It was a normal day in the Humfredus Duchy. The sun was up in the sky shining brightly while the birds chirped away in the outside trees with the grazing calm wind that followed through.

The whole duchy was bustling with the noises of walking people covered with a smile on their faces. Afterall, they had all they could ask for; stable income, powerful soldiers, good governance, and low crime rates. They were content with how their life was going.

The 8 years old Noy Humfredus was playing with his older sister Ameline Humfredus in his room, while his father Harry Humfredus, and his mother Bessta Humfredus, were talking about the daily affairs of the territory along with their territory officers.

"I want to be as strong as our Grandfather who defeated many enemies. I heard he was revered as one of the strongest humans to ever exist.” Noy frowned, “ I wish he would have been alive.”

“I wish so as well, but we humans don’t live as long unlike dragons and other transcendent beings. You also know that.”

“I know sis… It was just wishful thinking. What do you want to do when you grow up?"

Ameline lightly laughed, "Hmmm... I don't know. Maybe get spoiled by you when you become strong in the future?”

"Don't worry sis. I will give you everything you want when I get strong & wealthy. You won't have to worry about anything." Noy said happily with a smile on his face.

Ameline couldn't help but smile silently looking at her cute brother. She loved her younger brother so much that she would abandon everything if it made Noy happy.

She could always be found playing with Noy so that he wouldn't feel lonely when their parents were busy. Other children of the same age didn’t play with him as he was of noble birth. Even if there were noble children with him, they would just talk with him for their mannerisms and not as friends. This made him feel isolated as if others only viewed him for status and not as a person.

Seeing such things, Ameline made sure that Noy would grow up well in a good and healthy manner without feeling a lack of a single thing. She acted as a friend when needed and as a sister when he needed guidance.

Their parents' Harry and Bessta also made sure to take time out of their busy schedules to hang out with Noy and Ameline as much as they could.

As Harry was the Duke of the Humfredus duchy, a part of the Vraecia empire, they had little to no worry. They were one of the happiest families in the whole empire and had everything they could possibly ask for.

It was the year 1218 in the empire. As Noy and Ameline were talking with each other in the room. They saw the fire growing in their garden. Horrified, they were just about to go outside when Harry opened the door panicked and sweating.

“Quick!!! Hurry and get out of here.”, he quickly held Noy and Ameline and hurried them to the basement for safety. After leaving them, he swiftly went up with swords and armor to defend the mansion.

Screams and fire razing could be heard all the way down to the basement. Both Noy and Ameline were shaking with fear. But Noy was even more terrified and shook brazenly. Seeing this, Ameline held her fear back and decided to calm down Noy.

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"Our parents are probably fighting whoever invaded our mansion. They will take care of them in a zippy and we will go back to our daily lives as if nothing happened. So, don't worry. I will make you your favorite meal when all this is resolved.", she comforted Noy as she hugged him.

"O-okay. You promise?", Noy replied in a low voice.

"Yes, I promise and I will also give you the sword that you always wanted since you were young."

Hearing this, Noy's fear calmed a little bit and he stopped shaking.

Harry was a master swordsman and Bessta was a powerful mage. So, this further helped Noy and Ameline to be more optimistic.

After a while, the scream stopped. Ameline was nervous and Noy was still shaking with fear. Some more time passed and nothing could be heard outside. So, Ameline decided to go look outside while Noy stayed shaken with fear.

“Stay here, I will go outside and take a look.”

Noy nodded.

What Ameline saw outside horrified her. The whole floor was covered with blood and the dead bodies of their guards. Some of them had their head cleanly cut off while others had their body mutilated in half. This gruesome sight made her body shiver with fear.

She could guess what had happened with just the sight. After realizing there was no time to waste, she hurried back to the basement and carried the scared Noy on her back through the secret passage.

The passage was hidden at the end of the basement where there was nothing but a few pieces of furniture covered in dust. After pressing a small button on the back of the old cracked mirror that stood beside the dusted desk, a hidden door appeared before them. This was only known to the Humfredus family and no one else, so she was certain that no one could follow them.

While going through the secret passage, Noy asked in a shaky voice, "S-sis, where are we going? where are father and m-mother?"

Ameline couldn't talk for a bit and started crying without uttering a single word. She didn't talk for the rest of the time through the passageway. Noy was still young but even he could guess that there was something wrong.

After arriving at the end of the passageway, Ameline was relieved. But it was only for a bit when she spotted soldiers with the emperor's crest on their uniform standing outside. There were only a dozen soldiers outside but they could easily kill Ameline and Noy.

Ameline knew instinctively that those soldiers were not standing there to help but to kill any escapee. She was also a mage like her mother but she was relatively new and could only perform basic spells. After contemplating for a while, she faced Noy and talked with tears flowing down her cheeks "Listen carefully Noy. Do what I am about to say. No matter what happens do not look back and run away from here to the North as fast as you can. The soldiers shouldn’t be able to follow you there. I will shortly join you after I take care of them."

Hearing those words, Noy's tears also started coming out. Even though he was just young, he knew what those words meant. She had decided to sacrifice herself for his safety. He was frozen for a moment but eventually mustered up the courage to run. As he was running he couldn't say a word to his sister at such a moment. He had become paralyzed mentally and couldn't think anymore and had just decided to run.

Seeing her brother doing as told, Ameline became happy imagining that he would be safe.

The guards had seen them but they didn't do anything for a while. They talked to each other and then one of the guards pointed to Ameline and they all took an attacking stance.

Seeing that, she wiped her tears and started enchanting for spells to cast.

***

Noy ran North mindlessly as far as he could. After running for half an hour and arriving in the middle of the forest, his mind finally started to think. It was then that the realization suddenly hit him, that his parents were probably killed in their mansion, and his older sister also died buying time for him.

He stayed still and his eyes and mind went blank from all the sorrows suddenly entering him. He started crying loudly non-stop that it could be heard echoing through the forest accompanied by the sound of birds in the background.

"S- sorry sis. I should have talked to you sniff when you decided to stay back. I should have asked you to come along with me. I should have said something. You sniff said you would make my favorite meal. I wanted you to make it for me even if it was not in our mansion. What about the promise that you made to me? sniff Now, who will play with me? Who will hug me when I am crying? sniff ---"

sniff sniff sniff

After crying for quite a while, his mind started to clear up. He wiped his tears with his bare hand like how a child would and remarked with a determined look on his face, "Just wait for me, I swear I will kill every single one of you involved and make your death as painful as possible."

Noy greeted his teeth in anger, "Better have more guards on you emperor, even you will die by my hands one day. I know you are also involved in this. Our family waged war for you, we became your sword and this is how you treat us."

"The empire that you so dearly rule on will crumble right before your eyes and you wouldn't be able to do a single thing."

After making such a statement, Noy, with determined eyes, carried on with his journey through the forest vowing to get stronger and then return to get his revenge.....