I Died and Became a Noble's Heir

Chapter 613 613: Celeste Kaiser

The Countess finally moved, rising from her chair with the smooth grace expected of nobility despite the tension crackling through the room like lightning preparing to strike.

Her voice emerged soft and measured, trained to soothe rather than inflame.

"Perhaps we should all take a moment to..."

"Silence, woman!" the Earl barked, his attention snapping toward his wife with fury that had nowhere else to discharge. "Your family's blood is why our soldiers are cowards! Those guards came from your father's territory, trained by your family's methods, and they ran the moment danger arrived!"

The Countess's expression went carefully blank, her eyes dropping to the floor as she recognized that speaking further would only redirect his rage toward easier targets.

The Earl turned back to Victoria, his breathing heavy as he prepared to deliver whatever final condemnation would end this argument and restore his authority through sheer volume if not through logic.

But before he could speak, a knock echoed through the drawing room with sharp precision.

The door opened without waiting for permission, and one of the house guards stepped inside. His uniform looked clean, pristine, but only from a distance

The Starfells couldn't afford new livery for their staff anymore, so the existing uniforms were mended and pressed until they looked presentable from a distance.

The guard's face was pale, his expression carrying fear that transcended normal servant nervousness about interrupting noble arguments.

"My lord," he stated, his voice carefully controlled despite obvious terror bleeding through every word. "There's... there are Kaisers at the gate."

The drawing room went completely silent.

The Earl's rage-flushed face drained of color in seconds, turning from dark red to ashen gray as the implications sank in.

His mouth opened, closed, then opened again without producing sound as his mind tried desperately to calculate what this visit might mean.

Multiple Kaisers arrived at his gate without prior notification.

The Countess's hands clenched in her lap, her carefully maintained composure cracking as fear replaced the neutral observation she'd been maintaining throughout the argument.

Victoria's anger evaporated, replaced by cold dread as she recognized that whatever was about to happen would be worse than anything her father's financial mismanagement had created.

"Which Kaisers?" the Earl finally managed, his voice emerging as a raspy whisper rather than the commanding tone he'd been using moments before.

The guard swallowed hard, his Adam's apple bobbing visibly. "Miss Celeste Kaiser and... and someone named S, my lord. They're waiting at the front gate. Miss Kaiser is... she's playing cards with the gate guards."

The Earl's legs seemed to weaken, and he reached out to grip the mantle for support as his mind processed this information and tried to determine what it meant that Jack Kaiser's sister had arrived with his personal assistant.

"Tell them..." he started, then stopped when he realized there was no version of this in which he could refuse entry or delay the meeting. "Tell them we'll receive them in the drawing room immediately. And for God's sake, find the Grand Reserve wine. The good bottle, from the cellar."

The guard bowed quickly and departed, his footsteps echoing down the hallway. They ran quickly because he was grateful to escape the oppressive atmosphere of the room.

The Earl turned to his wife, his voice emerging with desperate authority, trying to impose control over a situation that had already spiraled beyond his control.

"Fix your hair. Look presentable. This family will at least maintain dignity during whatever comes next."

The Countess nodded mutely, her hands smoothing her dress despite it already being perfectly arranged.

Victoria remained frozen near the window, her earlier anger replaced by genuine fear as she wondered what Jack Kaiser had decided to do with a family that owed him everything and had paid him nothing except accumulated humiliation.

The candles continued burning, their wax dripping onto holders as the flames consumed the final inches of expensive material.

-----

The front gates of Starfell Manor were wrought iron, twelve feet tall, decorated with the family crest that featured a six-pointed star overlaid on what was meant to be a wheat sheaf but looked more like a collection of sticks held together by optimistic metalwork.

Two guards stood at attention on either side, their uniforms pressed and their postures rigid, despite having stood in the cold evening air for six hours with nothing to do but watch an empty road and contemplate their employment prospects as a family slid rapidly toward bankruptcy.

Celeste Kaiser was seated cross-legged atop the stone wall next to the gate, appearing relaxed and somewhat disengaged.

She was tossing a gold coin into the air, catching it, then tossing it again in a rhythm that created small metallic sounds each time the coin slapped against her palm.

"Odds or evens?" she called down to the guards, her voice carrying cheerful energy that contrasted sharply with their obvious nervousness.

The left guard, a man in his thirties with a scar across his cheek from some long-ago skirmish, swallowed hard before responding. "I... we're on duty, Miss Kaiser. We shouldn't be gambling while..."

"I wasn't asking if you wanted to play," Celeste interrupted, her grin widening as she examined the guards with predatory interest. "I was asking you to pick odds or evens. The game's already started. You're just deciding which side you're betting on."

The right guard, younger and less experienced, made the mistake of glancing at his companion for guidance. The older guard's expression communicated that there was no good option here except compliance.

"Evens," the scarred guard finally stated, his voice carefully neutral.

Celeste's coin spun through the air, glinting in the fading sunlight before landing in her palm.

She opened her hand to reveal the result, then laughed with genuine delight.

"Odds! That's the third time in a row I've won!" She gestured toward the younger guard's hand. "Nice ring. Family heirloom, or just expensive enough to look impressive?"

The young guard's face went pale as he registered what she was implying. His right hand moved instinctively to cover the silver band on his finger, as if hiding it could somehow reverse the bet that had apparently already been made and lost.

"Miss Kaiser, I... this was my grandfather's..."

"And now it's mine," Celeste confirmed cheerfully, holding out her hand in expectation. "Rules of the game. You lose the bet, you pay up. Don't make me explain basic gambling ethics to people who should understand how this works."

The older guard's jaw clenched, his hand moving fractionally toward the short sword at his belt before survival instinct overrode pride and reminded him that threatening a Kaiser was the fastest way to transform a bad situation into a catastrophically lethal one.

"Give her the ring," he muttered to his companion, his voice carrying resignation that came from recognizing there was no winning move available.

The younger guard slowly pulled the silver band from his finger, his hands trembling slightly as he passed it up to Celeste. She examined it with casual interest, noting the craftsmanship before sliding it onto her own finger where it sat alongside two other rings she'd apparently already won.

"Good quality," she observed, twisting her hand to make the silver catch the light. "Your grandfather had taste. Shame about the gambling luck, though. Seems like it doesn't run in your family."

She tossed the gold coin again, the metal spinning through the air in a lazy arc before landing back in her palm.