Masked by the night, Aiden made his solemn departure for the West with a few of his men. Soon night turned to morning as the Duke's carriage rattled along the road. Beneath the pale blue summer sky was a cluster of small settlements hidden behind the tall trees. Settlements of commoners who had fled from the war-torn areas to the West. They were many of these little villages that could be found in every region of the empire barely surviving just outside of the bigger cities that were too expensive for them to afford. Although incomparable to the Capital, the Western provinces were known to have an extremely expensive lifestyle even for aristocrats.