"Have you ever stumbled upon the legend of the Forest of Beasts, Young Master?" Benedict tossed out a curveball, entering a room that looked like an office but could easily double as a throne room for all its grandiosity.
Vyan nodded his head and plopped down on one of the plush couches. "The one called the home of all monsters? Supposedly covers half the land around Ashstone borders, guarded by a fortress of repellent magic."
Benedict's eyebrows shot up, impressed despite himself.
"You have a problem with my knowledge, or did you think I was lying when I said I am not illiterate?" Vyan snapped, a hint of annoyance tinging his tone.
Benedict's chuckle was more of an acknowledgment than an apology. "No offense intended, Young Master. It's my bad."
"Oh, no, it's my bad for not being as dimwitted as you anticipated," Vyan retorted.
"Anyway," Benedict loudly cleared his throat and said, "Let me start with some history." The playfulness in his voice was replaced by a serious edge.
"Quick question: why do I have to know whatever history you are going to educate me on?"
"So that you can understand how you ended up separated from the family," Benedict gave a clear-cut answer, and Vyan frowned, his interest still not piqued. "Since you don't have much interest in history, I will keep it brief."
"Go ahead," Vyan mumbled, tinkering with his pocket watch.
"Back in the Year 1005, one of the biggest catastrophes of Haynes took place," Benedict began, injecting a dash of intrigue into the air. "Someone opened up magical barrier of the forest, and you can imagine what happened. All hell broke loose. Villages vanished, people perished, and chaos reigned."
Vyan leaned in, vaguely recalling a dusty textbook mentioning something of the sort. "What's the twist here?"
"So here's the twist," Benedict continued. "The emperor was in town for the annual monster-hunt festival when it went down. Do you think it was a coincidence?"
"The barrier conveniently crumbles just as the emperor is making an appearance? It sounds as fishy as a mermaid," Vyan responded.
"Exactly," Benedict nodded, a wry smile playing on his lips. "So, who do you reckon pulled the strings on that little puppet show?"
Oh, the plot thickens!
Vyan might have snoozed through the history classes at the orphanage, but boy did he have a knack for unraveling the mystery books.
"Isn't the barrier under the thumb of the—" Vyan began, but his eyes bulged as the pieces clicked into place. "So, you are telling me the Grand Duke orchestrated this whole charade?"
He let the accusation hang in the air, a spark of intrigue lighting up his expression.
"Wait a minute, though. If he wanted the emperor out of the picture, why stage a spectacle that screams 'I did it'?" Vyan frowned, hitting a dead-end.
Benedict's laugh was more bitter than sweet. "You would think it's as obvious as a neon sign, right? But sometimes, the truth wears the best disguise."
Sounds like getting framed runs in my blood.
Just the way Iyana had framed him, someone else must have framed his family as well. He couldn't help but chuckle at the irony of fate.
A maid brought tea for Vyan with some snacks, and once she left, Benedict slid a cup of tea across the table, his gaze piercing. "What I'm about to spill, Young Master, it's strictly between the trustworthy ones. No loose lips allowed."
Vyan swallowed hard, nodding in reluctant agreement.
"So, I will start from the beginning," Benedict initiated.
"Okay," Vyan shrugged, accepting the drink with a half-hearted thank you.
"Do you know the tale of how the Haynes Empire came to be?" Benedict asked, his voice dropping to a conspiratorial whisper.
"Yeah, picked it up from some bookshelf of Iya—" Vyan halted, the name stuck in his throat like a bitter pill, "someone." He instantly banished her nagging thought to the corner of his mind and recalled the content of that book.
Picture this: a thousand years ago, when the land of Haynes was just a wee baby in the world, it caught the eye of none other than the Goddess of Magic herself, Hecate—yes, the very same one that invaded his head.
Hecate blessed the land and two families in particular: the Imperials and the Ashstones.
Talk about a divine favor, right? These folks were practically born with magic crackling in their veins.
The Imperials were all about playing defense and mending broken bones with their magic, while the Ashstones? Well, they were more into the whole 'boom and pow' kind of magic—think of fireworks on steroids.
"But here's the twist," Benedict interjected, a twinge of disappointment in his voice. "Wherever you learned the history from, I am sure the book conveniently forgets to mention that the Imperials' mana capability has been on the decline lately. In fact, out of five imperial progeny, only two can even cast a decent spell."
Vyan's eyebrows shot up. "Wait, even the crown prince?"
Benedict gave him a look that screamed "duh."
"Of course, he has the magic touch. That's why she wants to marry the shiny crown," Vyan grumbled to himself.
Benedict shot him a strange look but continued, his tone turning serious once again, "At the same time, on the contrary, the Ashstones? They were still exercising their magical prowess like Goddess Hecate's offspring.
"Not to mention, the Grand Duke and Duchess had a golden reputation for their boundless contribution to the society. Obviously, the emperor couldn't help but get jealous."
The pieces slowly clicked into place.
"So, let me get this straight," Vyan's voice quivered with a mix of anger and sorrow. "The emperor's jealousy drove him to frame the Grand Duke for a disaster he didn't cause. And everyone just bought into it?"
Benedict nodded solemnly. "Ignorance is a powerful weapon, Young Master," he murmured, his gaze distant with regret. "Grief-stricken by their losses and blind to the truth, those who once revered the Grand Duke clamored for his blood."
Vyan's heart twisted at the thought of such betrayal. "To turn on someone like that, after all they have done..." His words trailed off, heavy with the weight of injustice. He could relate to how his parents must have felt at that time.
"But that's not the worst of it," Benedict continued, his voice quiet. "As the Grand Duke and Duchess were dragged away to face their fate at the guillotine in Cantace, Mistress Natalia knew the danger wasn't just for them. She feared for her sons."
Vyan's breath caught in his throat, dread pooling in the pit of his stomach.
"She took a desperate gamble," Benedict went on, his tone tinged with sorrow. "She let Master Xandres slip through the grasp of the Imperial guards, hoping he could save their children. But..." He trailed off, the darkness of the tale weighing heavily upon him.
"But what happened?" Vyan pressed, already fearing the answer.
"By the time Master Xandres arrived," Benedict's words were heavy with grief, "the emperor's men had already descended upon the manor. Young Master Aster, brave and defiant to the end, stood his ground to protect his little brother. He fought with everything he had, but..." His voice cracked, the pain etched on his face.
"He was outnumbered and overwhelmed. They took him from us, Young Master. A boy of fourteen was cut down in the prime of his life."
Vyan's eyes burned with unshed tears, his chest tight with grief. "But why..." he choked out, his voice barely a whisper. "Why didn't the Grand Duke save him?"
Benedict's shoulders slumped with the weight of the terrible past. "It was a choice no father should ever have to make. He had to decide between saving you or Young Master Aster, who had already vowed to protect you till his last breath. Master Xandres, in his wisdom, honored Young Master Aster's bravery and chose to ensure your safety."
Vyan's heart ached for Aster, the brother he never knew he had, robbed of a future and a bond he might have cherished.
"I remember that moment," Benedict further said, his voice tinged with sorrow. "Master Xandres cast a sealing spell over you, masking your powers and changing the color of your eyes from fiery red to gentle amber."
Does that mean crazy goddess' gift to me was unsealing my powers and is that why my eyes went back to the original?
Benedict carried on, "After that, he entrusted me with a mission: to whisk you away to safety, to raise you as my own at the Ashstone villa by the sea, hidden from prying eyes until you came of age."
The pieces of his fractured past slowly slotted into place as he listened.
"But as we were about to teleport to safety, intruders crashed in, disrupting our plans," Benedict recounted, a shadow passing over his features. "I had no choice but to flee with you on foot, while Master Xandres held them off. Yet, despite my efforts to protect you, fate had other plans.
"I made a decision, a decision I will regret for the rest of my days. I hid you away in a cave, believing it to be a safe haven. But when I returned..." His words faltered. "You were gone."
Vyan's mind reeled with the revelation. "But where did I disappear to?"
Benedict shook his head, his voice heavy with disappointment. "I searched high and low, but you were nowhere to be found."
Vyan's thoughts raced, trying to reconcile the fragments of his past. "According to my records at the orphanage, I was admitted there at the age of six," he mused aloud. "But if this all happened when I was five, where was I for that missing year? And why... why can't I remember anything before the orphanage?"
Benedict's gaze softened with understanding. "I don't have all the answers, Young Master."
It was a lot to take in for Vyan as he connected everything like a puzzle in his head.
"But do you finally understand why I am sure you are Young Master Vyan?" Benedict questioned, his eyes gleaming with hope.
"... yes."
It was unbelievable, yet Vyan had no choice but to believe in it now. Every piece of the story matched with him. He truly was the lost son of the Grand Duke.
He was not sure if he would call it a miracle anymore. Being a part of a family with such a tragic past felt like a curse more than anything. This black hole of luck named Vyan still had zero people to call family.
Nevertheless, even if he didn't have a family to go on a happy picnic with, he still gained something from this gift of Hecate's.
And that was power—the double-edged sword, ready to be wielded by him in the raging dance of vengeance.
Orphaned as he might be, with the name of Vyan Blake Ashstone, he now had all the power he needed to bring destruction upon every single devil that wronged him and his family. Now, his goal wasn't just to bring down Iyana, it was also to unleash hell upon the imperials that robbed him of his family.