"Vivian, I'm off now" Duke bid Vivian farewell as he lugged the baggage Vivian prepared for him.
"Are you sure you have everything you need? Maybe we should check again" Vivian worried like an overprotective mother.
"Vivian, I'm fine, relax. We've checked at least ten times now~ Gahaha, You're like just like my real wife now!" Duke laughed as Dan the knight, on his side thought: [More like your mother!... Wait... She is your real wife!]
"W-Who's your wife!" Vivian angrily shouted, slightly blushing pink.
[YOU ARE?!! Aren't you???] Dan became very, very confused with Vivian and Duke's exchange as he didn't know of the two's secret agreement.
To the Knights and everyone around them, Duke and Vivian just looked like a normal sweet couple bickering about like how normal couples did.
"Well, whatever... It's not like you're gonna die or anything" Vivian pouted as she turned around to leave.
But as Vivian was about to leave, she turned back and said "Be careful okay?" with a careful and considerate voice Vivian rarely expressed.
"Ok..." Duke no longer joked as he knew Vivian was seriously worried for him.
And with that, with a large huge bag on his back, hand-packed for him by Vivian, Duke set off along with his Knight retinue towards the camp, hunters in the area discovered to be the hideout of Waxer and his gang of Bandits.
Four measly wooden carts with overhanging roofs strutted along a poor dirt road with rocks and rubble scattered next to it. These carts were Duke's tiny army riding along Maine's once glorious and beautifully artisan-crafted roads now reduced to an almost untraversable poor excuse for a road.
Even Maine's roads were unsafe from the previous Emperor's fear as he ordered them to be dismantled. Block by block, brick by brick. Further cementing Maine's downfall after the already enacted Trade Blockade.
As Duke saw these roads for the millionth time, only now did Duke realize just how much the previous Emperor disgraced Maine and his family, the Pendragons.
Duke didn't know about his family's past and roguish actions, so to Duke, he felt as if he was the victim of the Emperor's unjust rule, and his respect for the Monarchy slightly diminished.
Duke and the Knights reached Kath village at night time where the Village elder quietly invited Duke and the Knights to sleep in his cabin for the night.
*Knock Knock*
As Duke was about to sleep he heard someone knock on his door. Upon checking out who it was, he was met with Annie's father.
"Ah, hello! Rudon" *Clears throat* "My name's Rudon... I haven't been able to introduce myself last time, as you know I... am Annie's papa" Rudon bowed as he introduced himself to Duke.
"I have something I wanna ask you..." Rudon looked on Duke with
"Don't tell my wife, but I... I want to fight them with you..." Rudon said with a voice filled with conviction.
"F-Fight who?" Duke couldn't believe what he was hearing.
"Does ma'am know about this?" Duke asked.
"Cynthia? No... she doesn't even know you guys came here yet. If she did, she would've been first to come and meet you. I asked the Village Elder to tell me first when you came so I can be the one to tell you that... I, I want to fight them, with my own hands" Rudon looked at his two hands filled with guilt and helplessness and clenched them as he stared at Duke filled with conviction.
"I... I want to help, but. Are you sure this would be alright? You know... with the missis and all" Duke asked with genuine worry.
"You don't need to worry about that... I'll talk to her" Rudon gulped in worry as he left Duke in his room all alone again Duke.
"Huh, well time to go back to sleep" *Plop* Duke threw himself on the bed as he slowly began to dose off.
*Knock Knock*
But before Duke could even get a sliver of sleep, another knock was heard on his door.
"Ughh, who is it now?" Duke groggily murmured.
"Uhh, hello?" A teenage boy a year younger than Duke came up to him.
The boy was eerily familiar to Duke.
"G-Gaiseric's Descendant! W-What are you doing here?!" Duke recognized the youth in front of him as the young man who gave him the angry glares last time he came to the village and over ate. Duke still had the misunderstanding from his dream that his destiny was somehow tied with someone related to Gaiseric, and so he became extremely wary and respectful towards the youth, thinking that since Gaiseric had a lot of children, almost anyone could be his descendant!
"Gaiseric's what?" The boy gave Duke a strange glare.
"N-Nothing, Sir!" Duke blurted out in anxiety.
"Sir?" The boy asked as he tilted his head. [Why am I getting called sir?] The boy wondered.
"O-Oh nothing! It's like respect you know. Yes, respect!" Duke tried to rationalize his mistake.
Lucky for him, the youth in front of him wasn't the sharpest tool in the shed either.
[W-Woah! He r-respects even a lowly commoner like me?!... I knew I was right with my decision!] The gullible poor boy believed Duke's cover-up as he bowed in front of Duke.
"I saw what you did for the Village... At first, I thought you were just like the other nobles here to take more taxes and wheat from us. But then you successfully defended us, and now I heard outside from the Knights that you even brought additional food to give to the Villagers! No other Noble has ever done something like that for us! I let my prejudice get the better of me. But now I know, from all the nobles around only you are really worth serving! Please, let me serve you, sir Duke!" The boy begged Duke with his head lowered on the ground.
Duke looked at the boy in awe, feeling happy that someone thought he was doing something good for others. But the boy misunderstood Duke's stares of awe for that of denial.
"I know I might not be much, and a lowly commoner like me can't possibly serve beside a great Duke such as yourself. But I swear to you! I'll be the most loyal follower you can ever have!" The boy persisted as he bowed his head down again.
Duke continued to stare at the boy a year younger than him. To the boy, Duke's noble air started to deepen as Duke's eyes stared and observed him. Not knowing that Duke was literally, just speechless and dumbfounded at the thought that HE could inspire another person.
"Are... Are you sure you want to serve ME?" Duke asked once more as he couldn't believe the boy's words.
"Yes! I'm sure!" The young boy affirmed.
"Then introduce yourself first. I still don't know your name, you know" Duke said heartily.
"My mom said my name was Brandus milord, but my Da... before he died, used to call be Brandon. Everyone here just calls me Bran" Bran introduced himself.
"N-nice to meet you, Bran... My name's Duke... Count Duke" Duke twiddled his fingers as he cleared up the misunderstanding Bran had.
"I'm just a Count... Sorry to disappoint you" Duke said.
"I-I'm sorry!" Bran bowed even further down.
"I, I thought, I mistook your name for your title, please forgive me, milord!" Bran sincerely felt sorry as he thought he put Duke in an awkward situation.
"No no, it's alright. Wasn't the first time haha" Duke laughed in relief. At first, he thought Bran wanted to serve him because he was a Duke, even though he wasn't, but it looks like Bran had sincere and genuine intentions towards Duke.
"Well, I'll stop bothering your sleep now. Goodnight milord" Just like how he entered, Bran left like like a storm. Finally leaving Duke alone to have his not so beautiful beauty sleep.