My name is Brandt, and I’ve found myself in a dangerous situation. I was born in the Kingdom of Dunvaris, in the province of Eastleigh, in a small town called Farnham. From childhood, I had an athletic build, the kind that made me perfect for swordsmanship—or so my father believed.

I had two brothers. Vincent, the youngest, died of an illness when he was just a child. My older brother, Victor, had a frail body growing up. That’s why my father focused his attention on me. He taught me how to wield a sword, always saying I had what it took to become a warrior. But every time I trained with him, I could feel Victor’s eyes on us. It was like I was being torn apart—alive in the moment of bonding with my father, but haunted by the guilt of leaving Victor in the shadows. Victor stayed inside, tending to our sick mother, unnoticed and unappreciated.

We didn’t have the luxury of education. We never went to an academy. I didn’t need to. But Victor—he dreamed of more. He wanted to study governance, to better himself, but our father wouldn’t allow it. Even if he had, the academy wouldn’t have accepted someone from a poor family like ours. I could see it broke Victor, though he never said it aloud. He hid his pain well, but I could feel it—late at night, when everything was quiet, I knew he was crying alone. And yet, I was the one drenched in my father’s approval, in lessons I didn’t even want.

I grew to hate my father for it. He was supposed to guide us both, to see us as equals. Instead, he picked favorites. I hated him for that.

When our mother passed, everything changed—or at least, I thought it would. A local landowner gave us a small plot of land, supposedly for daily living. To this day, I don’t know why he did it. My father was ecstatic, jumping with joy. But Victor? He was given the responsibility of working the farm. He accepted it with a quiet smile, like he always did, pretending it didn’t hurt.

I admired him for his strength, but I hated myself for not standing up for him. I hated my father for failing to see the burden he’d placed on Victor. And no matter what I did, nothing ever changed. I couldn’t protect him—not from our father, not from the weight of our circumstances.

"That’s just fine. Continue your training," Victor would always say.

I didn’t believe him.

When father fell ill, he made it clear that I was the one he wanted to take care of him. It wasn’t the responsibility that angered me—it was the way he treated Victor, as though he wasn’t even his son. It made my hatred for him grow deeper.

Victor, of course, had always known. He never asked or complained, but I could see the questions in his eyes—the same questions I carried. Why didn’t our father treat him like a son?

When I finally asked, my father’s answer was sharp and cold.

"That bastard isn’t my son," he said. "Your mother had him with another man. She even admitted it."

I didn’t know how to respond. The revelation was shocking, but it didn’t change anything for me. Victor was still my brother. That bond wasn’t something I could erase.

Victor eventually found his own path. He started a family and had a daughter, Clarisse. I stayed with him for a time, watching her grow for four precious years before I had to move on. It was time to find my own destiny.

I joined a guild, taking on missions and quests they offered. For a year, I lived that life—working tirelessly, one task after another. Then a noble took notice of me. They gave me food, a place to sleep, and a steady role fighting for them. It wasn’t glamorous, but it was stable, and the money I earned was more than I needed.

I sent half of it to Victor, hoping to help him, but he always refused. He’d send it back, insisting I better keep it all for myself. He wouldn’t accept my help, no matter how much I wanted to give it.

After working for the nobles, I moved on to serve the empire's royalty. I began as a lieutenant, leading small groups of 20 to 40 soldiers. With the support of the noble family I had served, I became a figure of favor in the emperor’s eyes. My skills and abilities spoke for themselves, allowing me to rise through the ranks. Or so they said.

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In seven years, I reached the rank of captain. That was my peak. I commanded over 200 troops, relying solely on my swordsmanship. I had no magic to aid me, and I was proud of that. I earned my place the hard way, with grit and discipline.

During those seven years, none of us ever saw the emperor’s face. Only his trusted cabinet had that privilege. Rumors began to spread—whispers that the emperor had died long ago and that the government was hiding it. The gossip grew so loud that the emperor was eventually forced to appear in public to silence it.

When the day came, we all expected to see an old, frail man, worn by years of rule. Instead, what we saw left us speechless: a young, beautiful man, no older than his mid-twenties. The sight of him—youthful, confident—shattered every assumption we had.

I didn’t dwell on it too much. It didn’t concern me. Or so I thought.

Soon after, the emperor summoned all the captains to a meeting. He wanted to discuss the rising tensions at the border, particularly the alarming reports of magical predators—creatures capable of disguising themselves as humans. Higher-ranking officials were also called to the gathering.

That day marked the moment I abandoned all my duties to this empire. My dreams, my ambitions—I left them behind. I ran away.

I can’t fully explain what I saw that terrified me so deeply, but it shattered everything I had believed in. Every year I’d spent as a soldier, every ounce of pride I felt for serving this empire—it was all a lie.

It started after the meeting. I heard something—faint but unmistakable—a noise echoing from somewhere deep inside the palace. It sounded like the voice of a girl… or maybe a woman.

I couldn’t place it, so I searched. Room after room, hall after hall, yet I found nothing. But the crying didn’t stop. It followed me like a shadow, persistent and unnerving. Then, just as abruptly as it had started, it ceased.

That’s when I found it. The sound had been coming from a painting on the wall. At first, I didn’t believe it. How could that be possible? Yet I was certain. The cries… they came from there.

It wasn’t just any cry. It was familiar, haunting—like the cries I’d heard on the battlefield.

I couldn’t see anything, but the sound pierced me to my core. Low and faded, it rose again. Then, a scream.

"Help!"

The voice shifted—child, woman, elder, man. It didn’t matter who it belonged to. It begged for help, over and over.

And I left. I left without doing anything. I forced myself to believe it wasn’t real, that maybe they were criminals being tortured or something equally grim. But deep down, I knew better. No child, no human should scream like that.

The guilt clung to me. It wouldn’t let go. Night after night, I dreamed of it—no, I had nightmares. The sound, the cries, haunted me in my sleep, clawing at my sanity.

I waited for weeks, hoping the emperor would summon us again, but he didn’t. Then, after a month, the call came.

This time, I was prepared. Before the meeting, I returned to the painting. I wasn’t supposed to touch it, but I didn’t care. I carved a small, subtle hole into it, desperate to see what lay behind.

What I saw was—

A massive pile of bodies, burning in a magical fire.

My hands trembled as I stared at the sight. I’d seen death before, countless times on the battlefield, but this—this was something else entirely. This was horror.

Nearby, a woman dressed in mage robes lay on a table. Her face was pale, her body lifeless, and above her, a magical circle glowed faintly. It was pulling something from her—a shimmering, ethereal form. Her soul. They were taking her soul.

I didn’t have time to think. Footsteps echoed in the distance. My instincts kicked in, and I ran.

I didn’t stop running, not after what I’d seen. For three days, I shut myself away, unable to speak to anyone, unable to think of anything else. The images replayed in my mind—the burning bodies, the soul being drained, the sheer terror of it all.

I came to a single conclusion: I had to leave.

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I didn’t know where I was going, but I kept running. My feet moved on their own, and before I realized it, I was standing at my brother’s doorstep.

I hadn’t planned on staying long. I just needed somewhere to catch my breath, to figure out my next step. Victor welcomed me without question, though. He always did.

I lied to him and his family. I told them I was on vacation, that I just needed a break from the empire. But the truth was, I was terrified.

Terrified of what I had seen.

Terrified of what it meant for the future.

I didn’t need to tell them what I’d seen. I just needed time—time to gather myself before leaving everything behind.

I didn’t want them to worry, to overthink, or to let my presence bring chaos into their peaceful family. But deep down, I regretted the decision. Why had I come to Victor’s house in the first place? I knew the empire could be hunting me now.

That thought faded when I met Victor’s new son, a boy named Vonn.

It was my first time seeing him. His eyes reminded me of Victor, and oddly enough, of myself. I had brought along a wooden sword—a gift from the noble family I once served. I hadn’t planned on giving it away, but when I saw Vonn, I handed it to him. Somehow, it felt right. To keep busy and to offer more than just a gift, I became his teacher.

Despite everything, the empire still lingered in my mind like a shadow. The horrors I’d witnessed haunted me. I was so consumed by them that I had almost forgotten about their elder daughter, Clarisse. Victor mentioned she had been training in magic, and I was surprised to learn she had an aptitude for it. Still, I focused my attention on training Vonn.

At first, I didn’t see much potential in him. He seemed ordinary—just a child who resembles my older brother. But as time passed, his determination and hard work shone through. I even thought he had aptitude to become a magic swordsman, but it was just my eyes playing with me.

I kept myself busy, pouring my energy into teaching Vonn, trying to escape the nightmares that refused to leave me.

Eventually, I decided to visit the capital. I needed answers. Was the empire hunting me? Had they sent someone to find me? I was terrified of what I might discover.

When I arrived, I found someone. There was no bounty, no rumors, but just one who was hiding waiting for me. I felt eyes on me. Someone lurking. Someone watching.

The fear consumed me.

That’s when I decided it was time to leave for good. I gave myself a few more days to prepare. In the meantime, I drank. I drank to drown the memories, to quiet the screams that echoed endlessly in my mind.

I hadn’t slept at all—not since that day in the palace.

But when I returned to my brother’s home, something changed. For the first time in what felt like forever… I slept. Peacefully.