“Jacob?” The Empress’s voice was meek, she entered the Emperor’s office with silent steps. She gnced inside to take in the view of her husband. His radiant red hair, basking under the setting dawnlight, his groomed beard looking rough yet cared for, his dark green eyes that felt like a forest filled with mysteries. Joshua, the Emperor, the man she fell in love with. “Jacob? Isn't it time to go to bed, My Love?”

  The man’s tired eyes turned it's exhausted gaze from the papers beneath to the beautiful woman in front of them. She too had red hair although hers leaned more on the orange side, her cheeks contained her freckles, the ones she'd usually cover under her makeup, her eyes were green too but if you looked at it enough you’d see the faint hint of blue turning it more teal-like. Her lips were pink and her eyebrows were furrowed, possibly containing all the worry in the world for him.

  “It is fine, My dear.” He exhaled. “You can rest your shoulders ahead of mine, I will y myself beside you in due time.”

  “You speak of such things yet you often fall asleep here in your office instead.” She continued to compin. “If you had simply let me help with governmental affairs I could—”

  “Andrea…we’d already discussed this. I handle matters with the nobility and yours is the humanitarians and the common people.” The Emperor groaned. “Must we fight over all of this again?”

  “But I can see my job proving to be the lighter load these days!” Her eyes gleamed with frustration. “When I need your help I am not ever afraid to ask, so why not be like so to me?” Her voice shook.

  “It is not that simple, my love.”

  “It is!” Andrea stomped over to his table and grabbed the quill from his hand. “Am I that incompetent as an Empress that I can't even be trusted by my own husband?!”

  “That is not it.” The Emperor clenched his fists.

  “Then what is it?!” Andrea yelled. “Every night I worry, I worry so much I feel like my heart would die of it. You. Benjamin. Roselia. Why do you always refuse to ask for my help!?”

  “Andrea…”

  “I am not some dove trapped in a cage just to be cared for, Jacob!” Andrea snapped the quill. “I am your wife! I am a mother! Yet I am also an Empress!”

  Her fists tightened and her eyes grew weary in anger. “I do not care if the nobles see me as a lowly bastard child of a Baroness, I do not care if those same bastards sully my name through mud, I can take it!” She gred at her husband. “So why must you always protect me!?”

  “Andrea please.” Jacob looked at her with pleading eyes.

  The Empress was stunned for a moment and backed away. “Jacob…I feel useless when all I do is worry about us…” Her hands shook and tears began to fall. “He only just came back and Ben has already left for war once more…what if something was to happen to my sweet child.”

  “He’s strong, Andrea, you know that.”

  “I DON'T CARE!” Andrea yelled back. “I do not understand how you could not feel such agony each time he is sent in the midst of everything.”

  “He can handle it.”

  “HE'S SIXTEEN, JACOB!” Andrea screamed in anger. “He’s just sixteen, he should be enjoying parties, floundering with peers, getting into trouble, and having us fix his mess…he should be doing that and yet…he’s fighting a war.”

  “I know what it's like, Andrea. To be so young on the battlefield. To be in danger every step you take.” Jacob stood up and approached his wife. “I felt despair, anger, and frustration. I saw my men die, people I considered friends killed right before my eyes, and then me—surviving due to their sacrifices.” He cupped her cheeks and wiped the tears that fell.

  “But he is not you, Jacob.” Andrea pleaded. “Call for him back. You must. He shouldn't have to go through this.”

  “He is to be the Emperor, Andrea.” There was a pained quiver in Jacob’s lips. “Whether or not he wants to, he must stand above his peers, he must be proud, strong, and capable. He must be a symbol.”

  “Why is there such a burden—”

  “Such is being the child of this position! If she was alive it would've been—” Jacob grit his hands and went back to his table. “I’m sorry…you had to marry someone like me.”

  “Jacob, I—”

  “It’s te… My Love.”

  …

  “...I’ll go to bed then.”

  “Get some rest, I’ll be beside you when you wake.” Jacob turned his eyes to the window behind him. “I promise.”

  As the day turned into night a certain prince had finally reached the beginning of his journey. The Northern Mountain Pass.

  “Your Highness, is this it?” A Knight wiped away the gross fluids of his dark skin with a cloth. “This seems…”

  “Cozy!” An auburn haired girl dressed in light leather coating and an imperial crested coat to cover her skin.

  “Julian. Autumn. We’ve arrived!” Ben grinned as they stared at the vilge that is the Northern Mountain Pass.

  Wooden houses lined along cobblestone paths, a rge bonfire sat in the middle of the square, street mps were lit and the streets themselves contained very little hustle and bustle. The dark whiff of the snow loomed behind them as the trio trudged down the hillside and made their way downwards.

  “We’ll be meeting the expedition team tomorrow but do not worry, I have prepared a pce to rest at the best inn in the area!” Ben led them through the town into what seemed like an inconspicuous tattered wooden home, its beams filled with scratches, and its front door’s handle swinging side to side, its nails snapped out on one end.

  “Is it just me or this pce feels—” Julian was about to compin.

  “Cozy!” Autumn cut him off with a positive remark before he could, however.

  “Rundown. The word, barbarian girl, is rundown.” He emphasized the descriptor he used but the young girl merely rolled her eyes and followed behind Ben who walked up the creaking stairs and knocked on the door.

  “It’s me. ‘Curiosity or not, it's not hurt if I try.’” The red haired prince spoke some sort of code and the door opened creepily.

  “Come in.” A deep voice called from inside.

  “I so so don't trust this.” Julian winced as he hesitated going in but the girl stepped behind him pushed him inside.

  “Why hello there, Your Highness.” A man with dark brown hair, a sleazy smile, sporting a bck and white striped vest over a pink dress shirt. The man raised his eyebrow leaning one of his elbows on the wooden counter, shaking himself a drink, and giving the Prince a sly gnce. “It's been a while.”

  “How’s it been, Daniel?”

  “Here and there. We’ve obtained more information you’d love to hear…of course with a proper trade off.” The bartender picked a card from his pocket and flung it past the Prince’s head, splitting a single tip of a strand of his hair.

  “You bastard—” Julian was prepared to draw his bde and the girl growled ready to pounce but Ben raised his hands to calm them both.

  “Where is Jamie?”

  “Dealing with the rats.” He shrugged. “You know how she is, always up for an interesting show.”

  “It's just you again?” Ben sat down at one of the stools and gestured to the two to sit down at one of the tables in the corner while waiting for him.

  “That hurts me, you know.” Daniel made a fake sad face as he poured a shot in front of the clearly underaged boy. “It hurts to be treated like an unimportant ckey.”

  “Aren't you one?” Ben grabbed the shot gss and smelled it. “Pour me something that I can actually drink.”

  “Of course.” Daniel grabbed the shot and drank it himself and picked up a lemon inside of a box of ice and squeezed it into a cup, he then added ice, sugar, and a bit of milk, stirred it and voi! “A gss of creamy lemonade for His Highness.”

  “Excellent.”

  “That’d be intel about the mission?” Daniel grinned as he leaned on the bar counter.

  “Hah. Offer me something worth it at the very least.” Ben snickered and took a sip of the lemonade.

  “Hmmm…” Daniel thought for a moment. “Oh! What about…a fragment of the Demon King’s Familiar has been awakened.” His smile was filled with grim anticipation. “Someone's removed the seal on one of the remains, Your Highness.”

  “Are you serious?!” Ben grit his teeth, his expression turned haunting. “They’ve already begun their move?”

  Daniel returned to looking seemingly rexed. “It appears so.” He shrugged. “It won't take long until the Underworld takes action themselves.”

  “The Kingdom's already unsealed one.” The Prince’s face had a mixture of both horrified and angry. “That leaves us with just—”

  “Two more.” Daniel poured him another gss. “The Kingdom has most likely unsealed and contained the fragment within their territory. Now that they’ve done that to ours–”

  “Only the two left in the Northern Outnds remain.” Ben finished his thought.

  There was a deep sense of dread in his chest. The moment Favaros was completed he would cause the complete annihition of the Northern Duchy. It would take a whole army to defeat that single creature—

  And if they were to sacrifice their army to fight it…

  The frontlines in the West would take a hit allowing the Kingdom to advance, storm, and take the Western Duchy. Rendering the Empire broken on two sides of the battle.

  It's a horrific and unethical pn that required the sacrifice of innocents. The Kingdom had always been scum but now it's never been more clear.

  The Emperor sent him on this quest not only to retrieve the Demon King’s Heart, if possible. That was simply his secondary goal.

  The main goal was—

  “You want to kill the fragments…before they wake up?” Autumn chimed in from her table. Her sentences were getting better but unfortunately, only worry exists in them. “That’s—”

  “Yeah.” Ben turned to face the barbarian girl who had a hesitant look in her face. “We have to do it…otherwise—everything here—will die.”

  The Fragments of the Exalted Beast, Favaros, tame of the Demon King; when it was defeated by the Hero Arunn and his party, they couldn't kill the beast entirely since it regenerated its wounds and would find itself completely healed again after some time. In the end they split the beast in parts, separated the pieces, and cast a seal on each one of them; giving one piece to each nation as a sign of gratitude for the help, and the st two was hidden in the Outnds in case strife between the two countries cause them to upheave the seals done by Megra, the Dwarven Mage from Arunn’s party.

  If all the seals were to be undone, Favaros would rise again, and it would be near impossible to sy it once more. Especially with Arunn still missing.

  “W-wait, I’m outta the loop right now.” Julian's eyes darted between his two partymates. “What fragment? What are we doing? I thought we were looking for the heart?”

  “I’ll fill you in on the details ter.” Ben assured the Knight. “However, Autumn. Do you know where they are? The fragments?”

  Autumn didn't move a muscle, her body froze confused on what to do.

  “Autumn please.” Ben pleaded. “Things are getting desperate and we're running out of options…so I beg of you—please lead us there.”

  “The fragments—they keep away the beasts.” Autumn closed her eyes and squeezed her thighs. “Our homes—-our tribes—we live by them.”

  “Wait—”

  “Destroying fragments—allows beasts to raid our vilges once more.” The young girl’s chest carried more weight than the Prince had realized.”

  “No…that can't—” This suddenly became a lot more complicated. The original pn was to destroy the fragments with the help of a very special bde, also hidden in the North. That was the only way to ensure Favaros’s complete destruction.

  Julian watched the tense silence as the barbarian girl and his commander stared at each other with anxious indignation. “So I’m guessing from context, if we don't do this mission we lose the North to some big monster. If we DO do this mission, her people will end up ravaged by the demonic beasts.” He sighed and stood between the two and simultaneously flicked their foreheads.

  “Ow!” Ben gred.

  “Noisy Man!” The girl hissed.

  “The answer should be obvious right?” Julian smiled heartily. “We just do both!”

  “What?” The Prince looked at him like he was stupid and in all fairness, his suggestion was but a naive and uncertain one.

  “We’ll just find a way to destroy the fragment without ruining its ability to drive away the demonic beasts.” Julian paced around the room. “If we find a way to do both, then it should be fine right?” He gnced at the two of them, his face completely serious.

  There was a pause in the air.

  The frigid cold atmosphere slowly lifted and a warmth settled back in.

  Ben chuckled and he almost fell out of his stool in relief. “You're right.” His voice was light. “We just gotta figure out a way to save both.”

  Autumn smiled as she turned to look at the Knight.

  “Got something to say?” He chided.

  “Noise is good sometimes.” She ughed cutely while complimenting him which made the young man blush and look away.

  Daniel was amused by the pn they just formed despite its ck of proper foundation. “He’s right, You're Highness.” Daniel poured him one st shot of lemonade. “All you gotta do is save both.”

  “It was obvious.” Somehow, the Prince’s chest felt much lighter. “It was stupid to even worry.”

  “Mhmm.” Daniel nodded along as the lot of them celebrated their new found pn to complete the mission without sacrificing anything.

  All that's left now is to meet up with the rest of the expedition team to the North tomorrow. Ben thought of the Empire, The Capital, his parents…

  His father sent him on this mission with a tired look. He remembers the day he was handed this by the Emperor who had a pained glint on his eye every time they met him.

  “Benjamin,” The Emperor greeted as his son entered the office, “there's something I’d like you to do.”

  Ben didn't really feel much attachment to his dad. The moment his sister died, a rift formed between the two. Ben would find himself training with the sword and studying while his father would bury himself in work much to the displeasure of his mother.

  When they meet each other in the halls they would merely pass by without as much as a gnce.

  He understood this.

  After all…

  His Father favored his sister much more than he did Ben. The Prince knew no matter how much he tried he would never live up to his sister's legacy especially now that the grief ate his Father inside.

  Ben would still often chat with his Mom and enjoy some tea with her, where he would usually catch some unnecessary gossip about the nobles or find out about the ongoing trends in the Kingdom.

  Still—the death of his sister was still felt throughout the whole pace.

  He felt eyes on him every step he took. The servants, the nobles, the vassals, every single one, all of them would compare him to his sister.

  The worst of all—was his Father.

  The few times they talked before he went to train under Duke Bay in the West, were not filled with as much Father and Son bonding as you would hope so.

  It was always about business.

  “Ben, I heard you had missed a few swords csses this past few weeks.” His Father monotonously admonished him without as much as looking away from the papers he was signing.

  “I was busy studying economics and also honing my Adjudicator magic with Grand Duchess Roselia, Your Majesty.” Ben took it to himself to always be formal with his Father.

  The Emperor sighed. “You must learn to bance your schedule better. Your sister would've been able to do so without much trouble.” His father had casually compared them so.

  Ben clenched his fists in frustration but he didn't say anything further. “Understood, Your Majesty.” He walked out of the room promptly after bowing.

  After a few more months or so he finally left for the West by the time he was almost fourteen. He never once looked back at the Pace, where every person within looked at him with hesitancy. He was special, awakening Adjudicator Magic at such a young age but—the rest of the nobles also feared him. No one dared to py with him as a child.

  He was always alone.

  Studying.

  Practicing.

  And never once had the thought for a break in his life.

  After all, as much as he hated being compared to his sister, he loved her so much more.

  His hatred for the Pace is triumphed significantly by his desire for revenge.

  He will prove himself in battle, prove himself more than the legacy of what could've been had his sister been alive.

  He will be a far far better heir than she could've ever been.

  So that he could use that power to avenge her assasination and destroy the Kingdom, once and for all.

  He was doing all of this, for her.

  “What would you like me to do, Your Majesty?” Back to the present, Ben answered the Emperor's query.

  “My son, are you able to go to the North?” The Imperial slid him a note that contained all the details regarding this pn.

  Ben knew he was still healing but as he read through what the mission entailed he knew he had no choice but to accept it.

  “I am always prepared to do my duty.” The Crown Prince gnced in approval to his Father.

  “You know…your sister would've loved to see you like this.” The Emperor smiled at him, one that he had never seen before in the time he had been with him.

  And his words carry no hidden meaning. He wasn't comparing them at all. It was simply a straightforward appreciation of his growth.

  Still, despite this, the rift still existed between the two men. Years of traumatic apathy would not be undone so easily.

  Yet, there should always be steps to improvement.

  “She would have, wouldn't she?” Ben replied with a nod.