In a magnificent garden, which was surrounded by tall trees and beautiful flowers which sent carried throughout the area, sat four individuals around a round table under a gigantic tree. There were two boys and two girls. Only the two gentlemen were talking with each other, and the girls were following the unfolding scene.

"So, How was your brief tour around this vast mansion Lord Wilhelm...?" asked the man with jet black hair and blue oceanic colored eyes. He had a handsome face and a well-built body. Anyone from a far could tell that he belonged to a noble family and judging by the smile on his face, he was an amiable man.

"It was splendid. Your sister always does her job astoundingly." replied the man with a black gem like eyes and reddish hair. He also had a handsome face, and a well-built body, but compared to the man with blue eyes, he was placed a little low and judging by his expressions, he seemed to be not in the best mood for a cheerful conversation.

"Good..."

"Lord Leon, can I ask you something? Only if you don't mid that is"

"Yes, sure, go on"

"Why are you here...?" asked the man with reddish hair in a heavy tone with a serious expression pasted on his face.

"What type of question is even that?"

"It's just a basic question, you know."

"But won't it suit you more if I ask you the same?"

"Yes, it would, But certainly you don't have the authority to do that. Am I wrong?"

"..." Leonhart looked at the man saying nothing and he still continued.

"I am the crown-prince & the future emperor. This empire belongs to me, and no one could question my decisions."

"Really..." said the man with blue eyes leaning forward. He rested his left hand on the table and placed his left cheek on his palm, bending his head a little.

James was in no way in a good mood to do a happy chit chat with some unknown douchebag who thought he owned the world. He was forced to do everything from the very beginning. Talking with the princess helped his mental state to improve a little, but it was nowhere near the place where it needed to have for a peaceful conversation. And these illogical comments were not helping either, as he was getting irritated over this.

"Yes. So tell me why are you here... You non-existent piece of shit." Wilhelm knew what he was doing by provoking the infamous man named Leonhart. If that man wanted, he could beat the shit out of him within a minute, but was still taking the risk, cause the payoff was great.

If he could successfully provoke that man, then he would definitely attack him and his sister Elizabeth would definitely try to protect him and, in the process, should get hurt. Which would lead to a big chaos and tarnish that man's image even further. Then he could issue a treason order against the whole duke's family by talking to his father, which was literally too easy for him to do.

Then the duke would desperately beg for him to remove that order and in return, he could ask Adeline. Pretty awesome plan, which he came up with within a moment. He needed to pet himself in the back, but now was not the time. It was time for some action and everything was going just like he intended it to.

"Aren't you speaking beyond your caliber... Crown prince" this time James' voice sounded a bit cold. After hearing everything from that golden eyed girl whose name he didn't clearly remember, James knew the man named Wilhelm's characteristics and was expecting these type of words.

He was a never fan of people with oversized ego and had dealt with them a couple of times. But always had to shut his mouth because of their superiority. Most of them took poor decisions, and he warned them, but they completely disregarded him and supported their elephant sized ego. Which led them to nowhere, but still they never lowered down their self image a little and he hated it. He hated those types of people.

Now the man in front of him, the crown prince Wilhelm, also had an oversized ego. He thought having the emperor behind him he could do anything and everything, but he couldn't be more wrong than that. He was siting inside the duchy of Esper where only one man's authority was absolute and that was the Duke himself. Heinrich was that much powerful and could give the emperor run for his own money and no one had the guts to even think about challenging him or to his force.

James was sure that nothing would happen to him if he even threw some punches at that man with reddish hair for defending his name. So he was being a little bold than usual. If he won't become confident, then everyone will disregard him and he had learned this the hard way.

"I am... the crown prince you damn moron... Do you think you can tell me what to do..." shouted Wilhelm, getting up from his chair with an angry expression. He was trying his best to attract as much attention as possible. And he was successful, as the maids and the guards working there were now looking at the group.

"Wil Please..." the princess tried to calm her brother down as she knew it was not going to end well and it could lead to another chaos just like before. But before she could say anything, a very cold voice was heard, which sent a shiver down everyone's spine. It was scary, really scary.

"Sit... Down"

"What did you say...? You..."

"I Said... Sit down," again said Leon with the same indifferent gaze as before without removing his tilted head from his palm.

And to everyone's surprise, Wilhelm sat down without even saying a word, lowering his head and focusing on the table. His face was pale, as if he had seen some ghost and the confidence was nowhere to be seen. Leon's words reminded him of the thorough beating he had experienced just a year ago. Those memories had made their home inside his mind, and he never wanted to reminisce those painful moments ever again.

"Look at me..." once again said James in the same heartless tone and expression as before, but setting his head straight to look him in the eyes.

"..." The crown-prince looked at him with the same frightful expression as before. His plan of provoking Leonhart had failed miserably as it backfired on him.

"What's my name...?"

"Leon-hart..."

"Yes, the same Leonhart who beat the shit out of you just a year ago and could beat the shit out of you even now... So don't try to provoke me. Ok.." James's voice sounded really cold, like it was even reaching their bones. He was not trying to be scary but appeared like a scary one just by a little trying. This man named Leonhart really was a Villian.

"O-k..."replied the man named Wilhelm, like a scared kitten. This was what everyone feared the most. This was the real Leonhart, the most infamous man. Everyone had predicted that he would definitely become a tyrant at the time of him becoming the duke and that expression was only of a tyrant who completely disregarded the world.

Elizabeth had never seen Leonhart like this, but after seeing this she realised what the maids had told her was indeed true. And as for Adeline, she had seen this face once or twice but was never used to it. So she also got scared. By now, the guards and maid were doing their job without focusing on the group as no one wanted to get in the bad side of that man.

"Listen Wil, you shouldn't force yourself upon someone as it wouldn't end well for anyone." This time, James was talking about that guy being too aggressive for Adeline. No brother in the world would allow this type of behavior towards his sister from a stranger. So when he heard about beating that guy to death, he didn't feel bad for him, as it was purely justified. Adeline was not his sister, but the sense of familiarity and the time spent with her had made him believe and treat her like his actual sister.

"..." The reddish hair guy just nodded, saying nothing.

"You understand what I meant, right?"

"Yes..."

"Then this meeting is over."

With that, the meeting ended, and the other three members left Leonhart to himself and went inside the castle. James never wanted to become scary or show off his ego. He just wanted a little talk with Wilhelm, who only provoked him. And the earlier thoughts of the nightmares and that asshole's behavior towards Adel just blew everything up. He din't beat him but was able to scare the shit out of him just by looking.

"Just what the hell I am doing...?" asked James to himself, looking at the sky. He was just trying to appear a little confident and nothing else, but that didn't work out as intended.

***

Elizabeth returned to the room, which was specially assigned by the Duke's family to her, and sat down on the massive bed, deep in thoughts about the events happened earlier. She had never thought about telling her dreams or stories to someone, but today she just felt like it and told everything to Leonhart and to her expectation he never interrupted her to give his opinion like others. He really was a man of his words.

Still, his demeanor from before really was something else. She had never seen him like this. His words, expression, everything changed instantly. Just a moment ago, he had an expression of child and within a minute; he was acting like a dictator. And whose fault was it all to begin with...? The one and only Wilhelm, who was trying to provoke him, knowing the extent of his capabilities.

And eventually the day passed, and the night came, and the princess spent her day locked up inside her room doing nothing. Elizabeth ate her dinner and returned to her room where she lied down on her bed for some sleep, but it never came. She got up, sat on the nearby chair, drank some water, but her heart was not calm for some weird reason.

So, for some fresh air, she opened the door to the balcony and stood there directly overlooking the enormous garden. The slight chill in the air was enough to give her a gentle shiver, but not enough to find the need to cover up. Staring into the distance, the gentle breeze coming down from the distance tickled the trees, making their leaves shake and sway as though they were laughing. Especially with the clear sky and the glowing moon, it was a beautiful sight to behold.

Elizabeth wanted to stay like this forever, just enjoying the scenery, but couldn't as she had to get some sleep and tomorrow they had to return to the palace once again cause her unnecessary birthday party was just around the corner. But when she was about to return to the room, a man with pure black hair came into view. He exited the castle and walked towards a region where only moon light fell. He stood there a couple of moments, scanned his surrounding and then lied down on the bare grass, folding his hands behind to rest his head, looking towards the starry sky.

After a bit of observation, she could deduce that the guy was Leon, as the area was fairly illuminated by the moon and nearby torches, so his black hair and his figure were clearly visible when he exited the castle.

But what was he doing there?