Self-Reflection

A dozen or so knights followed behind Reiner, trotting toward the hall and Lady Gwen's bedroom in Goer Castle.

"Bang!" Reiner kicked open the hall door. Inside, he saw more than a dozen maids, along with some stable hands and cooks, hiding there in trembling fear.

"Tell me where Lady Gwen's room is." Reiner grabbed a man in stable-hand's clothes who was crouched in the corner, curled into a ball and terrified of being noticed. He asked viciously, "Where is it?"

"Over... over there..." The stable hand gave up the location of his mistress's room without the slightest hesitation. Faced with life and loyalty, he had clearly chosen life without hesitation, tossing loyalty to the back of his mind.

"Take me to her bedroom. Don't even think about deceiving me, because if you do, I'll pull out your intestines! Leave two men behind. The rest of you, come with me!" Reiner turned and spoke in a muffled voice. He had to get Lady Gwen and her child under his control as quickly as possible. Otherwise, something unexpected might happen.

Goer Castle was not very large for a baron's castle. In only two or three minutes, Reiner led the knights to Lady Gwen's room, following the stable hand.

Reiner's chest rose and fell beneath his armor as he panted lightly. After all, this body of his was only sixteen years old. He had yet to reach his prime, so compared with the knights, he was inevitably somewhat frail.

Reiner looked at the tightly closed door before him, tilted his head, and rolled his shoulders to loosen his muscles. Then he summoned all his strength and kicked the door with a loud bang.

To his embarrassment, although the door rattled loudly from the impact, it merely shook and did not open. Clearly, it had also been secured with a bar.

Reiner's face grew slightly hot. Losing face like this in front of his subordinates was embarrassing. Fortunately, for the sake of safety, he had not removed his helmet even after entering the castle. The others could not see his expression, which at least helped him out.

"Lady Gwen! I am Reiner Morland, Baron of Morland Castle. Open your door. I swear in the name of nobility that I will not do anything improper to you. I will also protect you and your son's safety and grant you treatment befitting your status!" Reiner pressed close to the doorway and shouted inside, hoping Lady Gwen would open the door after hearing him.

What embarrassed him even more was that after he finished speaking, complete silence filled the room. No one inside responded to his words.

After a moment of silence, Reiner finally flew into a rage out of humiliation. In his previous life, he had been an orphan whom everyone looked down on. Now that he had become a nobleman here, did people still dare look down on him?

The silence inside struck at Reiner's fragile pride. Although he usually acted approachable, he had an almost pathological sense of self-esteem deep down. In the past, life had worn his pride down until almost none remained, but after coming here and becoming a nobleman, his self-respect and arrogance had gradually resurfaced.

"Sir Valas! Open the door for me!" Reiner spoke to Sir Valas beside him, a trace of anger in his voice.

"As you command, Baron!" He sheathed the longsword in his hand, drew back his right leg, and gathered his strength. The next instant, a crash even louder than the one Reiner had made rang out.

Sir Valas's strength was tremendous, and he moved so quickly that Reiner could barely follow his actions. The recoil forced him back two steps, while the door was merely somewhat misshapen and still had not opened beneath the force of that kick.

Sir Valas stepped back several paces, then charged toward the door at incredible speed and kicked it.

The two door panels collapsed to the ground like a length of rotten old wood. Only a small piece remained hanging from the frame, proclaiming that they had once faithfully performed their duty by keeping the enemy outside.

The instant the door opened, the knights filed in one after another, and Reiner quickly entered the room as well.

"Oh! May the Holy Father bless us!"

Before he could look at the furnishings or search for Lady Gwen, Sir Cord's voice reached Reiner's ears.

Reiner frowned and turned toward the sound. He could not help freezing in place as well.

A woman's corpse lay limply on the floor. Two savage wounds marred her neck, and blood still poured from them without stopping, like a tiny, murmuring stream.

Reiner slowly walked over, removed the heavy helmet from his head, and crouched down to examine the corpse. Then he asked the stable hand beside him, "Is this Lady Gwen? I warn you, don't even think about lying!"

"Yes, my lord. I swear this is Lady Gwen!" the stable hand said shakily under Reiner's threat, looking sadly at Lady Gwen's lifeless body on the ground.

Reiner nodded and regarded the corpse with mixed feelings. He had been in this world for three months, yet he had never personally killed anyone. This was also the first time he had come into such close contact with a corpse.

Looking at the wounds on her body made Reiner deeply uncomfortable. His own neck began to itch, and he did not know why. Seeing the wounds on her had inexplicably filled him with fear as well.

Suddenly, Reiner came to his senses and shouted, "Where is her child? Where is her child?"

There was only Lady Gwen's corpse in the room, while her son Sura was nowhere to be seen. Reiner did not want a survivor to slip through the net. If someone used him to cause trouble, it would be extremely troublesome.

Reiner seized the stable hand by the collar and demanded, "Where did her child go? Tell me, or I'll make you wish you were dead!"

"I don't know, my lord! I swear, I really don't know!" The stable hand panicked at the sight of Reiner. Although he was only sixteen, he had received adequate nutrition and trained frequently, so he was already nearly six feet tall. His height and expression placed enormous pressure on the stable hand.

Reiner frowned and was about to say something, but Sir Cord stopped him. "That's enough, Reiner. A lord should be merciful. Don't treat an innocent man like this. He hasn't done anything to harm us! I don't want you to become a tyrant, and I'm sure your father wouldn't want that either!"

"Besides, he's only a child. He can't affect us in any way. We've already achieved our objective, haven't we?" Sir Cord removed his helmet and spoke calmly.

He did not want his liege—the son of his elder brother, his own nephew—to become a cruel and heartless lord in the future.

After hearing this, Reiner looked at the panicked stable hand, his heart softening, and released his collar.

He glanced around at the knights surrounding him. The moment they met Reiner's gaze, they all looked away evasively, not daring to meet his eyes.

Their reactions all fell into Reiner's sight, yet he did not know why they were acting this way. He was usually so approachable, so why did they fear him so much?

Looking at the stable hand who was thanking him profusely, Reiner felt somewhat lost. He had never been this kind of person before. He would not have treated even a kitten or puppy this way.

What... is wrong with me? The question arose in Reiner's mind. He had always considered himself merciful and kind to others, yet today someone had called him a tyrant. It made him question whether what he had done was right.