"It's a pleasure to meet you at last, Duke Cherliann."

Eyes, shimmering like the ocean waves of a stormy night — were piercing into the soul of a man who was feared by the entire nation. When Rudien was first called to House Atlan — he certainly hadn't anticipated the first prince would approach him so forwardly. Not to mention, the boy seemed to have no sense of fear and remained unfazed even in the intimidating man's presence.

Rudien Alpheus Cherliann — infamously known for his monstrous capabilities on the battlefield, and the endless lakes of blood spilled by his sword. Those eyes of his were as red as the crimson he carved out of his enemies, silver hair glinting like sharp blades under the light.

The weapon of Laydel. A man unrivalled in his physical prowess. And an individual who was nearly impossible to read.

Who would have thought — this famous man would turn up at Daniel's door within only two days of him sending a letter with his request? As the ebony-haired prince planted himself on the leather sofa opposite where the duke was sat, he could feel those hawk-like eyes clinically observing every one of his moves.

"Likewise, Your Highness." Although Rudien had his questions, it didn't stop him from showing the proper respect towards a son of the man he had sworn all loyalty to. The duke solemnly bowed his head in deep courtesy.

Daniel waited for Rudien to sit upright again, taking on the same stern and composed demeanour he had been trying to keep up. Of course, he was concealing his anxiousness incredibly well — so much so that it was able to fool even the Duke of Cherliann.

It was like being a tiny garden snake in the presence of a lethally powerful serpent. But the first prince managed to keep his calm whilst reminding himself that this was the man who was protecting Mikael.

As long as he keeps my brother safe, I can trust him.

"So..." Rudien laid back on the leather sofa, crossing his long arms and leaning one leg over the other. "Why is that you called me here, Prince Daniel?"

His broad shoulders and imposing presence felt even more domineering when he relaxed a little bit — but Daniel could tell he was likely trying to get to the point. The boy shook off his feelings of nervousness and held the duke's clinical gaze.

"For starters, I wanted to thank you for protecting this empire once again," The young man spoke out, and Rudien was slightly surprised by those words. "You have been working the hardest out of everyone in order to maintain peace in this nation... For that, you have my gratitude, Your Grace."

...He's much different to what I expected. Rudien glazed his eyes over the prince's expression in silence for a moment — again, eyeing him like a hawk in search of any weakness. But the prince was holding his ground well, even in the presence of this frightening man.

A small smile reached the edges of Rudien's lips. He's nothing like you, Theo.

Your son might be seventy times more serious than you ever were.

"I only carried out my duties as the emperor's vassal," Rudien closed his eyes, the hint of a smile disappearing as he kept up the indifferent, difficult-to-read attitude about him. "Protecting the empire is a part of my oath. I'll gladly lay down my life for it."

Daniel held his breath. An oath... Could it be that he swore loyalty to my father in the past? He wondered about this for a moment, but decided to move on because it seemed like the duke liked getting things straight to the point.

"In any case, since you received my letter you must know the main reason I wanted to meet you," the prince held his hands together, and Rudien's eyes widened slightly in bemusement when the ebony-haired boy stood up from his seat. All of a sudden, Daniel bowed his head so deeply he almost fell forward. "Please teach me how to become as strong as you!"

Silence pervaded the room.

Daniel couldn't see the duke's face from this angle — and a part of him was a little too afraid to. Strands of his raven-black hair fell over his face, and the blood was rushing to his brain from being in this position for so long.

Rudien was so quiet, that eventually the prince felt the urge to glance up. And when he did, the look on the silver man's face was as unfazed and nonchalant as ever.

"You shouldn't bow to your subjects, Your Highness — even the dukes such as myself," Rudien crossed his arms, sighing softly as he closed his eyes. "You are at the top in this empire. For you to bow to those below you is the essence of weakness."

...What?

But he's superior to me in so many ways...?

It was then that the man stood up from his chair, and his towering height loomed over Daniel with an unreadable gaze. Scarlet irises fixated on the young prince for a brief moment, before Rudien turned to face the door.

"I refuse your request."

Those words were like a slap to the face. Daniel's sapphire orbs widened in surprise — as the duke began to head to the exit of the elaborate meeting room. "Then, I'll take my leave."

He knew it wasn't going to be easy to convince the duke to let him learn under his guidance, but Daniel certainly didn't expect the man to be this straightforward in his curtly delivered response.

"W-Wait!" The boy called out, stopping Rudien in his tracks. Turning back to face Daniel, the man's blood-red eyes watched him keenly for a moment.

Daniel approached the duke, and the composure he had earlier seemed to be dissolving from the young man's visage. Now — there was a look of slight desperation in his eyes. "Why do you refuse? You must have a reason."

Rudien didn't even blink. His steely gaze observed the boy, who was rather tall for his young age. Simply by surveying his build — the duke was aware that this young man had great physical potential. His shoulders were broader than the average ten-year-old boy's, and he would definitely surpass Rudien in terms of height and strength.

If Daniel trained under him, he would certainly be able to bring out a fierce warrior in this prince. And it wouldn't take him very long either, seeing as those strong blue eyes were filled with determination.

However — Rudien hated weak minds more than anything, and this child seemed to still have one. People like him would falter when forced into a real battle, and bawl their eyes out the moment they killed someone. The duke wasn't sure Daniel had the heart to be able to remain strong even with countless lives on his shoulders, especially when he was this weak.

"You asked, so I refused," Rudien simply responded — leaving the prince in a state of bewilderment. As he opened the door of the antechamber, Rudien glanced back at the young man who seemed to be at a loss for words. "If you want something, seize it with your own two hands."

Daniel blinked, slightly confused by those words. His eyes followed the duke after he disappeared past the door, and lingered absently on the intricate carvings embossed over it.

The words he said just now...

Sounded a lot like what that girl said not too long ago...

Daniel's sunkissed skin became dyed in gold under the light of dusk beginning to permeate the room. As he dwelled on the words of the duke moments after he left, a part of him wondered if there was a hidden meaning behind what he just heard.

Seize it with my own two hands...

It was then a realisation washed over the prince — like a sudden wave crashing against the rocky shores.

So that's what he was trying to say!

All of a sudden, Daniel jolted toward the window and pressed his hands against the glass - eyes darting over the driveway in search of House Cherliann's carriage. A relieved smile crossed his face when he noticed it was still there and Rudien seemingly hadn't left yet — so he could catch up with the man.

Without wasting another second, the ebony-haired boy burst out of the room, heading down to the foyer of the mansion as fast as he possibly could. The servants wore expressions with varying states of confusion when they noticed Daniel running full-speed down the stairs, through endlessly long corridors.

At last — he made it down to the main entrance of the building, but much to his dismay, the carriage of Cherliann was already in motion, beginning to gingerly roll its way out of the Atlan estate. With the duke already on board, Daniel felt a feeling of unease in his chest, but he didn't let that stop him.

All was silent in the carriage, as the silver-haired hero of Laydel gazed out at the garden scenery of this home. His crimson eyes focused on a bed of blue hydrangea flowers, reminding him of the deep ocean colour of the royal eyes.

"Mikael Laydel and Daniel Laydel..." Rudien whispered to himself, pondering deeply for a moment about the future of the empire. As of now, neither of these boys are good enough to take charge of this country.

"Stop!"

Just then, a loud shout resounded from outside — bringing Rudien out of his thoughts and startling him when the carriage suddenly came to a halt. His brows raised slightly, as he wondered what just happened. It hasn't even been a minute since I got in, what's going on?

Just as he was about to reach for the door to step out and survey the situation, a small figure burst into the wagon. Retracting his hand, Rudien's eyes widened at the sight of Daniel breathlessly hanging onto the door for dear life — and it was clear he ran all the way here just to catch up with the duke. It must have also been him who shouted earlier, causing the carriage to stop all of a sudden.

"Your Highness...?" Rudien's brows narrowed slightly. What in the world is this child doing?

But before he could reach out to the boy to ensure there were no injuries on the young prince, Daniel stood up and faced the duke with eyes ablaze like an azure fire.

"Become my teacher!" He shouted out, in between his gasps for air. "It's not a request anymore... So bring out the best in me, Duke!"

Rudien stared at the boy in total bewilderment.

He came running out here, to tell me that?

The duke couldn't help but smile faintly at the boy's brazenness. In that moment, those clear, domineering blue eyes mirrored that of the late emperor's, and Rudien felt like taking back the thoughts he had from earlier.

I suppose the apple didn't fall far from the tree, after all.

This little occurrence brought back an old memory hidden inside the duke's mind — one he hadn't thought about for a long time, until now.

"Become my mighty weapon, Cherliann. I won't take no for an answer!"

A small scoff escaped the duke's lips. A feeling of relief flooded through his chest as Daniel noticed the nostalgic smile on Rudien's face. Even though they just met — the boy had a feeling that smile was a rare sight.

"Very well, Your Highness," Rudien's expression almost instantly returned to his usual stoic one, but Daniel was too surprised by to even notice. "Since it's not a request any more, and you are first in line for the throne, I can't refuse. So I'll teach you."

Those words elicited a feeling of great relief from the young man. He still didn't understand much of the reason why the duke wanted Daniel to order him rather than ask, but that didn't matter anymore.

Both Daniel and Rudien stepped out of the carriage for a moment, and the duke crossed his arms as he began to explain a few things to his new student.

"Since you're currently under the care of House Atlan, it would be inconvenient for me to come here all the time to teach you, so for now — I'll put my son and his teacher in charge of delivering the basics," Rudien told him. "I'm aware Karvus Atlan will not approve of you taking on the sword. So I'll secretly have a place prepared for lessons in the village nearest to this estate. When it's done, I'll send a letter and you can go there for your lessons."

Wow, he's so quick at making preparations... Daniel couldn't help but admire the duke in front of him, who seemed so confident and composed it was as if he could read the future. But he didn't let that cloud his mind from what was in front of him.

Duke Atlan was against using weapons — and believed it was pointless for a royal to wield one when they would have countless swordsmen expended for protection. So if he were to find out about this, it would surely cause another argument to brew between Daniel and his uncle.

However, he had no say in the matter any more. Because Daniel firmly decided to choose his path as he wished.

"I will not teach you directly until you've become stronger under Rayvis and Hakure's guidance, and until you've officially become the crowned prince of Laydel," Rudien continued. His gaze was firm and those crimson eyes were completely merciless when they faced Daniel. "You will not receive any special attention just because you are a royal. I'll be training you just like how all of my strongest men were raised."

Daniel nodded his head — not an ounce of fear clouding his heart. "I'm prepared to do anything."

After their short discussion, Rudien decided to really take his leave this time. The ruckus from earlier had garnered a lot of attention, but seeing both the Duke of Cherliann together with the first prince, left people afraid to get any closer.

Karvus Atlan's eyes were fixed to the two figures from the distance, behind the window of glass at his office. He heard that Cherliann was coming here, but had no idea why until the realisation that Daniel called him had occurred to his attention. Usually, Rudien Cherliann only came to visit when there was official business or meetings to discuss with Karvus — this was the first time he came without seeing the Duke of Atlan personally.

If Daniel called him, then it's obvious what they talked about. The raven-haired man sighed softly, realising instantly what was going through his nephew's head. He resembles Yestala more than I'd like. That fixation she had with the Cherlianns... It's as if he inherited it.

"Then, please make a safe journey home." Daniel smiled up at the duke, who was now back in his carriage and ready to leave.

Rose-red eyes pierced into the young prince like thorns, but they didn't seem as frightening any more. As Rudien bowed his head to the prince in respect again, a servant closed the door of the carriage and it was soon back in motion, heading towards the gates of the manor.

Painting the elaborate white wagon with golden hues, incandescent light from the sunset reminded him of those pretty eyes, belonging to the brazen little girl who he had to thank for guiding him in this direction. Even though he had only met her twice — in short, transient moments — Daniel felt more indebted to her than he could for anyone else.

A smile crossed his face, as he gazed up at an opalescent sky. "I hope the next time we meet, you won't have to see me being weak ever again..."

He smiled, eyes narrowing ever so slightly as they glinted under the golden light. "Till then, wait for me..."

"Irene Cherliann."

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