A young kid dressed in an old trouser too big for him as well and a thick coat that was also a much larger size was watching over his family's herd of sheeps as he always was.
With winter starting to set in, the sheeps had been left to grow their wool and would keep it until some warmth came back, the sheepfold they kept them in wasn't good enough to keep them warm at all.
Doing this was extremely boring, the sheeps weren't very interesting to look at and there wasn't anything else of interest, he didn't understand what he even was doing here since he had never ever seen something attacking the sheeps.
He would have made something up to pass time but he had done it many times already, it didn't work as well and it had started to bore him too.
He looked back at his house, everyone else seemed to be busy with their own things, he saw his father going back inside with some small logs, the door closed itself with a slam due to a sudden wind.
The bursts of wind were always cold but this one sent shivers of another kind.
The kid turned back to the sheeps, they didn't seem bothered by anything but he noticed that they were all looking in the same direction, they didn't seem scared but rather intrigued, so he walked toward it.
He hoped to find something to ease his boredom but the second he saw what they were looking at, he froze in place.
Crouching down, a dark beast had been using a sheep as a cover, fully standing up, the nearby sheeps walked further, he could barely discern the beast's eyes but could feel that their eyes had met.
The beast stood as tall as he did.
It stayed completely silent and still, as if waiting for him to do something first.
The boy had no idea what to do, after staying frozen in place with the beast standing opposite to him, he swallowed his saliva and after a few seconds, turned back and shouted.
"Wolf! Th-" he yelled before feeling teeth sinking in directly into the back of his skull, deforming his head as his eye popped out of their sockets, propelled forward as the beast slammed his lifeless body on the ground until it detached from the piece it held in its maw.
The sheeps ran around, bleating madly, the beast wasn't interested in them, without even devouring its catch, it turned back and ran into the distance, disappearing being a hill.
While the boy's plea hadn't been loud enough to reach his family, the constant bleating of the sheeps did, laying on a frozen patch of grass, the blood sticked out even more.
The boy's mangled body was a horrible sight, one of his arms sticked out in the air, bended the wrong way while the hand hung around in the wind.
It seemed as though every single one of his bones had been shattered with brutality.
His eyes laid further away from his body, leaving only two haunting holes on his broken face.
This sort of sight was soon going to become common for the peasants around here, the beast wasn't going to stop at a single death.
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"You should definitely wear your uniform more often" said Malina as she saw Theli.
The uniform was pretty much the same for everyone but for medics like him, they were white instead of dark, the golden cross on his chest was the only medal on it but it was one full of glory.
He even had a saber with a blue handle as part of the whole getup.
His hair were tied too, finally giving him a refined look, immediately, he looked much cleaner and no longer like a suspicious vagrant.
The one that he would be going with to that ceremony would be Mila, she would be able to meet Jeanne and would also see how people are at this kind of events, such knowledge couldn't hurt.
She was dressed up like a boy, Malina thought that it fitted her better and Theli had to agree.
"How are we going to go?" she asked, expecting to have to ride a carriage or something.
In response, Theli put his hand on her little head.
"C'est simple" he said and suddenly, they found themselves directly inside of the royal castle.
"Woah! That was great? What did you do?" she asked excitedly.
"I'll tell you when you are older" he responded.
"Now, act casual and like you belong, it will be good practice, you can go anywhere with this attitude" he uttered as he grabbed her hand and led her.
"Theli? I don't remember seeing you at the entrance" he was intercepted by none other than the king himself the moment he arrived in the main area, the place the ceremony was supposed to take place in.
"Did you just appear inside again? I don't really mind but it makes me worry about the security" he said before looking down and seeing the little girl stuck to Theli's leg.
Pepin The Third looked down at her face and then up at Theli's a few time, squinting his eyes.
"She isn't my biological daughter, my king" spoke Theli, the king rubbed his chin for a few moments.
"I see" he said, almost sounding disappointed, he had been imagining something in his head.
"Anyhow, it is good to see you here, what's her name?" he then continued.
"My name is Mila, my pleasure to meet you sir majesty!" she said rapidly, turning completely red from sheer nervosity before going to hide behind Theli again.
"Sir majesty? That's a good title" muttered the king.
"There is a buffet by the way, it isn't grand or anything though, we are still trying to avoid spending too much" he added before going away, being met by Castille on the way.
If Mila was flabbergasted by seeing the king, there were no words accurate enough to capture just how much she was surprised when Jeanne showed up.