“Cold.”

That single word lingered in Viran’s mouth as he stood alone outside of his residence. The current visage of Viran was noticeably different from how it was only a few days ago when he got the news, and his own fate foretold by the Spirit Ry.

He felt physically cold, yet he was unsure if this was just because of the anxiety he felt internally. A deep sigh escapes him as his fingers fumble together. Viran began counting the trees lining the garden in front of him before they landed onto the seventh tree, and he began to walk forward.

Viran’s gaze ran through his surroundings before his hands begin to fumble around the stump of the tree. A cold metal brushes along his fingertips revealing a sleek metal dagger. Beside the dagger laid a plain and thin dagger made from a poor and grainy leather.

Viran's eyes showed a cold gleam as he tucked the dagger away into his clothes. Earlier in the day he was luckily able to meet with Sir Leonard and was able to get him to agree to leave a dagger here for him, this was the only preparation Viran was able to make in such a short time.

Viran stood back up and stared directly at the flowers that surrounded him as multiple Knights ran to him.

“Lord Viran please don’t go out on your own again! If you do that again during the trip to Baron Axrid’s territory you may be putting yourself in danger, ok?” The Knight said.

Hearing this Viran nods lightly, though Viran knew there was a double meaning to the words spoken by the Knight. The words spoken to him only days prior by Ry, detailing the assassination that would shortly take place. Everything was memorized and known by Viran. Even the source of the conspiracy itself, Gregory and Spion.

To Viran’s understanding, Spion still keeps contact with the outside world in the form of messages sent through magic and through this Spion was able to procure information about the Empire’s controversies and gossip. Spion knew things others didn’t, and someone close to him obviously knew more it would seem. Spion knew Lord Idicium could not reject the invitation to war even though it would benefit him nothing in the long run, yet the Nobles under him would easily be disgruntled. But Spion was meticulous and needed to make sure of the reactions of the Nobles in the meeting, and he was able to convince Lord Idicium to allow Embren Gen to join the meeting.

Through this, Spion was able to effectively bribe, blackmail, and coerce multiple Nobles into the fold of the conspiracy. The misdeeds of Lord Idicium and his reputation had fallen greatly among the Southern Faction Nobles, so having the heir of the Faction being someone indebted to them would be the best case for them. With the conspiracy formed the multiple Nobles went forward and gave a proposition to the Lord. A son for a son they said, as he had taken Gregory from Baron Axrid he would give up Viran to him in the form of a political marriage to the young miss there.

The negotiations lasted days when finally Lord Idicium caved, and now Viran would be sent across the Empire to meet with her. The Lord himself knew best just how many problems the Nobles had with him, relenting here was the best choice or he would largely lose their support.

Only, the trip wasn’t only going to be used as a meeting between Viran and the Axrid’s daughter, the trip would serve as the best chance to kill Viran. Ry had told him that there would be a large convoy for Viran’s safety, yet the real danger came from the very guards that swore to protect him.

Viran looks up at the knight staring down at him as he admonishes Viran’s recklessness. A small smile, one unperturbed by the world, grew on Viran’s face. A small smile that was unlike the young boy; a smile filled with malice.

“Yes… Thank you Embren Gen. I will remember that.”

“It’s no problem my Lord, let’s go to the carriage now. We will leave shortly.” Embren nods.

Following the Knights away to the carriage Viran is filled with a sense of anxiety of the new world, and a feeling of exhilaration of finally seeing the new world. Viran knew he would very likely die on this trip, but the new and grand things he would see occupied his mind in that moment.

The sight of multiple horses, carriages, and people finally entered Viran’s eyes. He passes his gaze all around, yet the familiar apathetic face he hated never entered his sight. Despite his struggles, a sense of sadness comes from the absence of his Father.

Farther away next to the carriage Viran could see a tall pale man with a small grin plastered onto his face. Passing by him Viran gives a smile, and a goodbye.

“Have a good day Spion. I’ll make sure to bring a souvenir for you.”

Spion’s eyes turn into a glare as suspicion rises deep within him, though they had at one point in time become pupil and student Viran was never very hospitable or kind to him. Yet he still gives back words, etched completely with a hidden meaning inside.

“Oh please Lord Viran, just having you come back to the estate with a new marriage in tow would be the greatest gift for this lowly servant!” He said as his eyes still exhibited a deep rooted suspicion towards the child in front of him.

As Viran is led into the carriage, what enters his sight is a trailing color of golden hair that covers his entire vision. The sight immediately mesmerizes the young boy as his eyes open wide.

Only the hair clears from his vision, a sense of disappointment fills him up. That is, until he hears the squeaky voice of an older woman.

“H! Hello Lord Viran! My name is Marianne Kiel and I will be your guard and your guide throughout the journey! I hope you can ask me anything you want in order to make your journey go by faster thank you! Hah.” Marianne says in a fast tone to Viran.

Viran silently stared at the woman in front of him and was analyzing her. She looked to be around mid 20’s with a fair face, yet there was still a certain charm to her. She dressed in a hardened leather armor with metal plates affixed to numerous places around her, just like the rest of the guards in the convoy. Except that wasn’t all, Viran was analyzing her for a completely different reason. Viran didn’t analyze her for nothing, she wasn’t someone out to kill him from the information given by Ry but for a completely different reason. Viran silently analyzed her because of her family roots he had heard; he still couldn’t believe it himself.

“Yes… Please help me throughout the trip, Ms. Marianne.” Viran said as he sat down onto the padded carriage seat.

Looking around the carriage was surprisingly… Small. Outside the carriage was adorned with modest decorations and the inside only had some soft padding and some light runes to soften the travel. As Viran looked around he could find more and more runes around, perhaps his Father actually dished out more money than he thought?

Thinking this Viran turned to Marianne and decided to ask questions about the carriage.

“Marianne just how many runes are there on this carriage?”

“Oh! The runes you see on the roof are used to keep the entire carriage safe from heavy rainfall and snow. The runes on the wheels are used to lessen the impact the carriage had on the roads, for both a safer and more comfortable trip, and there is a rune placed upon the doors that makes the doors as hard as steel!” Marianne was at first a bit uncomfortable from the sudden question, but Viran could clearly see she began to clearly enjoy answering his question.

“Well thank you, I hope you can bear with me. I will have a lot of questions during this trip.” Viran said as he nodded lightly before looking out the window.

Soon, he can hear the calls of guards and servants alike and the carriage begins to exit the estate all together. Viran’s heart races as he looks up and down the landscape in front him. This whole time without his knowledge a giant forest surrounded the estate! He can see the roads leading out of the estate were paved and cleanly maintained. After listening through some unnecessarily long questions come from Marianne Viran learns that each brick in the road were individually made with a rune made inside. This made the road stronger than normal, and with a much less cost to maintain as well. Though for each individual brick having a rune the paved road eventually ran out and Viran could feel some light shaking on the dirt road they now came upon.

But that didn’t matter, only the view in front of him mattered.

Staring out into a sea of gold Viran can see grain growing as far as the eye can see. It was a sight never before seen, a sight that would become ingrained into his mind. The rotations of windmills could be seen in the distance and the plowing of normal people.

Viran looks out into the distance, the sight never boring him whatsoever. His eyes reach numerous children his age and above playing together, just like the servant’s children back at the estate. Viran felt somewhat jealous at this sight, and he knew it too. He had thought he had found a friend in Gregory before, yet everything eventually led up to now with Gregory trying to kill him zealously.

Worse yet, Viran knew the reason from Ry. Viran learned that Gregory had suffered, he had almost been killed by his own Father, Baron Axrid, and was brought into an unfamiliar environment where he was expected to act friendly with the man that was his real Father. Still knowing this, Viran could not forgive Gregory whatsoever. Gregory is now trying to kill him, and that was all that mattered to Viran in this moment. Viran wasn’t prepared to die lightly, even if that meant he would have to hurt or kill Gregory.

Viran’s eyes trembled as tears began to form, he quickly brushed them away yet he could tell Marianne saw his current state. Still, she refused to bring up the reason behind Viran’s tears. For this, Viran felt grateful.

As time went on Viran could see an increasing amount of carts, people, and livestock passing the convoy. At just the right angle, Viran could peer at what is in front of the carriage. Their first destination, it would seem, was the capital of the South, Arx.