“Is it too late to say I’m sick and go back?”
She didn’t waste a single second to punch me in the head. she didn’t hold back unfortunately.
“What was that for you bi-“
“If you’re able to scream back at me, then you’re probably not sick enough to turn back the carriage. Though we wouldn’t of had even if you were”
I sighed as I accepted my defeat. We were about half way there, and it had been about 3 days since we were on our way. Frankly speaking I was sick of it. Aldric didn’t complain once so far, he was probably just too scared to do so with my mom… She was one scary woman, indeed.
“How long do we have left anyways? It’s been 3 days already”
Being forced in a carriage with mom was boring enough, then add the fact that she wouldn’t hesitate a moment to smack the fuck out of me on top of that and you’d probably side with me on why I was against it. all of this just to go serve that brat of the Ashford, which made it even worse.
“Look, my dear son”
“Dear soon my ass! You smacked me so many times already that I’ve lost count!”
“Huh? You wanna pick a fight, you stupid brat?”
Me and her had a pretty aggressive relationship, though it wasn’t anything serious, she was more like a friend that you’d always pick a fight with than my mom. I didn’t mind her presence.
“Look, I get it that you don’t like the Ashfords. But they aren’t bad people.”
“Hah, you’re probably saying that just because you’re the Duke’s personal maid”
“Is that what you think? If that’s so then you couldn’t be any more wrong, my dear son”
“What’s that smirk for, you old hag?”
“Me and the Duke talk the same way your disrespectful ass talks to me. Also don’t call me old! I’m only 32”
“Huh? There’s no way the Duke would allow a maid to talk to him like that, even if you’re his personal one”
“That’s what you’d normally think. But as I said, the Ashfords are good people.”
If that’s the case then maybe…
“Aldric, you’ve also been forced into training to serve them like Bartholomew, what do you think about the Ashfords?”
He had been silent till now, just looking outside the window, probably enjoying nature or something.
“Hm, I’ve never really thought about it… I don’t necessarily have a strong opinion about them”
“I’ve never thought about asking you either, but are you serious? You don’t care about them but you’re still training?”
Though I was taken aback by his reply, mom still had her casual grin on her face.
“It’s not like I don’t care at all, if anything I’d say I’m also somewhat angry towards them, since like you I’ve been training my whole life to serve some people I don’t even know.”
“Then-“
“But. I don’t resent them. Every time I hear someone talk about them, it’s always positive. even auntie (my mom) says the Duke allows her to talk casually to him, so I don’t see why I wouldn’t believe them.”
I was frustrated. Aldric understood my point of view better than anyone, and to a certain extent we had the same thoughts… but he still was mature enough to realize that there was no point in resenting them. It frustrated me even more when I turned to face mom and she was grinning from ear to ear.
“Fine… I’ll at least wait to meet her before making any assumptions.”
“That's good, my dear son”
About 3 more days had passed. We finally arrived during the evening, probably a few hours before dinner if I had to be specific.
I said I’ll wait to judge, but I still don’t wanna do this…
Mom got out of the carriage first. Aldric did too before me, then when they both noticed my sullen expression, she dragged me out of the carriage herself.
“I’m going to beat you so hard, your dad’s training will seem light if you don’t get your shit together… my dear son”
With now my spine full of chills from her words said with a seemingly pure smile, I straightened my posture and we walked through the gate. right as we were in front of the massive door, we stopped for a few moments.
“If either of you does something stupid, you’re not gonna have it easy here. Not because of others. because of me. Got it?”
She kept saying scary shit like that with a smile on her face. it made it way creepier than when she’s straight up mad. Neither me or Aldric were able to do anything other than nod, and do as she said.
“Let’s go”
She then opened the door, and the first thing we saw was a red carpet going forward for about 15 meters. on each side of it there were enough maids to cover the entire length of it, with a butler at the very end of the carpet, standing in its middle.
“Welcome back, Lady Elowen!”
All of them said it in perfect harmony, which was pretty cool if you asked me.
W-wow…
I didn’t notice it right away, but in the center of the carpet at its end, alongside the butler there was someone else there. A girl. And the moment I laid my eyes on her, I could not take them off.
“That’s Lady Isolde, the one you 2 will be in charge of protecting for the rest of your lives from now on.”
We started walking towards them, my eyes still fixated on her. Breathing was becoming harder with each step, my heartbeat accelerated like it never had before, My vision was sharper than an eagle’s, and my heart started clenching as we finally stopped walking, just a few meters away.
W-whats this? I can’t… look away.
I wasn’t aware of it at the time, but I can tell you now. At that moment, I had fallen in love at first sight, due to her unmatched beauty. Long silver whitish hair that resembled the petals of a Margherita flower. Golden eyes that were as bright as the sun itself, completely melted away any kind of resistance and defiance I had towards serving her. She was so beautiful that I could barely stand. I felt as if my knees would've given up any time on me, and as if my body instinctively thought I needed to be below her. serving her with all my power.
“Welcome back Lady Elowen, and nice to meet you 2. I’ve heard a lot about you from Lady Elowen. My name is Isolde Ashford, I hope we’ll get along from now on.”
She slightly bowed while holding her dress up, just like a Princess, no. She had more elegance and beauty than any princess in the world. Her every movement was perfect. I couldn’t find a single flaw in her, or simply decided to ignore them if there were any. To this day, I ignore any flaw she might have. I still feel the same way about her as back then.
Afterwards mom showed us around for a while, then brought us to the room me and Aldric we’re gonna share. After eating dinner with the Duke and Isolde’s parents, talking with more or less any important person there, (though i didn’t care about anyone other than her) we spent the rest of the night talking with Isolde, until it was time for all of us to go to bed.
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Years passed by pretty quickly after that point, I guess it’s just as they say “time flies when you’re having fun” since ever since I met her, every day was a bliss. As I got to know her better, I only fell in love harder with each passing day. Her genuine kindness was almost problematic, it made me feel as if people would take advantage of her if I didn’t protect her. Her smile and laughter melted away any tiredness I had after our training. Her love for food and cooking mesmerized me any time I saw her eating or cooking. Her sometimes childish behavior reassured me every time that she wasn’t completely out of reach. It didn’t matter what it was, I loved all of her. Everything was going perfectly, until that day.
“I wonder what it is, it’s pretty unusual for all the kings to have a meeting, let alone invite Duke Ashford as well”
As I had just said, while walking around the mansion with Aldric and Isolde, at the moment my mom was with the duke at a meeting between all the kings. And though I wasn’t sure I had heard that even the commander of the Sentinels was present.
“Well, it’s none of our business at the end of the day, all we can do is wait”
“I’m a bit worried about grandpa tho…”
“I’m sure it’ll be fine, don’t worry Isolde”
She thought about it for a few seconds before replying. I could feel from her tone that she was still worried.
“You’re.. right”
Later that day, when mom and the Duke had finally returned, we were all waiting for them at the gate. But what we saw when both of them got out of the carriage was the furthest thing from what we expected. Both mine and Aldric’s father were with him, and though it was probably for protection during the trip, it was still weird. No one in their right mind would've dared to try and attack Duke Ashford’s personal carriage. There shouldn’t be any need for their strongest knights to be with him. on top of them being there, all of their expressions were as dense as they could get. I could tell right away from the way dad looked at me. Something was off.
We followed them inside. heading straight to the Duke’s office, where only them with us 3 and Isolde’s parents were allowed in.
“Take a seat. This is not something you can take while standing”
We did as he said without wasting a second. The mood in the room was so dense that it was almost suffocating, even for me and Aldric, who were around 15 at the time, and around the same strength as our fathers by then.
“I’ll be very blunt. You 3 need to take a carriage tonight and run away.”
“Huh?”
“W-wait a minute, old man! What do you mean?!”
“Aldric.”
“Bartholomew.”
It was our fathers that shut us up in order. We both sat back down and decided to let him finish.
“The kings have been getting in contact with the other continents which as you both know are under the reign of the dragon king. They tried to get my support, because of the vast amount of land I own, and my status was only second to our king. But of course I declined.”
There’s no way the Commander of the Sentinels would agree to that, why hasn’t he gone to him?!
He probably understood what I was thinking, then continued still with a dead calm tone.
“The Commander of the Sentinels, and our kingdom’s Captain… both of them are on board with it.”
“That’s ridiculous!”
I couldn’t help but shout as I got up from my seat.
“Why would they agree?! Are all of the Sentinels on board with this?! Are they really gonna sell off our land?!”
They didn’t try to silence me this time. The old man simply answered my questions while maintaining his calmness.
“Not all of them are, but does it matter? The simple answer is no. No one in the entire continent has neither enough authority nor strength to oppose the Commander. As long as he’s on board, the decision is ultimate. Add our kingdom’s captain on top of that. I think you can realize how bad the situation is.”
“Even then! Why do we have to run?!”
He sighed before answering. I admit that my brain wasn’t at its peak at that moment, but I was genuinely concerned.
“We’re the only ones who know about it and haven’t agreed to it. Think about that for a second”
It took me a few moments, but then the realization hit me.
“They want to remove any proof and potential information leaking…”
“Now that you understand, sit down.”
I fell down on my seat. I had no strength left in me. The realization of how bad the situation was cut me like a blade straight in my guts. Isolde got up from her seat, then hugged me as tight as she could in that moment, trying to assure me that everything will be okay. I was completely defeated… and had no idea what to do.
Ah… we’re all gonna die, aren’t we?
As the old man and the others were about to start speaking again, they were all interrupted. Not by me, nor Isolde, but by the frustrated shouting of a single young man.
“Don’t fuck with us!”
“Aldric…?”
He was usually always composed. Even in all of my years of knowing him, this was the first time I had heard him shout like that. And it was also the first time… I had seen him cry.
“What do you mean we have to run?! What do you mean we're all gonna be killed?! Don’t fuck with me you stupid old man!”
“Aldric!”
His father tried to stop him from talking, and even slapped him on his face, but he stood there motionless, taking it without a single complaint. Seeing that, his father was the one who backed out, and Aldric continued talking right after.
“I don’t care if they have the commander's support. I won’t give up. I’ve trained my entire life to become a knight, yet I can’t even use a sword. I’m a failure. I know that better than anyone. And better than anyone I also know that I’m not the one who should be saying this, but I don’t care anymore.”
He stopped talking for a few moments as he walked towards the old man’s desk. stopped right in front of it.
“Are you gonna give up like a little bitch and send your granddaughter away with just 2 boys that are also 2 years younger than her? If you’re that big of a scumbag, then instead of waiting for them to come and kill you, I’ll blow your head off right here and now.”
“Do you realize who you’re talking to?”
The old man kept his composure, as he was unfazed by Aldric’s words.
“I don’t care who you are. If you’re just gonna send us away while you wait for your death and give up, then your life was worthless to begin with. So much that not even you value it enough to fight and tell us something like “you guys go and hide until we solve everything then come back”. You’re just sending us away so we’re not gonna see your worthless corpses. There’s no greater cowardliness than giving up in front of your granddaughter.”
“I hope you’re not stupid enough to genuinely think we stand a chance, right?”
“I know that very well. But that’s not what I’m mad about. I’m mad that you’re giving up without even fighting. I’m mad that you’re sending us away without any delusional reassurance of your survival. I’m mad that you made your own granddaughter cry as she’s consoling the man she loves. And most of all… I’m mad that you made my best friend, no. You’ve made my Brother Bartholomew cry.”
I looked to my side after he finished speaking. I finally noticed that he was right. Isolde had tears going down on her face constantly like a fountain as she hugged me, trying to reassure me. And when I finally got back to my senses, I had realized that he was right once again. I was crying.
“So what are you telling me to do then, young man?”
“I want you to be delusional and reassure us that we’ll have a place to come back to. I want you to suffer through your death because you struggled to survive. I want you to protect what you and everyone here cherishes with our hearts. I want you to be a man.”
At that moment, I had accepted it in my heart. between me and Aldric, he was by far the smarter and more mature one. No one was cooler than him that day. I’ve sworn to not let his stupidly dangerous outburst get wasted. I got up from my seat after gently escaping Isolde’s embrace.
“Old man.”
I walked right next to Aldric, wiping away my tears as I made up my mind.
“We’ll do as you said, and run away. I hope you understand what your next words should be.”
“…”
Silence enveloped the room as he thought about his words carefully. Getting up from his seat, looking at both me and Aldric straight in the eyes he then finally broke the silence and spoke.
“I already arranged a few carriages with money, clothes, food and water. Take my granddaughter and keep her safe, until we’ll call you back home. I’m not asking you. It’s an order.”
With a smile on our faces, we gladly accepted his order with a salute. I took Isolde’s hand, then all 3 of us walked outside the room, and went to pack our things.
The next day, with the streaming spell the king of our kingdom had announced that the Ashford Duke had been caught trying to interact with the other continents, falsely accusing him of everything they were guilty of. They then declared that he was demoted from his duke title. While none of the family members were exiled nor revoked of their properties in “respect of their bloodline’s contribution to the kingdom’s foundation” they were officially cataloged as traitors, that would not have any more political strength.
“It’ll probably take a few days until their attempt to silence us, huh? The carriages are all gonna be ready tonight, so I guess we shouldn’t have many issues… but it still worries me”
“I get what you mean, Bartholomew. Even though I said all that yesterday, I’m aware that he was right all along. It’s for the best that we go.”
“I know…”
But why then… Why do I have a weird gut feeling about this…
I ignored my guts, even though I knew it wasn’t something you’d normally do. I had no choice other than focusing on our goal, which was getting out of there and keeping Isolde safe.
The day passed pretty quickly, and soon enough it was time for us to leave. We all got in, and started marching right away.
The feeling is even worse than earlier… I don’t know what it is. I don’t like it.
We were about 200 meters away from the mansion. It was already pitch dark outside, if not for the fire magic our carriages were using to light the road. I looked back through the back window of our carriage, then I immediately understood what my gut feeling was.
“Stop these fucking carriages, now!”
I shouted at the top of my lungs. I rushed outside as soon as they did. When I looked back properly, all I could see was red. Not as a metaphor. literally. Flames. The entire mansion was on fire. I could see wyverns flying above it even at that distance, and knew right away. There was no way there were any survivors.
“Ah… ahhhhhh!!! Ahhhh! Ahhhh!!”
I mindlessly shouted as I fell on my knees. Even though I was aware that they were going to get killed, it wasn’t supposed to be that early. And I wasn’t supposed to see how.
Without saying any words, Isolde came out and hugged me from behind, also getting on her knees to do it properly, while Aldric was silently crying next to us.
Why… Why so fast? How are they already here?!
But there was no way I could get any answers. Why? Because right as I was thinking those questions, the entire mansion had been blown up by a massive explosion, which had obliterated it entirely. surely… it had also taken out anyone inside it as well.
“Let’s go.”
Aldric carried me in his arms right back inside our carriage, then we were on our way again.
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“So you see Cael… everyone knows Isolde managed to escape, and they still subtly try to assassinate her, by sending small hordes of monsters every few years to make it seem natural. Because of your hair and Maia’s eyes which are only seen in Ashfords, anyone would be able to tell you’re her kids. It’s even worse for your little sister that’s a spitting image of Isolde. Unless we get a new commander… it’ll be hard for you to go outside of our village. The only reason you’re safe here is because the people here had been personally helped by the duke, so they never believed the false claims.”
I didn’t know dad went through all that… but even then. If getting a new commander is the only way for us to be free… then the chances of that happening are close to non-
After listening to dad’s story and somehow managing to accept it, not just me but all of us had our eyes fully opened in terror in a split second.
“W-what’s with this mana?!”
I fell to the ground. The air was filled with mana so dense that I could barely breathe. I felt as if I was going to throw up, and I was about to pass out. But it wasn’t just me. Both dad and Aldrich were the same, barely able to stay conscious with the massive pressure on us.
“There’s only a single person that has mana this intense besides the dragon king…”
Does he mean?! The commander of the Sentinels?!
My hands which were holding me on my knees
Had given up. I fell to the ground, and only a few seconds away from passing out coincidentally, or rather miraculously it had stopped just in time. I still ended up passing out from the exhaustion though, but it didn’t matter. the very next day, we had found out what that was all about.