“Brr.”

The old man waved away the armored soldier beside him and hurried into the creaking house. It stood there solemnly and all alone, no one else willing to have a house built this far from civilization. 

Running away from the sudden blizzard, Duke Dalton went and warmed himself up by the forlorn fire that looked to be almost out. However, a gruff voice called out to him from behind.

“Oi, you’re in the way of my heat. Git.”

Chuckling, the old man nodded in a casual style of greeting and stepped aside, still choosing to remain near the fire, but now he was facing the individual who was speaking with him.

“Hehehe, I see General Ivan is as usual.”

The disgruntled figure lazing about in the soft armchair in front of the fire scowled and tossed his empty wine bottle into a pile of broken glass, the sound of it breaking filled the nearly empty house.

“Don’t call me that. I ain’t no general anymore. Get out of my house.”

The old Duke smirked and shook his head before clarifying.

“And you don’t own this place. I do.”

The man known as Ivan scoffed and looked away towards the window where nothing but white could be seen. He scowled before spitting out his own reply.

“It won’t matter once I leave.”

The old Duke sighed and pulled at his pointy beard. He looked into the smoldering embers of the fire and looked at the glistening shards of glass that littered the area in front of a gallant portrait of a manly young soldier wearing shining armor. Of course, now it had shards of glass sticking out of it and alcohol stains ruining the color.

Suddenly recalling the event that could help this destitute person, the Duke became slightly happy. He put on a smug smile as he spoke.

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“Look, surely you heard about the Brittoli Family, yes?”

Turning back to the Duke, Ivan’s face pulled back in disgust.

“Heh, of course I heard about those scum bags. They got their just desserts. Poor girl should get adopted by the Landis Family. It would be better off for her.”

The duke shook his head and smiled softly.

“No, I made a suggestion for you to be her temporary guardian. You need a backer for now, but if I take you, the others would rise up and pressure me. So, you watch over this girl until you are yourself again.”

Ivan scowled once more, causing the grizzled scruff on his chin to make his expression seem more mature, even though he was close to a third of the Duke's age.

“I ain’t babysitting.”

Duke Dalton smiled knowingly, as if he expected this reaction. He stuffed his hands into his sleeves, adopting the posture of an Eastern scholar he once met.

“You don’t have to. Just teach her how to be a Baron. She inherited all of her family’s wealth anyway.”

Ivan choked back a laugh as he began ridiculing the poor girl’s family.

“Peh, and baggage. How badly was their debt again?”

The gristly young fellow scratched at his stubble and spat at the portrait, masterfully landing the dirty phlegm directly on the face. It was odd since it was also his face. Then he looked at the duke, thoughts whirling in his drunken mind.

“Why are you doing this?”

Not dropping his soft smile, the Duke gave his answer.

“I owe the Brittoli Family.”

For once, a smile came to the young man, who was only around twenty. His eyes sparkled for a moment, reminding the Duke of the young man’s true age and attitude. But his reminiscing was cut short by the rude words the man spoke.

“You owe those dirt bags?! Hahaha!”

The duke’s eyebrows twitched at the provocation, but he kept a respectful air about him.

“I would think it unnecessary, since I already said so, but yes. If you would believe it, Baron Victor wasn’t always…a prick.”

He took a moment to choose his words, but he couldn’t think of a more courteous term for his old friend, causing him to lose his smile.

“Heh. Whatever. I don’t have anything else to do. Fine.”

The ex-general crossed his arms and laid his head back, closing his eyes to rest. The Duke gave a small and quiet clap as he smiled once again. He left soon after into the freezing cold, but for some reason, it didn’t seem to faze him. In fact, his body was covered in a red glow and his clothes were completely dry.

The soldier returned. He saluted and escorted the Duke back to his mansion. Before leaving, he turned back towards that building and smiled to himself. His wise voice was nearly drowned out by the storm.

“Good. I hope he makes something out of this second chance of his. Hehehe, the family with only one member, using the army of only one man. If this isn’t destiny, I don’t know what is.”

The old Duke chuckled to himself as he walked away, his silhouette slowly disappearing into the blizzard which soon died down as if it never existed.