The Duchess' Enchantment

Chapter 15

I thought it would be intriguing to explore this chapter from a different character's view. I hope you like it!

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Branstein had been fuming. He would have rather liked a warm cup of tea to enjoy, yet the treasurer and the chancellor had been pestering him with irate nonsense, insisting that he lower the taxes for the betterment of the peasants. They argued that it would be better for the Duchy's economy, if they could revert back to the policies that the late Duke had implemented, that it would benefit all. Branstein was not interested in 'helping' 'all'.

But what use would that be? It would only cause a significant drain on his own coffers. It irritated him how the people still remembered the old Duke, still preferred the old Duke.... If it wasn't for him, this manor would still be so plain, so ... Ghastly! It was him who returned the manor into its former glory, why he had even surpassed it! Now, the manor was brimming with taste, with opulence, at every turn, every new wonder waiting to be discovered in its chambers!

Yet no one, not even his chancellor and treasurer acknowledge any of this. So what if the peasants starved? There were far too many of them anyway. They already hogged most of their produce, and were annoyingly everywhere. In fact, Goslar hosted one of the highest Peasant populations in the nation, if not the world. And the produce farmed would be better off being sold to other kingdoms or duchies who desperately needed the grain. Yet the chancellor and treasurer insisted on feeding the peasants more than necessary.

Blast them! He should have dismissed them a long time ago.

Yet he needed someone to manage the Duchy's finances, legal documentation.... And all that paperwork that he could not be bothered to do. If he'd known that being a Duke took that much work.... Why he would not have plotted his way here.

That was a lie and he knew it. He rather enjoyed the opulence and the status that came along with a Duke. He enjoyed the benefits much more than the nuisances. He could just install a puppet to do his bidding, and he would not have to do any work. Just as he'd like it. It was just what he had done.

But those puppets were becoming increasingly irritating. They were championing the Old Duke's policies, even to the extent of supporting his wretched, disrespecting, unsubmissive daughter, Annalise. She would not bend to his will, like she was expected to. And It was grating on him.

The preparations for the Prince's imminent arrival must be perfect. Enchanting. Enough to show everyone that he must be respected. No, he wasn't as revered as the old Duke, or as well-spoken and educated. But he was a nobleman, one whose status as a Duke and a relative of a Duke should put him on a higher standing than practically every family of the wretched aristocracy. After all, a Duke was a title that many dreamt of acquiring or marrying into.

He was more powerful than all of them.

There weren't many Duchies in the Kingdom of Salleria. Only a handful lay around, whilst many of the nobility were earls, viscounts and Barons. There were slightly more marquesses around, but being a Duke, that held the highest position. Being a Duke of Goslar.... Well that put him higher than any other Duke.

Goslar was huge, rich and bountiful, with a booming population of peasants that ate up the Duchy's resources. Branstein never understood how the late Duke allowed for peasants to speak up. Why would they need to, since they were all illiterate labourers made to work for him, and fill his coffers? From the weavers and craftsmen to the farmers and merchants.... Their purpose was to obey him. Branstein. The Duke of Goslar. They lived on his land. They should work for it.