Cale really liked the smell of burning bastards in the morning.

In actuality, he found the scent of a wild out of control fire to be repulsive, but he had a special love for this burning building.

It was the one full of people who had tried, and failed, to cause his younger siblings fatal injuries.

Cale reflected that it was true what they said. Under the right circumstances, anyone could become a killer.

His correct circumstances were choosing between his siblings, even weird fantasy versions of them, and his morals.

Morals be damned, his siblings were always the priority.

He didn't even feel bad about it.

Probably in the future it would really hit him that he'd burned several people alive and he'd be forced to reflect on what a monster that made him and feel the horrible dreadful guilt of having committed such a heinous crime.

Cale was like that, he did things and felt guilty later.

He had a good feeling that it would be a long time later though. Because Lily was barely breathing when they found her and Basen was still shivering in his arms.

The bastards could burn.

Cale's week had gone badly.

He'd made a lot of very good plans for the future. He'd put all of his ducks neatly in a row and he was this close to persuading his father to go along with his aggressive plans to eradicate the bastards who dared to target their family.

But then the bastards struck first.

In one night, the Henituse family had descended into chaos.

On the eve before Deruth was to give his answer to Cale, Lily and Basen Henituse went missing.

From what Cale could gather, the pair had ditched their escort for a private conversation and wound up kidnapped then. Basen was mostly unscathed because Lily had fought nearly until her last breath to protect her weaker elder brother.

It could really make a guy homicidal to see something like that.

Cale had been able to find where they were being kept and a lot of ridiculous shenanigans later, he was now staring at the burning building while he hugged his distraught brother. Lily was laying down nearby while the healers fussed over her and Cale could hear his father barking orders to handle this and that.

Cale's week had just gone so fucking badly and now his plans for the future were burning up with the corpses of those bastards.

It was lucky that Ron was so reliable, he reflected and glanced down at Lily's battered body with a vile feeling filling up his chest. If they had arrived even a moment later, who was to say if either of his siblings would have survived.

She would be okay. The healers had promised that but they required space to work their magic and Cale just wanted to scream at them all to stop fucking around with magic tricks and call a fucking doctor.

His modern sensibilities weren't coping with the world of fantasy very well.

"...hyung-nim?"

Cale looked down at his trembling brother who had finally calmed down enough to look at him.

"It's okay." He said gruffly, patting Basen's head gently. "I took care of it."

His words weren't that much of a comfort. Cale knew that they didn't have the trust yet to support such a statement. But Basen's trembling decreased and his body slumped against Cale, trusting Cale to carry his weight.

"...hyung-nim..." Basen's voice trembled and he hardly looked like the grown man he was. He was that same crybaby of a child that Cale had met all those years ago.

He smiled crookedly at his younger brother.

It really didn't matter how much time passed, Basen would always just be a child to him. It was an older sibling thing. There wasn't any age Basen would reach that he wouldn't be Cale's baby brother any longer.

That didn't make it easier to see his mature composure breakdown so thoroughly after what he'd been through.

What they'd both been through.

"Yeah. I know." Cale watched over Lily's recovery with a critical eye and allowed the scent of burning to comfort him as the repugnant morning dragged on. "I'll handle this."

He'd make them all burn for this.

–

It was obvious that his request would be refused after that incident.

That didn't make Cale any less bitter about it. The argument that the count needed to keep his children close by to keep them safe rang a bit hollow when he'd just failed to do so but Cale wasn't quite angry enough to say that outright.

He just insinuated it strongly with cutting words and left Deruth Henituse alone to stew in his thoughts.

Cale didn't like this fantasy world the more he spent time in it.

For starters, why the fuck did he need his fathers permission to do anything at all, ever? He was well into adulthood. From a modern perspective, his father should be pushing him out the front door with a shovel, not insisting that he live at home forever.

And the cloying suffocation of the Henituse estate was driving him insane. Everyone had something to say about his sudden change in behavior, behind his back of course, and he was deeply tempted to show them all just how little his behavior had changed.

Cale Henituse had spent quite a bit of his life living up to people's worst expectations of him. It was itchy to resist doing so when he was already so fucking far over the edge.

So Cale made the executive decision to entirely disregard all of it.

Why the fuck was he expected to play by fantasy rules when he was a modern bastard?

"Ron. Pack my things."

"You'll be going then?"

Cale laughed ruefully and replied. "They can fucking try to stop me."

And try they did.

His father did just about everything in his power to attempt to persuade Cale. The trouble was that Count Deruth wouldn't stoop to imprisoning his own son and it came down to the very simple decision.

Let Cale go without his support and protections or with his support and protection.

At an absolute loss for how to handle his son, Deruth even agreed to Cale's original plan. However, Basen and Lily would still need to stay within the territory.

That was something of a bitter point for Cale.

Especially after everything that happened, he didn't fancy letting his younger siblings out of his sight for even a moment but he also knew that his best chances of dealing with this matter and resolving it once and for all would require his departure. And with any luck, he'd become a much more enticing target than the well protected and well fortified siblings.

Cale had made up his mind.

To any observer, it looked heartless.

In less than two days following the traumatic kidnapping of his younger siblings, Cale Henituse would leave the territory for a vacation without even visiting them before he went. For those with a poor impression of him, it solidified his despicable character to them.

Ron Molan was not the average observer.

The barking puppy he had raised had changed. In subtle ways and in not so subtle ways. He was still the same person but he was undeniably different.

It piqued his curiosity.

Ron chose to follow Cale to the capital, curious what his foolish little puppy was up to and what had changed him so dramatically.

He left his son at the Henituse estate to look after things there and watched with his ever benign smile as Cale Henituse began his travels.

One thing was for certain.

Cale was restless.

Ron could see it in his every movement. The way his eyes flickered off to the distance as though looking for something or perhaps someone.

Ron hadn't seen the young master this restless since his mother had passed away.

Cale had never handled losing people very well. Ron had been at the child's side as he experienced every loss in his lifetime and each and every time, it was as though something resoundingly broke inside of him and the jagged shattered pieces were going to be used as shanks.

It was why he was a fearless puppy in Ron's eyes.

Cale looked into the void and then knocked over a vase while barking his fool head off.

A truly foolish puppy.

"Young master Cale, we're stopping for the night."

Cale looked up from where he'd been staring out the window and for just a moment, Ron felt like he was looking into the face of a stranger.

The flicker was gone and Cale frowned at him. "I'll be staying in my carriage." He informed morosely and even that lacked his normal bite.

As Ron hunted rabbits and watched the life leave their eyes he finally realized what was so strange about it.

The vitality in Cale was gone. He was still barking with all his might but the fire that fueled Cale was running out of kindling.

For a moment the thought scared him.

Ron was a laid back individual. He would casually accept any personality change his puppy decided upon and watch with amusement from the sidelines. He'd seen Cale broken again and again over the years and every time the stubborn puppy only barked louder and more passionately in response.

To see the light dimming behind Cale's eyes was strangely... distressing.

"...perhaps I'm getting old." Ron muttered, frowning at the dead rabbits. "I might have gotten attached."

It was a disconcerting thought for Ron who treasured his aloof disinterest in the Henituse family.

Cale appeared much the same when he returned to camp and Ron couldn't help but catalog all the little strange things that Cale had done and asked for ever since his carriage had been attacked.

Most things made sense, even if they were abnormal for Cale. Coming up with plans to get rid of the attackers only made sense. Protecting his siblings or leaving the territory were equally logical courses of actions. Most of the things he'd asked about or done had been in direct connection to those logical courses of action, done with all the delicacy that Ron had come to expect from the foolish puppy.

There was only one incongruence that kept cropping up into Ron's mind here and there.

"Who the fuck is Alberu Crossman?"

It wasn't just the strange question. Ron was sure that even his drunken puppy young master knew the crown prince's name. Especially with the coronation growing ever closer.

While it was a strange question it was really Cale's reaction that caught Ron off guard.

He'd spent over twenty years serving young master Cale and while he didn't feel much of a need to dissect every little thing the puppy did, that familiarity bred a certain amount of knowledge.

Cale's expression had been so genuinely distressed.

Ron's hands clenched around the poor rabbit corpses with a feeling of dislike simmered inside of him. Ron didn't know what had drained his young master of his vitality but he knew that it had something to do with that worthless prince.

In a few days they'd arrive in Puzzle City. Ron would take that opportunity to acquire a bit more information about the crown prince.

Humming to himself as his benign smile found its way back onto Ron's lips, Ron returned to camp.

Whatever it was that was distressing the young master, it would have to be dealt with effectively.

Ron stepped over the corpses of the rabbit's he'd hunted, pondering what they would be serving for dinner tonight. One of the worthless little things groaned as Ron stepped on him and Ron let out a small tsk noise as a dagger deftly finished the job.

He really must be getting old if he let one of these unsavory reprobates survive, even if it was only for a moment.

He'd have to spend some time practicing the hunt again. It wouldn't do at all if all of these eager little bunnies were to bounce into camp and distress his fearless puppy again. The poor thing might start chasing his tail without a clue how to handle so many rabbits.

That really wouldn't do at all.