……………………...A few years ago………………………

Two blue eyes followed the blond flirt as he attempted to put charms on the similarly haired woman. The jovial attitude of his friend was amusing, or rather, it would have been amusing if the woman was anyone but the future duchess of Yikensworth.

The owner of those eyes almost forced himself from not rolling them when the blond began speaking the same lines he’d heard him use on many other women a hundred times before. He had thought that since the woman standing before them was their benefactors daughter he would’ve treated her differently. Alas, much to his disappointment his childhood friend treated all woman equally.

‘You’re playing a dangerous game,’ Luvrit thought. His eyes raised in equal shock and horror when Peter nonchalantly placed a hand on the 14-year-old girl and twirled her around.

“What are you doing?” Lidia asked stiffly.

“Memorizing what an angel looks like,” Peter spoke, walking around her. “I’ve never considered myself blessed, my lady, but after meeting you, I know god’s smiling upon me today.”

“Uh-Luvrit”

Luvrit looked behind to see Fliss pulling his shirt. The young boy motioned towards their friend and Luvrit understood the implication.

“Peter, how about we talk about something else?” Luvrit tried pulling him away but the snake twirled out of reach.

“Oh, but how could I? After seeing her,” Peter cupped her cheek, drawing her closer. “Mentioning anything else almost seems like a sin.”

‘That idiot,’ Luvrit tried intervening but before he could do anything Lidia reacted by elbowing Peter, catching him by surprise and throwing him onto the ground. Luvrit looked up just in time to catch the duchess coming around the corner, flanked by two spearmen. ‘Always…’

He looked down and caught Peter’s gaze, a look of understanding dawned upon the blond before he punched him across the jaw. Luvrit looked up and was relieved to find both mother and daughter equally confused.

“Please excuse him, he didn’t know,” Luvrit kept his head bowed in apology.

“What do you-”

“Lidia! What are you doing outside?” the duchess exclaimed, causing the girl in question to jump in surprise.

“Mo-mother, I just wanted to meet uncle Volvo,” she stuttered.

“Hmph, and what do you think your uncle Barton would think of being replaced by a commoner?” she sneered. “Honestly Lidia, that man is the sole reason you are so neglecting of your studies, swords and shields will not help you support run a fiefdom and it certainly does not help that your father is incouraging this inappropriate behavior.”

“What is this about incouraging inappropriate behavior?” someone said from behind them. The guards immediately stepped aside and bowed to the two men approaching. Luvrit looked over to Lidia and was surprised to find her actucally smile at the intimidating men. He pulled Peter back as the duchess spoke;

“Dear, I was just explaining to our daughter how cross her uncle Barton would be to hear that she’s replaced him with your…mercenary.”

“You flatter me too much, my lady,” Volvo bowed. “I would never be able to replace someone as important as baron Barton Willus. He is doing good work in bringing peace and prosperity to the land he’s been given charge of.”

“Yes, yes, he is…mercanery.”

The way she spoke of Volvo told him how highly she valued the man and that actually irked him, to have someone speak like that to his mentor and leader. The tightening grip of Peter’s fists told him that he was not alone in this thought.

“If you’re awake, could you not weigh so much?” he whispered. “Volvo’s gonna kill you when he finds out what you did.”

His response was a small shrug.

“Hmm, Volvo, why is your ward sleeping?” the duke spoke up. He was…regal, in both his voice and the way he held himself. He’d heard most of the nobles were fat like pigs but seeing someone well built like his leader…Humphry owed him some money. The duke; William von Solus, otherwise known as the blue devil of Ansdrovea or the blue flame of Yikensworth etc. was someone who he aspired to be. He considered himself lucky to have such a man as his benefactor. In the books he’d read about the warring history of this region his name had come up not thrice but five times. His military achievements were numerous and if the depictions of the state of this region before his rule was any indication, so were his managerial achievements.

Luvrit was so lost in thought that it took him a moment to realize that he was being addressed.

“S-sorry Volvo, I was…a little taken aback by his lordship’s…regal, stature,” he winced a little. He’d been practicing how to speak Noble-tongue for a while, ever since he heard who his benefactor was, but he’d still made a mistake in joining his words.

“…” a deafening silence descended as the three nobles stared at him. Lidia was shocked while her parents held a touch of…amusement in their eyes.

“Is this the boy you were recommending, Volvo?” duke von Solus asked.

“Yes,” Volvo said. Luvrit felt a pang of shame as Volvo massaged his forehead in exhaustion, as if reprimanding him for speaking. “The boy was excited to meet you, so he wanted to impress.”

“Hah, what a pathetic pursuit of the Noble tongue,” Luvirt liked this woman less and less.

“What I was saying, Luvrit was why is Peter unconscious?”

“He was out of line, Volvo, he needed to be taught a lesson,” Luvrit looked up and pleaded for Lidia to keep quiet. She didn’t.

“He touched me daddy!”

The duke’s face turned to stone as he stared with narrowed eyes at Peter. Volvo was similarly staring at their direction but he was more shocked than his benefactor.

“Guard’s,” the two spearmen stood in attention. “escort my daughter and her mother to my room.”

‘Is he gonna die?’ Luvirt thought. He couldn’t help but curse Lidia in his mind. If she had just kept quiet, he could’ve diffused the situation. Volvo had warned him that angering them could mean losing their lives and the look Fliss sent him told him that he was not alone in this thought.

“I trust you punish him appropriately,” duke von Solus turned toward Volvo who vehemently nodded. “Bring your successor after you have ruled out his punishment.”

With that they escorted out of the manor by the guards while he carried Peter on his back. Hours later, the voices coming from their room were different than the pleasure filled moans that usually rocked the rooms of the tavern. He had to excuse atleast four people who came to complain before Volvo finished ruling out Peter’s punishment.

Even when he came out to get some food, Fliss and him still refrained from going in there until the crescent moon had climbed on the starry sky. Peter was still recovering from his beatings but atleast he wasn’t unconscious from them like last time he’d tried something reckless. Luvrit wanted to reprimand him, tell him how stupid he was but seeing the red marks on his naked back and the watery eyes of Fliss he held back. His friend had just been through a beating he didn’t need to be told twice by him, at least now today.

When they were ready to sleep; Peter and Fliss on the floor while him and Volvo, being the oldest, on the beds Volvo came in and motioned for him to follow. He had just enough time to strap his sword when Volvo suddenly left. Luvrit followed him in silence, followed him out the tavern into the alleyways until they came upon a large gridded manhole.

“Uh- Volvo, where are we going?”

“Down here kid,” he replied, lifting the cover. “You wanted to lead, right? Well here’s your chance. Down there’s someone who will decide if you can. Down you go, unless you want to go back?”

“No, I’ll do it.” Luvrit jumped down without hesitation. He needed to prove himself and this was his chance. ‘I get control then I won’t have to worry about Peter or even Fliss attacking Volvo. I’ll be the one to take all the risks, I’ll protect him.…Funny, it smelled a lot better up there.’

He moved aside when he heard Volvo’s ‘hup’ and covered his eyes as splashes of the foul smelling liquid fell on him. Volvo was a large man, it only made sense that his jump would create a larger splash than him.

“Here, light this,” Volvo said, handing him a long stem of rush.

“Rushlights?”

“Still got that flint and steel,” through the darkness he heard some ruffling and assumed that Volvo had grabbed his own stem.

“Yes of course. Here you go, Volvo.” Luvrit first lit Volvo’s rushlight and then his own. Without another word his leader began to walk into the sewers with practiced steps. Luvrit observed and soon found that after every 15-20 steps he jumped or hopped the next.

‘Traps!’ He realized. ‘Whoever we’re about to meet, he’s afraid of being found.’

“Luvrit,” Volvo came to a halt. They were standing before another, larger tunnel entrance, that led into their own, except it was covered by a small dirty cloth illuminated by all the laterns or candles inside. “This is your last warning, my boy. If you go inside here and he finds you unworthy then you’ll either die-”

“Or I’ll take your position as leader,” he nodded solemnly. “Volvo, Peter and Fliss, they are loyal?”

“They are now,” Volvo nodded, leaning against the tunnel walls. “But who know where their loyalties’ll lie in a couple of years.”

“Yes, we won’t know,” he said deep in thought. “But we can control it, I can control it. If I become leader then I can protect them, e-ensure that their loyalties lie where they’ve always been, I can protect us. Uh-no, ah, Volvo, I need you to know that I’m not trying to replace you because I think I can do better. I still have a lot to learn from you. I Just-If I’m leader then whatever we do, it’ll be my responsibility, you won’t be at risk anymore.”

“You think I can’t take care of them?”

“No! Uh-No, I don’t think that. Volvo, you’ve raised us for almost two decades.” ‘He’s gonna hate me for this, but it has to be said.’ “You’re not as fast as you used to be, you’re powerful but in ambushes, raids, the leader has to be at the front so he know’s what’s going on at the battlefield to direct his troops at-”

“Sound’s to me like you think you can do a better job after all.” Volvo smirked. “I do a lot more than just finishing requests as a mercenary Luvrit. Go meet the real boss of this city and you’ll know exactly what you’re replacing me in. If you can survive in there that is.”

Volvo blew out the rushlight with without a word began walking away. Luvrit wanted to follow him but his next words stopped him dead cold.

“As you’ve already figured it out, this place is filled with traps. Stop shying away like a girl and just get in there.”

*Splash*Splash* the sounds of his footsteps faded away.

‘Did he even need the light?’

Luvrit looked at the shit-stained cloth and gathered his courage before traversing the viel. His eyes darted to wherever the light shone, taking in the grimy image of the smelly sewer tunnel. The tunnel was blocked by a couple of boxes piled atop one another, supporting the last person he expected to see in a place like this.

In a grimy place like this; shit and piss stained walls, heavy smell of urine wafting in the air underneath the city, sat the duke of their land, atop a pile of crates. He wore a weird looking mask and a shiny black cloak but there was no mistaking it. The candelabra shining directly beside his face attenuated his most prominent feature, those teal blue eyes.

Luvrit slowly walked up to the base of the boxes, slowly becoming aware that there were others in the shadows watching his every move. Their slow breath becoming more prominent the closer he got, likely an intimidation method.

“Luvrit Ade, you wish to take over Nature’s call as it’s leader,” He said in an unfamiliar voice.

“Yes, my lo-”

“I go by the Big Boss down here, see to it that you address me so.”

“Y-yes, big boss. I wish to replace Volvo as it’s leader.”

As soon as he said that a cacophony of whispers erupted around him. But he paid it no mind, something told him that he would forfeit his life if he didn’t pay the man infront of him his full attention.

“Replace Volvo,” the whispers cut off when he began speaking. “It comes with a heavy burden. Do you think you’re ready to replace my right-hand man, become my new enforcer?”

‘Right-hand man? Enforcer? Should I ask?’ Luvrit thought. ‘No, I shouldn’t show any negativity. I’m here now, better go in all the way or I might die.’

“Yes, I think I do.”

“You think?”

“I know, I know I’m ready, Big Boss.” Luvrit resisted the urge to wipe his sweat as it tickled his nose.

“Volvo carries out takes for me,” the duke stood up and began walking over the crates and boxes as if they were mere steps. “Tasks to keep this city and my rule in this city safe. Tasks that will have you hanged for them.”

“I’ll…I shall carry out those tasks now, Big Boss.”

“Good, because other wise I will reveal what Volvo has done for me and it will be to the gallows for you all,” he stepped into the sludge of urine and shit with a splash. However, Luvrit didn’t move, even when something fell on his cheek. “But before you do I will have you prove it. That you are willing to carry out those tasks.”

Luvrit held his breath as the duke’s hand clasped on his shoulder, wiping whatever it was from his cheek with a gloved thumb.

“You have already proven your loyalty to Volvo, he trusts you, but I do not. You will have to prove that to me.”

“Y-yes, Big Boss. I’m willing to do anything.”

“That’s what they always say before I ask,” Peter could almost see the smile through that weird wirey mask, “I want you to kill…your friend. Your childhood companion, Peter Shanxx.”

‘What!’ Sick dread fell into his heart as he realized what was being asked of him. He had to kill Peter, one of the people he was trying to replace Volvo for. Luvrit’s first instinct was to deny it but that quickly crumbled when an image of him bleeding on the shitty ground flashed through his mind. His second instinct, to kill the duke and fight his way out was also squashed when he remembered how many people were behind him.

“I know what you are thinking, Luvrit Ade,” the man before him said. “You want to deny it, you want to kill me, you want to escape and run away with your friends, yes, I know. I know because this has all happened before-”

“I-I’ll do it,” Luvrit said. His mind was running a thousand kilometers with every breath he took to calm himself. If he did any of the things his mind told him, then he would die. He was doing this to protect his friends, his family. But he didn’t want to die. It was him and only him before Peter, Fliss, Volvo and that other idiot. If there was another way he wanted to give two of his limbs so he could get out of this, but there was none. He couldn’t think of anything so had to accept his fate.

Volvo had warned him that there was no turning back and he knew the price would be high if he was being so secretive, but he never realized what how high it would be.

‘Is this revenge for what Luvrit did with his daughter?’

“Good,” he could tell the duke was surprised by his sudden response. “Take care of that blond fool tonight.”

Luvrit silently nodded and slowly turned to walk back where he came from. Reminding himself that there were traps on his way back.

“Don’t make any mistakes, they are not tolerated, it would be a shame to have to kill you off before you perfected that noble-tongue.” That send a wave of snickers into their shadow-hidden, black-cloth drapped audience.

‘Luvrit, you fool,’ he cursed internally. But he was too exhausted with what was happening to have any bite in it. When he reached the dirty curtain the duke spoke again.

“I’m the all encompassing lord of this city. Nothing happens in here that I don’t know about, so don’t act foolish and make me regret trusting Volvo.”

‘Luvrit, you fool. You fucked up, beating some street rats would be easier than this.’ Luvrit chided himself. He let his body move on it’s own, after he’d made it out of the sewers, while his mind wandered off. He was still acutely aware of the odd looks the onlookers gave him when they wandered too close and got the fresh, prime scent of where their shit goes.

“Hey, watch it!” Someone yelled when he wandered into them. But Luvrit didn’t pay him much mind. He was smaller than him and didn’t even register to his eye level. A midget. Something with a deformity that still had an easier life, than him!

“Fuck off,” Luvrit said with venom and kept walking towards his tavern. He was smart, he had read as many books as he could, cramming everything from battle methods to herbs mixing to fairytales. He couldn’t memorize everything but he still knew a lot more than most people. They called him smart, they looked up to him for answers when Volvo had none. They trusted him and he was going to betray them. He didn’t want to die.

Luvrit looked up at the familiar sounds of jovial laughter coming from inside and saw Volvo sitting at a table talking with some kids. He wanted to go in there and confront him, warn him what the duke was going to do…but he didn’t. Volvo knew the risks and warned him more than once but it was because of his stupid pride that he wouldn’t back down. If he warned him then the duke would know and he’ll die before he had a chance. There were a lot of people in there and that was not including the ones he probably couldn’t see.

‘No doubt, someone is following me right now,’ he thought. ‘It’s what I would do.’

Luvrit slowly made his way inside and up the stairs, uncaring of the looks he was getting. There was a moment on the stairs when he looked down to see Volvo nod his way with a look of understanding. In that moment he wanted to scream out the the duke was the big boss, but that meant he wouldn’t live till tomorrow. He could do nothing but follow along, just like Volvo had.

‘Had I listened before none of this would be happening’ he thought as he made his way into their room. Peter and Fliss were sharing a bed, with the older friend sleeping on his belly to treat the red marks on his back. The little one was cuddled into his arm which was drapped across his stomach, both sleeping soundly despite the noise downstairs.

‘This is all your fault, don’t let someone else suffer for it.’ Luvrit clenched his dagger and shakily pulled it out of it’s sheath. ‘You know you have to make it right, make it as painless as possible. Dieing will make sure your friends aren’t dropped by the noose.’

“How could the person I revered so much turn out like this. It’s hasn’t been a day and already…what a fuckin’ joke.” Luvrit slowly raised the dagger. It shook so violently in his hand that he had to get another hand to keep it stable. He closed his eyes, ignoring all the fluids that came running out of them and prepared for to strike, after all, he didn’t need to see to kill himself.

*Knock*Knock*

The sudden knocking pulled him out of his trance and he gasped in surprise. The room was spinning, there was nothing he could do to stop himself from falling down. The door opened and in stepped his leader. Volvo didn’t flinch at the seen he’d walked in on. The dagger, Peter and Fliss sleeping on the bed, nor his own state had any effect on him as he slowly walked closer and knelt before him.

“It’s okay my boy,” he said, pulling him in a hug. “You passed. The Big Boss would never kill an innocent Yikensman. He just needed to know you were willing to do it, I’ll tell him that you barely stopped. I’ll tell him you passed Luvrit, it’s okay now.”

Volvo spoke a lot more than that, but to Luvrit it was all unimportant. He was about to kill himself because he couldn’t kill his friend. He was weak, pathetic and a coward, he never wanted to feel like this again. Only one thought kept him from crying, a thought of dread and fear.

‘What have I gotten myself into.’

…………………………Present time, Yikensworth………………………………………………………

The monster regained control over his body once more. He realized that his dream, or rather his nightmare was finally coming to an end. But he wasn’t afraid, no, he knew it would only end either with him dead, thus waking up next to his startled wife, or victorious with a prolonged plunge into the darkness before he would eventually be greeted by the light of morn or Mathilda, a rather annoying reminder of his lost control.

Dreams such as these were not strange to him, for he had been having rather obscure ones the past few days. He would always start it with him waking in bed, either beside his bride or not. Then he would go through preparing his body in the morning rituals in the hours followed before facing his daughter. Then, like all dreams or nightmares alike, everything would go dark and he would reawaken leaving a tavern or cemetery or a small village near Yikensworth city. He would go about his day with the best knowledge his mind could come up with almost creating a parallel to what he would do if he had indeed been awake. In the end he would retire for the night and awaken in the real world starting off a whole new day.

At first he was apprehensive of the dreams. They were too detailed to be anything but, however he soon dismissed the notion in the thrice dream or so he experienced. He knew, being experienced in dreams and nightmares from his time as a captain to his father’s troops that they always repeated and his dreams this time around were no different. They repeated. He always seemed to enter, before the time skip and exit after, in the same places; a place he had likely visited in the past probably conjured by the recesses of his mind to excite his daily life.

When he first awoke to this dream it was dark, unusual from the rest. Even more unusual from the rest was that he could recount everything he did in the dream to the absolute perfection if he so wished upon his awakening in this world with no time skips or dark-blanks in between. But then everything made sense when he realized what had occurred today. The undead were back.

Back when he was fighting under his father in the war against the Chimerans, the use of undead was applied by his enemies to tire them out at night so that the main force in the morning would decimate in the battlefield. The practice wasn’t vile nor considered evil, it was commonplace to control dead creatures to work for them, but he never considered its horrors when applied on humans. If not for the intervention of the Holy Kingdom, Seinaru, they would’ve all died that year. During those days he had been forced to keep lookouts at night, as punishment for appearing weak around his men at their mention. Those days were nightmarish. He was afraid to eat and sleep because of those things, he’d seen what they could do. But they were also his catalyst to becoming the fearsome man he was today. So to have a dream concerning those things when he was much older were seen nothing more than a test to his leadership and bravery invented by his own mind, for it knew how to give him a good challenge. He treated it like reality for it was his test to himself, but in the end it was nothing more than a dream…meeting the faceless man claiming to be from the war proved that.

His face burned, no doubt, from the many injuries he’d sustained fighting him and even though he could not remember the fight he knew that he had been victorious. The man lying before him in defeat was a testament to him conquering his fears. Drac’s words, a mockery to his station, replayed themselves once more in his head; ‘I do not come here as a messenger, I come here as your judgement.’

‘Today I am your judgement,’ William thought, clenching his hands. ‘This is my rebirth.’

He was acutely aware of the traitorous girl picking herself up from the ground. So he prepared himself. He grabbed the largest cord, a testament of his mastery over the fire aspects of the Flow born fruit from years of use in the same area, and read the words he’d read a thousand times before.

“Traitor! [Ignis Flore]” he said pointing his staff at her. A great him bloom of fire erupted from the end of his rod and sped towards the frail woman. She jumped aside and tried to counter, but he was one step ahead. He twisted out of the path of her lightening and lay waste to the ground by sending a flame blanket towards her feet.

“Argh!” he shouted.

Suddenly his headaches returned. They’d occurred many times before; always during the day, but never at the same time. He cried in pain as the headache increased until he felt his control slip. He fought to keep control, knowing that any quarter given to his opponent meant his doom. However, the pressure increased two-fold until he eventually caved in…

……………………………………. Luvrit …………………………………….

“Uncle! ...back, please.”

“William…. doing?”

The voices were getting too annoying, invading the pool of stillness that relaxed his mind. Luvrit groggily opened his eyes just in time to see Natravi narrowly dodging orange flames that singed the ground. That black man, Drac, tried cutting him down from the back but the duke easily dodged that slow strike, following it up with a purple lightshow that caused him to be launched into the opposite wall, barely missing Karl.

‘Fuck, he’s really gone crazy,’ Luvrit thought as he pushed himself up. His sides were hurting and he was sure there was something major broken there but he had to get away or else he’ll be killed too. Luvrit slowly limped his way over to the stairs, he could get away. He just needed to be strong enough to keep the rhythm going until he could.

‘Don’t turn around,’ he kept repeating in his head. He knew that if he did he would be ridden with guilt and then he’d have to deal with that! He didn’t want to meaninglessly throw his life trying to stop a person he knew could kill them all easily. ‘If Drac is in that state then there is no use me joining in, we’ve already lost.’

One step up the stairs. He heard Natravi scream over the battle going on so far away. Their screams and battle was so far away and meaningless now that it didn’t even register than someone else might be dying. He didn’t need to think about it, he needed to reach the manor, a horse stable, anything that could help him get to the capital.

Two steps up the stairs. He heard Drac and Karl grunt followed by two loud thuds.

‘They don’t need you, you’ll die before you could do anything…at least he’ll make it painless for her. He always had a soft spot for ladies, even if they were enemies.’

Three steps up the stairs.

“I’m going to enjoy this,” the duke said hoarsely, causing Luvrit to freeze. He looked back and saw him looming over Natravi writing in pain. She seemed to be trying to open her eyes but he held her down by the hand. Drac and Karl were out, unconsciously leaning against the wall of rocks where a small bit was chipped away. But what caused him to freeze was how unfamiliar the duke’s voice was. It was if two different people were speaking at the same time, out of synch and layered.

“From the moment I saw you, acting like you were better than me, I knew we wouldn’t get along,” he said. “Then you went ahead and interfered with my plans and ruined everything by getting away, by getting here. You should’ve died on that rooftop! But now, I can enjoy destroying that pretty face of your’s. A commoner like you should know her place. Hmph, acting like we’re the same, you are lower than me, you hear! I’m a noble, you have fallen. It is time I put you in your place.”

‘You’re an idiot, you know that.’ Luvrit thought as he made his way down the stairs. He saw the duke raise his staff as if preparing for something. He set about finding something to attack him with while he set about finding his thread or as Fliss called them ‘tubes of light’.

‘I’m pretty sure she wouldn’t even thank me for this. Chances are that she’ll be too busy battling whatever’s causing her pain to understand what I’m about to do. No matter, it’s not for her anyway. It’s for me.’

Luvrit picked up Natravi’s sword that had fallen behind a large stone, where Volvo was treated on…his blood was still there. He tried not to let that get to him, he needed a clear head to take care of the monster in human’s clothing.

“I think it’s fitting to use the one thing your actually good at to take the other thing you like to boast, prepare for my lightening.” The duke said as he brought the staff to her head.

“Hey!” he said, catching the duke off guard. Before he could turn Luvrit took a leap and pushed the sword, with all his weight, into the man’s back causing him to fall and tumble down the slope. As the sword fell out of his hand, carried away by the duke, Luvrit fell atop Natravi.

It wasn’t until he lost all his breath did he realize that he’d fallen on her in an accidental lip-lock. He quickly pushed himself away and lay beside her gasping for air. He licked his lips, tasting some dirt and hints of bread. Turning his head Luvrit sighed in relief when he saw that Natravi was no longer writhing in pain, but as he continued to stare black dread began forming within his stomach. She lay motionless with her eyes wide open, she wasn’t breathing. He was about to check on her when she suddenly turned, her eyes wide. She slowly touched her lips and tried forming words that never came out.

‘Seriously?’

“Yer welcome *Cough*Cough*” Luvrit managed before violent coughs took over.

‘Is this it?’ He thought as his vision began to blur. ‘Well I’ll know when I wake up-’

“Daddy!” A shrill voice, vaguely familiar, struck his ears and compounded the headed he was already suffering.

‘Shut up kid, I’m going to sleep.’

……………………………...William von Solus…………………………

“Hey,” He blinked again and saw himself standing above the traitorous woman. He knew someone had called him out but as he turned to see who it was pain erupted in his back. He felt a push and lost his footing. He turned his head just in time to catch a grey sword sticking out of his back before he fell. He was confused…until he saw the face of the one who pierced him. The boy’s eyes glittered in the darkness, infuriating him at his own weakness.

‘A mere boy did this to me? My own enforcer!?’

He screamed in pain, but he did not scream for help. He was the duke for god’s sake. He was the Blue Flame of Ansdrovea. He had the king’s right ear and left hand at his beck and call. He was the successor and prosperer of his father’s crumbling land. He was William von Solus.

These thoughts accompanied him as he fell down the slope, the sword wedging its way in; deeper and deeper.

“Daddy!!”

All his pain muddled thoughts disappeared when he heard his Lidia’s voice echoed through the cavern. As he fell to the ground he looked over to the top of the cliff he saw a small figure doubling over as she screamed for him. His child…

‘Forgive me Lidia,’ he thought as a tear rolled out of his eyes.

He may have been born and lived like a nobleman, but he died like a commoner…They all did.