Before Mehr woke up; in a room, dimly lit by the mild and serene moonlight, sat a few men. Some of them sat with their ostentatious splendor, wearing their pompous arrogance on their face, while one sat in front of them, in a poised and imposing manner. Blake Elmare served the poised man some tea as they talked about the topics that could be understood as traitorous affairs.

“The King of Ruvonne has become suspicious of us, Lord Erwin. He has been keeping a close eye on us.” The seemingly arrogant man spoke to Erwin Frye.

“King Acacia has been suspicious of us ever since I left the Royal Court. It was strange, though, that he didn’t show up at Anna Forde’s celebratory occasion.”

“Oh, he might have heard that Lady Maria was coming. I mean, with their history…..”

Erwin Frye raised his brow towards the man who was speaking. With the raise of the brow, came the silence in the room that bore down on all the attendees. It was a taboo topic, not only in the Frye household but also in the Royal Court. The sour relationships hanging on the bitter memories of the past, were capable of creating devastating situations if touched abruptly. So everyone kept quiet, sitting silently in the oppressive atmosphere.

“What about Young Master Sirius? He can use mana now, can’t he? We can tell the world about him.” A different man, sitting in the back, spoke politely. His suggestion garnered mumbles of approval from his peers sitting alongside him. Erwin, while sipping his tea, shook his head at the conjecture and effectively refused it.

“It is not the right time yet. Sirius cannot be brought to light yet and his identity shall remain a secret. In public’s eyes, he should just be the heir of the Frye Family, nothing more than that. He would first make a good name for himself on his own merit, only then will we think about revealing his identity. Not before that.”

“Have you really decided to send Young Master Sirius to the Academy of Baelor? Even while knowing that the cult might have infiltrated it?” The man in the back spoke again in a tone that seemed a little irritated this time. Even if the man sitting in front of him was Erwin Frye himself, this matter was too great and important, not to get a little irate.

“If you’re worried about the cult, then you can’t imagine yourself safe anywhere. After all, someone in this room might be one of the cult members and we would never know.”

As the words came out of Erwin’s mouth, the air in the room got increasingly heavier. Eyes of the men sitting in the room, locked with others’ as they looked around in a brief moment of hopelessness. They calmed down, however, fairly simply when they heard Erwin knocking on the table. “Leave the issue.” Erwin said, “There is no point in trying to find an enemy that our eyes can’t see.”

“Lord Erwin.” The first man spoke, whose pompous arrogance had gone down substantially throughout the meeting. “What about the child, called Mehr? Didn’t the Goddess of Knowledge say that he will be very important. So, why don’t we just break his mind, while he is unconscious, and make him subservient to us? It would cull any risk of betrayal in the future.”

Erwin Frye’s hand stopped in its tracks as he was lifting his teacup. He slowly shifted his eyes towards the man that had spoken, and fixed the man in his sight. Erwin took a moment, while just staring at the man, with his legs folded and the teacup still in his hand.

“Congratulations.” Erwin said mildly, while nodding his head, “You have accomplished something far greater than your value today. You’ve managed to disgust me twice, to a degree that seems unreachable by your standards. Well, Now that I think about it… every accomplishment seems unreachable by your standards. I shall allow you to leave. Heavens forbid you gain a brain while sitting with us.”

The air shook around the pompous man and his body was jerked away through the windows. Everyone, apart from Erwin, looked at Blake Elmare, who had raised his hand to make the man fly away. Erwin put his teacup down on the table and looked at the attendees present in the room. Every member was chosen carefully, from some of the most powerful houses of various kingdoms. Ruvonnes's nobles were a given, of course, but along with them, extremely prominent members of nobility from Leklenia; people of power from the Neer Republic; and even some aristocrats from Ruhala. It was a gathering of giants, and yet it was happening in a solitary room, situated in the corner of a palace cut off from the world.

"If only we had more strength, we could directly challenge King Acacia, and even the cult that has lingered in the dark for almost a thousand years."

"When you wish for power…" Erwin said, "Do not wish for power to cast onto others; wish for power upon yourself, and the most important power to wish for….is patience. Everything will happen when it is time for it to happen. The biggest enemies of impatient people are themselves, often tripping at their own steps. When the time is right, we will make our move and the world will watch in awe."

Erwin's words fell on everyone's heart heavily, drowning out the fears of the attendees. Silence lingered in the room for a moment before Blake Elmare got close to Erwin's ears and whispered something. Erwin looked towards the attendees and with a wave of his hand, dismissed the meeting.

"How is he feeling?" Erwin asked.

"He woke up not too long ago, My Lord. He still seems a bit out of it." Blake answered as he removed the teacup from the table.

"Did he talk about the visions he saw?"

"Same as Young Master Sirius. No different really."

"And yet, he was unconscious for two weeks? Well, call him here. Oh, call Sirius as well."

It didn't take much time for the kids' chatter to be audible through the doorway. Sirius was laughing, jabbing at Mehr with his words, while Mehr jabbed back.

"You look like an old man!" Sirius commented while laughing, pointing out the sunken cheeks and dried hair on Mehr's head.

"What you mean to say is that I look as mature as I actually am, unlike yourself obviously." Mehr clapped back almost instantly. He was walking weakly, still not used to his thin legs. His life force was sustained with mana for two weeks, albeit with a toll on his body. He looked all bones, his eyes sunken in, and his posture bent. And yet, he laughed without a care of his own body. His heavy heart was being uplifted by every step he took, with the support of his friend.

They entered the room and paid respects to Erwin Frye. Blake had also left at some point and only three people remained in the room. Erwin, Sirius and Mehr. Erwin looked at the state of Mehr's body with close scrutiny, before asking, "How do you feel?"

Erwin's voice came out surprisingly gentle, unlike his usual booming voice that seemed to put fear in everyone's heart.

"I'm feeling good, My Lord. This is just physical weakness. I'll probably be able to move properly in a couple of days."

Erwin nodded as he asked the children to sit down. The dimly lit room felt a bit more homely with the addition of two children. Erwin looked at the children, while lost in his own thoughts for a while, before he started speaking.

"When I was a child, my opinions never meant anything to people. For them, I was nothing but the talentless fool from the Frye Family. For my brothers, I was an eyesore and to my parents, I was their greatest mistake. In every gathering and on every occasion, I felt unwanted. So one day I decided that I would make people notice me." Erwin spoke every word clearly, surprisingly with emotions that were kept locked away for years.

"It was a celebration at the Royal Court. All of the nobility were there, along with the Royal Family themselves. In the middle of the hall, while people were discussing things regarding nonsensical topics, I screamed. I screamed as loud as I could, with the shameless strength I never knew I had…. and everyone looked at me. The repugnance in their eyes, and the contempt on their faces drowned out my voice eventually. My father said I was a disgrace to the Frye family and I had destroyed the public image our ancestors had created." With every sentence he spoke, Erwin's voice became milder, slowly reaching to the point of only a clear whisper.

"Image, I learned later in life, doesn't matter to people. The only ones who have ever cared about their image, were the ones who never had anything else to struggle for. Great people, weaponize their image. I once was a child screaming for attention, and people around me jeered. Now, when I enter a hall full of people, powerful enough to crush me in a moment, they all keep their heads low. They bow down to someone who is a cripple, just to make a positive image. But you, my child…" Erwin stood up from his chair and walked right up to the seats of Sirius and Mehr. He sat on one knee, an action foreign to Erwin Frye, and looked into the eyes of Sirius.

"You can use mana. You, right now, are stronger than I could ever hope to be. If I can be where I am today, you can reach the heights unimagined. No hurdle is big enough to break you, Sirius."

Sirius nodded, with determination in his eyes. It was the first time that his father had shown a trace of emotion to him. With his clenched fists and fire in heart, Sirius vowed to someday make his father proud. Erwin looked at Mehr, sitting weakly in his chair while listening to Erwin's story. His brows were droopy and a frown sat on his forehead, making him look bored and annoyed as always. Yet he was listening attentively, to the man of great stature. Even if Mehr didn't like Erwin Frye, it was obvious to him that the man was extraordinary.

"I believe you both are friends, isn't that right? Having someone to rely on, can be incredibly powerful sometimes. And yet, it can also be shackles. Four years. That's the time you both have. In four years, I would like to see the shackles of burden broken, and two powerful people who stand by each other. You both will be going to the Academy of Baelor."

Erwin dismissed the children, who went on to sit in the garden outside.

"Four years, huh."

"Yup."

"Want to make a bet to see who would be stronger at the end?"

"Shameless. Challenging me when I'm weak. Eh, whatever. You're on."

**********

Back in the room, air shook intensely and a silhouette of a man appeared behind Erwin's chair.

"You didn't tell them the full story, My Lord." Blake Elmare spoke from behind the chair as he looked outside the window, looking at the children sitting in the garden under mild moonlight.

"When you tell your life stories to your child, Blake, you never tell them the ugliest parts of it. A lesson you should learn, perhaps."

"Haha, I'm very sure I'm never going to need it."

Erwin stood up and walked upto the window to stand alongside Blake Elmare. He looked outside to gaze at the moon and slowly shifted his sight towards Sirius and Mehr.

"What do you think the Goddess of Knowledge wants from us exactly?" Erwin said. Blake abruptly looked at Erwin, who was still peacefully looking at the children.

"I don't think that's a good question to ask, My Lord."

"You know they are not actually gods, right? They are humans, just like us. The only non-ordinary thing about them, apart from their strength, is that when they die, they can leave a piece of their soul behind. Only a handful of people are picked to know of this secret, which of course, makes them think they are some special chosen ones. That spawns belief, and well, while belief is a fool's poison, it is a wise man's greatest weapon."

"Still, My Lord. The Goddess has ears everywhere."

"I know. I just wonder sometimes, if letting that child, Mehr, in that day was the right decision. I just wonder sometimes…."