I Only Love My Greatest Enemy

The rain beat down on the funeral. The house of Concord and their servants stood in dark clothes. There were veils over the women's faces while the men carried small daggers. A coffin was being lowered into a grave in front of them. Count and Countess Concord's faces were kept stoic; however, tears leaked from their eyes. Professional wailers cried out for the dead. Their children were letting tears flow down their faces. That is, except for Armand.

"Goodbye, Mortimer, you bastard. I don't even know why I hesitated to poison you," he thought.

Primate Calvin stepped forward to perform the last rites, the wailers quieting when he did. He gazed over the gathered crowd with a heavy heart. The priest did not enjoy giving funeral services and didn't like that he had to let the Concords outside of their castle for the funeral. But this was his duty as a priest.

"We come here to mourn the loss of Viscount Mortimer Carad. He was a good man, a loyal man," Calvin said.

"Bullshit! That bastard would have poisoned my siblings to get control of the house! He was only ever using us," Armand thought.

"The will of the gods is rarely known, and even I cannot say why they took Viscount Mortimer from us. However, I am certain that he is in a better place now."

Primate Calvin put his hands together in prayer. Everyone else did the same.

"Gods, I pray that Mortimer is burning in Hell," Armand thought. "Who knows how many plots he was hatching behind our backs?"

A moment of silence was held. Primate Calvin gave the mourners a moment to still their tears. Then, the priest spoke.

"It's time to return to your castle," he stated.

The members of House Concord turned, leaving the graveyard. Primate Calvin followed them with his guards.

"Now's my chance to leave an impression," Armand thought.

He lagged behind, letting his family go ahead of him. The boy stayed between them and the primate's guards. Calvin approached him.

"You are Armand Concord, the heir to House Concord, correct?" the primate questioned.

"I am, Your Excellency," Armand replied.

"You weren't crying at the funeral," Calvin recalled.

"I had to stay strong for my siblings," the boy said.

For a moment, Primate Calvin inspected Armand's face. The child kept his expression stoic.

"Please underestimate me because I'm a child," Armand thought.

"That's admirable of you," the priest noted.

"Thank you, Your Excellency," Armand said.

"You seem fairly intelligent for your age, Armand. You're talking more like an adult than a child."

Armand nodded.

"Thank you, Your Excellency. I study all the time so I can be a good leader," he stated.

"Then do you know what is contained in Chronos 8:17 of the scriptures?"

"Humans are weak, feeble, and sinful, worthy of my hatred. And yet, other gods love you. I will concede to their wishes in hope of learning to love you too."

"An exact quote. Very impressive. Tell me, what are your thoughts on women?" Primate Calvin asked.

"This is it, the key question. I won't insult women as a whole, it's foolish to hate an entire group of people, but I need to leave a good impression on Primate Calvin. He's a powerful man, and he'll be Primate Jean's mentor in the future. Getting the connection with the primate of the capital will be very useful," Armand thought before speaking. "The place of a woman is important, and women should know it."

"That could be interpreted in many ways. Are you being vague on purpose so I'll interpret it the way I want to? Are you trying to deceive me?"

"As expected of Primate Calvin, always clever. Thankfully, he thinks I'm just a smart child," Armand thought.

"What?" the boy made a face of confusion.

Primate Calvin observed Armand's face for a moment.

"A smart child is still a child after all," the priest said. "Still, you have potential. And you're the heir to House Concord. How would you like to receive a church education in the capital?"

"And now, everything falls in place. Primate Calvin and my parents don't like each other. House Concord is not a very important house, but I've impressed him enough that he wants to bring me under the church's influence. If he does that, House Concord will come with me when I become the head. But I can't afford for that to happen. I need to at least stay near my house. And Primate Calvin's hoping to pull this off under my parents' noses," Armand thought.

"If my parents approve. Zelus 8:04, the child must obey the parents," he said.

A look of frustration crossed Calvin's face.

"Another direct quote," the priest sighed. "You are correct. I must talk to them."

"I didn't outright accept. This means Calvin won't be able to drum up enough church support to force my parents to send me to them. Now, I've left a good impression on Calvin without paying any price for it," Armand thought. "I never had a close relationship with the church or anyone in it before. But I'll build up some sort of relationship now. The church is powerful, and I promised Eris that I would get her more power."

Primate Calvin would soon find the dead Nosfer. The Concord family was cleared of suspicion.

Years passed. The first disaster came and went. It was named the Orlock Plague after the name of the head Nosfer. Sir Karl Hapsburg survived the plague because he killed the Nosfer that spread the plague in the place he was staying before the plague started.

Primate Calvin kept pressuring House Concord to send Armand to be educated by the church. His efforts failed. Eris and Armand grew older, sending letters and gifts to each other. Eventually, they turned 12 as the second disaster ravaged the land.

In Foldzar, 12 was the age of majority. Men of that age were expected to join manhunts for dangerous criminals. If there was a war, they might end up being conscripted if they were serfs. Marriage was also possible at that age. However, almost no one got married that young, and cohabitation wasn't allowed until the person turned 14.

However, 12-year-olds were still thought of as adults. And they'd be taken as seriously as any young man or woman would.

An old woman stepped out of a cabin in the woods. It was a small, quaint shack made of wattle and daub. The lady hummed a jaunty tune as she went to her garden.

There were numerous plants in it. Some were beautiful flowers, others were crops like turnips, there were medicinal herbs too, and others were poisonous. The old woman smiled as she inspected them.

"They're turning out nicely. I should make a killing when I take them to market," she said.

Then, the woman heard a noise from the woods. She turned and gazed out. Nothing was in sight. Her eyes narrowed. The old lady concentrated as well as she could.

Bang!

Before the old woman knew it, there was a hole in her chest. Red liquid spewed out. She tried to scream, but blood poured out of her mouth. The lady collapsed to the ground. Her body twitched and spasmed.

Several bandits exited the woods. They held arquebus, swords, and wheellock pistols. Their bodies were clad in brigandine armor. The group surrounded the old woman.

"I'll be, she's still alive," a bandit with an arquebus said.

"That's because you're a shit shot," another replied. "You missed her heart. Now, she's just choking to death on her own blood."

Then, he called out.

"My Lady, should we finish her off, or do you want her to suffer?"

The clip-clop of horse steps came to their ears. A black stallion exited the woods. Eris Hapsburg rode on it, a black cloak around her body. She had a pistol on one hip and a sword on the other. A large sack of coin was concealed in her cloak. Her expression was stoic.

"I don't care what you do with her as long as she dies," Eris stated.

The bandit pulled out a dagger and finished the old woman off.

"What now, my Lady?" he asked.

"Burn down her house. Make sure nothing remains but ashes. Don't go inside it before burning it."

The bandits did as commanded. They used gunpowder to set the place on fire. Eris watched as the flames spread. She felt heat wash over her face as they gradually swept over the building. A smile crossed the girl's face.

"Now, if there is a cure to my favorite poison, no one will ever find it. No one other than me will know how to make it either. Far sooner than the last time around too," Eris thought.

When the house had burned to the ground, Eris inspected the ashes. Nothing was left. She rode over to the bandits, pulled out the bag of coins, and tossed it to them. A brigand caught it. He counted the coins before smiling.

"Everything's here," he said.

"There's more where that came from," Eris stated. "Just make sure that all your bandit activities target the lands of House Medici in the future."

The man took a bow.

"Of course, my Lady."

Eris looked down at him.

"I'll pay you extra whenever you capture a member of House Medici," she said.

"What should we do with them?" the bandit leader asked.

Eris shrugged.

"Hold them for ransom, torture them, kill them, rape them, do whatever you want as long as it's unpleasant," she answered. "And I hope you aren't thinking of taking me hostage."

The bandit leader held up his hands.

"You don't have to worry, my Lady. You're going to be the head of a branch of House Hapsburg someday, and you're exactly the type of noble we like," he smiled.

Another bandit nodded.

"Ruthless, cruel, no morals, easily bribed, and don't care at all about commoners and other nobles," that brigand added.

"Good," Eris said.

Then, she pointed a finger in the air.

"There is one member of House Medici that I have a specific fate in mind for."

The bandit leader bowed again.

"As long as you can give us money and keep the law off our backs, our wish is your command, my Lady," he said.

"If you capture Brutus Medici, cut off his ears, put out his eyes, cut out his tongue, and cut his balls off. Then, send him back to his family," Eris instructed. "If you do this, I will pay you three times what his ransom would have been."

The bandits gazed at her with greedy eyes.

"Yeah, you're exactly the sort of noble we like," the leader grinned from ear to ear.

They parted ways after that. Eris rode back to her family's castle, deep in thought.

"My next step is finding every other bandit group in my family's lands. I'll have them pillage the Medici lands too. When I travel to other nobles' lands, I'll do the same with the bandits there. Even if no member of House Medici is captured, their economy will be wrecked, and their commoners will have lost faith in them. The best part is that Brutus knows I used bandits. He'll know exactly who sent them, but he won't be able to do anything to me. I can't wait to see the look on that little shit's face."

Eris smiled, gazing at the sky above her.

"The bandits in my land were always useful. It's a shame that Armand's going to kill them all."

Then, a different sort of contemplation came to Eris.

"Count Staufer's castle should be finished. It'll be a few days before he announces his banquet. If I remember right, it was also a charity auction where all the funds went to helping people with the plague. Most of the plans I made since I last saw Armand are based around that banquet. So many important people will be there. It's the perfect opportunity to get more power. Soon, I'll be the favorite of the crown prince and eldest princess once more," excitement flowed through her. "And there's another bonus. I'm certain Armand will be there too. He wasn't at the banquet the last time around, but he knows how important it is. I never had a chance to spend years making plans without Armand interfering. Now, I can show him exactly what I can do when no one gets in my way. I will make Armand..."

Eris' smile became soft and loving.

"...think I'm the most wonderful woman in the world."