Emp did not understand what she was angry for. The bad guys were all going to be punished, her books would be returned to her along with a bunch of money and he even managed to get her back from the viscount and kept the count from putting her through a long punishment.

The count had argued that she was still accountable for her her previous crime and should serve a sentence of many years of forced work as well but Emp did his best to change his mind. He had argued that she was likely to be unable to perform said work in her current state and that she had good reasons to put a knife in the neck of that man.

In total, the time they discussed the fate of Galana was longer than the time it took to decide the punishment of the ten men combined. He had to fight the viscount and the count to steal Galana away from them because they really wanted to keep her as some sort of advantage against him. He managed to take her back but failed to force them to pay for the removal of the seal.

The removal of that kind of seal was even more complicated than the steps it took to transfer the rights to someone else. It took an imperial mage, a very complex array of carved magic circles, a lot of time and ingredients and, obviously, a whole lot of money. n.o.body wanted to pay for that, in their opinion, Galana was fine like that, they wouldn't spend this ridiculous amount of money to send her to another kingdom by caravan and have the seal removed.

Emp sort of agreed with them. If you disregarded the unfortunate placement of the seal, as long as someone she trusted held the rights on her, there would be no difference between being enslaved and being free.

He felt that as long as he was the owner of the seal, n.o.body would mess with her anymore and as long as he didn't give her any order, she would have a perfectly normal life. The only unusual thing would be that she would have to invest in a collection of headbands. Wasn't it better than to pay almost a crystal plate for the removal of a seal that would have almost no effects?

Apparently, she didn't see it with the same eyes and furiously glared at him. They were still on the stage in front of crowds of people but she didn't seem to care all that much.

Emp thought it was funny how everyone standing at the foot of the stage found the story with Galana more interesting than the announcement of Maurice's punishment. It was rather pitiful that no one cared for what happened to him next but he deserved it so Emp ignored his endless complaints as well.

"Are you really that upset that I'm the one to hold power over your seal?"

"No." She answered even though her face said the exact opposite.

Emp had no idea how to interpret that.

"Would you rather have Palonia take it instead?" He tried asking.

"I'd rather be free instead!"

Emp couldn't say he didn't understand that but he had already done the best he could and promised to find an eventual solution. What more did she want?

"I'm sorry Galana, I really am doing the best I can for you but what you're asking for is just impossible for now."

"How is it impossible! You're b.l.o.o.d.y rich! You're the highest authority here!"

"I think you're too angry for now. You should think properly and we'll talk about it later. Haven't we argued enough in front of the whole city?"

"Why? You just want to hide your dishonest scheme from the crowd don't you? Just tell me right here."

"Are you really sure you want to do this?"

Her face was obviously saying yes with her angry eyes and offended posture. Emp could only sigh and give her the answer she wanted.

"The truth is that I'm really doing my best but you've made it very difficult to help you. First of all, everything could have been avoided if you had not insulted Maurice, second of all, if you had let me help you two years ago when I wanted to pay those fifteen red dragons you wouldn't have a seal on your forehead. Then, you stabbed a man which makes it very hard for me to get you out unless I brute force it.

I'm the highest ranked here but I'm not the lord of this city, count Staedler is. He's the one that has to make everyone respect the law. You're the one always complaining about n.o.bles asking for ridiculous things but you're asking me to get a murderer out of a life sentence as if it was the obvious thing to do. You want me to ignore the laws and twist the arm of the count until he pays for your freedom? Am I not just doing that thing you hate then? It's already good I managed to convince him to let you with me instead of the viscount or himself.

Then, do you have any idea how hard it is to get that seal removed? Even if its me, it's likely going to cost me a crystal plate to have it removed and only once we reach Thronewoods.

You didn't want me to pay fifteen red dragons to pay your debt because you didn't want my help and didn't want to be indebted to me instead but now you're demanding I pay almost a thousand times what you owed him for your freedom? Do you understand how ridiculous this sounds? Do you intend to count this as a debt towards me too? How are you gonna pay back a crystal plate? You're going to sell my own books to pay me?

In my opinion, you already owe me big for saving you from this guy, you're not even thankful, you're just angry I can't fix every problem. My own mother told me to not help you, but do you understand I'm here anyway?

I do have the money to get the seal removed. It would leave an ugly mark on your pretty forehead but I could. The thing is, everyone around me will question my decision. I will have dukes, friends, family and councilors all tell me that its idiotic to spend a whole plate just to have a seal removed. Not only does it not really affect you if I'm the one holding power over it, they will all tell me you know too much and removing this layer of security from over you is very unwise.

I can't just take out a crystal plate on stage here and have it fixed by the end of the day! I can't do miracles, you've got to give me some time to figure things out and convince people and all that. I didn't even have that much time to come here and had to stop all I was doing but you want me to go all the way over to Thronewoods instantly. I have things to do, I'm busy, people are counting on me, I can't go around touring all five kingdoms of the empire just because a friend of mine has a book tattooed on her forehead!

With all the idiotic things you did up to now, I also feel that it's safer for you to have my crest up there to protect you in case you put yourself in trouble. Now if you hate me even though I'm doing my best, I can have Palonia take you instead or some other of my friends but I can't leave you with the count Staedler or the viscount because I don't trust them. Do you realize you know a lot of my secrets and everyone in this whole city now marked you as my weak point? For your own good, endure the seal for now, I'll have it removed as soon as I can."

Throughout his explanation the crowd got torn apart between many different opinions. What they thought didn't really matter for Emp and Galana but he was interested in seeing what the majority felt was the right thing to do so he had paid some attention to the sea of people behind Galana.

Some thought he was being unfair with her while others believed she was trying to take advantage of his goodwill. Many thought that he should free her as soon as possible since he claimed to be her friend so loudly but many more s.h.i.+vered and stepped back at the mention of a crystal plate.

None of the general crowd would ever see ten thousand crowns for their whole life, even if they pooled all their money with their extended family's and stopped eating for years. The amount it cost to remove the seal was just ridiculous. Only the n.o.bles dealt frequently with crowns, the rest dealt in leaves and scepters, they could hardly believe what they had just heard. With such an amount on the table, most of them felt it would be normal even for a Muracier to hesitate to pay. After all, the reason it cost so much was precisely to stop the removal of the seals.

Many thought he would be a fool to pay such an amount and expect nothing in return even if he cared for her a lot. Those people thought he had already done enough and started to argue with the other half of the crowd that felt that in the end, a n.o.ble was just a n.o.ble whether he was a Muracier or a Balpoisson, they would always take their own side at the detriment of the common folk.

Galana herself seemed to be torn between the two ideas. She really wanted him to free her right away. She wanted to act stubbornly and have him pay but even though it was extremely frustrating and she wanted to disagree, she knew that he was mostly right.

She was indeed asking him to do exactly what she kept telling him she hated to see n.o.bles do and disregard all rules and everyone for his own, or in this case, her own benefit. He was also right that if he did pay that, she would start to feel guilt about it right away and look for a way to repay him somehow which would likely be an impossible task for her looking at the amount.

Finally, he was also right about her knowing way too many things on him to let her free. She knew about how Chinui wasn't his actual father, she knew about the G.o.ds behind him, she knew where the great general went and why he left and a lot of personal things on him he conveyed through his letters. In the past it was fine but now that he had to use the fact she knew them to keep her away form Balpoisson, everyone and their mothers would soon know she was a weak link in the chain and go after her to get to him.

Freedom or not, if she stayed out of his reach, she would tempt all kinds of trouble to find her.

After all that he did for her already, was she really in a position to demand anything more from him? He even said he'd do his best to free her eventually. From any other n.o.ble, it would have meant nothing but from him, it was a real possibility. If she was indeed trapped to remain a sealed slave for a while, just following him might really be her best option. Who else would ever help her pay a crystal plate for her release? Who else could she even trust at this point?

She exhaled loudly and hung her head low.

"Fine... we'll do that."

With her finally agreeing to accept his efforts, the trial was concluded. The count announced that the execution of Maurice would be held a few days later but Emp wasn't sure he wanted to bother going to see it. He needed to hurry back home now and continue the work on his many tasks.

He wondered if Galana wanted to see it. She didn't like ugly wounds, he remembered, she might be disgusted by the sight of a man loosing his head, even if she deeply hated him.

He kept the question to himself for now while the trial was wrapped up. The ten men were all sent to jails for now. Maurice fought against the guards but failed to resist or escape and was dragged away screaming and cursing. The group of n.o.ble left the other way with Galana and a swarm of guards in tow to switch her owner. Emp even had Palonia and Tiberius brought into the group to follow instead of leaving them there to wait. The crowd simply started dispersing itself slowly. Emp noticed a bunch of curious followed the n.o.bles from a distance to not upset the guards but it didn't bother him all that much.

For the third time in the span of a week, Galana had to go through the transfer ceremony and have two guys drip some blood on her forehead. Emp thought it was a good thing that she only feared the gore and not simply the blood or it might have been an ordeal to go through. He felt that his wife Calla might have fainted if two guys dripped blood on her forehead in quick succession.

The viscount didn't complain much, he didn't apologize either for the actions of his son however, he felt he had already paid enough. Emp agreed that the price of a son was heavy and most probably wasn't something he paid eagerly. Balpoisson only gave up when he started fearing it was hopeless and that the whole house might drown with him. As a viscount, he also thought that the death penalty was less shameful than being turned into the slave of a slave, he was as relieved as one could be in those circ.u.mstances.

He took part in the ceremony willingly even though his giant belly made it difficult for him to draw the magic circle as instructed.

After a long time of waiting and the activation of the magic, the fish on her forehead finally turned into a crenelated hammer in a crowned book.

It felt strange for him to see his own seal on the forehead of his friend like that but he made no comments because he knew she'd yell about how it was way more strange for her if he did. At least it wasn't a fish anymore.

Now he needed to seriously think about what to do with her. Should he leave her here in Red-water even though her shop was gone? Should he bring her to Dark-glint or Bêtéclair instead?

He felt that it would be for the best if he worked with Palonia and Galana to figure these things out and so he wanted to go to her shop to talk. He had a hard time getting away from the count however.

"Are you sure you do not want to stay in my castle for a few days?" Asked the count Staedler.

It wasn't the first time he proposed this either. To him, someone with the rank of Emp simply sleeping in an inn was incredibly odd. Emp should get to stay in his residence in the best guest room he had, he even wanted to organize him a feast.

Emp declined again. He had nothing left to discuss with the local n.o.bles and he didn't want to deal with them while he tried to take care of the rest.

"Thank you for the invitation but I won't. I fear my teacher of manners would collapse from the thought of what I might do if I accepted the invitation. Anyway, I don't think the circ.u.mstances lend themselves well to a feast and I'm not supposed to be in this city in the first place. I'll take on your invitation next time."

The family of the count nodded in disappointment and left Emp and his group to their own plans.

Following that, he had to decline a similar invitation from viscount Rougefond before he could leave with Tiberius, Palonia and Galana.

"Finally, we're done." Emp cheered himself up once they were to themselves.

"Let's all go to our place so we can talk properly." Palonia said, mirroring the mind of Emp.

They all made their way there in no time and all sat around their dining table.

Galana was silent the whole time they walked but when they got there she seemed to have found the right words for what she wanted to say. She had an apologetic expression as she spoke in order to convey how bad she felt about this whole thing.

"I know I haven't been showing it properly at all, but I'm really thankful for everything you all have been doing for me. If not for you, I'd be stuck with Balpoisson. While the trial was going on, I was too worked up to really take the whole thing in but now, I'm really starting to realize that this whole thing is finally over. After five years of c.r.a.p, I'm finally free, well, sort of."

She rubbed her forehead to express what she meant by sort of.

"It's all thanks to you two, I'm really, really grateful. I don't know how I'll ever pay you back for this."

"Just don't, I don't want to be paid for helping a friend in need. Anyway, I haven't done anything, it's Emp that did all the work. I just gave him the name of Balpoisson." Palonia answered Galana.

"I don't want anything either, just stop lying to me all the time."

"I'm really sorry, you were right, it's all my fault. I didn't want to trouble you or be indebted to you in anyway but I just made things worse in every way."

"That ya did." Tiberius chimed in before getting hit by Palonia's elbow. "What? She needs to hear it if she's to not do the same stupid s.h.i.+t again."

Galana lowered her head once more.

"I promise I won't do it again."

The other three nodded in satisfaction and Emp brought on the actually important subject.

"So, what do we do with you?"

Galana just looked at him with a raised brow and Palonia stated her opinion with a mischievous face.

"I think you should bring her with you."

"Wait, hang on! What do you mean bring me with him? I thought you said I'd be free, can't I just go home?"

"You are free but you can't really go home, it's not yours anymore." Emp pointed out.

Galana was instantly angered by his statement.

"What do you mean it's not mine? They said they'd give me all my things back!"

"They will but the shop had already been sold, I told you it's a rug chop now didn't I? You'll only get its worth in money back and maybe the sign if they can find it back."

"But it's 'my' shop!"

"What do you want them to do, take back the place from the poor woman who took a week to scrub the blood of the guy you killed out of the floor?"

Galana gave him a look that said "Why not?" and he just gave her a frown in return until she groaned and collapsed on the table.

"What do I do then?"

"Like I said, I think you should go with him. I don't think you'll be able to revive your bookstore on your own here. I also think it's unsafe to let you go alone now that everyone knows you know a Muracier."

Everyone would want to meet her now to get closer to him. Emp believed that many would try to help her to make a good impression on him while many other might try to use her to reach him. If at least she knew how to defend herself properly, it would be less scary to leave her alone but she didn't.

"But I don't want to follow him." She grumbled, glancing his way to look at his reaction.

"Then what is it you want to do? Just tell us."

"I don't know..."

She clearly had something in mind but didn't say it for some reason. That was the thing he hated the most about her, she was always hiding something from him.

"Come on now, I just said I wanted you to stop lying to me as a pay back so tell me the truth. That's an order."

"I'm really sad about loosing my house and I want it back. At the same time though, I really want to follow you and leave that place but I don't want to say it out loud."

The moment she finished saying it, Palonia and Tiberius started laughing loudly and Galana glared at him. It wasn't his fault if she wasn't honest!

"That's cheating! I mean, I hate almost everyone in this city so changing places wouldn't be so bad, that's why I want to follow you elsewhere. Yeah, that's what I meant to say."

"That's not cheating, that' just working around your dishonest temperament. Why can't you just be honest? You're so hard to understand. I just don't want to force you to do anything you don't want."

"The truth is too embarra.s.sing, It's all your fault too, I got confused when you said you liked me! Anyway I can take care of myself, I don't need you watching over me all the time."

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"That's not what it looked like to me earlier at the trial." Tiberius pointed out.

Galana burned in frustration but didn't have anything to come back with.

"So that's it then? You'll bring her back to Dark-glint? Will it upset Marcy? By the way, why did she say she didn't want you to help Galana? That doesn't sound like her."

"What? She didn't." Emp told her, confused by her statement.

"But you said it earlier on the stage."

"Oh, no, not Marcy, the other one, my actual mother."

"I thought you had no mother." Galana said.

She remembered him telling her that he had been created by the G.o.ds, he didn't have a father or a mother per say.

"I mean the one that created me, you know who I mean, I told you about her before. She didn't want me to help you because she says you insulted her badly and you never apologized for it."

"I did no such thing!"

"She says it happened in the inn we took our breakfast in last time."

"I didn't..."

Emp saw the exact moment when she figured out what Love meant because she turned really pale.

"She says she can't hate but she's still really upset, you should apologize later." He told her.

Galana nodded vigorously, in fact, she wanted to apologize right now. She had never meant anything she said and her words shouldn't have ever reached the ears of anyone meaningful so she had removed them from her mind right away but she had not known at that point that his mother was an actual G.o.ddess. She wasn't even sure that she really believed it now but if what he said was true, her words were probably enough to kill her a few hundred times over.

She couldn't help but think back at the free prediction she had received that simply stated "Apologize", she had clearly been told! Not only that but Emp was saying he had disobeyed an actual G.o.ddess to come help her! She hoped he wouldn't get in trouble for it, she absolutely needed to apologize as quickly as possible. If Palonia and her husband hadn't been here, she would have done so right away.

"What sort of mother do you have to provoke that reaction in her?" Palonia asked, worried about why Galana of all people was making that kind of face.

"The sort no one should ever mess with."

"Like Marcy then?"

That wasn't really on the same level but Emp didn't deny it.

"I think we'll be fine. I think she can be reasoned with."

"You think?"

"Well, I did it a few times but I don't know if that's just because I'm her son."

That didn't help Galana to calm down at all, she just looked even more worried than before.

Emp tried to change back the subject to how they would arrange the future of Galana but he kept getting strange reactions about everything he said.

He didn't want to bring her to Bêtéclair because he didn't want Galana to use her usual speech and angry retorts against everyone there. This of course insulted Galana because he didn't trust her or thought she was rude. The fact was that she was indeed rude most of the time, he'd rather keep her away from unnecessary trouble, at least for now.

Then, he said he still had s.p.a.ce in his house in Dark-glint and that Calla would probably be fine with having her around. Palonia and Tiberius were surprised he had a wife and thought that what he said about liking Galana was a lot more awkward now. They couldn't help but picture the scene when he walked back to his wife with Galana in tow saying "Hi, I brought back this girl I like after she was enslaved, I hope you don't mind."

Emp a.s.sured them all it wouldn't be a problem but they all stayed skeptical.

Then he said he'd let her do what she wanted in Dark-glint but she complained that selling books in a village would never work.

They ended up having a long and tiresome discussion where nothing was properly decided before Emp left for the inn with Galana. She got jumpy and fidgety on the way there. He couldn't figure out why until he paid for a second room for her at which point she seemed relieved and went back to her usual grumpy self.

Emp felt she was probably thinking of something insane again considering what were the things she talked about with him the last time they came here. He didn't mention it and just left to sleep as he reminded her to apologize properly.

Then, the next morning, he was woken up early by Galana.

"Wake up you idiot slacker! You're not getting me twice with your sleeping nonsense! Get up I said!"

She shoved him down the bed and he crashed loudly against the floor. The boy taking care of the rooms looked quite worried about how that slave woke up her master by pus.h.i.+ng him off his bed but for Emp, it was a normal way to wake up. He'd rather have her wake him up this way than oversleeping for hours again.

He got up and got dressed right away.

"At least wait for me to get out before you start getting dressed!" She yelled in anger.

"But you're the one who got in."

They walked downstairs to get some breakfast, Emp ordered many servings in a row for Galana because he thought she really needed to eat more. For once, she didn't complain. While they ate, she a.s.sured him that she spent most of the night apologizing profusely for her past words.

Emp hoped this would satisfy Love.