In Pieces

Chapter 23: Will you be my undercover agent?

The next morning, the Regent woke Aidan up before the first light.

"Rise and shine! We have to get back while everyone's still sleeping to avoid any unnecessary questions," he said, straightening out his already immaculate clothes. Even in these circumstances, this man managed to look his best.

Aidan, on the other hand, didn't feel so fresh. He sighed – since he had come to this world, he hadn't slept through the night even once!

"And then what?" he asked, rubbing his eyes.

The Regent gave him a long steady look and finally said:

"I'll send you back to General Minn's place. You might have to lay low for a couple of days and avoid meeting anybody. And after you venture outside, you shouldn't forget to act dejected, sad, humiliated, and unhappy."

That didn't sound very difficult for Aidan. To display all these emotions, he didn't even necessarily need to act.

"Will there be a trial? Are you going to announce my...ahem...castration?" he asked.

The Regent visibly tried to conceal a smile. Aidan raised his eyebrow at him. Just how amused was this guy with his own "brilliant" idea!

"I'm going to heavily imply it," the Regent responded. "It seems a bit inappropriate and over the top to announce something like that publically."

"As if you care about propriety!" Aidan shook his head.

"This is a cruel and unusual punishment – almost everyone's going to think that I'm a monster," the Regent said thoughtfully.

"Aren't you, though?"

"In the context of this world, I'm your average run-off-the-mill tyrant. This is going to put me over the edge."

Aidan noticed a tiny glint in the man's blue eyes.

"For some reason, you seem pleased about it," he said, pursing his lips.

"Why wouldn't I be pleased? This will let me lure out my hidden enemies. They will all flock to you like a bunch of chickens, expressing their pity and dismay. Surely, they'll offer you a chance for revenge. And you, as a proud man, will take it," the Regent responded as they reached the "mirror" lake.

"Unbelievable. You want to use me as a spy!" Aidan rolled his eyes. He had no intentions of entangling himself more with the problems of this world. All he wanted was for poor Corus to have a good life. As long as that was the case, Aidan could just spend the rest of his days here drinking and trying out different kinds of meat.

"Didn't you want to work together to stop the war?" the Regent scratched his head.

Aidan immediately remembered saying something like that yesterday. Not that he didn't mean it – more like, he didn't think it would require any effort on his part. The Regent was doing pretty OK by himself so far, right?

"Yes, but..." Aidan didn't know how to politely back out anymore.

"I'm sure there are still slaves being channeled to the savages through the black market," the Regent's eyes seemed to contain an infinitely complicated emotion. "I need to know who's involved in that and all the ways they are circumventing my surveillance."

"And you're sure they're just going to tell me that?" Aidan was skeptical.

"Not at first," said the Regent. "But with time, I think, they'll trust you enough to involve you in their plans. You're a rich, powerful General with a grudge against Reo Atarian, after all. Your identity is actually perfect for this."