to convey that she was looking forward to getting along with everyone. He hadn’t been aware of that at the time, however—he’d even prepared to take his own life. It had been a great surprise to him when he’d felt things shift toward the better after he’d shown her to the office that day.
Back when Daemon had taken over the role of deputy from his predecessor, he’d prepared himself for the negativity that was sure to come. He’d expected to bear the hatred of the county’s citizens because of the high taxes he was forced to impose, and he’d expected to be reprimanded by the count for the low tax revenue the county brought in. Still, he’d continued doing his best, driven forward by the overpowering sense of responsibility for the county. Even though he’d known all the while that he’d never be thanked for his work.
That was why it had struck him so deeply when Yumiella had offered him such kind words of gratitude for his service all these years. He’d been overwhelmed with the feeling that she might actually be able to do something to improve the county he cared so much for. And, so far, that feeling had been spot on.
“Even though she scared everyone back then, it is clear to me now that Lady Yumiella is a kind person,” Daemon finally said, hoping that Patrick would agree.
“She sure is,” Patrick said, smiling at the older man.
“The only thing is...” Daemon trailed off. “No, never mind.”
It was just, kind as she was, Yumiella was definitely a strange person. Daemon kept the thought to himself though, realizing Patrick was most likely already well aware of that fact.
BOOOOM!
The two men paused, taking in the sudden explosive sound that had just come from outside of the mansion. The deep, ground-shaking noise resonated through the office.
“I’m sorry,” Patrick said with a sigh. “I have to go.”
“Of course, take care,” Daemon replied.
Patrick was gone in moments, hurrying out of the room to catch the culprit behind the explosion.
“I wonder what Lady Yumiella did this time,” Daemon said wryly. He didn’t stir from his chair to go find out, choosing to go back to the tasks he’d been working on before. He figured it was best to leave the cleanup of his boss’s mistakes to her boyfriend.
There were many reasons why Daemon worked as hard as he did. He toiled away for his county, which he was so fond of, for the people who lived there, who were under his care, and to atone to his boss, the countess, for the unkind way he’d treated her in the past. But, while he was tied to his job, unable to leave for a multitude of reasons, Daemon had also begun to enjoy himself recently.
“It’s wonderful to see the county truly grow,” he murmured, smiling to himself.
For though its progress was slow, Dolkness County was improving.
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