The door burst open with a sharp, resounding bang as it slammed against the wall, jolting everyone in the room. The sudden noise startled Etien, who had been calmly sipping his hot tea, nearly spilling it, and snapped Glen awake from his brief moment of rest.
"Etien!" a voice bellowed the mansion's owner.
Without missing a beat, the blond-haired man rushed toward the Duke, throwing his arms around him as if they had been separated by time and space itself.
"You're okay, right? That damn Emperor didn't hurt you, did he? If he did, where?! I'll have Urioil's finest mage send a deadly curse his way! And, did you eat well? Or did that bastard snatch food straight from your plate after that ridiculous reform you carried out? Did he trample all over you, force you to work like a lowly servant? This is unacceptable! If he laid so much as a finger on you, I swear I'll be the first to drive a blade through his heart! So tell me, did he do anything to you?"
