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Sid snapped from his thoughts once more when he heard that familiar voice through his head as he immediately looked at the mysterious woman who was still fighting that hybrid-looking dragon without a pause and then he remembered what she had told him through telepathy.
'Pick up my sword? Do I have the right though?'
*BOOOM!
"ARGH! What in the name of f*cking Nexus—?!"
He didn't continue his rant when a sudden impact come to him and then, he was almost thrown out by the strong wind if he didn't clutch into one of the trees behind him.
Also, he immediately looked at the direction where he had placed his unconscious party members and saw that they weren't affected by the impact that's happening as he sighed in relief and then, he diverted his attention away from them as he focused on the battle that's happening.
At that moment, Sid still couldn't forget what the mysterious woman told him through his mind and because of that, he felt hesitant to pick up a sword again.
'Ever since I was young, I used to believe that a sword's purpose is to protect the weak and defend others from injustice but right now…. I don't know anymore….'
As he thought of that, he suddenly reminisce those unpleasant memories that he tries so hard to forget…
...…..
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His real name is SIGRID ANATOLE.
Before he settled himself at Silveria Empire, Sigrid is a former Royal Knight Commander from a small kingdom and also, he used to serve the Crown Prince and belonged to his faction.
He is from the House of Anatole, a Count household and also a member of the Crown Prince's faction.
Sigrid is the second son from his father's mistress, in short… he is an illegitimate child of the Count.
Since illegitimate children from noble households aren't that welcoming within the noble society since most of those illegitimate children either had commoner's blood running through their veins or others one of its parents came from a fallen noble household that were sold to those high-ranking noble households.
Sigrid falls under with these two since his mother came from a fallen Baron household, which is practically a commoner in noble society's standard.
Although his life as an illegitimate child of the Count had earned him scorns within the other high-rank noble children from the other households, Sigrid is still grateful for his father, for acknowledging his presence as his child.
Even his mother has been acknowledged as the second wife of the Count, not just a mistress like he believed from the start.
≤ …. "Even if I wanted to acknowledge you and your mother alone, my authority as the Count wouldn't let me. You should thank the Countess, my wife, for as she is the one who supported this idea. She might appear cold and indifferent like how others perceive her but when it comes to her family, she wouldn't turned back against them." ….. ≥
At that time, Sigrid didn't know whether to believe those words or not because from what he had learned from the others that most illegitimate children born from the noble households would always suffer at the hands of the Patriarch's official wife since he had met other children who were like him, an illegitimate child of their household.
However, Sigrid never experienced that kind of suffering at the hands of his father's official wife.
Although the Countess ignore their existence within the household when they were brought back together with his biological mother, the Countess never harms them and didn't bother with their presence within the manor.
Sigrid and his mother used to believe that the Countess, although she acknowledged him and his mother as a part of the Count's household, held hatred for the both of them.
Which Sigrid could understand the Countess' feelings because…. Who in their right mind she would accept her husband's mistress with a child?
Both of him and his mother were too distrustful within the people of the manor and tried their best not to cause any disturbance, especially to the Countess, who only watched them from the sidelines and ignore their existence, despite acknowledging them as part of the household.
≤ …. "I can understand the distrust both of you held towards me and I couldn't find faults to that since that's a natural instinct for both of you to survive in this cruel world however, I can assure both of you that as long as both of you are under the protection of the House of Anatole, no harm will come at your way. That's my oath." …. ≥
The previous statement coming from his father before resurfaces when the Countess invited both of them to her private parlor and to have some serious conversation away from other people's eyes.
Sigrid was young back then however, for his young age, he is sensitive to other people's malice because of his experience with others who looked down upon him when they learned that he is an illegitimate child of a noble.
From that time when both him and his mother were invited by the Countess, he didn't feel any malice towards the Madam of the household but instead, he feels nothing from her but tranquility.
As much as he didn't trust the Countess' words, but Sigrid remembered those calm cold eyes of the Countess that gave him assurance on what she said and from that moment, he didn't have much choice but to take a gamble and place his trust on her.
Because of the Countess' support, their lives within the manor became somewhat tolerable, although there are other servants who were frequent to insult them behind their backs but nonetheless, they didn't suffer that much.
His father, on the other hand, although wasn't always at the household but he never neglected him and his mother as he tried his best to compensate both of them, which Sigrid is grateful for that.
He had two older half-siblings from the Countess, and they were the legitimate children of the household. One is the eldest young master who is the heir of House Anatole, and the other one is the only daughter and the eldest young lady of the household, who was rumored to be engaged to the Crown Prince of their kingdom.
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