The next morning.

The sun was emerging as nearby birds could be heard chirping. The sky was clear, and it looked to be nice for the rest of the day.

Leon, Royland, and Dedric left the knight academy and made their way to a nearby carriage.

The carriage was prepared for them by the knight captain and it came along with two coachmen. One was tall and lanky while the other was short and stout. The two of them were middle-aged but looked friendly. The tall one had a beard while the short one sported a gruff mustache.

“Hop on lads. The name’s Walice” said the tall one, “this ‘ere my brother, Wilster. We’ll be taking turns driving you to your territory, Young Master Leon.”

Wilster didn’t say anything but just nodded his head.

“Ah, my brother don’t talk much,” explained Walice

Leon nodded his head back. He, Royland and Dedric made their way into the carriage while Walice and Wilster sat out in front handling the two horses pulling the carriage.

Their transportation was just a wooden wagon with a tarp covering it. To not draw any suspicion to them from any unwanted groups, the knight captain thought it was best to have them ride an average carriage. However, Dedric didn’t agree and was appalled for having to ride something so barbaric. He’d rather ride something more luxurious to let the people know that someone important was inside the carriage. Alas, it was not so.

Once ready, the group set off to Leon’s home, House Nightwell’s territory.

“All right, boys. Usually, it’ll take about five or six days to get there,” said Walice, “But since my bother and I are here, it’d be best if we don’t make any stops. He and I’ll take turns driving. This way, we can arrive there in half the time. Around three days.”

“Mm!” Wilster grunted in agreement.

Leon’s family was currently in the Nightwell Territory rather than their estate in the capital city.

During their journey, Leon began to think of his family.

---

Leon’s father was named Leokas Nightwell. House Nightwell was one of nobility. A unique trait of the Nightwell House was that all males were born with dark raven hair. Another quality was that their house produced men and women that excelled in a wide variety of professions, ranging from martial arts, magic, politics, and even the arts.

Leokas was no exception to either of these. He was born with dark raven hair and he grew up to be an excellent leader. He trained his body as hard as the kingdom’s knights and studied just as hard to the point of his knowledge rivaling many famous scholars.

Although he was thought to be strong, smart and handsome, he didn’t let it get to his head. He knew that there was always someone out there who was better than him. Instead, he stayed humble, gaining everyone’s admiration because of it. As such, he continued to train and study hard.

As he grew older, his merits increased as well. Winning multiple combat tournaments. Impressing everyone with his leadership. Becoming a Knight of Kandarynd. Writing few, yet abstract theories. Saving local villages from demons and beasts. Teaching at an academy. One of his grandest feats was when he faced off against 50 demons, leading a squad of knights to fight them while protecting nearby civilians.

Overall, he was the dream husband for many women across the land. He was eventually put into an arranged marriage with a beautiful noblewoman with auburn hair named Liera Canmore to increase the influence of the Nightwell House.

She had a slender body that went along with her beautiful face. Her short auburn hair went well with her hazel eyes. Liera was a headstrong woman who specialized in magic. She was raised through noble practices while training herself to become an adept mage. She, like Leokas, was surprised to hear news of an arranged marriage.

Leokas and Liera opposed the marriage at first, having not even met each other or knowing the other person. However, that uncertainty turned into mutual understanding. Mutual understanding turned into interest. And then interest turned into love. Sooner or later, the two were happy with their arranged marriage. So happy, in fact, Liera later gave birth to children.

The older one was a boy. They decided to name him Magnus and like his father, he had black hair. A few years later, Liera gave birth to the second child, a daughter whom they named Jaina. Like her mother, Liera, she had auburn hair.

Leokas and Liera loved both of their children dearly. Although Leokas was rarely with his family due to his adventures and obligations, Magnus and Jaina loved their father regardless. Liera stayed with them to raise her two children and fill in the small void whenever Leokas was gone.

She put a pause to learning magic and became motherly with a warm atmosphere. Magnus grew up learning to love knowledge while Jaina was more adept at the sword. The family was content.

Leokas’ grand deeds became known to the past Queen, who was the current Queen Elaine’s mother and was granted an audience. The two befriended one another, enjoying each other’s company. The Queen also began to realize how big of an asset Leokas was to Kandarynd and he was eventually given the role of Knight General.

He was strong and had great leadership, commanding his men in battle bringing victory after victory during the war against the demons.

However, as the days went by, Liera grew sicker. She contracted an unknown illness, and a cure wasn’t yet found. However, Liera continued to raise the children. She loved and cared for them and was overjoyed whenever Leokas would come home from an adventure or rest from his duties as Knight General.

She became sicker until one day, she passed away.

Although Leokas was aware of his wife’s illness, the pain of losing a loved one still hurt him. He was mad at himself for not spending more time with his children and wife. The family remembered on the day of the burial, a beautiful black butterfly with red spots flew by.

Though their mother was no longer with them and they were still young, Magnus and Jaina both had each other for support and eventually learned to accept their mother’s death. They would always have their memories and mementos of her whenever the two would want to feel her presence again.

The same could not be said for Leokas though. With his wife dead, he was heartbroken. His heart would ache whenever he would think of Liera. To keep his mind distracted, Leokas began to drown himself in work. He would be outside training or in his study reading, doing anything to keep his thoughts away from Liera. Due to this, he spent little time with Magnus and Jaina, creating a small, invisible distance between a father and his children.

Nonetheless, whenever the children couldn’t find their father training or in his study, they would always find him asleep next to his wife’s grave. With him, a bottle of alcohol and tired, sleeping eyes that have recently let out tears. Each time they saw this, Magnus and Jaina’s eyes would always begin to water.

The two would pick him up and bring him back inside so he can rest properly. Like how Liera cared for them, it was Magnus and Jaina’s turn to care for their father.

---

Day turned into night as the carriage traveled on the dirt road. Since Walice drove the carriage during the day, it was Wilster’s turn to drive during the night while his brother rested beside him.

Leon stopped thinking about his family for a moment as his eyes became dreary. Although it was a wooden carriage, the interior was much more comfortable than it looked.

With that, the first day passed.