The emperor didn't throw his former ministers out on the street. The Newman family had served previous kings for many generations and Bill Newman worked for Valen Sunvell most of his life. From what Lee heard, the emperor granted Newman a retirement pension and a small residence with a nice look at the sea in one of the port cities.
Unfortunately the pension wasn't particularly big and the former maritime minister was able to keep only few servants. Of course, butler Sanders remained devoted to his master and followed him, along with Ivonna and one of the maids.
Lee didn't have a chance to speak with Ivonna about her reasoning, but to him it didn't matter whether she went with Newman under the orders of the Hand of God, or decided to take this opportunity and also retire. Similar to Sanders, she was only a passerby in his life.
Actually Sanders was reluctant to part with his young protege. Not only at the first meeting – during his time in the Newman mansion Lee continued to press all the right buttons, and the old butler grew to love the young subordinate like the son he never had.
Thus, after a hearty hug and squeezing out a promise that Lee would visit him some time in the future, he passed Lee a recommendation letter.
Sanders put it in Lee's pocket, and said, "With this its guaranteed you'll find a job in any noble household. Just mention you worked for me and all the doors will open for you."
To not spoil the closure, Lee's only option was to express his thanks by hugging the man again, pretending to be moved to tears. Only after Newman with his three remaining employees left, Lee realized he was in a bit of a pickle.
Their conversation was overheard by the small crowd of former servants who were gathered in front of the mansion to see off their previous boss. Contrary to Newman, though, they became homeless. Hearing there was a magic ticket that guaranteed a good job, along with status and pay, everyone began to stare at Lee like he was a pray.
A child in a crowd of grownups was as helpless as a puppy no matter how good his training was. What made things worse was that everyone thought he was fifteen, but for a teenage youth he looked way too short and scrawny.
The surrounding crowd stared at him for a while, and then began a heated discussion who would get the letter. Even a couple of fights broke out, but apart from a bloody nose here and there no one got hurt. When finally it looked like people came to understanding, Lee was bored enough and decided to leave.
The crowd watched in disbelief how he jump-kicked one of the servants in the chest, and then, using the inertia, stepped on a shoulder of another.
Then he ran over the crowd by stepping on two or three more people's shoulders and a couple of heads, and a moment later he was out of encirclement. Before anyone could react, he was behind a corner, running down an alley. And when the angrily roaring crowd rushed after him, the alley was already empty as if the boy had never entered it in the first place.
During his days in the Newman residence, Lee explored multiple scenarios in case he was forced to flee from the capital. None of them involved an angry mob running after him, but it turned out to be kind of entertaining. He used one of the retreat routes he practiced before, and disappeared without much effort.
Of course, getting away from a bunch of servants was nothing to be proud of, so he didn't let it get into his head – it was only a fun exercise.
The same afternoon Lee stood at the servant entrance of the Orpen mansion. The new Minister of Works, Clark Orpen, during the past three years managed to transform the territory that was once occupied by the Powel clan. From what it looked like, he didn't mind living on a land that was washed with the blood of hundreds of people.
Contrary to his predecessor, Orpen's complex consisted only of one enormous mansion, built exactly on the spot where the corpses of the Powel family members once hung, servants quarters, built as an adjusted right wing, and large stables – functioning as the left wing. The previous buildings that the Powel clan once had built here were all gone.
It seemed that the new minister was a huge fan of horses, because apart from the mansion, the rest of the territory was set up as horse training facility. Previously Powel had the largest piece of land in Sunwell, but now it was basically turned into a park.
The three story mansion was covered or maybe even built in red marble, and it was rather unique style for the capital. The emperor's palace was white and up until Orpen became minister all nobles were doing their best to imitate it.
Clearly the new minister of works was trying to show off, and the result turned out to be reasonably tasteful. Of course, with the many horses pastured all over, the place did look like an over-luxurious farm in the middle of the city, but Lee didn't mind the uniqueness.
He was surprised, though, he didn't have any emotional reaction after returning here. Either he had made a peace with what he did those years ago, or some strange sociopathic tendencies have sprouted in the deepest parts of his consciousness.
He was certain he wouldn't start running around, killing innocents, but not carrying the slightest feeling of guilt was odd.
"What do you want?" One of the guards at the entrance to the servant quarters barked at Lee the moment he approached.
"I'm here to see steward Bason." Lee said, "I have a letter for him."
"Let me see!" Commanded the guard, but when Lee shook his head, guard's expression turned cold.
"Let me tell you, kid, how things work around here!" He barked, "You …
"Why don't you tell me how things work around here?" A short man, probably in his sixties, at most an inch taller than Lee, approached, and asked the guard as if taunting him. He was dressed in leather pants and boots, but despite the chilly day wore only a linen shirt.
"Sorry, master Prides!" The guards countenance instantly changed, "Just doing my job!"
Lee didn't know who the Prides guy was, but judging from the guard's behavior, the shorty was someone important around here.
"What do you want?" The supposedly important person barked at Lee just like the guard did earlier.
Lee blanked out for a moment, expecting a different attitude, but quickly recovered, and said, "I'm here to apply for a job. I've recommendation letter addressed to steward Bason."
Prides measured Lee from head to toe with his eyes, and asked, "How old are you, kid?"
"Fifteen, Sir!" Lee proudly said, trying the same tactics he successfully used with Sanders, "But please don't judge by my looks, I'm very tenacious and capable! In the letter ..."
"What do you think of horses?" Prides interrupted him.
"They are majestic animals …" Lee got confused by the sudden question, and said the first thing that came to mind.
"Mhm, mhm." Prides nodded, "Can you ride one?"
"Yes, Sir …" Lee mumbled, and intended to bring up the recommendation letter again when Prides beckoned, and said, "Follow me!"
While it didn't matter the position Lee was hired for, he was seriously annoyed when he realized that Pride walked him over to the stables. His idea was to serve minister of works for a couple of months until the New Year celebration which this time was supposed to be hosted by the Orpen family.
It could provide an opportunity to deal with one of the four remaining targets, although Lee wasn't clear on details yet. But working in the stables and shoveling horse shit was not what he imagined the upcoming months to be like.
"Sir! I brought a recommendation letter from master Sanders, and wanted …" Lee tried to change the course of events, but it was futile.
Prides completely ignored him, and shouted towards the stables, "Skippy! Bring Stella over!"
Then he glanced at Lee, and said, "Let's see what you're made of!"
Things weren't going according to the plan, but Lee knew he could run off anytime. In the worst case scenario he would return to Freeda and hang out with his grandma while training and waiting for an opportunity.
He didn't have the concept of wasting time – he had all the time in the world. More importantly, it was delusional to think he could deal with the three young generals and the princess as easy as he dealt with the rest. Revenge always takes time.