Eidrich's Perspective (1/2)
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Eidrich Dawnspear had always been a carefree child. Having been raised as the youngest son of the Kingdom’s most powerful duke, it was only natural for him to be a little spoiled. He was, after all, his mother’s favorite. Whatever Eidrich wanted, he received. Whether it was toys, delicious food, clothes. None of it matters as long as Eidrich was happy.
During the day, Eidrich would spend most of his waking hours, running around the estate, playing with the maids, sometimes causing harmless pranks. Some days would be spent admiring his older brothers, receiving private lessons or secretly observing their sword trainings, hoping one day, he would become as strong as them. Then just before bed time, he would be put to sleep with stories from the duchess herself.
“And so, the admirable hero defeated the fearsome Demon Lord…”
Sweet, melodious voice resounded within Eidrich’s bedchamber.
“But do you know how he was able to become strong, little Eid?”
The duchess, her eyes deep and dark twinkles, like the universe filled with stars, looked at Eidrich, tucked up underneath his blanket, his tiny head poking out comically.
“Was it because he eats a lot, mama?” A small curious voice replied.
“No, little Eid, it’s not because of delicious food” The duchess laughs, the sound, soft and pleasant to the ears.
“Oh, I know, was it because of his training?”
“Hmm, close but not quite. Do you know why heroes were so beloved by the people?”
“Ah! I know, mama! Because they fight bad guys!” The little cub’s eyes sparkle at the mentioning of heroes.
“Correct, it was because they fight to protect. Some claims that the hero who used to be feeble, became stronger as he fights, not for himself but for those weaker and less fortunate than himself” The duchess softly ruffled Eidrich’s fluffy hair, who is already fast asleep.
“But you don’t have to be a hero my little one. Just living for yourself is enough, for me” She kissed the boy’s forehead, gazed lovingly at his sleeping form before departing.
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It was half a year later when the incident occurred. Eidrich, who had been happily munching on snacks while watching his brothers’ training, had noticed the sudden arrival of a battered carriage. Half of it was missing, as it passes through the estate’s front gate, drawn by horses, half-dead from deep gnarly cuts.
He was quite confused at the frantic state of the servants, even more so when his brothers, seemingly informed by a flustered butler, ran off towards the carriage.
Eidrich, curious, follow suit. Upon arrival, he saw his father, bloodied, covered with wounds. His regal military uniform in tatters, the once white fabric had turned nearly crimson in color. On his face was a solemn look, the usual piercing blue eyes had lost their shines.
Duke Rafford Dawnspear had arrived, carrying the lifeless body of the love of his life.
Eidrich, a child of barely 5 years of age, had never stepped foot outside of the estate. Hence, had yet to be introduced to the concept of death.
The young child, was quite upset when his beautiful mother, no matter how many times he had called her, never woke up from her sleep. His brothers had silently wept, to his dismay, making no attempt at helping him wake her up.
Duchess Etherial Dawnspear, much beloved by all, was buried away at the estate’s graveyard, laying her remains to rest with prior generations of Dawnspear. The beautiful duchess, had taken away with her, a large part of everyone’s soul.
From that moment on, Rafford Dawnspear, had rarely ever laugh. The once joyous man, whose eyes shined with warmth, hardened, turning cold, filled with contempt. Eidrich’s father, was plagued with guilt and regrets.
Guilt, at his own incompetence, unable to protect his wife when their carriage was ambushed by a team of powerful demon generals. Regrets, at his own pride for not travelling with guards, overestimating his ability of a sword master to be enough to protect them both. Lastly, hatred, at the demons, for taking away his soulmate.
It was during the middle of the Demon-Human Alliance war. As an important military figure, Rafford should’ve known better, that he would be targeted, yet regrets were all that remains.
Rafford would then on turned his life’s dedication to war, submerging himself in ridding the world of demon kind. Often time spending weeks, if not months, wreaking havoc at the front lines.
The few times he had returned to his estate, would be spent harshly drilling his three sons in the art of killing. His harsh trainings and standards were initially so that his sons, would never have to experience regrets like he had. He would shape them, by force, into the strongest sword masters in all of the Kingdom. He had succeeded, for the two oldest.
The Dawnspear stemmed from generations of aura swordmen. An inherited gift, the golden aura, passes down through their bloodline. It is believed that the strength of the aura is innate, one is simply born with strong or weak aura, as if decided by mere luck.
Rygon and Irgo, the first and second-born son, possesses very powerful aura, with the potential to rival Rafford’s own. Enhanced strength, speed, power, sight, they could even manifest the aura into solid forms, with each swing of their sword, shooting out dense golden waves of deadly energy, capable of penetrating the hardest of steel and flesh.
This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it
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Despite all their prowess, Eidrich, was considered to be the black sheep of the family. His power appears to be the weakest in all of the generations of Dawnspear. Compared to Rygon, who had inherited the title of a demon-killing machine from their father. Irgo, whose swordsmanship is said to be near perfection and reaching peak efficiency due to his exceptional mental capability.
Eidrich’s can’t even be compared to the dirt they walk on. His golden aura, flashy as it may look, barely capable of enhancing his strength and speed, merely making him a little bit better than the typically trained soldiers.
Thus, no matter how hard he trains, no matter how much efforts he puts in. The gap between him and his brothers only widens. His aura, its strength decided from birth, never improved.
His insecurities, led to him distancing himself from them, especially from his own father, for he could not endure Rafford’s disappointed gazes.
A once loving family, turned into one who thirsts for revenge against the demons.
Years passed, Rygon, came of age, allowed to participate in the war. Accumulating achievements one after another, elevating his status to the Captain of a Knight Division, moving to the Capital after being appointed.
Irgo, just a few years behind, had contributed to the Kingdom’s rebuilding efforts, recognized for his mental skills, also left the estate in pursuit of his own glory.
Leaving behind, the youngest to drown in his own despair.
Gone was the carefree, spoiled but loved child. In his place, an insecure young man whose only friend is a horse.
However, Eidrich still have one quality remaining. Pride. Weak as he was, he was still a Dawnspear, a war-bred, noble bloodline who far surpassed regular aristocrats. If even he, who had poured so much sweat and blood into trainings and only got so far, then what of those who had never put in effort at all?
Thus, as much as he hates his weak self, he hates those weaker than him even more, deeming them unworthy of saving.
Yet, Eidrich had never caused any major trouble, his sense of pride, twisted as it was, means that he would simply mind his own business, unless provoked or insulted.
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It was on a particular day, having pushed his beloved horse, Brutus, too hard during training, causing an injury to the steed’s foreleg. Perhaps, out of sheer frustration and loneliness at his own lack of improvements, Eidrich had vented his inner turmoil.
Alone in the estate’s stable with his horse, Eidrich, as he often does, talks freely to his only friend. Having no fear of being overheard as servants rarely ventures near the stable. That was until that incident occurred.
In the middle of his emotional outbursts, something, someone came crashing through the wooden planks of the stable’s wall. Causing Eidrich to nearly drew his sword. Was it a spy? An assassin? No, he would have been attacked straight away if it was the latter, also a spy wouldn’t commit such a careless mistake.
Just to be sure, Eidrich had questioned the figure, who is pitifully crawling on all four under his feet. He had unleashed his aura, weak as it may be, was more than enough to cause suffocating pressure to a mere commoner with no defensive ability.
The person was trembling like a newborn-fawn, being pressured by Eidrich’s power. He was relieved when he had learned that they were neither a spy nor an assassin, but appears to be the estate’s new maid, who had just accidentally happened to eavesdrops on him.
However, a commoner listening in on a noble is still worthy of punishments. His pride, simply wouldn’t allow a mere maid to get away freely, potentially spreading weird rumors about him to others within her rank. He had decided to intimidate her for a bit, grabbing the maid’s hair and lifting her up to meet his gaze. After all, she was but just a weak commoner who had angered him-
“!!”
What is this?
The new maid, with her deep dark eyes, though reddened with tears, reminds him of the late duchess. He had never before seen such a...
Those big round eyes, the small delicate face, her cheeks tainted with dirt, elicited something strange within Eidrich. When met with such a familiar yet unfamiliar sight, he had lost his composure. For a brief moment, just for a little bit, his problems had seemed so…trivial, so unimportant.
In the spur of the moment, he had asked her name. Oblivious to the fact that he had just tormented her a moment ago.
“Lyrina…” A small melodious voice enters his ears.
He had put away his meager pride and let her go with a simple promise of silence. Seeing her delicate frame stumbled away, a sharp twinge unknown emotion stabbed at his heart.
That night, he was unable to sleep, wrestling with feelings he had never before, experienced. The next day, due to lack of sleep, his training quality had greatly diminished.
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It was around a week or so later, when he was out to receive his father’s arrival, he had saw the girl named Lyrina again. The black-haired maid was occupied with carrying kitchen supplies. Their gazes had briefly met, her eyes had this weird indescribable looks to them.
She had quickly averted her gaze, almost flinching, seemingly scared of him. The unknown emotion resurfaced.
Eidrich had noticed something, whenever he saw her, he would notice the patches on her uniform and the dirtied state that it always seems to be in. Was a weak delicately-built girl such as her, tasked with strenuous, laborious tasks? The girl, seems so frail, a gust of wind could have knocked her over.
Eidrich experienced something he had never cared about before; he was curious about this new maid whom he had spared.
Eidrich had accidentally stumbled upon her a few more times after that. Of course, with his superior speed, he had always avoided her attention. Choosing to silently observe her. He had convinced himself that it was to monitor her, in case she had decided to blabber about the incident to another maid.
Each time he saw the girl, she would always appear in that pitiful appearance. The more he saw her, the more captivated he became. Her gentle gazes when looking at the small maid next to her, the rare smiles blossoming on her normally emotionless face, her beauty shining through her shabby looking appearance. He wonders if his family had fallen so poor that they couldn’t even replace a maid’s simple uniform.
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He had met with the head maid, after his daily, repetitive trainings, to ask about Lyrina. He had learned that she is a debt maid, her father had accumulated debts due to his gambling, thus, with no means of repaying, had sold her to the estate.
According to the law of the Kingdom, children not yet of age, were still property of their legal guardians, hence could be sold like livestock. Eidrich was disgusted of the loophole within such a ridiculous law, but since he had no decision-making power inside the estate, he could only stay silent.
An idea had then occurred to him. If she was bound here by debt, he could at least alleviate her burdens.
He had requested Lyrina to be his personal attendant. Of course, Eidrich had no impure intentions. Yes, he masks his insecurity with pride and arrogance. But he is neither evil nor a lecherous bastard.
The head maid had called for the young woman, Lyrina. She had appeared, again in her dirtied attire. The head maid had informed her of her new position while Eidrich silently appraises her pitiful appearance. Their gazes had met, accidentally. When a sudden realization dawned on Eidrich, the weird looks she had for him, was one of contempt.
His offer was met with her polite retaliation, her voice soft, yet he could almost taste the venom, hidden within each word she had spoken. He had insisted, even forced, his decision onto her, hoping she would see his benevolent intention. But it was to no avail, in her eyes, he was already...irredeemable.
His heart sank, he had abruptly left soon after, having nothing more left to say.
He, Eidrich Dawnspear, was perhaps, destined to suffer alone.