The papers were bound into thick books, with grids already drawn and each row marked with the required information to be filled in. This way, they only needed to follow the content on the forms to register the freemen.

Of course, in reality, Miguel wasn’t so kind as to help out a steward he looked down upon by doing such registration work. The real reason he did it was to take the opportunity to inquire about the benefits for freemen renting the Duke’s land.

Miguel had two sons at home, both nearing adulthood. The eldest was already set to inherit his status and continue serving the Gonzalez family, but the...