The entire tent was in chaos when the prince fainted again. For many years since the prince was sent to the Blue Rose army, the young man has never been seriously injured despite the harsh training and treatment he went through. He would often know how to dodge magic and even weapons from vital parts of his area – something he learned naturally.
Most of them saw what happened yesterday. The prince was caught off guard, which was a first for him and them. It was in the middle of the battle when one of the enemies tried to slice the prince's neck off. The prince managed to avoid a more serious injury, but he collapsed, and Rufus, along with some of the other members, had to move the prince back to their current camp.
Rufus Helman was still in shock when he left the tent. The healers were trying their best to try to heal the prince's wound. A gaping wound at the neck is very serious, and they don't have enough potions and skilled healers to be able to handle the task. Most of the healers in the camp do not possess light magic, which is something coveted closely by the church. This is because it is a prerequisite for any healing magic to possess light magic. So, to get healers into their army, they have to get approval from the church. However, the church is biased against the Blue Rose army that they didn't dispatch any healers, so the army has no choice but to rely mostly on potions and other nonmagical means of healing (which is also known as commoner methods for most commoners do not possess magic). This means healing and recovery are painful and sometimes take very long. The Blue Rose also lacks supplies and funding, and in situations like these, they even have to hunt their food alone just to feed and survive, on top of having to deal with their duties in the middle of a war.
But what Rufus was surprised about was when the young prince looked up at him with both shock and longing and then suddenly burst into tears before fainting again. That caught him off guard. He has never seen the prince look at him like that before, nor has he ever seen him cry. Not since he was a child. When he was sent to live the harsh life in the army, he never saw those innocent crying eyes again.
Rufus Helman is a commoner, and he even has the privilege of having a surname. Surnames are usually given as titles by nobles, and a lot of commoners hoped to have their surnames one day as this gives them access and prestige to many services and opportunities in Claes and even more mobility to leave and go to other places without worry about enforcing your identity as a citizen of the empire. But you can only become a commoner with a surname if it is given to you by a noble or royal or you earned it (which is common for many commoners who have achieved hero status - many of them often became nobles over time).
The Helmans were the retainers of the Claes royal family. Each member of the Helmans has long served them for generations. Like his father and his father before him, Rufus was given the position of a butler. Being a butler normally gives them a higher status than normal servants, and they often are the head of the household they are assigned to. However, the condition of their work also depends highly on the position of the royals they serve. A royal that is disgraced or lacks power also transcends to their retainers and servants. And he was given to Victor von Claus, the third prince and second son of the emperor and the empress and also known as the unloved son.
As a servant, Rufus does not have a say in how the royal family raises their children. They were supposed to act like they were never there in the room. But he felt very sorry for the young prince who was neglected and ignored by his very own parents despite his status as an official prince. Without a father and mother willing to guide him, Rufus has to step up to care for the young prince. He was there when the prince took his first step; he was there when the prince tried his best to get some attention from his father or mother, only to be rejected over and over again. He was there to comfort the prince from the bullying he has endured from both the other royals and the servants, and when the prince was exiled to the Blue Rose for whatever reason that was, he decided to follow him there. His family thought he was stupid in doing so, especially since he was not required to follow the prince to the battlefield, and he could be assigned to another royal. But he really could not let the poor child go. The boy was ten. What did they expect would happen to him in the army?
The prince was neglected by his father because the man didn't love his mother, and his mother didn't like him because he looked so much like his father that she abhorred him ever since his birth. Prince Victor never saw his mother's face throughout his life (he occasionally sees his father). For children in the royal family, their mother is their means of protection against the political schemes, especially in the harem. It is often very common for children to be used as tools to either gain favor from the emperor or to put other concubines, consort, and even the empress down, especially if the child is considered a talent. However, Prince Victor did not have that protection growing up, which is why it was so easy for him to get schemed by one of the emperor's concubines. Despite the many efforts to insist that he was not at fault, he was sent to the army as punishment.
Most nobles don't have to serve in the army as young as ten. They are usually taught by tutors, trained for swordsmanship and magic, and then sent to the academies with the other nobles to start or join their factions and establish political relationships. Being sent to the army at this age without any guidance crippled Prince Victor's chances for the throne and his position in the noble society. And Rufus did not want this to happen to the young prince so he decided to take charge of the boy's education even in the army. He was lucky enough to have General Aster teach him magic. It was informal and not complete as those in the academy but it has definitely aided the young prince to be the leader that he is today.
However, Rufus can't help but feel that something is wrong. Even though he is a servant, he is very attached to the young prince, and the sight of him like that worries him a lot.
"You still worry about him?" a voice interrupted Rufus from his thoughts.
Rufus looked at the man sitting in front of him. General Pietro Aster, in full armor, gave him an odd look. The man was a very big man that many people sometimes thought he was a descendant of a giant. He has green hair and a beard and he has a visible scar on his right cheek that is traced from the bottom of his right eye all the way to his neck.
"What are you doing here?" Rufus asked.
"This is my tent." General Aster said.
"Oh." Rufus finally realized he was in the wrong tent. "I apologize."
"You really need to stop worrying about him." General Aster sighed almost rolling his eyes at the man. He always thinks Rufus is babying the prince. General Aster and Rufus became close friends ever since the prince arrived in the army. "I know you see him as a son but he is a prince and a warrior and getting injured is part of life in this army. Luckily he was saved."
"But suffering. We don't have the potions and creating them needs some ingredients that are not yet available."
"Tsk." General Aster frowned. "Those imbeciles in the capital are delaying our funds and resources again. They wanted this war to be over fast but at the same time not give us enough support to meet their so-called deadline. And with Victor down, we are going to need to double our effort."
The Blue Army was able to conquer most of the kingdom by now but was still unable to get through their enemy stronghold which is also their capital. They were relying on the prince's firestorm skills to blow up the walls but he got injured before he even reached it.
"General!" A soldier just entered the tent. "There is a messenger at the gates."
"Messenger? From whom?" General Aster asked.
"They are from the Aztos. They are sending a missive of surrender."
"Wait, what?!"