Another extra chapter, Duke Wellington's. Again, not canon.

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"Your father has called for you," said the servant.

"Me?" said Charles. "Why me?"

"He's not going to last much longer, and he wants to talk to you before he leaves," said the servant.

"Alright," said Charles. Charles ran up the stairs to the master bedroom. His father was Duke James Wellington, one of the four Dukes of Antium responsible for managing the lands. James was responsible for managing the North.

KNOCK KNOCK. "Come in," said James. COUGH.

Charles opened the door to the bedroom and saw Charles. He was pale and in bed. "How are you father?" asked Charles.

"Not well," said James. "I won't last much longer."

"Why did you ask for me?" asked Charles.

"I want you to remember something when you take over as Duke," said James.

"What is it?" asked Charles.

"As you take on an important role, other people will try to change you," said James. "You must remember to be true to yourself and do what you think is right." COUGH COUGH.

"What do you mean other people will try to change you?" asked Charles. "Who is going to try to change me?"

"The other nobles," said James. "Most of them are not good people and they will try to make sure that you are on their side so that they can take Antium's resources. You must not become like them, but you also must not openly show it until you are ready."

"How will I know when I am ready?" asked Charles.

"You'll have to figure it out yourself," said James. "Maybe when you have some close friends who you can trust? Or maybe when you have obtained enough power to force others to listen to you?" COUGH. "The important thing is for you to do what you think is right," said James as he handed Charles the Gold Card.

"This is!" said Charles.

"Take good care of it," said James. "You're the boss now."

"To do what I think is right..." Charles repeated. Charles never really had any friends. He was usually by himself. In fact, most nobles were by themselves. They went to school alone with a guard. They returned alone after ten years or so after learning how to rule and manage a given plot of land. Charles did it in five, half the time that was needed. Charles had no friends or power. He would only acquire power after his father passed away, which was at any moment now.

Those were the last words that James said to Charles. Soon after, James passed away. His injuries from fighting in the last Invasion were too great. With the death of his father, Duke James Wellington, Charles became Duke Charles Wellington and inherited all of his father's lands and power. At the age of ten, he was the youngest Duke

There were only two people that Charles really knew, both were in Anzio. The first was Leeroy, a member of the Guild who specialized in hunting. He was hired by James to protect Charles while Charles attended Anzio academy. Leeroy was often found at the Guild, looking for work, but the demand for hunters were few. Charles spotted him sitting at a table. He was the man with messy black hair. He looked fairly scrawny, but he was among the strongest because he fought with numerous wild animals from boars to tigers. In terms of raw strength, he was definitely one of the strongest despite his appearance.

"What do you want kid?" asked Leeroy. "Did your father need me to protect you again?"

"I need to you to help protect me," said Charles.

"What happened to your father?" asked Leeroy.

"He passed away from injuries during the fight," said Charles. "He told me to find people I could trust."

"Oh? But I work for money," said Leeroy. "Money is the only thing I trust."

"I will pay you," said Charles. "Your job is to keep me safe, you will have full access to my security."

"I'm surprised you trust someone like me," said Leeroy. "I just told you I only trust money."

"And money is what I have, that means as long as I pay you, you will keep me safe," said Charles.

"Very well," said Leeroy. "I'll take on that job. It's better than working for chump change hunting boars and wolves all the time. There's no exciting game here anyways."

With time though, Leeroy changed. "Duke Wellington, your carriage is ready," said Leeroy. "I've assembled this team of six for your security detail."

"Thank you, Leeroy," said Charles as he climbed on board the carriage.

"Remember, we're heading to Antium," said Leeroy.

Even though Leeroy said he only worked for money, he was loyal to his employer. After all, Guild members depended on it. He stopped numerous attempts on the Duke's life both at his manor and in Antium.

Today was the first time that Charles was attending the meeting of the nobles. All of them gathered to discuss city policy and goals. It was headed by King Caligula himself.

"Our duty is to quell the riots in Antium," said King Caligula. "See to it that it is done."

Those were the only instructions that King Caligula gave before walking away. He was really hands off and did not input anything else. He had no family, which put the whole country in danger as with his death, the Dukes will fight over his position as per tradition.

"First order of business is to welcome Duke Charles Wellington, son of Duke James Wellington," said Duke Innes. "Welcome young Duke."

"Thank you," said Charles. "I look forward to working with all of you."

"Me as well," said Duke Earl. "But for now, you should focus on getting used to managing your own lands."

Charles could immediately hear whispers among the crowd. A young Duke with no parents or family. He could already hear the sounds of people plotting against him. He did not feel safe among the other nobles.

"The second order of business is to repair the East Wall," said Duke Gray. "It has been in ruins since the last Invasion and it needs to be repaired."

"Who will oversee this?" asked Duke Earl.

"The Marquessate Robin will," said Duke Gray. "The funds will be provided, see to it that it is complete."

"Thank you for this opportunity," said Marquessate Robin.

The division of work for the nobles seemed to go by very quickly. Nobles were assigned jobs according to their position once they have settled in. As you rose up in position, you acquired better tasks, more recognition, and the increased power that went with it. The goal of the nobles were to ascend to the position of Duke and then King or Queen. Little did Charles know that all that was divided up was the money. The tasks themselves were rarely done.

When Charles returned to his manor, there was a message for him. One of his maids was dead and nailed to the front door. In her blood it read: "Welcome Our New Duke." Someone had gotten into the manor.

"I'll go check first," said Leeroy. "Wait here."

"Okay," said Charles. He waited outside as Leeroy went in with a few guards. They swept through the house.

SCREAM. There was the sound of a scream. Charles was worried, but going in would be even more dangerous. Soon after, Charles could hear footsteps and Leeroy came out, throwing the body of a man in a green cloak out onto the floor.

"Someone take care of that mess," said Leeroy.

The guards immediately began to work to clean up the front door and the house. "Is there anyone else?" asked Charles.

"You're okay for now," said Leeroy. "There's no one else bad in here."

"It doesn't feel that way," said Charles.

"If you want to feel safe, there's someone I can recommend," said Leeroy.

"Who?" asked Charles.

"Her name is Anna, the greatest caretaker in the world," said Leeroy.

Charles did not sleep well that night knowing and seeing what had happened. Despite the appearance of the nobles, they were savage and vicious people. There was no way he could trust any of them knowing that someone had just tried to kill him.

Charles spent a while managing his lands, but his farming output was too low to produce much else, so he had to focus on that. At nights, he did not sleep well knowing that people could sneak in and kill him. After about a month, Charles was mentally exhausted and had minimal sleep.

"You don't seem okay," said Leeroy. "What's wrong?"

"It doesn't feel safe here," said Charles.

"That was why Duke Gray left that message in the first place," said Leeroy.

"How did you know it was him?" asked Charles.

"I had people take a look at the equipment the man used," said Leeroy. "It was specialized equipment that was produced in the South, the lands under Duke Gray's control."

"What should I do?" asked Charles.

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"Get Anna, she will make you feel safe," said Leeroy.

"Where is she?" asked Charles.

"She works at the Guild in Anzio now," said Leeroy. "Though you might be surprised when you first meet her."

Charles and Leeroy headed to Anzio's Guild. "Where is she?" asked Charles.

"Follow me," said Leeroy. He headed upstairs away from the main area. He headed towards the back into the day care.

"A day care?!?" said Charles.

SHHH. The woman whispered at him.

"That's Anna," said Leeroy.

It was the woman that whispered at him. She looked rather young and was dressed in a maid outfit. Charles continued to look at her and the fact that she looked rather normal. The woman turned around and walked up to him. Charles could see that she had brown eyes and she was definitely under the age of thirty.

"Stop oogling me and leave," said Anna. "Unless you have a child of your own to drop off here before you get to work, go away."

"I'm here to hire you," said Charles.

"I don't do that kind of work anymore," said Anna. "I retired from fighting."

"He needs you to protect his house," said Leeroy. "I recommended him to you."

"You should know better," said Anna.

"His home was attacked and he doesn't feel safe," said Leeroy.

"What did he lose?" asked Anna.

"He lost a servant and his sense of safety," said Leeroy.

"Welcome to the real world," said Anna. "Now go away, the children need to sleep," she said as she pushed them out.

"That did not go as expected," said Charles.

"We'll need to visit her a few more times," said Leeroy. "To show that you really want her help and it's not just because you want power."

"Is she always like this?" asked Charles.

"She used to pull out her staff and just knock you right out of the room," said Leeroy.

That was a frightening thought. Anna did not look like the kind of person that could do that, but according to Leeroy, she could.

"How do you know her anyways?" asked Charles.

"During a mission, we were both asked to escort a carriage," said Leeroy. "She fought fiercely against everyone who tried to attack it, but never killed a single person."

"Why?" asked Charles. "Isn't it normal to kill your enemies?"

"She said that killing was a precious waste of life and wants it to stop," said Leeroy. "But from what I could tell, I think she has killed many people. The intense aura she displays in a fight would scare anyone."

The next day, Charles and Leeroy went back to Anna. "I thought I told you two to leave," said Anna.

"Since you won't help me, I want you to teach me to protect myself," said Charles.

Anna was suddenly interested. "What do you want to learn?" asked Anna.

"I want to be able to protect myself and stop others from hurting me, even if they have a weapon and I do not," said Charles.

Anna looked at him. "You're kind of young to be worrying about this kind of thing are you not?" Anna asked.

"Someone has already killed one of my servants, I think they want to kill me next," said Charles.

"Who are you anyways?" asked Anna.

"I'm Duke Charles Wellington," said Charles.

Anna looked at Leeroy and then at Charles. With a surprised look, she looked at Leeroy again. "You're doing this kind of work now?" asked Anna.

"Yep," said Leeroy. "Times are changing and so am I."

Anna looked around the room at what she was doing. She was taking care of children. Protecting Charles was going to be the same. The children at the Guild were relatively safe, but Charles was not. "Alright, I'll help you," said Anna. "But I refuse to fight your petty wars, I will only work to protect your home."

"That's fine," said Charles. "She doesn't seem that great though does she?" Charles whispered to Leeroy.

"SHHH," Leeroy was trying to silence Charles.

POW. Charles immediately felt something hit the back of his head.

"I heard that ," Anna whispered.

Anna was clearly someone that was far different from her appearance. She was incredibly strong, but hid her power by doing mundane tasks, something that she seemed to get a lot of joy out of. When she arrived at the Duke's manor, Anna took on cooking and cleaning yet found the time to train all of the Duke's guards.

CRASH. Something had broken through a window and landed on the front door. It was a man with a magic cloak. "Stay out!" shouted Anna.

The man on the ground could not move. "Interrogate him!" Leeroy ordered.

"Why do so many people want you dead?" asked Anna.

"I don't know," said Charles. "It's been happening since I attended the first meeting with the other nobility."

"Someone probably wants your power," said Anna.

However, after learning that Anna was there, the assassination attempts seemed to have stopped. Either that or Anna and Leeroy became very good at covering them up. Anna alone had taken on dozens of them and crippled them. But it became clear, nearly all the assassins came from the South or were hired in the South. Duke Gray wanted Charles dead. As long as Leeroy or Anna were there though, he would be safe.

At the next meeting, Charles brought it up. "You know, there's an awful lot of men from the South trying to kill me," said Charles.

A lot of nobles immediately turned to Charles and began whispering. "What are you insinuating?" asked Duke Gray.

"I said, there's an awful lot of assassins coming for me from the South," said Charles. "You need to get your act together and clean up your mess."

"You dare accuse me of sending assassins to kill you?" shouted Duke Gray.

"I never said you sent them, I just said they came from the South," said Charles. This was Charles' declaration of opposition against Duke Gray. Although Charles was weaker, he was the only person who could stand up to Duke Gray. "You know, that wall your Marquessate is supposed to be working on has seen no progress either," said Charles.

Duke Gray was furious at this. It was clear that he would not take it sitting down, but there's nothing he could do in public. If Charles was killed in Antium, his brother who was in charge of security would be blamed for allowing such a thing to happen and would most likely lose his position. The only way for Duke Gray was to kill Charles far away from Antium, but he was too well protected.

Eventually, someone else introduced Charles to the things that nobles did. For example, some wrote off expenses to steal money from the treasury and projects. Others raised tariffs and taxes to pay for their own increased expenses. "Now that you're fifteen, it's time to be a man," said Baron Aden.

"What do you mean?" asked Charles.

"Come with me," said Baron Aden. He brought Charles to the outer edge of the city along with Leeroy.

"I'll wait out here till you're done in there," said Leeroy.

Charles went inside not knowing what it was. He looked inside one of the rooms, it was a brothel. "Find someone you like," said Baron Aden as he showed Charles the book.

Charles looked inside. It was like a catalog. It had pictures of different people in it. Most of them were fairly young women though there were a few men and young buys in it as well.

"I'll be off," said Baron Aden as he dropped off 10 silver coins went into a room on the side.

"My name is Holland, do you need help?" asked the man at the front desk.

"I just want someone to talk to," said Charles.

"I recommend this one," said Holland as he flipped to the back where the "luxury" workers were.

Charles looked at the price. It was 50 silver for a single session compared to the others. The girl was about the same age as him with long black hair and a blue and a green eye. She was fairly well endowed as well. "Why is she so expensive?" asked Charles.

"She's real popular with some of the nobles," said Holland. "She talks a lot and fights back if you want her to as well."

"Isn't that dangerous?" asked Charles. 

"Some people like a girl that resists," said Holland. 

Charles was disgusted at the thought of it. "This was what the nobles of Antium were like," he thought to himself.

"Do you want her?" asked Holland.

"Yes," said Charles. "I just want someone to talk to."

"Last room way in the back," said Holland. "If she tries to kill you, be sure to shout for help."

That last bit was something that made Charles afraid, but he went in anyways. At the back was a double door. As he opened it, he saw a young girl with long black hair who turned around. She had a blue eye and a green eye. "Do I have to help some noble's kid with their first time again?" said the girl disappointedly.