>>5557699“This bastard’s the one behind everything!” Kendo snarls. “It’s no secret that your father has been ill, Little Lady. While he remained bedridden, he had entrusted Martin with leadership over Ordelia. This snake gave his word that he’d take care of things while your father recovered. And what’s the first thing he did? Sell us out to the damn Imperials!” Kendo spits on the ground. “The bastard couldn’t wait to start sniffing up the Gloucesters’ asses! He was draining the damn coffers dry to aid the Pro-Imperial faction and pledge the country to Her Royal Highness. Ain’t that right, Martin?” Kendo grabs the man by his hair and lifts his head.
“M-my lady! Please! I beg of you! Help me!” Martin cries, pathetically.
“What does that have to do with what’s going on outside?!” Lysithea asks.
“That’s just what I’m trying to figure out.” Kendo says. “See, your father got sick of what Martin here had been doing. So, even in his poor health, he gathered a group of loyal soldiers and knights, led by his man-at-arms, Cornelius. They were going to confront Martin during the Feast of Saint Indech. Only that never happened. Cause the same day we were supposed to gut this rat, the entire town went fucking mad. I’d never seen or heard of something like it in my life. Men and women were foaming at the mouth, this crazed look on their eyes. I saw family members falling on each other, blade in hand. In all my years fighting, I’d never seen anything so…evil. It was pure evil. And it was your fault! Wasn’t it?!” He lifts Martin up by his hair again, almost ripping the man through his binds. “How did you do it?! Who told you about our plan?!”
“Kendo please!” Lysithea runs towards the raging soldier, grabbing his arm and easing him away from the seneschal. “We can’t kill him! Not until we know for sure! You said the killing started the day you were supposed to confront Martin here? What happened to my father?”
Kendo takes a step back from Martin, who by now has loosened his bowels and is sobbing softly. “When…everything started going to hell, he gave the order to abandon the mission. We went into the city to try and bring things under control. Only, we didn’t know the full extent of what was going on. During the fighting, we were all split up. Me and my men, your parents, as well as Knight Cornelius. My men and I managed to fight our way back to the castle. We opened the gate, and when we came inside, we found this cretin hiding, along with them.” He points towards the four figures by the wall, who’d been watching the proceedings with looks of great nervousness. “They’re regulars around here. Employed by your family.”
“I don’t recognize them.” Lysithea shakes her head. “But unlike Kendo, they most likely joined our household after I’d already left to Garreg Mach.”
