Johann Hyde Heisenberg
Only a select few knew his name.
Even fewer knew that he even existed.
Johann was one of the few nobles that survived the Dunnwals' purge of incompetent or rebellious nobles.
Not only did he survive the purge, but he also thrived in its aftermath.
Johann never considered himself a conventional noble.
Yes he enjoyed the luxuries and extravagance of the noble life but he also busied himself with what others would call 'morally questionable research.'
It was because of his research and discoveries that he had gained a position of power within the Imperium.
He was the head of the top-secret 'Heisenberg Institute', an institution under the Imperium of Drussia that operated out of the eyes of the public.
Their assignment? To use whatever means necessary to uncover the truth behind arcane magic and develop new magical techniques that would aid the Imperium in its future military endeavours.
Even now, within the confines of an abandoned fort forgotten by the masses that was later repurposed by the Imperium, the Heisenberg Institute continued to study the nature of magic.
More specifically, they studied magic through numerous examinations and experiments.
Human experiments and examinations to be exact.
The specimen was 'thoroughly examined' as they were strapped onto a surgery table or forced to manifest and manipulate their mana in order to test the natures of magic. The Institute knew no boundaries and cut no corners when it came to studying magic.
This was what Johann truly wanted in life.
Not the meaningless luxuries that typical nobles indulged themselves in. Instead he wanted to peer into the depths of magic, to truly know the answer of the age-old question, 'what is magic?'
However, Johann was also a rarity.
As far as he was concerned, there were very little nobles who ever wanted an advancement in magic due to the fear that they would eventually lose their feudal power over the commoners who rivalled or surpassed them in magic ability.
It was because of such a concept that was conceived by the idiotic and short-sighted nobles that the development of magic had remained stagnant for the past few hundred years, leaving magic in the sad state it is now.
Although, Johann was also aware of the multitude of hermits and orders that dedicated their lives to mastering the arcane arts, he also knew that their methods were heavily dictated by tradition, mythology and ancient cultures.
In other words, they were very inefficient when it came to developing magic.
He knew that if he wanted to discover a breakthrough in magic, he would need to use a more 'hands-on' approach.
"Guuahhhh! AHHHH! Grrrghghghg."
The man writhed on the floor as he screamed in pain. Eventually, his throat became so clogged up due to his own saliva that he choked on it and died.
Upon seeing this sight, Johann could only sigh regretfully. Not because of the loss of life, but because the experiment was once again a failure.
"Specimen 37-D... Failure."
As Johann said this, one of his researchers wrote the results onto his notepad. Through a glass window that separated the scientists from the specimens, Johann continued to watch the man laying down, unmoving on the floor, the look of bitterness on his face only being very faint.
After confirming that the results were written down, Johann gave his next set of orders.
"Bring in specimen 37-E"
Soon, the steel doors of an isolated room containing the dead specimen's body was opened before two other men walked in and carried the dead man's body out.
Immediately after, the dead man was replaced by a young girl who seemed to be in her mid to late teens, her greyish-black hair was disheveled and unkempt while her light-blue eyes were full of fear. She was only dressed in dirty and makeshift rags that only barely covered her pale skin.
If Johann had to guess, she most likely used to be a noble of relative power who enjoyed the feeling of being in power in life.
Now, she was nothing more than a shell of her former self, a mere reflection of the person she used to be.
The sight of the girl did little to move Johann's heart. After all, why should he care about the lives and feelings of his experiment specimens? Growing feelings for people with a low survivability rate would only impede on Johann's work.
Besides, she wouldn't be a test subject of the Heisenberg Institute without good reason.
Prisoners of war, death row inmates and anyone who the Imperium wanted to make 'disappear', those were the types of people that populated the lists of test specimens that were used by the Heisenberg Institute.
And this girl would be no different.
As the girl stared at Johann through the glass with her fearful eyes, Johann only returned ger gaze with a cold, empty stare.
However, just before he could begin the next test, there was an unexpected interruption.
"My Lord. Lady Dunnwal has arrived. She is currently demanding to meet you at this very moment."
Another one of Johann's researcher's informed him of a rather unwelcome and inconvenient guest.
After giving a tired sigh, Johann told the researcher what to do with Sicilia.
"Tell her that I will be waiting for her in my office..."
"As you wish."
As the researcher left to carry out Johann's orders, Johann himself once again sighed as he quickly fixed his appearance and returned to his office.
As soon as he returned to his office, he ensured that its appearance was suitable before taking his seat at the desk.
Soon, the doors of Johann's office were slowly opened as Sicilia took her seat opposite to Johann. Her strides and composure were both graceful while her long, silky, silver hair flowed behind her back.
"How many times are you going to walk into this office without making a damn appointment?"
Johann instantly voiced out his complaints at Sicilia the moment she took a seat.
"You may be free to do whatever you want but could you please spare the effort to at least notify me first? You're disrupting my work flow."
His complaints were met with a sarcastic laughter that was followed by a cynical response.
"You make it sound as if you don't want me here."
As Sicilia spoke, Johann was able to see the mocking glint in her eyes.
"And I even went through all the trouble to bring a gift for you."
Johann raised his eyebrows when he heard Sicilia's sarcastic remark. [A gift? But she came in here empty handed. Unless this so-called gift is too large to be brought into the office...] With no choice, Johann was forced to probe the situation.
"A gift? What are you talking abou-"
"Hello there!"
Johann nearly fell off his chair when the bright bubbly voice of what seemed to be a young girl echoed behind his ear. When he turned his attention to the source of the sound, he found, as he had previously guessed, a young girl.
A young girl with fiery-red hair.
Left completely speechless by the sudden appearance of this enigmatic girl, Johann had to rely on Sicilia's mocking voice to give him an explanation.
"Johann... I want you to meet Valentina... Valentina, why don't you introduce yourself to Johann?"
"Yes! My name is Valentina Gandhart Steiner and I am the princess of Ostria!"
Johann's eyes widened when he heard Valentina's self-introduction. [Valentina? Princess? Ostria?] As absurd as this sounded, Johann really couldn't deny the evidence. The girl's fiery-red hair gave it all away.
She was definitely a member of the Ostrian royalty.
The only question was what the hell was she doing in the Heisenberg Institute?
However, what came next was something that was even more surprising.
"Valentina, why don't you wait outside while the adults talk? Remember the 'reception room' we were waiting at? Why don't you return there and wait until I come back?"
"Alright!"
With a composure that was just as bright and cheerful as before, Valentina quickly ran out of the office and presumably began making her way to the reception room.
All without making a single sound.
"She's... she's just like you..."
Johann just couldn't help stuttering in disbelief a few moments after Valentina disappeared. His stutters were met with a sarcastic joking reply.
"Now do you know what gift I want to give you?"
A sort of mocking grin continued to grow on Sicilia's face as she continued to speak.
"That and... I believe that you should really try building up your awareness. All it took was for me to draw all your attention for Valentina to sneak up behind you. You're lucky that you're not her enemy."
Sicilia paused for a short moment before she resumed.
"Otherwise, you'd be dead."
"I understand..."
Once Sicilia, stopped speaking, Johann instantly gave a respectful response before he proceeded to ask her a question.
"I trust that very few are aware of her current situation?"
When Sicilia heard what Johann had to say, she immediately scoffed as she made her remark.
"You really believe that I would be sloppy enough to not tie up loose ends? You can relax. The only liabilities are a bunch of bottom of the barrel mercenaries, though I doubt that they'll cause any inconvenience now. Especially since I added something special to go with their alcohol."
After Sicilia said this, she immediately simulated the action of drinking before grasping her neck and pretending to choke. Once she concluded her act, Sicilia returned her hands to her laps before she continued speaking.
"But enough beating around the bush..."
Sicilia's mocking voice was abruptly replaced by a more serious one as she spoke.
"The Imperium has left you with an important assignment that will contribute to the establishment and development of the Wraith Initiative. Due to the existence of one candidate, I must ask about how much progress you have made in the completion of this task?"
Johann sighed as he made his answer.
"Unfortunately we are experiencing a... stagnation in the production of results."
When Sicilia heard Johann's answer, a slight look of disdain and disappointment grew on her face.
"Tch. I'm no scientist but that is pathetic..."
"Pathetic? Are you aware of how much time and effort we must put into these experiments?"
This time, Johann was no longer able to tolerate Sicilia, letting some of his anger slip out of his mouth. The response he would get however, only served to irritate him even more.
"Not enough apparently."
"You bitch! You take... that... back..."
Johann gradually started to trail off as he realised his mistakes, causing the office to plunge into an awkward silence. This silence didn't last long though since it was quickly broken by Sicilia's cold voice.
"Be careful not to piss me off Johann..."
Unlike before, Sicilia's voice was neither cold nor cynical. This time it was a combination of both.
"When I'm pissed off... My hands tend to become somewhat shaky... And when my hands become shaky, I have trouble keeping control of them."
As Sicilia spoke, her eyes continued to lay firmly upon Johann.
"Who knows, with those shaky hands, I might just... drop something into your afternoon tea."
The room was once again plunged into silence as Sicilia finished speaking. It was only after a few short moments of silence that Sicilia gave her single solemn command.
"One year. In one year you will give me the results that the Imperium desires."
Then she immediately stood up and left the office.
Like Valentina, none of her footsteps could be heard.