Twenty-one years ago

"Why?" he asked as he slumped back against the wall. His eyes were empty and his heart was in tatters. He was a broken man.

He looked at the naked corpse of the royal guard on their bed. Despite being dead, at least the bastard was in peace now. While he... he was shattered.

He then turned his eyes towards his wife. She was covering her naked body with a blanket.

"I'm sorry Leopold. I.. I'm sorry. It was a moment of madness, nothing more" She wept and her voice was shaking.

Droplets of tears skidded on Leopold's cheeks. His face was blank but he felt like he was going mad.

"I loved you Margaret. I loved you with all my heart." He lowered his head and shut his eyes. His tears wetted the floor of their bedroom. "I gave you everything. I cared for you more than I cared for myself"

He raised his head and met her eyes. "You are my life, my world. We have known each other for a long time. I have loved you since we were kids. Decades Margaret, decades!"

He pointed towards the dead bastard on their matrimonial bed. "You just met him a few months ago and you chose to betray me for him."

Margaret crawled towards him. She was dragging the blanket to cover her body. She reached her hand towards Leopold.

"I was stupid Leopold, forgive me!" she implored. "You are the one I love. I was wrong. I made a mistake"

None of her words reached Leopold's ears. All he could think of was the scene he witnessed after opening the door. Margaret was pinned under the guard. Both of them were smiling. They were happy, happy of their betrayal.

Leopold couldn't hold it anymore. He screamed. His cries and screams mixed into a wail. It was painful, too painful. It was like he was being torn to pieces. His love for Margaret, his efforts, were all useless. His pride was trampled like garbage. It was as if saying that decades of loving her, decades of caring for her, decades of making sacrifices wasn't enough to cement their love. In just a few months, the bastard had broken what they built for decades.

Worst of all, she was happy. Leopold had seen it in her face. She was smiling while doing the thing with the guard. One look and Leopold knew that she loved him. She loved the bastard more than she ever loved Leopold.

His wails then turned into a crazed laughter. Leopold heard his own crazed voice. He didn't know what he was doing or why he was doing it. He lay on the floor laughing like a madman, a broken madman.

A hand touched his arm. He looked and saw that Margaret was holding his arm. He saw her face, and was reminded of her blasphemous smile while doing her betrayal. His vision turned black and his body moved according to his instincts.

He balled one of his hands into a fist and used the other to hold her shoulder. He pinned her on the floor. She struggled but Leopold was stronger. He raised his fist and aimed it at her face. He was wronged. He was pained. He wanted justice.

But his shaking fist remained in the air. He couldn't do it. He couldn't hurt her. He loved her more than anything. Margaret was his life, he loved her ever since he was old enough to know what love is.

Leopold lost his strength and fell into Margaret. He buried his face into her shoulder. He sobbed like a child. He was the King but he felt powerless like a child.

The world is unfair.

****************************************************************************

Leopold was looking at the busy barracks from the wall of the palace. The Quartermaster was scratching his head, probably racking his brains on how to accommodate the influx of soldiers from Wismar.The already packed barracks of Nirvana will become more crowded with the addition of five thousand Wismarine troops.

"This feels more of an occupation rather than reinforcement." Leopold heard Braun speak from behind. "Look at how these Wismarines act. They act as if they own the place. They have been here for less than a day but there are already reports of violence against the civilians."

"The Wismarines are not popular for being tamed Braun. Also we need them. This is a necessary evil we have to accept. We really need their help" Leopold stressed the last sentence.

"We need them for what? For destroying half of Castonia? This civil war is nonsense Your Majesty. We are not just facing Tulosa, Calgari also..."

"I know." Leopold interrupted. "You don't have to remind me how desperate our situation is. Being the King, I am more worried than you are"

After he heard of the news that Calgari joined the invasion too, Leopold wanted to take his army to Greenwater regardless of the strategic implocations of his move. If he did that, Timothy would be able to strike him from behind. But Leopold doesn't care. Saving Greenwater was more important.

Luckily, Timothy also thought the same. In fact, Timothy was faster than him and was able to repel the Calgarians in time. He was thankful to Timothy for doing that. So even though Timothy's just got more powerful with the support of Greenwater, Leopold doesn't mind. His son deserves their support anyway.

"Why are you here Braun? Something tells me that you're not here just to enjoy the sight of rowdy Wismarines with me."

"It's about Prince Ivan. He said that he wanted to have a meeting and I know that you already knew what he wanted"

Leopold nodded. "I do. But I won't give my permission."

"But why? This is our chance to end this worthless civil war!"

Leopold looked at Braun. "Because we still have to wait for the rest of the Wismarines. Skall promised me twenty thousand and I will have my twenty thousand Wismarines."

Leopold lied. The thing Braun was talking about was the rare opportunity to attack Timothy from behind. Because it was Timothy who reinforced Greenwater, then his back was open for Leopold to strike.

But Leopold doesn't want to do that and it had nothing to do with the reason he gave Braun. Striking Timothy after his son saved Greenwater just doesn't feel right. Leopold doesn't know if this was because of some strange remnants of fatherly love, but he couldn't do such a thing. Even if it could bring an end to the civil war, he wouldn't do it.

"I smell bullshit Your Majesty. I really don't understand you. First you conspired to kill Timothy. You were so heartless when you did that. But now you can't even give the order to attack. Don't tell me you are having a change of hearts."

Leopold let Braun's disrespectful behavior pass. He had lost Braun's respect a long time ago. He can't blame the Baron though. His bad decisions caused this war.

"What if I am?" Leopold smirked. He knew that it was impossible for him to change. He is an evil man and a bad father. But Leopold wanted to mess with Braun a little. Nothing is more disgusting than watching an iredeemable man act like he's changing for the better.

Leopold looked at the Baron, but Braun's face didn't look disgusted. Instead he smiled back to Leopold. "That would be nice if that's true. Prince Timothy is still your son. He had been a good son to you. I really don't get how a person could scheme against his own blood."

Leopold remembered that aside from Cobbert and a few other people, nobody else knew that Timothy is not his son. To people like Braun, Leopold looked like a monster. Well he is a monster actually. Even if Timothy wasn't his son, what he did was a wicked thing.

Leopold doesn't want to talk about his relationship with Timothy so he changed the topic.

"The meeting" Leopold said. "They are currently waiting for me in the war room, aren't they?"

"They are. Skall Wismar, Prince Ivan and General Peyton are already discussing strategy as we speak. They said that they will wait for you to make the final decision, but I don't know how long they will wait."

"Is it possible for me not to attend?"

"If you want foolish men to plan Castonia's future, then stay here and admire the smug faces of these Wismarines." Braun said.

Leopold looked at the Wismarine soldiers. Their faces were as what Braun described, smug like they own the City.

Leopold adjusted his crown on his head.

"Let's go."