"Welcome to Nightfall, Pier," Ciaran said and Pier widened his eyes.

"Nightfall...?" He asked and Ciaran nodded his head.

"It's the name of the second mountain, which is basically our home and it is also the name of our group," He explained and Pier had an amazed look on his face.

Who would even think of building their own shelter at a mountain range that is so dangerous only a few people can even get into the first mountain?

"Why'd you build your home here...?" He asked. Hex and Clone both stiffened at the question but Ciaran still had a calm demeanor.

"I will tell you when we get to the site," He told Pier and the young master nodded his head.

"What? Shadow you can't tell him! Even though he's a help for us you can't!" Hex retaliated with an angry face and Pier turned to look at the vampire-like person.

'I thought vampires have cool heads, I guess it was a false rumor,' He thought as he watched Hex ramble about keeping their secret.

Pier was baffled too with how Ciaran was willing to tell him the story because it seemed like the group named Nightfall was keeping it as a very huge secret.

He scanned his eyes around the group of people who emerged from the black smoke and he saw they also have anxious stares passed through each other.

'It sounds like it's something highly confidential!' He was even more curious about it after seeing their reactions but he also knew where his boundaries were.

'Ciaran's probably my only ally here but seeing that they call him 'Chief', I guess he had some sort of high ranking in this group,' Pier thought as he scanned the surroundings. Ciaran was talking with Hex but Clone was watching him.

'What's with her?' He covered his face more when he saw the woman stare at him.

'I guess I should be more careful now that Ciaran said I needed to cover my face whatever the cost,' He adjusted the hood of his cloak and Clone smirked at the sight.

She slowly started to approach Pier. Her footsteps crushing some dried leaves as she neared him.

"Shadow told you to cover your face whatever may happen," Pier's eyes widened at her words.

"H-How did..."

"Oh, just guessing," She smiled and it gave Pier a creepier feeling with how she was smiling as if she won the lottery.

"I suggest you don't though," she spoke as she lightly laughed before walking towards where Ciaran and Hex were bickering.

'Why would she suggest that?'

He was even more anxious now that he had met Ciaran's group.

Was this the group that murdered the Mayor's attendant back at the boundary?

Their cloaks definitely matched that of the one he have seen.

'Was the person who attacked me and Gideon here too?' He became highly alert at the thought as he scanned the group of people who introduced themselves to him.

One of the persons present in the group could be the one who knocked Gideon out in an instant and the one who choked him close to unconsciousness. He shivered as he hugged himself with the warm coat.

It was cold inside the mountain range. The extremely tall trees were blocking the sunlight from entering the vicinity thus making it colder.

He was getting constant shivers as well from the horrendous memory of the Boundary and the Town Mayor's case.

"Are you okay?" Ciaran's husky voice entered his ears and Pier turned to look at the man. Ciaran's brown hair and green eyes were shadowed with the cloak but it still made him stand out from the others.

"I am," Pier told him as the young master looked in another direction.

Ciaran watched the young master slightly shiver because of the cold atmosphere.

He was debating whether he should have brought Pier here in the first place because he was starting to feel a little bit guilty about what he did.

He had just abducted a high-ranking noble that is on the same level of royalty and who came from an extremely well-known family.

Ciaran was putting so much risk on the line but he could not back out and return Pier to the Kingdom because the young master had already seen the place they resided in.

He even hesitated to tell Pier about the details of the place they considered home but he wanted to at least make up for the stress Pier might be getting with all the sudden change in his environment.

He only knew the young master from the information he had gathered.

That Pier Belmiunde is the eldest son of Ronnovian Belmiunde, the Headmaster of the House of Masters making him the successor, thus the term young master.

He only knew the basic information and some additional rumors at that. However, the Pier he met at the boundary and in the Palace was too different from the rumors he had gathered.

'All the rumors must have been based on the past,' He thought because the Pier he had interacted with for probably almost a week now was someone he could easily confide in regardless of their relationship that was walking on thin ice.

He did not trust Pier with all of the information and he knew it goes the same way for the young master too. However, one could clearly see they were the ones receiving the greater help from Pier now.

He just helped Pier escape from the Kingdom and based on his judgments, Pier could easily do it alone even if he was trapped with security from the prince.

In fact, he did not help Pier. He plain out abducted him because of the ice magic but the young master masked it as a 'help in escaping' so he went along with it too.

Pier was only coming along with him because it was his first time going outside the kingdom and the uncertainty of being alone without anything and not knowing where to go had placed a big pressure on the young master. That made him willingly come with Ciaran regardless of the uncertainty.

He sighed inwardly as he watched Pier scan the surroundings while constantly shivering from the cold environment of the forest in the mountain range.

He then started to remove the cloak that he was wearing. He wanted Pier to wear two cloaks to lessen the cold.

"W-What are you doing, Ciaran?" Pier asked as he watched the man start to lift the cloak from his body.

"You wear this, you seem to be cold," He said and Pier's eyes widened.

"Pft!" He snickered as he watched Ciaran.

The green-eyed man stopped removing the cloak from his body as he looked at the young master who was laughing at him.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing's wrong... I'm fine, you don't have to remove your cloak" Pier said as he smiled at Ciaran.

Ciaran raised his eyebrows at the young master in question.

"No, I insist. I should have bought you a fur coat back at Stone City" He spoke and continued to remove the cloak but Pier's hands stopped him from doing so.

"I said I'm good. Here, take a look" Pier spoke lightly as he opened his palm and without any incantations, a small fireball manifested in his palm.

"I can just keep myself warm with this. You will be cold too if you remove your cloak," He spoke as he patted Ciaran's arm with the other free hand.

Ciaran stared at the young master for a few more seconds before wearing his cloak back properly.

Hex, Clone, and the other members of Nightfall watched as their chief and the stranger he bought interacted with each other. Their obviously close relationship bothered some, especially Hex who was gritting his teeth.

'Who... who is this person? Why is the chief talking so carefree with him? Even the chief only scolds me!' He was infuriated. He was mad at the scenario of another person, and a stranger one at that casually talking with their chief.

He had been trying to get their Chief's approval of him with his skills and become a closer companion to him but it had already been a long time now he still was not able to hold a friendly conversation with him.

'Yet that person is getting all the special treatments from the chief!' His eyebrows furrowed and his hands clenched in anger.

He subconsciously reached his hand out in the stranger's direction.

Slap

His hand was slapped instantly.

"You don't want to anger Shadow now, don't you?" Clone spoke as she watched her brother with a cold gaze. Hex gritted his teeth further and his jaw ticked at the fury inside his mind.

He wanted the person to be gone. He did not like him not even an ounce starting from when Ciaran protected him at the time he tried to attack the hooded person.

"Let's proceed to the hideout," Ciaran spoke and the people bowed respectfully before nodding their heads.

"As you command, Chief!" they all started to walk along the fences of the second mountain.

"Is your supposedly 'hideout' located at the end of this fence?" Pier asked and Ciaran looked at him.

"Yeah, something like that" Pier pouted his lips like a child while nodding his head in understanding. He knew Ciaran was a secretive man anyway.

"That's useful information..." He spoke and Ciaran chuckled at him.

"It is."

---

Asher was conflicted.

Clang!

He had many thoughts running in his head and he could not focus. Pier's personal knight was restlessly attacking him and all that he could do was defend himself from the attacks.

Was it okay to even duel with Pier's personal knight?

What would happen if Pier knew about this?

But what about his position in the kingdom?

Huk!

He grunted when the impact of the sword held by the knight clashed against his own.

Why was this knight so strong? He clearly remembered it had only been close to a month since the knight became Pier's personal knight. It was an astounding improvement to see someone like this.

Each of the knight's blows made his arm that's holding the sword get numb for a moment.

King Henry watched as the Crown Prince was getting pushed back with the knight's aggressive advances. He anxiously watched his son getting driven to a corner because he had a hunch of what has been running through Asher's mind.

He turned his head to look at Ronnovian and the Headmaster was only sipping on tea while watching the two duel.

"Ron, are you really going to remove your support if Asher loses this duel?" He asked Ronnovian by addressing him with the nickname the Headmaster had back when they were still children.

Ronnovian stopped for a second before nodding his head.

"My words as the Headmaster are absolute. Henry, you know too that Asher had committed a serious offense even though he is the Crown Prince," He spoke and King Henry bowed his head slightly at the statement.

"Just be glad that I am not like my father," He spoke and King Henry had no choice to agree. It was indeed fortunate for them that Ronnovian was nothing like the previous Headmaster.

If he was, the same scenario would happen again when Ronnovian's father found out that his older brother was missing.

However, King Henry could not be confident and complacent with the answer. It was just like this before. The previous Headmaster was silent when he found out his son was missing and he caused complete chaos when it reached a few months without any updates.

Clang!

The sound of metal clashing against each other rang out again.

Gideon gritted his teeth as he placed more force on each of his attacks.

"Why... why are you just defending yourself, your highness?" He asked in a low voice as he proceeded to attack again. However, the Crown Prince easily blocked his attacks.

"Why?!" He asked with his voice rising a few volumes because of his anger.

Asher was only standing there as he constantly defended himself. At first, he tried to do a few attacks but as the duel progressed, the times he continued to attack lessened until it reached the point where he was just defending only.

Asher jumped back and created some space between him and Gideon.

Sweat dripped down his forehead and his hand shook slightly at the force of the knight's attacks.

Why was Asher now constantly defending?

'That's right, I am afraid I would hurt Pier's knight...' He came to a conclusion.

He was afraid he would damage something that belonged to Pier again.

He was afraid that when Pier gets back, he would get mad further at him for hurting his personal knight.

He did not want to anger the young master whom he had committed such a huge mistake unto. He wanted to eradicate any of his mistakes from Pier and replace them with better memories.

He huffed as he wiped the sweat off his forehead. It had been almost twenty minutes now since the duel had started and Gideon was the one constantly attacking.

The knight huffed for a few more times after they distanced themselves from each other. However, he did not lower his gaze from the Crown Prince. His eyes screamed for retribution against the person who made his master upset and leave the kingdom.

"Your Highness... huff..." Gideon started to speak as they both tried to catch their breaths.

"I...I am not as smart as my master nor am I as good as him in analyzing the situation. However, you seemed like you are holding back, your highness," Gideon continued as he also wiped the sweat from his face.

His hand was also constantly shaking because he was exerting an extra force with his attacks to defeat the Crown Prince.

"Are you afraid, your highness?" Gideon spoke as he proceeded to point his sword at Asher again. The Crown Prince did not answer but instead positioned himself in a defending stance.

"Are you afraid that my master would get mad at you for defeating me in a duel?!" He yelled angrily before charging towards Asher again.

Clang!

Clang!

Gideon's movements were well-refined. His attacks were also good. Asher wanted to commend the knight who served Pier for the huge improvements he had made.

"However, your highness, what would my master think if you lose in this duel?" Gideon asked as he smirked at the Crown Prince.

Asher's face stiffened at the words that came from the knight.

"That you once more prioritized your emotions over your own rationality?!" Asher's eyes widened and he grunted when the knight's sword unexpectedly attacked him.

"That instead of becoming a better ruler you're going to lose the throne because of your hesitations?!" Gideon's jaw ticked in anger and he charged towards Asher once more.

Asher was silent as he accepted the knight's attacks with his own sword.

Was that what Pier would really think if he were to know about this?

He gritted his teeth in anger too.

He did not want to hurt Pier in any way anymore now, he did not want to commit another sin against the young master that he had came to like.

But he also did not want to lose the throne.

Huk!

The Crown Prince groaned when the knight's sword successfully pierced through his defense and had hit the armor he was wearing.

The attack created a dent in the breastplate and the Crown Prince staggered as the force of the impact made him lose his balance for a split second.

However, the knight did not waste his time and took the opportunity to pierce through the Crown Prince's moment of imbalance and attacked another time.

Slash!

The Crown Prince completely lost his footing at the two attacks as he fell on his back.

"Asher!" The king panicked as he watched the Crown Prince fall on his back from getting constantly hit with the knight's attacks.

"If you don't wish to concede now, your highness, then I will end the duel for you!" Gideon yelled as he advanced towards Asher with large strides. His eyebrows were furrowed and his teeth were grinding against each other in pure anger towards the Crown Prince.

Gideon immediately closed the distance between him and the Crown Prince.

He did not hesitate to raise his sword at the figure lying on his back.

Slash!

"Asher!" The King called again as the force from the knight's attack was so strong it produced gusts of wind and it made the surrounding area slightly shake.

Dust particles flew all around the two and the king had both of his eyes and mouth open.

Martha who was also watching the duel covered her mouth as she watched the Crown Prince fall and the Knight does his final attack.

Silence

The dust particles scattered in the air slowly started to subside.

Every person who was watching the duel between the Crown Prince and the Knight all held their breaths in anxiousness.

Nobody spoke

Nobody moved

Nobody dared to make any sound

'T...This!' Gideon had his eyes widened as he gritted his teeth as his hand trembled and the force from his attack made repercussions in his own body.

His sword shook as so did the Crown Prince's.

Asher's hand went completely numb at the attack.

However, he persisted.

He could not lose

He could not fall in the hands of defeat now that he had thought about it.

The Crown Prince had his head bowed as his hand continued to shake nonstop from stopping Gideon's strike.

He had successfully defended himself but it made his senses go numb.

"You're right..." He started to speak as he started to get on his feet while still defending against Gideon's sword.

"What would Pier think when I lose this duel..." He spoke to himself but Gideon heard him clearly.

Without forewarning, a faint red glow started to appear around the Crown Prince's hands that were holding the sword and the one supporting himself as he got up.

When Asher was finally on his feet again. He slashed his sword and it made Gideon back off at the force.

'What... is that?' His body shivered as he watched the faint glow of red light continue to manifest in the Crown Prince's hands.

"You're correct, Knight Woodlock. I could never lose this duel," Asher spoke as he lifted his head. Gideon's body froze for a moment when he saw that the Prince had also a faint red glow in his eyes.

"Because I will become the king Pier had taught me to be!" Asher spoke with his head held high.

He had now lost all feelings in the hand holding his sword and he felt like he was about to lose consciousness at any moment. He poured all of his remaining strength into his other hand as he transferred the sword on the still moving one.

Without wasting a second, he moved in an attacking manner towards the knight and Gideon huffed loudly while his eyes also blared with anger.

Both individuals who have almost exhausted themselves moved. Their body flared with the last energy they had as they charged towards each other.

Anger

Wrath

Sorrow

Regret

Realizations

All came down in accordance with each person.

Both the Crown Prince and the Knight raised their swords when they closed their distance between each other.

'For the dignity of my master!'

'For the repentance to the sins I made!'

Slash!

The ground shook violently as the two forces collided. The impact from each of their attacks created cracks in the training ground and huge gusts of wind erupted.

Dust particles scattered once more and it covered the scenario that the other individuals were seeing.

Ronnovian, Henry, and Martha were all silent as they allowed the dust to subside again.

Henry held his breath as his heart pounded so much in his chest. His hands gripped the armrest of the stool he was sitting on and his mouth was agape.

Silence...