Chapter 166 A Noble's Way of Redemption
In the castle, inside the study.
"Aren't you going to join Ellie and the others for a walk?" Henry asked.
Leaning against the desk, Mila's curvaceous figure revealed when she sat, a pair of dainty feet under the skirt that swayed gently.
Mila shook her head, munching on a fish cracker, her blue eyes meeting Henry's, her face flushing.
The door was rapped, and Wyatt's voice followed, "Henry, the people are here."
"What's the matter with you, treating a noble like this?" Omar's voice, full of disdain, made both Henry and Mila frown.
"Come in!" Henry raised an eyebrow, his hands neatly folded on the desk, as he looked at the two entering.
Baron Omar was dragged in by Wyatt, his hands bound to the chair.
"Who are you guys? Don't you know that arresting a baron is a capital offense? You'll be hanged." Omar's eyes were bloodshot, his anger evident.
Henry glanced at Omar's swollen face, finding it displeasing, and said, "Let him see the situation clearly."
"Yes, sir." Wyatt nodded. Having been with Henry for some time, he understood some of the noble's quirks, or rather, their refinement, which required symmetry and neatness.
Omar was bewildered. His unbruised face received a slap, leaving him dizzy. In the dungeon, he was slapped for uttering a few words. Now, he couldn't even scream without being slapped again.
"Now, that's much better." Henry looked at Omar's symmetrical face, his furrowed brow relaxing.
"Who are you? Where am I?" Baron Omar sat in the chair, his eyes fixed on Henry, his voice stern, "Do you know who I am?"
"Baron Omar, the mastermind behind the attack on Hyratos, and the one who benefited the most, am I right?" Henry said calmly.
"I... I don't know what you're talking about." Omar's face changed slightly, his voice full of anger. "You're slandering me! Slandering a nobleman, I'll duel with you..."
"What do you want?" Mila played with a dagger in her hand, her blue eyes narrowing.
"I... I want nothing!" Omar shrank his neck, his voice weak. "I am a nobleman with moral cultivation. How could I plan an attack on Hyratos with bandits?"
Whether he was exposed or not, he decided not to admit it. Being locked up for two days meant there must be some reasons.
Henry raised an eyebrow. Refusing to admit it? He took out a parchment scroll from the drawer, held it above, and presented it to Omar, saying, "So, this parchment scroll with Baron Omar's signature is also fake?"
"This..." Omar's pupils contracted, his heart tightened. How could it be fake? He did sign the parchment scroll. How did it end up here? Where is Carter? Did he betray me?
"Yes, it's fake, definitely fake, it must be forged by thieves." Omar firmly declared it was fake, he absolutely couldn't admit it, otherwise, it would be a dead end.
"So, this is still fake?" Henry's mouth curled up slightly, his speech slow. "But this parchment scroll was handed to me by the Solanis' emissary – Riley. Could it be that he forged his identity? Or, are you not Baron Omar?"
"What?" Omar stared, his gums almost bleeding. He never expected it to be Riley's doing. He believed in the other party's character.
"Indeed, I still believe in Riley." A hint of a smile flashed in Henry's eyes, and he said in a deep voice, "Take this fake Baron Omar and publicly execute him."
"Yes!" Wyatt reached out to grab Omar.
"No, don't... that, that parchment scroll was signed by me, it was signed by me, and I am Baron Omar." Omar shouted anxiously, immediately admitting when he heard he was about to be hanged.
"Really?" Henry raised an eyebrow and lowered his voice, asking, "So, you admit that you organized the bandits' attack on Hyratos?"
"So what?" Omar straightened his back. Since he couldn't get away with it, he decided to admit it. He didn't believe the other party dared to kill him.
"Interesting, a nobleman is the biggest bandit." Henry's black eyes showed a hint of sharpness as he said. "Believe me, I can kill you now, and nothing will happen, even if you are a nobleman."
"No, who are you after all? Using torture on nobles without authorization will get you sent to the gallows by the king," Omar panicked and shouted.
"It doesn't matter who I am, what matters is that you will die," Henry said indifferently.
"No, you can't kill me. My father is Earl Purley. If you kill me, my father will not let you go," Omar panicked and intimidated them.
"Really? Earl Purley?" Henry raised an eyebrow, knowing the first piece of information.
"Yes!" Omar saw Henry's hesitation and immediately shouted, "Purley is a great nobleman with two hundred knights. He is not comparable to those waste bandits under my command."
"So what, if I kill you in secret, Purley won't know," Henry said.
Henry's eyes narrowed; it was the second piece of information. Two hundred regular knights, that's quite a strong force. If he conscripted more civilians, he could raise a thousand-man army.
"No, I can have my father send a ransom," Omar hurriedly suggested.
In this era of war, if the enemy captures a noble, they could either be killed or reduced to slavery, or they could be bought back with a ransom.
In general, wars would handle nobles in a way that involved paying a ransom, which was in the best interest of the warring party.
"Oh? How much ransom do you think Purley will give?" Henry asked curiously.
"Fifty gold coins," Omar blurted out, then, seeing no change in Henry's expression, he quickly changed his mind. "No, it's a hundred gold coins."
"A hundred gold coins?" Henry's mouth curled up, and he said calmly, "A hundred gold coins are not enough to tempt me."
"You?" Omar's eyes widened. With a hundred gold coins, you could redeem a viscount.
"Take him to the black mine," Henry said casually, "You help me mine for a hundred years, and if you're still alive, I'll let you go!"
"Yes!" Wyatt nodded.
"What? A hundred years? Mining? In a black mine?" Omar's eyes almost bulged out, and he shouted in a hoarse voice. "No, please, just kill me..."
Wyatt shouted, "Shut up!"
