Waylen's eyes wandered outside the window of the manor. It wasn't exactly the first time he saw a dungeon gate but for it to be visible despite the fact that it was miles away was astonishing. Turning back to the paperwork on his desk, he began sorting it out when he heard a familiar voice.
{ Call Sheila. I'll be arriving in ten minutes. }
{ Right away, your highness. }
{ Also, prepare a guest room. }
That surprised the butler. No other noble had been in the house aside from the Prince's parents. He also never invited any friends. Waylen liked to think that even when Xanthe was closed off, he still has a friend or two.
Also, if Xanthe was arriving in 10 minutes it meant he either used a mana gate or he rode Alastor. All the mana gates in the north mansion were disabled so the Prince must have used Alastor.
It had been almost 3 years since he saw Xanthe summon Alastor. With how his mana path was, Xanthe couldn't afford to summon the ancient being unless he'd risk falling.
{ Right away, your highness. }
Placing the stack of papers down, he left the study and walked down the hall, eyes staring at his golden pocket watch. Using his artifact that allowed him to communicate with everyone in the mansion, he gathered the servants.
From an outsider's perspective, Xanthe Soleil's mansion up in the northern part of the Soleil dukedom was a place of isolation but the people who served knew the truth. The truth of how the young Soleil built everything from the beginning; weeding the ill-intent people and building the loyalty of his servants while strengthening them. Xanthe even invested in their uniforms and artifacts that he knew they will need.
Twelve years ago, Waylen was assigned to take care of the mansion and the young master. Xanthe wasn't a Prince then. He was just Duke Evan's youngest son who happened to be both a treasure and a threat to the Empire with his overflowing mana.
If Waylen was being honest, he was not assigned there rather he was exiled. In less than a year the mansion garnered a bad reputation with the number of assassination attempts that happened there.
For servants, being assigned to the north mansion meant their days were numbered. Most do everything they can not be assigned to the estate. Others could only accept their fates while some braved it because of the high salary the Soleil dukedom offered. As far as Waylen knew, the salary of the employees of the north mansion was tripled compared to the others in the entire Empire.
Back when he was younger, Waylen believed in fairness. He did everything according to what he believed was right. He lived a life with admirable principles. It didn't take a long time for him to get caught in a political war and before he knew it he was in the north mansion. He learned that the world was never fair.
Waylen was a son of a viscount that had fallen out of power. When his family could no longer pay their accumulated debts, he had to work for the house of the Soleil. There was nothing he could complain about the duke. Duke Evan Soleil was the kind of noble he looked up to. He ruled his land with conviction and a heart. Not only that, he was also a great family man. He loved his people and family.
Admittedly, when he was first assigned to the north mansion, he was scared. The servants /always/ talk and Waylen knew how their tales were filled with exaggeration. However, he also knew that when it comes to the mansion there was no such thing as an exaggeration.
Waylen was more than aware of the sufferings of the duke and duchess. How their heart broke and how deeply they get worried about every assassination attempt on their youngest son.
They all knew that there were nobles all over that wanted to take out the youngest Soleil while he was still young and his powers were raw. At some point, the couple was aware that some of the attempts came from the Imperial Palace. Even so, the duke and duchess chose to remain silent while sending more people to guard Xanthe.
The first thing Waylen saw in the mansion upon his arrival was blood and dead bodies lying down all over the place. Another failed assassination attempt happened. There were barely any survivors and Waylen was welcomed by the sight of a five-year-old Xanthe on the balcony, sipping some poorly made tea while he had no pastries.
Xanthe only looked at them with cold eyes. Waylen knew to him, they were another batch of servants that would be facing death when another attempt was made.
He guessed what made him different was the fact that Waylen didn't lose his composure rather he made better tea and grabbed a few snacks and walked to the youngest Soleil offering them.
Every now and then, he'd remember how small hands would reach for cookies and eat them while his small feet dangle in the air, swinging.
"What's your name?" the young Xanthe asked him.
"Waylen Le Aria, your highness."
Xanthe looked him dead in the eye and said something that Waylen shouldn't have heard from any five-year-old: "Don't die, Waylen." It took him some time before he recovered from what he heard. "I like your tea so don't die."
"I will do my best, your highness."
Waylen was quick to order the other servants to clean the estate and air the house out.
Was it pity?
Was that what he felt for Xanthe when he first saw him? He may be the son of one of the most powerful Duke and he may be declared to have an unimaginable amount of mana but to Waylen, he was just a five-year-old caught in all of it.
A five-year-old that had to live his life in isolation, in a cold mansion, away from his parents all because he was born stronger than everyone else.
Whatever pity he felt for Xanthe was gone two months when another assassination attempt happened and he watched the child protect himself and the north mansion, staining his own hands.
He remembered watching him stand there, unfazed, wondering how much blood the kid has in his hands, how much life was he forced to take in order to protect his. Waylen couldn't also help but wonder how much of the cruel cycle should it take before Xanthe finally burn the whole world down.
He turned back into a five-year-old when he had to watch him get guidance. The duke brought different Guides with him, all were of high level but no matter whom he get the guiding from, it was all the same.
Xanthe suffered through all of them.
Even the one thing that was supposed to help him brought nothing but excruciating pain. Xanthe, at his young age, understood that he must go through it even when in reality the pain was killing him. However, there were times when the pain was too much and some Guides were unfortunate enough.
He also tried to research and find some solution himself but it always felt like a dead end. At some point, no Guides were accepting the job because of the rumors. The duke had to bow down and begged the Imperial Palace to allow Xanthe to travel to the Soleil Palace where his own mother could help and guide him.
But even his own mother's guiding brought nothing but pain to the youngest Soleil. It was as if his whole body was rejecting guiding. Rejecting Guides.
Being a Hunter meant needing Guides... no Hunter in history survived without one and Xanthe knew that much so he endured it. He always tried his best to endure it.
Just like how he endured the way he lived all because he was born not like the others.
"The Prince is arriving in 10 minutes," Waylen looked at the servants. The north mansion always tries to maintain quite a number of servants since it wasn't by any means a small residence. Through years of screening, training, and assassination attempts here and there, the mansion had at least a total of 30 servants who could fight and defend themselves.
These servants were a good mixture of Hunters, Guides, a Class B Restorer, and one Class A Acolyte.
Waylen turned to the maids, "I need you to prepare a guest room." They couldn't hide the look of surprise on their faces.
"Right away, Sir Waylen."
He then turned to Sheila, their Acolyte, "The Prince needs your assistance."
"Is the Prince hurt?" Sheila worriedly asked.
"I am not sure." Waylen then turned to the cooks and ordered to prepare and meal easy on the stomach. After dismissing them, Waylen positioned himself together with the other servants by the entrance of the mansion.
A strong gust of winds filled the place, and they all looked up at the huge dragon hovering by the mansion, casting its shadow. It wasn't their first time encountering Alastor however, it still felt like it. There was just no way they could get used to the creature.
Alastor landed with a loud thud. Xanthe jumped off his back as everyone greeted him. They tried their best not to be too curious about the unconscious man in his arms.
"Sheila is waiting in the guest room, your highness," Waylen informed him. Xanthe didn't respond instead he told Waylen to prepare a good meal for Alastor.
That pleased the dragon. The fact that he could stay and roam around without the need to immediately return to his place already pleased the ancient being. The heavens knew how bored the dragon was.
After instructing the servants to give Alastor two buffalos, Waylen followed Xanthe to the guest room where the Crown Prince candidate gently placed the unconscious Izik on the bed.
Sheila was quick on her feet, examining the new Guide while she also instructed some of the servants to clean and change the man's clothes.
"Your highness, we could prepare your bath so you can change your clothes," Waylen turned to Xanthe who was quietly watching everything before him.
Xanthe didn't reply and just kept his eyes on Izik.
"Your highness, there's no need to worry. I have healed all his fractures and wounds. He's not waking up due to fatigue and well..." Sheila cleared her throat. "His body is also trying to process the immense mana flowing all over him."
The Crown Prince candidate kept his eyes on Izik. He looked infinitely better than when they got out of the dungeon. He turned to Sheila, "Asses him."
Sheila was surprised by the request but was quick to follow the Prince's order. The room was filled with a magic circle and floating runes. The Acolyte poured all her focus on the assessment of Izik.
"Huh?"
That caught everyone's attention but the Acolyte ran another assessment.
"I don't understand," She finally said as soon as the magic circle and runes disappeared.
"What do you mean?" Xanthe furrowed his brows.
Sheila then pulled the result and everyone could see it float in the air.
[ Designation: Laic ]