Thousands of years ago, many ancient creatures and mythical beings were worshipped as Gods since they granted humans the ability to learn and control magic, which became their main source of living.
As a result, it gave birth to various religions. But there were five main religious factions that possessed a huge amount of followers.
The Draconias who were raised by dragons. They follow their parents obediently and hunt their prey with them.
The Faeros praise the faeries, dryads, nymphs, and other forest mythical creatures. They are highly attached with mother nature.
While its polar opposite, the Hydrogans, worship the legendary creatures that live in the sea. They always travel on ships.
The Godswells believe on the only one Supreme God that created their world, the heavens, and the celestial realm.
And lastly, the Netherion is a cult that believes demons were once fallen angels and are sent by the Gods in order to bring salvation to the world.
Even though there were differences in beliefs, the humans and the creatures once lived peacefully together.
Until one day, the most powerful dragon god, Hyperion, berserked and killed many people.
Whether they were a follower or not, he showed no mercy as he painted the sky with his blue wings and burned down thousands of cities with his blue-hued meteors.
Then he fled away and disappeared. No one knew the reason why he was so furious.
Perhaps, in the first place, the dragons were true chaotic beasts by nature. And maybe, the dragons were not satisfied by the offerings of their followers.
Either way, the dragons were branded as evil creatures. As a result, the dragon hunt began until their species have become extinct.
Everyone also loathed the Draconias since they were known for defending the evil dragons. So the people, especially the Godswells, shunned them away from the main continent, which caused for unneccessary bloody massacres.
The Draconias had no choice but to defend themselves as they fought countless battles with the other religious factions.
In the end, the Draconias gave up and retreated to the continent of Valora, located somewhere in the far south of Equinox, which was the main continent.
"They are a bunch of cowards!" His voice reverberated within the four corners of the study room, as he was listening to his teacher who was teaching them about the history of their kingdom.
The source of the voice was from the young Prince Edward Brickenden who was only around twelve years of age. Skinny, slightly tanned, and brown-haired, he also possessed irises of caramel-color.
Meanwhile, the man he was talking with, is an elite on his forties. He came from the well-known family of the Clarks that are famed for their academic excellence. He is currently doing his educating service to the young prince in order to supplment him with history lessons.
"Please, your Majesty, I beg your pardon as you must not speak ill of your ancestors. His Excellency would've reprimanded you for showing rude behavior in your class. So if you may…" His teacher stared at him as if waiting for his answer.
"Naaaahh! I will not take back my words. He is a coward, the greatest cowardly king!" He let out a chortle.
His teacher carefully massaged his temples since he could barely hold his patience for this foolish child.
He then heaved a sigh, giving up. "Now then, you wouldn't understand why King Andrius I ordered a tactical retreat since you weren't in there. But if you were in his shoes, you would've understood that he prioritizes the safety of his comrades first. You will realize what it means to protect someone when you get older. So that's why…"
His teacher kept on validating his argument while Edward was not listening. Instead, he focused on the wooden sword that he was playing with.
He then proceeds to his discussion.
General Andrius I, who led the remnants of the Draconias, became the first king of Valora and later gained his surname "Valefor" to honor the land that saved their lives.
He mandated his first law which is to ban any use of magic and sorcery so that his subjects would remember the day when their God abandoned them.
As a result, the people have learned how to become independent and invented many tools and technologies that helped them in agriculture, forestry, mining, and fishing.
They also learned to smith as they created many weapons, which became their new source of strength.
Almost everyone trained hard enough to master various swordsmanship fighting styles and became honorable knights who would serve the king and protect the country against possible invaders.
After several years, the land has flourished. And eventually, King Andrius I died from old age.
His oldest son inherited all of his possessions as well as his surname. Meanwhile, the rest of his daughters gained a different surname depending on what kind of profession their husband had.
"Oh! Oh!" Edward promptly raised his hand.
"Yes, your Majesty?"
"It's like how my great great greaaaaaaat grandmother married her husband, right?" He asked to confirm it.
"Yes, splendid! You are correct. If I remember it, your great grandfather was working on bricked houses, which is why your great grandmother and her children and grandchildren have your Excellency's surname, which is Brickenden."
"Ohhhh! I see so that's why."
The teacher nodded as he continued his lesson further.
The "branches" from the main bloodline have been formed from the families of the first princesses. They are the clans of the Brickendens, the Adalberts, the Smiths, and the Macbeths.
These clans have separated from the main kingdom and ruled on the other territories of the continent. These nations were later named Baschlain, Adolasia, Symirin, and Marconia respectively. While the main kingdom became the Empire of Valora.
The prince yawned as he was already bored, which offended the teacher, but he remained silent.
Instead of listening to the stories of the dead people, he would probably want to have swordplay with his cousins.
He soon noticed that his teacher was already being annoyed, so he laughed off, "Sorry about that Maestro. I'm not good with these kinds of stories. It's making me sleepy. The only thing exciting about it is when Hyperion crushed many cities with his blue flames."
"Seriously…?" He looked at him, surprised at what he said.
"Seriously." He grinned.
The poor teacher smacked his face in disbelief. "Oh, dear me. Have I lacked in my teachings that your Majesty did not even learn anything?" Frustrated, he mumbled at himself.
"Don't worry, Maestro! I can still be strong anyway, even without your teachings!" He confidently said while pumping his fist in the air.
The teacher sighs again, "What should I do to make you more interested in my lessons?"
"Mhmmmm~," He thought for a moment. "Just let me play. I'll get stronger if I play with my cousins."
"No… That's not the point….."
"It is a good point! Take my father, for example. He's always out there fighting against the invaders." He reasoned as he noticed a couple of foreign men trespassing their borders.
"No, you misunderstand. Those people are here to have a peace treaty with us and offer a good trade." The teacher clears the misunderstanding.
"Is that so? Then why is he doing that? Aren't they the bad guys who attacked us back then?" He feels confused at the contradiction.
"As I said, that was a long time ago. After the war, your ancestors and His Excellency were trying to negotiate with the followers from the different factions. So they can arrange a peaceful relationship with them. In that way, we can stop fighting and instead exchange our goods for the benefit of both parties." The teacher explains further.
"Stop fighting? Why….?" At such a young age, of course, he wouldn't understand.
"Why do we need to stop fighting? Aren't we trying to get stronger, so we can fight back against them? Just why?! I don't understand…." He clenched his jaw and fists in frustration, "Is father a coward too…..?"
The teacher was shocked at his statement, unable to answer his question, while the prince was also taken back by what he said.
He didn't mean it, but it is upsetting to know that his father, the one whom he had admired the most, is someone that would stoop down to giving up.
For him, it is unforgivable. After all, he has been practicing every day, enduring every pain and sweat just to get stronger, so he could soon help his father.
Was it all for nothing…..?
He couldn't accept it, so he ran away.
"W-wait! Your Majesty!" The teacher tried to stop him but to no avail.
He had decided not to pursue him anymore because it would've been meaningless.
That stubborn kid doesn't know how to listen.
The young prince scurried until he was out of sight. He was catching his breath while leaning against a nearby wall for support.
He was thinking about what he said earlier, which made him feel annoyed at himself. Then he punched the wall that he was leaning on, which made his fist hurt.
He almost screamed in pain, but he tried his best to hold it back so he wouldn't alert the servants. It would've been troublesome if they did.
He clicked his tongue before sitting on the corner, probably sulking.
Even though he said all those rude statements, he does miss his father. He once said to him that to be a great king, he must know who to protect, and in time, it will be his turn.
He thinks that this mission is impossible to do unless he will grow as a strong man. So even if he's still too young, he already forces himself into a grueling training experience.
He promised himself that it will be his duty as the only successor of the throne.
He stopped from spacing out when he heard some loud neighs of a horse from afar. It was coming from their backyard.
Without any second thoughts, he quickly went into that direction as his boots harshly brushed against the grassfield. And as he expected, he saw his father riding on his horse, barely arriving at the moment.
King Desmond III is a handsome noble man on his late thirties. He also possessed the same brown hair and caramel-colored eyes similar to his son. As they would describe it in common terms, like father like son.
However, his muscular structure and height is much more developed than him and he has grown a moustache and goatee.
"Father!" He called out to him with excitement.
He gave him a gentle smile, pleased to see him. He went down from his horse's back, so he could approach his son and ruffle his hair.
He chuckled. "How are you doing, son? Are you doing well in your studies?"
"Um...." He was nervous since he wouldn't want him to know that he bailed out from his lesson earlier as he said something rude about his father.
"It was... Nice?!" He made an alibi.
The king was still wearing his gentle, but he was sure that his troublesome son must have done something ridiculous again. But he cannot ask about that at the moment, since he needs to attend an important meeting.
Speaking of which, a servant of theirs has approached him and notified him, "Please excuse my rudeness, your Majesty, but they have already arrived."
"Ah, as expected of their punctuality. Please let them know to wait for me in the roundtable." He ordered.
"Much obliged." She then bowed her head as she excused herself.
"Who were you referring to, father?" The prince asked in curiosity.
"They're the family of an old friend of mine. I'm sure you're quite interested to know, so will you come with me?"
"Of course!" The lad couldn't handle his excitement since he would be accompanying his father.
"That's good to know then. His daughter is around your age so you'll probably want to be friends with her." He says being worried as his son would only befriend his male cousins.
"A girl? Ew!" He made a disgusted expression, which made the king let out a loud laugh.
They continued their conversation until they arrived at the roundtable.
Edward's mouth was left agape when he saw them, especially the little blondie girl.
For some reason, he couldn't let his eyes off of her since she has a pretty, round face. Her pair of eyes are as blue as the skies. And she was also wearing a neat and elegant white dress which made her seem like an apostle of a priest.
Wait a second.
He stared intensely at her again, which made the girl feel flustered and hide behind the other woman.
They are blonde and fair-skinned. Their faces are so solemn. And their clothes are so white as if they seem like they're from a very religious faction.
Then it clicked on his mind.
THIS GIRL AND HER COMPANIONS ARE FROM THE GODSWELLS.
Why are they in here?!!!
Edward was immediately on his guard, but his father just laughed at his reaction.
"You don't need to be so jumpy, son. They are a friend, I swear to you."
"I beg your pardon but what do you mean by that...?" The priest asked.
"Ah! Do not mind about what I said." He said in a nonchalant tone as he grabbed his son. "My son is just quite nervous around strangers. Hahahaha!"
"Aw!" He gently pushed him away.
"I'm not nervous..." He averted his gaze.
"Oh? Then what do you say if I would assign you to be the bodyguard of this little girl?" The king gave him a meaningful smile as he suggested this.
"WHAAAA---" Edward screamed in disbelief.
"Eh?" The girl was also surprised because it was too sudden.
"Ah yes. Her father would want her to be safe as she will stay in here for a few days." The priest agreed.
"Uhmm... If that's the case then, allow me to do the formal introductions. I am Gloria Godswell, the first daughter of the High Priest. I am pleased to meet your Majesty." She gave a friendly smile after.
Whaaat? Whaaaaaat?! You can't be kidding me. Me? Protect her? Why would I?
These are the thoughts that are currently racing on Edward's confused mind.
He couldn't take it anymore, so he pointed his finger at her and exclaimed, "Why should I protect that ugly brat?!!"
Everyone was left stunned as a period of silence reigned among them.
Meanwhile, Edward felt a shiver on his spine as he felt a very ominous presence coming father. He looked so terrifying.
"EDWAAAAAARRDDDD!!!" The king angrily shouted.
After this chaotic encounter, the meeting has been canceled and moved to another day. As a punishment, Edward was forced to follow his father's orders to be Gloria's bodyguard even if he doesn't want to.
He could not possibly refuse because his life is on the line, and he wouldn't want to make his father furious again.
So even if he loathes the Godswells, he forced himself on this new duty he didn't ask for.
Will he be able to accomplish it...?
- To be continued.