1 Prologue: The Nightmare
"M-mother...? What are you saying...? And why are you crying...? Did something bad happened...?"
Pant! Pant!
"Run, Masc. Take Sophia and Axel with you before-"
Slash!
Before the voice of the woman who is my mother finished her sentence, a sound of something slashed sounded in my ear. The lights suddenly died and all I could do is tremble as I wait for the soothing voice of my mother to appear once again.
Thud!
It looks like my mother fell, it must be because she's tired as she pants heavily when she arrived here in my room. I touched my mother's body and about to call her once more as there are tons of questions I want to ask her, but the thing I want the most is the warm hug she would give me after I ask her something. And I'm also concerned whether she's hurt or not because of the fall.
But...
It's cold.
The air, my body, the body I'm holding, and...
And the cold gaze staring at me.
"F-father...?"
***************************
Knock! Knock! Knock!
!!!!!???
Pant! Pant! Pant!
"Again... I wonder when will this nightmare stop haunting me..." I muttered to myself as I gaze at my trembling hands.
Knock! Knock! Knock!
"Captain? Are you dead?" The sound of knocking sounded once more together with a familiar annoying voice.
"I will live another 100 years, Carl. So stop wishing for my death," I lazily answer and open the door.
"Good morning, captain," Said the brown-haired man before me with a sparkling but annoying smile of his.
"May you have a bad day, Carl," I answered while imitating his smile.
"Your face didn't match your words, Captain... Don't people usually hope the opposition with the same 'Good Morning'?" (Carl)
"It's not necessary to be kind to you, Carl. And stop with the captain thing, I was officially relieved from my duties yesterday, after all," I answered indifferently.
"Well-" (Carl)
"Morning, Masc. I rushed all the way here, thinking that you might've left, but it seems that I'm wrong, huh," Said a young dignified man with fancy attire. His blonde hair is neatly combed, and his face radiates a majestic and charismatic vibe.
Charles Armenia. The great prince of the great Armenia empire.
"Good morning, your imperial highness," Carl bowed towards the blonde man and greet him politely. He still wears that fake smile of his which made me kind of annoyed but let's set that thing aside and greet the young prince before me first.
"Morning, your imperial highness," I greet him politely with a slight bow as I am no longer a vassal of the empire.
The prince stared at me with an amused smile on his face for a while.
"Let's go inside," Said him.
Wait, what are you going to do in my room?
"Um... Your imperial highness, my room is kind of messy and it might be not appropriate for your imperial-" I tried to give a reason to prevent them to don't enter my room, but it seems that it won't work...
"I know how neat and well-ordered you are, Masc. Don't use your lies on me, it'll hurt my heart," The prince entered my room and force me to get pushed aside. I caught the glimpse of a slight grin on Carl's face and somehow bad plans start to appear inside my mind.
Ok, that's not good, I'll end up killing him if I don't stop.
"Your imperial highness-" (Masc)
"Drop it. There are only us in this room, you've promised to not talk to me formally when we're alone, right?" The imperial prince mentions the promise between the both of us.
Yes, we're buddies. We've known each other since we're still snotty brats, long before I joined the ranks of the imperial secret order.
"Ah. I forgot that Carl should be considered as a mere air, so there's only two of us here, huh. But as long as I remember, all formalities I ever use to you are only by calling you 'Your imperial highness', though," I said with a shrug.
"True. Well, you're the most disrespectful vassal, after all," said Charles with a small laugh.
"W-why does it seem that you hate me so much, Captain...?" said Carl with a wry smile.
"So, it seems that you've prepared yourself last night," said Charles as he observes the neat room that had most of my items packed inside my bags.
"Well, you need to prepare things ahead to be able to laze off, after all," I answered with another shrug.
"I see... So the great captain of the imperial secret order, the great hero of the western continental war, and the one specially favored by the great emperor of Armenia seriously end up retiring despite being the reason for our empire's great win?" (Charles)
"Well, my contract with the emperor ends, so isn't it obvious that I don't work with him anymore? And he even grants me a cool tattoo on my back," (Masc)
"The imperial contract..." Charles muttered as his gaze shifted towards the tattoo of a black dragon on my back.
The imperial contract.
It's nothing like a normal contract. It's a contract that is made between two sides with their lives at stake. An imperial contract is usually used between imperial family members and between the imperial family with a noble family that about to join the imperial family by marriage.
"But why? you're still 28 years old which is considered the prime of one's age. My father obviously favored you greatly and even consider you as his own son, he'll smile for a whole week if you accept to lengthen the contract, why reject it?" (Charles)
"Setting aside the fact that people didn't know your identity, you're the great 'Lugner'. My father knew how great your feat in the great war, people usually ask for lands and to be given nobility prestige, why don't you ask for the same thing?" Charles keeps on asking me the questions, but I know, and he knows.
Both of us know.
That the answer is obvious without having me answer.
"Cause it will bind me to this land, Charles," I answer it seriously to make sure he doesn't doubt my answer.
Charles let out a small sigh.
"So even I couldn't make you change your mind, huh?" I thought that I saw a hint of sadness from Charles's eyes, but maybe I'm wrong.
"So you're really going to Ravdryn kingdom, to have your revenge, Masc?" (Charles)
Revenge.
Hearing those words, an intense headache assaulted my head.
It seems that the nightmare I had last night hadn't stopped yet.
*********************
"Father...?" I called the figure that is staring at me coldly.
"You don't even know that your mother had died. As expected, a useless child will come out from a useless woman," Said the man who is my father coldly.
What is he saying?
I don't understand.
I'm scared.
Suddenly the torches around the room light up.
I could clearly see the headless body before me.
With my mouth wide agape, I trembled as my eyes slowly shifted towards the head that slowly rolls towards me.
"M-MOTHER!!!!!!!!!!!!!" I shouted.
I shouted with all of my might.
The figure who is the center of my life.
The figure who I loved the most.
My mother. My mother. My mother. My mother. My mother. My mother.
"Ugh..." I groaned as suddenly an intense pain appears in my stomach. The pain is so great that I could feel my consciousness fading.
The last thing I heard before I lost my consciousness is.
The hateful voice of my father.
"Hate me. Resent me. As it is all you and your other siblings could do. Strive, Grow yourself and make yourself stronger. Otherwise, you won't even survive before you could have your revenge on me," His cold voice made me feel like my whole body had become frozen.
"Masc,"
I feel like I could hear my mother's gentle voice.
"Masc,"
Mother... I just had a terrifying nightmare....
"Young master!" The voice of my loyal butles brings my senses back.
"U-uncle Harold?" The pain from my body appeared together as I mentioned the familiar face before me. At that time, I realized that what happened is not a dream.
Intense sorrow, despair, and sadness swell in my chest as drops of tears gather in my eyes. I could feel strong winds in my face but I was too absorbed in the memories of what just happened.
"It's okay to cry, young master. Cry all you want," said uncle Harold with a soothing voice.
That night, I cry my fill. As I recovered my senses, I realized that I am in uncle Harold's arms as he carries me as he runs at a great speed.
"Where are we?" I asked him.
"We're going to somewhere safe, young master," Answered uncle Harold.
I trust him so I try my best to not move too much and to make sure I won't hinder his run. But suddenly, I remembered the figure of two little siblings of mine.
"Where are Axel and Sophia, uncle Harold?" I asked him. I could feel his arms stiffens when he heard my question as his grip got stronger at that moment.
"They... They don't make it, young master..." Answered him.
That night.
Is a night that I won't be able to forget.
Not even in the next life of mine.
