Lord Prestonheim woke up in the cold, dimly lit room of the Arenfall castle. He moved his body to check the wounds he got during that deadly battle against the monsters from the burrow. He still couldn't believe that after all this time, his great granduncle's bedtime story was actually true.

The silver-haired Commander sat on the bed and tried to recall everything that had occurred during that chaotic situation. He recalled struggling against those damned monsters with every ounce of light magic he could conjure and made sure every attack counted.

The Dhampiirs proved to be worthy of their lore. The hellish creatures came and fed on him, draining him with his blood while showing him both fear and despair. From the images they flooded his mind to the revenants they summoned along with them, he thought he would've died on that encounter.

The living nightmare that he had to relive while fighting the Dhampiirs tolled both his body and mind. If it weren't for his strict training and conditioning, he would not have made it out alive of that battle. Even if he did, he'd be a broken man. He looked at the ceiling and thought about those who weren't as lucky as he was.

"Those knights…" he sighed and mumbled a prayer, "Oh gods ever present, I pray you deliver the souls of my men to your warm embraces."

He felt sorry for the young knights that he brought there with him. It was supposed to be a simple mission, kill the monsters that might be inside the mines. Unfortunately, the mine collapsed after they encountered a spawn of gigantic centipede.

Then there were the monsters from the burrow, the Dhampiirs. He knew his men were well-equipped but unfortunately, they were unprepared for the anomalies that lurked underneath the ground beyond the darkness of the hole. The green knights perished in one single night, three xedecima worth of men.

He was lucky to have come of it alive, but now came the hard part. During the aftermath of the monsters' attacks, an army of knights from the Bieroff household came and took him away. He's being arrested as an instigator of destroying the Principalia-owned property. The same offense he judged for the late Lord Bieroff.

It looked like the red-haired slave came running to Arenfall castle and told everything that was going on. Not to mention lies that the silver-tongued maniac might have reported to the Bieroffs. He's worried that the redhead could've shared the information about the Aetherium find but he's not sure.

Lord Prestonheim never wanted that sly former noble. But at the same time, he cannot leave him out there. As embarrassing as it may be for him to tell, the Commander and the red-haired, crazy slave were bound by a pact with each other during their younger years as part of the defunct Imperial Knights Crimson Order.

In hindsight, shouldn't have made that decision to make a pact with him but the past was a different time. It was when the war to conquer the Great Eastern Forest, Vridian was at its peak. They wanted to cull the faerfolks' power and take their capital for the budding Principalia.

The Principalia back then, sought them out for their abilities. They sought from him his unparalleled ability to use exousia and magic. An ability that wasn't rivalled for three decades until the birth of Prince Veritus.

305-M was sought for his intellect and ingenuity. His inventions and strategies proved to be invaluable during the war. He was brutal and inhumane, but the previous emperor saw the worth of his inventions and infernal machinations that he ignored the madness of his ideas. Lord Prestonheim knew the horrors of the mad redhead's research and kept it for the longest time because of their oath.

Although disgusted with 305-M's recent betrayal, the Commander never expected much from him. He knew very well that with him by his side, it would only be a matter of time before he rambled out things to the other nobles. But even with that risk, he never had a choice. Nobody was as adept as him when it came to identifying minerals and metals. In fact, he was the only one aside from his one and only student who knew about the magical properties of adamantite.

It was already a gamble he knew he would lose. But the Commander came prepared. He knew how 305-M would be too preoccupied with the aetherium and won't bother sharing out his knowledge to the nobles. The Commander knew how the redhead pride himself of giving accurate and well-founded information. It meant that 305-M would not report it until he gained a conclusive find.

This, however, was an exemption and that bothered Lord Prestonheim. But he didn't want to dwell on that. What he needed to do right now was find a way out of the castle in one piece and prevent further aggravation of his knights with the Bieroffs' knights. He hoped that the letter he tasked Eferail was delivered safely to Prince Arterius. That was his only hope in surviving and saving Adaloun from this ordeal.

Suddenly the door slammed wide open, four knights entered the room with a sneering young Lord Bieroff approaching him.

"Lord Prestonheim," The arrogant child spat. "Mother told me to welcome you here!"

The Commander saw the disinterest in the child's eyes, "You're too kind, Idram. Your—"

Before he could finish his sentence, the young boy abruptly interrupted him. "I SAID CALL ME LORD BIEROFF!" He shouted.

All of the sudden, Idram unsheathed and tried to intimidate the old Commander in true Bieroff fashion. But before he could swing the sword the calm Lord Prestonheim glared at the arrogant lord. The older lord stood up and met the younger lord's eyes and intently intimidated the child with a stare.

The new Lord of Arenfall quickly tumbled back and dropped his sword.

"In order for you to kill, you must learn how to swing a sword." Lord Prestonheim said calmly. "In order for you to swing a sword, you must have courage, Lord Bieroff. And by the gods, do not hesitate because I won't hesitate to retaliate."

The knights immediately protected the fallen lord and immediately unsheathed their weapons.

"That goes for all of you as well!" He stood up with his arms crossed. "Let me just reiterate, I. Won't. Hesitate."

Lord Prestonheim's eyes never left Idram's. The old Commander could see a puddle forming from where the child sat. Idram's lips shook and the knights' knees trembled in horror as the older lord gave them a taste of overwhelming presence. 

He took a step forward and the knights began to cower back, dragging the Lord of Arenfall.

"A pleasant morning, Augustus!" Lady Adrena Bieroff entered the room along with her slew of handmaidens. "I trust you had your good night's sleep?"

Lord Prestonheim nodded. He wasn't in the mood to answer the Lady. In fact, he wasn't in the mood to deal with them at all. He watched as Lady Bieroff noticed the puddle streaking on the floor. Her alluring smile turned into a frown of disgust.

Lady Bieroff scowled at her son, "You useless prick!" She slapped her son and diving his face into the puddle of urine spreading rapidly on the floor.

The knights stood there and never once tried to save the Lord of Arenfall. After his mother was done washing his son's face with his own urine on the floor, she then pinched and twisted his ear. Lord Prestonheim could see Idram's face contort in horror as he slowly stood up since his mother was not letting go of his ear.

She dragged her son out of the room, the knights followed out trembling in fear. Before she left, she looked back at the old Commander with the phony alluring smile on her face.

"My Lord," She bowed as if nothing happened earlier. "Join me for breakfast. I will be at the garden. I'll wait for you!" She looked at one of her handmaidens and immediately asked her to clean the room.

The handmaiden gracefully knelt to the floor and using the lower part of her apron, she wiped the floor dry. After she was finished, she bowed to Lord Prestonheim then to Lady Bieroff before going back to the entourage.

He could see the late Lord Bieroff's arrogance on the child. His mannerisms, the way he talked and bragged about himself was exactly his spitting image. The way he cruised around with his bodyguards made him recall the many times the late Lord Bieroff would try and intimidate him with his ill-equipped and ill-prepared knights.

The similarities go on to show that the apple didn't fall far from the tree. Lord Prestonheim couldn't help but crack a smile on the scene that happened earlier. He sat back down slowly before leaving out a sigh.

"Look at the dog running with the tail behind its back." He scoffed in disbelief. "By the gods, what a pathetic kid!"

"Snowflake." He murmured.