“You still have the passion of youth,” noted the baron. “Eventually, you will come to see your duty.”
“Duty,” said Ludwig. “Why does it feel like such an onerous word?”
“It"s what drives the nobility, my friend. Nobility without duty is nothing but chaos.”
“You speak of duty, but what of your duty to your subjects?”
Lord Wulfram was taken aback. “Whatever do you mean?”
“Surely, as baron, you swore to protect them, did you not?”
“What gave you that idea?”
“Are you not charged by your liege lord to watch over your people?”
“Don’t be absurd,” said Lord Wulfram. “The only oath I took was to collect the taxes on behalf of the duke. My tenants are there to serve me, not I, them. You have such strange ideas for a baron’s son. Is that the influence of this woman you spoke of?”
“I suppose
