The attacks on the castle wall wound down.

All the soldiers who were placed in the walls, trying to push back the attackers with both arrows and scrolls, felt the lack of thundering noises and constant shaking rather odd. They had spent so much time in these conditions that it had become what they were used to.

The castle walls had checkpoints in determined places along the wall, and inside one of them was Ethan Redshield, with a frowning Parn next to him.

Ethan had been uncontrollably anxious ever since Parn had sneaked into his quarters and explained the plan… so many things could go wrong and no small amount of people were at stake.

Yet he had decided to trust both his son and Parn, in the end, it was no lie that if the plan worked, they could probably pull off an overwhelming victory, they were only stuck inside the castle walls because of the constant bombardment of scrolls.

His years of experience have led him to know that no plan would ever go without a hitch though, the problem was that he was personally invested in this plan, it was his son leading it after all.

He had even taken up his bad habit of cracking his knuckles to relieve stress, the joints in his hand turning sore and reddened.

He had waited with bated breaths, his hope in his heart.

When nothing had happened last night, he experienced a similar feeling to when his wife died, so many emotions intermingled and flowed throughout his body.

...

The one who took it the hardest was Parn though, who had immediately gone on all fours and begged for forgiveness.

Ethan thought to punish Parn for a moment, he had asked him to take care of his son, he had asked him to be there for him when needed. Yet he had gone ahead and left him alone, sneaking by himself back into the castle.

Even so, Ethan reined himself back, he didn’t want to sow discord or push the fault into another’s hands. As someone who had mingled with despair many times, he knew that this was a practice in futility, it would only dig them deeper into a hole…

What they needed now was to find a solution to this exponentially growing problem.

...

Parn felt it undeserved that he went unpunished, but followed through with his Lord’s will and wracked his mind for a way to redeem himself, searching for any possible solution that could save them from the looming threat.

It had been a long time since Parn had faced failure, and his skills at growing from it had become rusty, yet nothing worked better than a crash course.

The times of peace had eroded his mentality, he no longer slept with a single eye open, he no longer spent hours making plans, and he was now paying the consequences for his idyllic lifestyle.

Still, something learned can never be truly forgotten, he would just have to put in even more effort,.

Nevertheless, the events that unfolded next would determine the result of this conflict.

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………

Jule’s mind was blanking out…

He did not know when, but all he knew was that the damp and dingy cave he was in had been replaced by the blaring intensity of the sun on his eyelids.

He struggled to open them and found himself hovering above the ground.

No, it was better to say that he had been tied to a wooden pillar, the tightness of the ropes surrounding his waist contrasted with the extreme soreness in his body. It caused him no pain though, it felt more like when one stretched their overworked muscles.

Moreover, Jule found it extremely hard to even care.

There was nothing he could do now, it was arrogant to even think that he could do something. He had already tried and failed, an empty person such as himself would only make things worse, as he had done.

He was tired of resisting only to recieve pain, he was tired of struggling only to see more people die… he had lost so much in so little time, that he couldn’t deal with more loss.

He was a being built on perspectives, he had nothing of his own, so everything that made him up belonged to other people, if he were to lose even this, then he couldn’t see a way out

He wanted to take a step forward, but he didn’t even know where to walk, so he decided not to walk from the start.

…

In order to distract himself from his thoughts, Jule began to look around. The pillar he was tied to was surrounded by many people, some covered in sleek steel armor and others with long flowing robes.

The same woman who had defeated him earlier was walking while holding the pillar he was tied to, it was quite surprising as the pillar did not shake at all, the feat of strength she displayed was something few could accomplish.

They were walking towards the wall, now a crumbling and scorched mess.

The majestic wall that had been built to resist Grandia has been reduced to such a pitiful state…

As they walked closer to the wall, the usual exchange of attacks did not happen, Jule could even see that a commotion happened ontop. Many soldiers ran about exchanging words and the few that remained in their posts looked as if they had just seen their worst nightmare.

Jule knew the reason why, it was none other than him.

The attackers were using him as a shield to prevent any sort of retaliation.

Jule knew that there was no going back from this, his sins had been revealed, his ugly form had been exposed and his uselessness had become known.

His wiseness, gentleness, and strength were all a lie, the truth was bared for all to see.

Even if Jule still wanted to retreat into his barrier and pretend that nothing had happened, it was now far too late. No one would believe his facade now, no one would fuel his lies and no one would understand him.

Jule was nothing more than a fool, hanging from a pole, with no purpose in sight.

He believed that all he had built was lost, he believed that all those years of lies were exposed, and the hole he had dug himself into became a chasm.

…

Just as Jule was about to fully give up, a light shone into his mind, a light so strong that it broke into his heart, destroyed the barrier that he had built, and illuminated his empty self.

A dashing man appeared on the castle wall, the sun shining behind his back, while his stout and straight physique made clear that he held the endless energy of youth, the streaks of grey on his hair showed a maturity that contrasted this.

Ethan Redshield.

It only took Jule a single look for his depths to shake, for a small bud to appear in his emptiness.

It was a lie that he had nothing he could call his own, it was a lie to say that he was empty, it was a lie to say that his actions were pointless, that his suffering held no meaning.

Even if he was alone all of his life, even if he had lost the person he loved the most, even if he had hidden behind a wall in order to deal with the expectations others held for him and his own insecurities.

There was still something that was only his, there was something that no one could take from him, something that gave all he did meaning.

He wanted to stand next to his father, he wanted to be recognized by him, he wanted to hold his head high in front of him.

Nothing else mattered, they were all simply points in order to reach that end goal.

In front of this insurmountable challenge, his blood, sweat, and tears were but the qualifications.

The fire that had died in his heart began to ignite.

He would struggle and fight, not for others, or for himself, but for his goal, the single thing that gave him meaning.

If he wanted to reach this point, he would have to fight until his body turned into cinders, he would have to struggle even if his existence fell apart.

There was no need for a barrier, as it only stood in the way of his goal, nor was there a need to worry about being a void, as it was all space reserved for when he reached the endpoint of his journey.

He had dug himself so deep into what he believed he should be, that he had forgotten everything else.

He always knew the answer, yet he only needed to break apart in order to build himself back up.

Nevertheless, even if he gained his self, all of the lessons he had gotten while being a fake still rang in his mind.

He could not rush, he needed to wait for a chance.

………………

Dandelion looked at the man standing atop the walls.

His whole body shook and refused the mere idea of facing such a beast, yet his hand still gripped the rough surface of the wooden staff.

He couldn’t understand it himself, but he looked forward to the fight, he wondered whether he had finally begun to catch up to the man, whether he would finally be able to look at him in the eye.

The times he had spent in his childhood with The Shield were some of his fondest, away from the court, away from stress and away from trouble. He could spend hours on the things he liked and he could practice freely, without worrying about a thing.

He loved this feeling of freedom.

For Dandelion, the epitome of freedom was Ethan.

All men were bound by something, King Oliver was bound by his beliefs, Dandelion himself was bound by his duty, and the common people were bound by their destiny. Yet Ethan always seemed so free, he had the strength, he had the charisma and he had the influence to do as he wished.

In the end, Dandelion knew that he was no match for such a being, not in strength or charisma or even influence…

So how could he even dare to beat a man such as that, how could one beat an enemy, stronger, faster, and smarter than yourself?

For Dandelion, the answer was that he would play dirty. Why should he play chess with another person, when he could just simply flip the board and make his own rules?

...

“You have a lot of guts, coming to my door while holding my battered son in such a shameful position…” Ethan growled.

Even if the words and the tone were calm, the voice echoed in the minds of all the Royal Army. All of them could only tremble and sweat buckets, keeping their ground thanks to their overwhelming numbers.

“ArchDuke of Redshield, if you want your son back safe and sound, you will have to face me and my troops in combat” Dandelion shouted back, barely preventing the trembling of his body to appear in his words.

Ethan frowned and walked forwards, his steps creating cracks on the top of the wall, revealing that his calm demeanor held back a raging fury.

Parn, who stood next to Ethan, followed from behind, but he was forced to freeze when Dandelion mouthed another word.

“Alone”

With these words, a ruckus happened at the Redshield troops.

The sheer shamelessness was absolutely astounding for them, they hurled many insults at their enemies, they called out their cowardice, they begged Ethan not to accept.

Parn even joined this outrage and personally bowed before his Lord, hoping to prevent him from walking straight into this trap. He knew it was his fault and his negligence, he even wanted to sacrifice himself to bring the Young Lord back.

But Ethan just raised his hand and all words stopped.

“Everyone, if I am to fall, please immediately surrender to the enemy, do not let the Dukedom suffer even more from a pointless conflict. This may be my last order as your Lord, so you better obey them…” He told everyone without looking back.

“Ethan!” Parn appeared on the border of tears.

“If I fall, you will have to pick up the slack old friend…” Ethan just bumped him on the shoulders and smiled, following which he jumped down from the wall, creating a crater in the ground.

Parn always knew that his Lord held boundless confidence, that he never looked back, and that he was one of the most loving persons in the world. He had always admired and respected his Lord for this, but for the first time, he also felt a bit of resentment.