"Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!"
I felt the warmth of the sheets wrapped around me. I looked around the room as sunlight slowly pierced through my bedroom curtains.
Sweat poured down my face.
After a few moments spent calming myself, I sat on the edge of the bed. A familiar voice greeted me.
[What's gotten into you, screaming like that first thing in the morning… It's becoming a habit.]
Still short of breath, I answered briefly.
"Just a nightmare."
[Again?]
Her voice betrayed her concern.
[You don't want to talk about it?]
I answered mechanically.
"No, it's fine."
I couldn't tell her anything. After all, every nightmare I had since that fateful night involved her too.
I walked toward the pile of clothes resting on a chair and started taking off my t-shirt.
"I'm getting dressed…"
[Alright, alright. I'm leaving.]
"Tsss."
She hadn't been like this before. But as time passed, she had grown increasingly comfortable around me. I didn't really mind, but it was better for her if we kept some distance.
After Lena's death, I started hearing voices. At first, they were just simple words—things like "careful" right before I stepped into a hole. Sometimes the voice warned me when someone was about to speak behind my back.
Then one day, the voice suddenly began talking to me as though it were a real person. Of course, I was shocked at first. Especially because the voice sounded exactly like the memory I had of Lena's voice.
After getting to know her better, it turned out her name was also Lena, though she had no memory of where or how she had become like this.
The only thing she remembered was that she had once lived a similar life. That was apparently why she seemed capable of protecting me from everything.
I put on my clothes: black thick-fabric trousers loose enough not to hinder movement. I slipped a white linen shirt over my shoulders and fastened its mother-of-pearl buttons.
[After the night of the incident, Duke Britain, a fervent defender of chivalric ideals, took me in out of respect for his friendship with my father.
Even though the castle and its luxurious clothes seemed immaculate to me, the Duke himself saw his influence over his lands diminishing day by day.
The Fae Kingdoms and the Republic of Uruk coveted his territory because of the magical properties and legends that resided there.
Those kinds of disputes did not concern me in the slightest, but the Tower had limited resources, and even if the Duke wasn't family, he had taken the risk of adopting a commoner and raising him as his own son.
That fact alone gave me the duty and responsibility to help him in any way I could, no matter how small but…]
I clicked on the glowing system window.
A metallic chime rang out, and another window appeared.
[Are you sure you want to close the notification window?]
[Yes.] [No.]
I clicked "No," and both system windows immediately disappeared.
I grabbed my sword and attached the sheath to my belt. Even though nobles rarely fought, they all carried ceremonial swords crafted by the finest manufacturers in the Tower.
That logic completely escaped me.
Before leaving my room, I heard my stomach growl.
Or rather, I felt it, my helmet blocked most sounds.
I opened one of my desk drawers and took out a cereal bar packed with all kinds of additives. I swallowed it whole and left my room.
Despite its financial difficulties, the Duke's manor was one of the most magnificent places I had ever seen. The Persian carpets lining the corridors were filled with splendid patterns, and the curtains hanging beside the tall windows were decorated with graceful embroidery.
As a result, I had gotten into the habit of always taking my time whenever I walked through the manor's hallways.
I continued to the end of the corridor and took the large double-helix staircase crowned by a glass dome that allowed all the outside light to pour in.
Crystals and various glass ornaments had been embedded into the staircase to reflect the light coming from above.
As the sun moved and clouds drifted across it, the light traveled along the crystals, which reflected the rays from one another. This psychedelic spectacle bathed the staircase in a mystical glow.
Once downstairs, I opened the doors to the lounge and found the Duke, whom I now considered my uncle, sitting among his ministers.
"Ah! Kael, there you are!"
My uncle gestured for me to come sit beside him.
I walked around the large armchairs occupied by the wealthy ministers and sat in the seat to his right.
I also glanced to my uncle's left.
He was there.
My brother.
The Duke's legitimate son. He wore a serious expression beneath his blond hair. A white silk shirt covered his upper body, and his trousers were undoubtedly crafted by some of the Tower's greatest artisans.
I felt my uncle pat my left shoulder and whisper to me.
"I'm glad you came to attend our meeting, you know…"
"Ahem!"
It was Hilbert, the Minister of Finance.
"If we could resume the meeting, my Duke, time is limited."
My brother grimaced.
"Tch—"
The Duke's radiant face darkened once more.
"Very well. Let us continue then."
I listened attentively without taking part in the discussion. Usually, I did not even bother attending these meetings, much to the frustration of most of my uncle's ministers.
Sebastian, on the other hand, was always present during governmental meetings and was appreciated by most of the ministers.
As for me, because of my absences, most of them thought little of me. Except for Hilbert, who seemed to hate me with all his heart.
Every time my gaze met his, his small gray eyes narrowed as though he had just spotted mud stains on an expensive carpet. He had never accepted my presence in the manor. To him, I was merely a commoner picked up out of pity, another burden attached to the name of the Britain Kingdom.
Perhaps he wasn't entirely wrong.
Hilbert placed a thick file on the low table. The leather covering it was worn along the edges, and the papers inside were perfectly aligned.
"As I was saying before that interruption…" He slightly turned his head toward me, giving me a haughty glance. "The revenues from the eastern territories have dropped by twenty-seven percent since the last cycle."
The Duke frowned.
"Twenty-seven…"
"Yes, my Duke. And that is only an optimistic estimate. Merchants are now avoiding the Mornesel route after last week's convoy attack."
A heavy silence fell over the lounge.
Sebastian crossed his arms.
"Bandits again?"
Hilbert shook his head.
"That's what the survivors claimed at first. However, the wounds found on the guards do not match ordinary weapons."
He pulled a sheet from the file and slid it across the table.
"The bodies displayed internal burns. The armor remained intact on the outside."
The Duke straightened up.
"Magic?"
"Most likely."
[I don't like this.]
I didn't answer Lena, but my eyes remained fixed on the page. A crude sketch depicted a corpse lying on the ground, its chest armor opened. The inside of the metal was blackened, as though a fire had ignited directly beneath it.
A shiver ran down my spine, and my fingers tightened slightly on the armrest.
Flames again.
I looked away from the paper.
[Kael...]
"I'm fine," I muttered aloud without realizing it.
"Did you say something?"
Hilbert cast me a suspicious look.
"No, excuse me. I was distracted."
Sebastian watched me for a few seconds before turning his attention back to the file.
"If the Republic of Uruk is behind this, then they've broken the border treaty."
A bald minister with a round face coughed. Eagor, originally from Uruk, had fled the country during the Mad King's great famine.
"It would be unwise to accuse anyone without investigating first. We have no proof for now…"
"Because we keep waiting to get that proof!" Sebastian replied sharply. "Meanwhile, they're eating away at our roads, buying our merchants, and testing our defenses."
The Duke raised a hand to calm him.
"Sebastian."
My brother fell silent, though his expression remained hard.
Sometimes I envied him.
Not for his title, nor his clothes, nor even for his seat at the Duke's left. In truth, my own place at the Duke's right clearly reflected my uncle's favoritism, and I had to admit that kind of preference made me uncomfortable.
But…
I envied him because he knew where he belonged.
He was the heir.
He was my uncle's legitimate son.
The one whose presence actually made sense in this room.
As for me…
I was simply there.
A survivor.