My first meeting with Ronandt was definitely out of the ordinary; not only did I show up uninvited to Grandfather's eighth birthday party, but I also punched him; I knew I was wrong at the time, but I was still a very stubborn and stubborn young girl back then.

My first impression of him was that he looked too much like Mael and in a way, I felt like he looked like me. To be completely honest at that time, I thought that Mael was going to replace me with him.

After all, Mael gave me the same book, he gave me to him when they just met in less than three weeks. For me, this book had a very different meaning than just a gift from a friend.

I received that book from Mael back, when I was seven, at that I was… Now that I think of it was very comical, at that time was very jealous of Eliel, my little brother who just had 2 two years, he received a sword from my great-grandfather while didn’t receive anything.

A big part of my infancy I was hammered from my father’s side that just like him and my great-grandfather, I was born special, that I was unique just like them.

Yet on my mother’s side, I, just saw her struggling and doing her best to have another child.

For us female nobles, especially in the Altaira kingdom, we were taught from a young age that our duty would be eventually no matter our position, to bore someone's child, we were taught of the consequence it might result to. I had two very good examples at home, one being my mother and the other being my Grandmother.

Grandmother, as far as I recall, was always frail and weak; she was the younger sister of Grandfather Emilien, who, despite being the older sibling, seemed to be full of life.

My mother knew she could end up like Grandmother, yet it happened three times, I saw her four times being pregnant and none of them came to an end. I despised that she already had me, so why risk your life for that? Why risking to become like Grandmother? Wasn't I enough?

Those were the questions I was wondering, back then.

I think the frustration I felt back then with the time turned into jealousy after Elliel birth, which, later pushed me to adorned this tomboy attitude that is now a big part of my personality.

I remember Elliel whining about wanting one for a long time, but no one in the house seemed to care, only the Edouard who was like a second family cared about it.

My red rose sword came from Grandfather Emilien, and the book came from Mael.

The book Mael offered me despite not being what I wanted still represented some precious to the same level as my sword.

So it was more or less justified that I'd hate to see it to be offered as a gift to someone he'd only met three weeks before.

There was some hostility between us at first, but it was resolved when we had the opportunity to talk unreservedly in our unique way.

I assumed he was the same type of bookworm as Mael, which he was, but he also seemed to be adept in using aina, as I was.

We eventually noticed a strange aspect of his personality as we got to know him well; for us, he was the weird youngest brother, the strange one who names inanimate objects, the strange one who tells strange stories that make sense only to him.

Since, his arrival to Edouard Castle, the time I spent there were hundreds of times funnier, I could only wish that it continued that way forever.

That night, the one before the arrival of great-grandfather. Grandfather Emilien and the woman I knew as Vicar Serana came to fetch him in urgency.

That night was for Mael and me the last time we ever saw Ronandt.

That night marked the beginning of bloodshed, that would last for generations.

Not too long after, Grandfather got back and begged us to never mentioned anything no matter what the circumstance. We were both curious and worried about what happened but agreed to never mention anything about it.

We knew something happened that forced them to evacuate him in such an emergency.

Not long after that, we were all summoned to the castle's largest room, which housed not only all of the guests we had in the castle but also all of our family members.

Since I was in Mael’s company when we were summoned, I naturally went with him and Granpa.

From orders of the local Church, none of the two hundredth guests and hosts of the castle were allowed to leave the room.

By order of the leader of the local Church, none of the two hundred or so guests and hosts of the castle were allowed to leave the room.

They kept us waiting for three hours before three men appeared: two old men, one dressed as a priest and the other as if he was ready to wage war on his own, and someone my father's age.

They proceeded to an estrade of the room as if they were the host and that they were present to open the festivities,

The old man dressed as a priest in white gave a speech, and it was at that moment that I noticed what was in their hand. The old man and the two other people with him had a bloody bandage on their left hand, and from the way it looked, I could tell they were missing a finger.

“Ladies and Gentleman of Beaufort Greetings, This humble one is the Archbishop Gregor Medvedick, faithful servitor of Djeem the accursed and this gentleman over there is the Holy Paladin Dominik Medvedick; I am extremely sorry to interrupt your soirée in honor of our colleague Armand Aubrecht, but the Church require your full assistance for very urgent matters.”

“My peers and I received an order nine years ago: we were to find a very dangerous individual and dispose of him ourselves; the only lead we had to find that individual was this. This object is a magical item that responds to the mana of the person we're looking for; it took us two years and a lot of effort to mass-produce and distribute it across the continent. In seven years, none of the magic items we dispersed across the continent had reacted, at least not until earlier this afternoon, when the Local Bishop was on his way to assist this early party, and his magic item began to react to someone's mana here. The time the local church, managed to disband a group to encircle the castle, he was already gone, it was as if someone has informed him of their arrival.”

“So, here are the questions bothering me, what could he possibly be doing here? Why would someone who had managed to avoid our detection all this time appear here in this castle? The only theory I have is that he was here for my dear comrade the Holy Paladin: Armand Aubrecht and that he was hiding among the guests to strike him in the middle of his welcome party.“

“This is why we've confined you all here, not because we suspect one of you is the one we're looking for, but because we're convinced that at least one of you met him or her, and by determining who was a guest in this castle, who is missing among you, we'll eventually figure out who that person might be. So will be counting on your entire cooperation.”

Honestly, I didn’t care much about what that old man was blabbering about. I was more concerned about what happened to Ronandt.

I had a great deal of respect for the Holy Paladins, whose exploits had captivated me since I was a child, but none for Archbishop, and even less for an annoying old man like him.

Back then, I didn’t link the old man’s speech about the fugitive they were looking for and Ronandt sudden departure.

After his speech, the old man urged two of our butlers, who were tasked with greeting and recording the names of the guests, to enumerate all of the guests' names one by one by their names, and that only those mentioned were and present were allowed to leave the room.

After a while, every name from the list the butlers were holding was cleaned, leaving only a small portion of people unmentioned: The member of the five great families and a representative of the conglomerate Douglas,

There was a reason why the names of the five great families did not appear on the list.

Though, different from how close the Edouard and the Aubrecht are, the five great families, hold a very close relationship. Due to the fact that our castle also served as the headquarters for all the duchy operations, it is not uncommon to see a member of the great family wandering around unannounced. They were past the point of being considered a guest in our castle.

And for the woman who was the representative of the conglomerate Douglas, the reason I assumed she was unmentioned was that she arrived in the castle way before the reception for the guest began,

“And may, I ask who you are?”

We were arranged in the room so that one could tell how each member of the great family was, everyone was flocked with his family, the Edouard family were the least crowded because there were only three of us on our spot, but among everyone in the room, there was someone who stood out even more because she stood all by herself on her corner.

That person was the representant of the conglomerate Douglas.

She walked away from the crowd and into the center of the room, where she looked at the old man.

“My name is Mathilda Douglas, first daughter and former heir of the eleventh generation of the Conglomerate Douglas.” She proudly stated.

She was a commoner, yet she was the woman who raised both my father, uncle Damien and Uncle Phillip in their mother’s stead

We didn't know it at the time, but she was the one Ronandt referred to as Maa.

“Oh~ My, I’ve heard of you, but didn’t you just disappeared from all the radar, thirty years ago?”

“As Your Grace stated, I renounced my family name for a time to attend to some personal matters, but now that it has been completed with the Seven's assistance, I can finally retrieve my family name and duty.”

“And may, I ask why your name was not present in the list?”

“I was a Governess for the Aubrecht family when I was just a nameless woman. As a result of my visit to the castle as both a guest and an old governess visiting the family she once served, it is natural that my name does not appear on the list.”

“You?! Serve as a governess?!”

He looked at each member of my family, and they all nodded in agreement.

“And, may I ask why?”

“I'm afraid this is too personal for me to share with your Grace, but I can assure you that there was no ill intent against the church or humanity. I hope your grace will not hold me in contempt for not disclosing why.”

“Of course, your family has done so much for the church that we won't suspect you for such a trivial question.”

For a brief moment, he did not let us go as he did with the other; instead, he contented himself with slowly surveying and scrutinizing each of us from where he stood.

“Was everyone from your list present? Are you sure there is no one missing?” He asked one of the two butlers.

“... Yes, there is no one missing.”

“Are you sure?”

“...Yes.”

“What a shame.” Suddenly he put his against the man’s head. “You see, my magic is to be said very unique. Lying to me is a very very bad idea.”

Suddenly, the butler's veins throughout his entire body began to glow a greenish color, before transforming into a disgusting human-shaped tree.

What he did shocked everyone in the room, except the men who arrived with him. The scene was terrifying and intimidating, even for a self-professed tomboy like me.

The old man turned to the second butler and grabbed him by the head, just like the first, causing the second butler to fall in fear, but first against the floor.

“I don't like to repeat myself, so I'll ask again: is there anyone missing from this list or from the crowd who was there?”

“Someone... is... missing from the list, a young boy.” The butler mumbled in fear.

“A young boy?... a young boy? A child? ...”

“Whose child?”

“I don’t know but he came with…” The trembling butler looked at Mael and his grandfather.

The old man looked at us, and I felt an intimidating dread run through my entire body the moment he did.

“A child huh… How old exactly was that child?”

I was never particularly bright, but even I knew which child they were referring to at the time.

“Maybe nine or ten, I’m not sure. That’s all I know, I swear.”

The old let go of the butler and approached us.

There was no other time in my life when I felt such a sense of dread. Each of his steps felt like an eternity, yet he seemed to be moving too fast toward us.

“You must be Emilien Edouard. and this must be Phillip’s child, right? My son-in-law over there is a very good friend of your son Phillip.” He said showing the youngest man accompanying him.

With a respectful sign of the head, the youngest man saluted Mael and his grandfather.

Only then, that the old man put his focus on me.

“And, this is?”

“Ramia… I am Ramia, Daughter of Luke Aubrecht and Great Granddaughter of Armand Aubrecht.“ I was able to mutter between each quiver of my lips.

“No wonder those eyes were so familiar.” “So, to get back to our matter at hand, I'm going to make it easy for your Edouard family?” he said cheeringly as if he hadn't just committed murder a few moments before.

“I don’t see what child you are talking about.”

The old man didn’t say anything but just smiled at grandpa and slowly looked down at Mael was between me and Grandpa.

“You seem to be a smart boy, like your father, so instead of your stubborn grandfather over there, I'm going to ask you, where is the young boy who came with you?”

Mael just remained silent just like his grandfather did.

“I see, just as stubborn as you grandfather then. It can’t be helped then.”

He turned around and slowly returned to where he came from, but then something appeared beneath his feet and snatched Mael away at breakneck speed, leaving him with his hands and feet bound by a root-like thing hovering at the old man level.

It took me a while to process what had happened, but the moment the old man did what he did, I saw both my father and grandpa being knocked away in a corner of the room, and the blonde man who had been standing next to the armored man was now lying on the ground, pressed down by the armored man, but this time both of them were just next to the old man.

A sandish, yet transparent barrier encircled Mael, the old man, the armored man, and the blonde pinned on the ground by the armored man.

It was that barrier that knocked Grandpa and father.

When it happened for first reflexes to charge at the barrier but I was stopped by Mathilda who was standing not so far away from where I was, without her help, I would’ve suffered the same fate as father and grandfather, who were repulsed by the barrier.

“I understand your frustration, Vicar Barbossebut, believe me, I do but they are the ones looking for this upon them.” He said to the blonde man’s attention.

The blonde man tried to talk but was immediately silenced by the armored man.

The old man reached his hand onto Mael and put his hand against his face as he did for the two butlers.

“As I said, I hate to repeat myself, where is the child ?” He said to threaten Grandpa.

“Harm a single one of his hair and I swear-”

“Swear to do what?! I was just asking where the child accompanying you was, it’s your fault for being stubborn. All I want to know is his location. Just that, So I repeated my question, WHERE IS HE?”

I saw reactions from every side of the room, begging him to reveal the truth, while some were wondering if what he was doing was really worth his grandchild’s safety.

Grandfather did his best to keep the secret but the sight of the strange greenish light parkouring Mael’s vein force him to tell the truth.

“The Rosetta manor, ...they are heading to the Rosetta manor right now.”

The man looked at a priest and the priest approached the old but remained at a very safe distance from the barrier.

“Where is that Rosetta Manor located?”

“It’s a manor owned by the ducal family situated in the southeast part of the duchy, it’s just at the border of the barrier.”

“Who lives there?”

“Nobody your grace, this place is supposed to be inhabited by any noble.”

“Who exactly is that child? What is he trying to do to your Aubrecht’s Rosetta manor?”

“I already answered your earlier question! Now let my grandchild go.”

“Not until you’ve answered my questions!”

Suddenly, both the armored man, the blonde man and the barrier suddenly disappeared, leaving only the old man with Mael.

Immediately Father and Grandfather took the opportunity their sudden disappearance offered to retrieve Mael from the old hand.

Surprised by the sudden disappearance of his allies, the old man took retreated away from Mael, who was immediately retrieved by grandpa.

Suddenly the blonde man reappeared back, immediately fell on his four on the ground puking his gut out.

The old man furiously charged at the blonde, holding him by the collar.

“VICAR BARBOSSE, WHAT’S THE MEANING OF THIS? WHERE IS HE!!”

“This is enough Archbishop, you already know the child's location. We aren’t sure yet if that child and I doubt it is the case is the one you are looking for, You would just commit an injustice against a family who has been so loyal to the Church for generations. And as for your cousin, he is not very far away.”

Suddenly the door of the room opened revealing the armored man soaked in water.

“It’s time for us to leave this place, send a small group of executioner to check, whether if that child is really the one we are really looking for or not. I will teleport us there if this is really the case. There are still many leads we can explore here.”

“Fine. I hate when I have to do this.”

The old man let go of his collar as the armored man approached him, the blonde man slowly stood, and once he did, they took off the bandages they had on their left hand, whose a finger was already missing, except for the blonde one, who had already two fingers missing, only to rip one of their fingers at the same time.

The old man and the armored gave their finger to the blonde man who in a matter of seconds turned their fingers into a blue crystal.

They then summoned one of the priests present, gave him, and tasked him with tracking down Ronandt.

“I will leave, but no one from the Aubrecht or Edouard families is permitted to leave this caste until this matter is solved.” He announced As he exited the room.

After that incident, we never had any other news from Ronandt,

Mael and I were ordered to never ever mention his name again by both Grandfather Emilien, Father, and even Great-grandfather.

It was as if they wanted to erase his entire existence as if they wanted us to forget of that one weird little brother we once had, but never we will.

We held our coronation without him.

It was an untold one but that day, Mael and I made a vow.

To that end, I left behind the youthful and stupid jealousy, I held against my own brother.

Mael began to show a very vivid interest for what passioned both Ronandt and me: aina.

We still hope to meet again someday, but we know it's unlikely, so we'll have to wait until then. We—I will keep his dear Cassandra, as he called it—until I return it to its rightful owner; until then, I hope he won't mind if I-We cut down with it some of the few who caused our separation: The Archbishop Gregor Medvedick and the Holy Paladin Dominik Medvedick.