The soft morning sunlight streamed into the ancient castle, passing through the windows and falling onto the bed.

  Rubbing his tired eyes, Hudson stretched with a big yawn.

  Yes, he had decided to go out for a walk. After spending two days in bed, Hudson felt like he was about to grow mold.

  No phone, no computer, no entertainment—being cooped up in bed was nothing short of hellish torture.

  If it weren’t for the fear of being exposed and ending up on a roasting spit as a devil, he wouldn’t have bothered pretending to be sick.

  Over the past two days, all the important figures in the castle had come to visit him. Thanks to his exceptional memory, Hudson could guarantee he wouldn’t mistake anyone.

  That was enough. In this rigidly hierarchical noble world, as long as he managed his retionships with the upper echelons, he would be fine.

  A rge cup of beast milk, a piece of bread, a fruit resembling a tomato, some sauces, butter, and a piece of roasted meat made up Hudson’s breakfast.

  Without a doubt, such a luxurious treatment wasn’t something an ordinary baron’s son could enjoy every day.

  Presumably, Priest Quinn’s words had pyed a role. After all, excessive energy consumption required proper replenishment.

  Just as he stepped out of his room and took a few steps, he ran into the baroness, who was clearly tipped off by someone.

  There was no need to dig deeper into this. As the mistress of the castle, it was all too easy for her to have a few loyal informants.

  "Hudson, you’re fine! That’s wonderful! Great Lord of the Dawn be praised. You have no idea how worried I’ve been these past few days..."

  Hudson believed half of what the baroness said. She had indeed been very worried these past few days—but not about the original host’s health. Rather, she was worried about her own son, who was still hanging on the pilr.

  Although he had been confined to his sickbed these past two days, Hudson wasn’t completely in the dark about what had been happening in the castle.

  From the maids, he had learned that on the day of the incident, an enraged Baron Redman had given Lesuer a severe beating. Even the baroness, who had tried to intervene, had been struck with a whip.

  Perhaps feeling it wasn’t enough, or perhaps to give an expnation to the various parties, the baron had also ordered Lesuer to be tied to a pilr.

  If Hudson hadn’t taken over the body, Lesuer would likely have met a grim fate.

  "Swapping the life essence." At its mildest, it was just a prank; at its worst, it was an attempt to murder an elder brother.

  Awakening the seed of life had always been fraught with danger. In ancient times, only one in ten survived. It wasn’t until the greatest alchemist of the Asnt continent, Kemberoy, invented the life essence that things changed.

  Not only did the success rate increase to fifty percent, but even if the awakening failed, one could still survive, unlike in ancient times when it was a matter of life or death.

  It was the creation of life essence that significantly increased the success rate of awakening the seed of life, allowing knights blessed by the gods to gradually become the mainstream of the continent.

  Of course, whether they were truly "blessed by the gods" remained to be further verified, but that’s how it was recorded in history books.

  However, knights who had awakened the seed of life did indeed gain benefits. Not only did their physical abilities improve, but they also gained a significant increase in affinity with beasts.

  Almost every knight had their own mount. While this advantage might not be too obvious in one-on-one combat, when they appeared on the battlefield in formation, it was a scene of overwhelming dominance.

  Noble children matured early. Lesuer was almost fifteen and couldn’t possibly be unaware of the dangers of attempting to awaken without the aid of life essence. A simple "prank" wouldn’t suffice as an expnation.

  "Respected Lady Tassi, one must always be responsible for their actions. Making a mistake requires paying a price. That is a rule every noble must abide by."

  Hudson didn’t hold back in his sarcasm.

  Frankly, he didn’t want to csh with the baroness at this moment. But there was no other choice. The original host’s retionship with the baroness had always been terrible.

  Now that this had happened, if he were to remain amiable, it would only draw more attention.

  "Hudson, don’t say that. Lesuer is your brother, and he’s just a child..."

  Before the baroness could finish, Hudson deliberately interrupted with feigned anger: "Yes, he’s just a child.

  But that doesn’t exempt him from following the rules. Unless, of course, you believe Lesuer isn’t a noble!"

  The sarcasm was btant. The baroness’s background had always been her sore spot, preventing her from fully integrating into noble circles.

  Normally, anyone who dared to bring this up would have faced her immediate wrath. But now, with her precious son still hanging on the pilr, she couldn’t afford to be confrontational.

  Seeing the baroness too angry to speak, Hudson sighed inwardly. He had hinted so clearly, yet she hadn’t picked up on the underlying message. This act had been wasted.

  Indeed, such high-level tactics weren’t for everyone.

  But then again, if the baroness were truly that clever, this incident wouldn’t have happened, and he and his brothers might not have grown up so smoothly.

  Perhaps this was also why she had become the baroness. Being too clever clearly wasn’t suitable for a stepmother.

  After a pause, Hudson reluctantly said, "Alright, my dy. For your sake, I can let Lesuer off this once. But there must be compensation."

  The sudden shift caught the baroness off guard. Perhaps it was her innate instinct, but upon hearing the word "compensation," her expression visibly tightened.

  "What do you want?"

  As soon as the words left her mouth, the baroness realized her mistake. Given her current disadvantage, rushing to offer terms clearly went against the principles of negotiation.

  Hudson frowned. Directly discussing prices was too vulgar and didn’t align with his noble demeanor. But thinking of his empty pockets, he lost the confidence to remain aloof.

  "500 gold coins!"

  It wasn’t that he didn’t want more, but the true master of the castle was still his father. Aside from some money, the baroness had little else to offer.

  "You might as well rob me!"

  The words burst out almost instinctively. Clearly, the amount Hudson deemed reasonable far exceeded the baroness’s expectations.

  "My dy, please maintain your dignity!"

  "According to the common practices of continental warfare, the ransom for a noble knight is 500 gold coins. My demand is entirely in line with the rules. Please abide by them."

  Hudson spoke with an impassive expression.

  Once rules were invoked, everything became serious. While matching the ransom to a prisoner of war’s status was somewhat absurd, it wasn’t entirely baseless.

  Although the baroness knew Lesuer wouldn’t die, as long as Hudson didn’t relent, the matter wouldn’t be resolved.

  If she didn’t settle this now before the news spread and other members of the Coslow family got involved, things would become far more complicated.