Pillars of stone. Marbles and structures are so familiar, yet distant. Garden of green. Flowers and servants. Days pass, now gone. And the teacher… always smiling and receptive to her feelings. All blurry. Barely recognizable. Merely reducing them into a mirage.

Sofalia wakes up as she hears a commotion.

“I can deal with her, Kruff… She will not be a problem to you…”

“No. This is my problem. My obligation.”

As she turns her head around, she sees her old teacher arguing with a man. The warm blanket on her skin feels nice, but this is no time for her to feel at ease. Sofalia stirs, and this attracts the attention of the two… no, not two… but three.

“Are you… ok?”

A little girl barely over ten calls to her… “Pyla…” Sofalia instinctively calls the girl’s name.

Dark blonde hair, a small round face, and hazel green eyes. They are characteristics strongly resembling the King. There are also little details about her face that comes from the Queen.

Sofalia’s heart starts beating wildly. She doesn’t know what to say. Taking one step forward, she reaches for the little girl, trying to embrace her in a hug… However, barring her path is a stranger’s arm.

“Take one more step, and I will tear your head off.”

For some reason, Sofalia cannot come to go against the man’s words. She takes a closer look at the warrior who she recalls as responsible for putting her out.

“Let her be.” Kruff intervenes. “Van, we need to talk outside…”

The warrior looks hesitant, but he seems to heed Kruff’s words. The two of them remove themselves from the hut leaving Sofalia and Pyla on their own.

“Are the two of you fighting? You and Grandpa?” Pyla curiously asks, fidgeting… and afraid.

“…” Sofalia resorts to silence.

As the bigger sister of the two, she does not want to come as a liar.

For Sofalia, the late Queen is her mother figure. Albeit her stepmother in a sense, the Queen does take care of her as if she is one of her own— that’s before she learns Sofalia’s bloodline connection to the King. Still. Even after the Queen learns of Sofalia’s bloodline connection with the King, and as a result wants the bastard daughter’s death… Sofalia continues loving the Queen.

She treasures her memories with her significantly.

That is why she cannot forgive Arkruff for killing the Queen at the King’s orders despite it being behind the scenes and warranting the nation's stability. It is a very complicated matter. Fucked up is more accurate... This stain in her memory of her happy life persists to haunt Sofalia to this date.

Thus, her anger remains.

“Our mother’s and father’s conspiracy has led to this very complicated situation. So, I think yes… Arkruff and I are fighting…” Sofalia carefully structures her words to the point of not even making sense.

Wary of Pyla’s reactions, Sofalia cannot make her words sound more implicit than it is now.

She doesn’t want her little sister to hate her.

Opposing all of her expectations, Pyla simply nods knowingly. “I know. Grandpa is very open to it… It has been ten years since he took me in. When I was six years old, he explained it to me. He explained to me my circumstances. He said I have the right to know.”

Sofalia feels her blood turning cold, and her strong resentment over Arkruff gets the best of her. Just why? To tell such cruel things to a child is just… too unkind. She gets up from the bed and rushes off to the door verily wanting to confront Arkruff.

However, before she can even get one more step closer to the door, Pyla takes hold of her wrist.

“Don’t be angry with Grandpa Kruff… He is suffering too…”

Sofalia resists looking at Pyla, so she tries to pull her wrist, but Pyla insists. “Please don’t go… Sister!”

“Sigh…” And Sofalia cannot ignore Pyla’s request. “I… I cannot forgive him. He killed your mother.”

It baffles Sofalia.

She, the bastard daughter of the King, feels resentment for the Queen’s death and she doesn’t even share a shred of her blood. Then… there is Pyla… A little girl who shares the Queen’s blood yet doesn’t feel any resentment toward the Queen’s murderer.

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“Because to me, my only family is grandpa…” Pyla shortly responds.

Not Sofalia. Not the faraway King who orders his wife’s death. Not the Queen who schemes for the dastardly bastard daughter’s death. None of them are Pyla’s family.

To Pyla, her grandfather is enough.

Sofalia gazes over her with imperceptible sadness.

“Well,” Pyla shyly avoids the eye contact. “I guess… If you want… You can be part of my family too… Including big brother Van, that makes the four of us…”

A strong pang of sadness rattles Sofalia’s heart. The innocence and naivety, while disgusting to see in noble blood, now seem so brilliantly beautiful on Pyla… just like the charms of youth in itself.

"And youth which Pyla is. So, she must be."

***

“I understand that you have a story of your own, not that I care, but I wish to tell you mine…” Kruff and I sit on a boulder a few meters away from the hut.

At the back of my mind, I worry this far from the woman might be too dangerous. To leave her with Pyla is too risky. “Little Pyla… Will she be ok?”

“She will be fine… That woman is her elder sister…” Kruff explains to me.

A sister. So, they are family… I know the concept, but I still cannot wrap my head around it. From how I understand family, Kruff is as much a family to the hostile woman then as much as Pyla does to him.

“When I realized something wrong is going on the mountain, I immediately ran back.” I shortly clarify to him the reason for my return.

“Shush… shush…” Kruff raises his hands in jest and helplessness. “Just let this old man share his story…”

I fall quiet letting the old hunter tell his story.

“Hmmm… How should I start?” He rubs his chin, thinking about how to phrase the words that hinder coming out from his mouth.

***

Once upon a time, there is a young aspiring noble in the Kingdom of Blumend.

His name is Arkruff Mondsten. As the only son of a Count, he has responsibilities over his people. The expectations are huge and heavy. Though crushing, the young man endures until he wins against the pressure, and going against all expectations… becoming the youngest Count in the history of Blumend.

Arkruff’s early childhood has been rough. As a noble, his father is weak and naïve. In a nicer way, he is a good man full of weaknesses. Thus, ultimately brings the Count to his inevitable demise from the schemes of the lower aristocracy.

When all of the County starts thinking all hope is lost… the young Arkruff rises through the task, and through time and time again, proves himself worthy of his subjects’ love, and loyalty.

His feats start spreading, and reaching it is the similarly young King of Blumend… From henceforth, in the most unlikely circumstance, the two form a powerful friendship for which they have their circumstances to thank for.

The youngest King and youngest Count of Blumend unite in an alliance.

Some might argue… How dare a lowly Count from the boonies share such a strong bond with the King? The answer lies in the young Count’s martial prowess.

Young Arkruff proves himself on the battlefield and wins the Blumend Kingdom countless wars.

However, Arkruff’s achievement does not stop at winning wars.

Arkruff acquires the legendary Legacy of a Knigic both masters of martial arts and magic arts, he becomes an unrivaled force within the Kingdom. He becomes the sharpest sword of the King,

And… also the Kingdom’s greatest possession.

This is when problems start popping out left and right.

It is Arkruff’s peak of his career after a military campaign where he almost dies, he returns to a world of hurt. On his return, he suddenly finds out about the young infant of his fiance and the Blumend King. The child's name is Sofalia.

To understand what did occur. They have to go back to a further past.

The 'most unlikely circumstance' that brings the Blumend King and Mondsten Count is none other than a woman.

They are playing peasants at that time, spending their youth in their free time, relaxing, and blowing off steam from the pressure of work… But then… the two meet a woman about their age. Beautiful. Benevolent. Loving. Caring. True. The perfect woman.

It is a sad story like no other. Every sad story is... like no other… no matter how unique and formulaic they sound like.

It slowly but surely starts destroying everything around them as their history comes something like out of a sad opera from rumors, gossips, and embellishments… Arkruff has been missing for a long time since getting engaged with his lover, which in turn, concludes his death as per protocols.

When Arkruff suddenly goes missing, the Blumend Kings spend all of his resources on finding his ally, his best friend, but to no avail, he only receives a negative.

As he visits Arkruff’s soon-to-be-wife in his peasant disguise, and relays the news to her… they fall into companionable sadness after. And in the heat of the moment, the two get together, soothing each other, and relieving them of the pain of the loss of the one and only Arkruff Mondtsen.

Bringing them into Arkruff's return does nothing but only for the involved people to get hurt... just more and more.

From there, it continues to devolve into more disastrous events.

The relationship between Arkruff and the Blumend King starts showing cracks.

***

“Political strife, infightings, and everything are going to… shit…” Kruff bitterly recalls the past.

Meanwhile, I stew in my silence. I know this story. While I am merely just an AI Bot at that time, I also participate in the main quests, side quests, and other storylines.

I know Sofalia too. However, the Sofalia inside the hut is much younger than I remember.

It is Kruff and Pyla that I do not know of. This only suggests one thing… their deaths.

Kruff continues his narrative. “I don’t know how. But the Queen learned of this secret daughter. Because of grief and a sense of loss, the Queen becomes mad… thus leading her to organize a coup. It is not even an assassination directed at Sofalia… It is a coup… I have to kill her… I… I want Sofalia to live.”

Such a flimsy reason, but it holds weight.

What does it even mean to live? To live with this pain and regret must be painful, so why does he endure?

“Van,” Kruff calls my name with grave seriousness in his eyes. “I have a favor to ask. I have to go… so, can you take care of Pyla while I am gone? You are not a stranger anymore. At first, I was reluctant to trust you… But now, I have no one else to trust. But if it is you, I believe I can take that leap of faith.”

I breathe in the cold wintry air around us. I feel my chest cooling off a bit. I glance at the desperate old man. “No," I cruelly deny his request. "Your favor can go suck ass…”