The Duke's estate has been personally gifted by the Empress ever since the Acriestelion family's reign over the continent as a sign of gratitude for the Duke's loyalty and courage to stand beside Acriestelion through the war. But that also meant the land personally given to him would be one closest to the palace, which had been why the Duke had never bothered to depart early during meetings, having the leisure advantage of the palace to only be a few minutes away. Unfortunately, for him, this mission required traveling out of the empire grounds and venture into the outskirts of the empire. Jayus was never fond of traveling. There had been a time where he had been forced to travel for days with his father. He spent days riding on a carriage until his butt hurt. At one point into the journey, he requested he rode one of the horses from one of the servants who came along with them. The servant, obviously nervous about the idea had tried to reject the young Frasirr when he persuaded the servant to ride in the carriage. The current Duke Frasirr at the time had been highly against it. It ended up with the trip being delayed thirty minutes on the road with the two Frasirr bickering. To the Duke's misfortune, he had to sit in the carriage with the servant in awkward silence as Jayus rode on the horse up front, leaving everyone else at god speed. But the Duke's advesity hadn't ended there when a few hours into the ride, Jayus decided he wanted to drive the carriage instead. The Frasirr's servants hadn't known peace since then. The young Frasirr is really bad with sitting still. It was surely a good thing the Frasirr family never had any desire to commission an artist to paint their picture, or else it would have been another disaster waiting to happen.
"Everything is all set for departure, My lord." One of the servants walked up to the rather reluctant Duke. Jayus had been standing outside for a while now, staring at the people loading up the carriage with a week's worth of stuff. His red eyes absently glared into air at the thought of having to ride the carriage for two days.
Just why did her Majesty have to send me to deal with it? Why couldn't she also give me an estate between the coasts and the Palace? If she had done that, I could easily travel to any point of this continent!
Everyone at the estate had already gotten used to the Duke's displeasure for long carriage trips, which was why whenever they needed a servant to come along, they'd roll a bottle on the ground with their fingers crossed to choose the unfortunate sould who would be dealing with the Duke's tantrums. That chosen one would then be receiving a grand farewell as if it had been their last day on earth. So when they heard that the Duke's reliable butler would be accompanying him in the journey, they'd cry out jears of joy. Immediately, they blew up confettis and made noise in rejoice to their saviour. At least now if they needed one more servant in the journey, they'd have someone who knows how to deal with the duke. Hera had accompanied Jayus a handful of times early into the year since the role of duke had been extremely busy with the rise of a new empire. Unfortunately for Hera, he had to see first hand the results of his betrayal. On the other hand, he felt joy at having seeing the growth of a new empire. Still, that didn't dampen down the guilt he felt at the collateral damage he caused. While he accompanied Jayus on those trips, Hera had learned a thing or two about this young duke. Jayus was extremely whiny. The first time they travelled together, Jayus had made numerous stops on the way. Hera had been on edge when the young duke suddenly ordered the carriage to stop. To his surprise, the duke climbed up a tree and started plucking down apples with his bare hands. Starstrucked, Hera watched Jayus wipe those apples clean with his shirt and started eating them on the tree. Leisurely, might he add. As if this duke wasn't in a hurry at all to wherever he needed to be. On their next stop, Hera thought Jayus might have sensed danger that he hadn't noticed. But when Jayus walked up to the coachman and ordered him to move inside the carriage so he could drive the carriage instead, Hera had to restrain himself from clocking the duke upside down. By the third time the duke asked the carriage to stop, Hera had been prepared then for what atrocious request the duke might have. Then Hera felt it. A malicious intent suffocating the air around them. And Hera was sure then that the Duke had also felt it. By the third stop, the duke had taken down a monster lurking on the road. That monster had been snatching travellers and eating them as snacks. The malicious intent was gone then, but as Hera watched the blood soaked Jayus in the dark light of the forest, with his sword in hand shining in pools of light, he couldn't help but be astonished. This man who couldn't sit tight for a few hours and would constantly complain about soggy vegetables and soft meat would actually be so reliable when it comes to it. Hera had been left speechless and couldn't help that sinking feeling in his chest. He thought, perhaps it was envy, as they continued their departure after the duke had changed clothes. But Hera didn't know what he had to envy the duke for. So at that time, he had just shook off the feeling, never to let it resurface again. By the time a new expedition had to be made, Hera had been well prepared for whatever tactics the duke might have. Wanting to stop by a river to enjoy a little swim? Hera heard there had been an ongoing fair at a nearby village, if they didn't reach there in time, they might not make it to the fair. So Jayus forgot all about the river and hurried towards the village, luckily enough, that village had been one of their stops for rest, so long as it was part of their destination, Hera had no problem with it. When Jayus wanted to stop again to climb trees, Hera convinced him to lay on top of the carriage roof instead and enjoy the sky view. It was dangerous but Hera already considered how the duke went on crazy missions in the past, plus Hera would gladly let the duke do anything so long as they could arrive at their destination faster. Weirdly enough, Jayus had no complains with it. Instead he gladly went up there and fell asleep. "I can't believe I haven't thought of that!" Jayus said as he climbed up the carriage.
"Yeah, I can't believe you haven't." Hera whispered in pure exhaustion. Needless to say, their trips had been reduced to less of an hour stress. Back then, the Empress had to give Jayus a head start of a two hour max when it came to trips. Ever since Hera came along, there had been no need for that anymore.
Hera had been standing nearby, checking all the materials to make sure they were in place. He hadn't worn his usual attire, instead wore something similar. The difference being the blazer had been removed, leaving only a shirt with a vest over it. The fabric itself had been replaced with soemthing thinner, making it easier to work a heavy labor when needed in case of emergency. When he made sure everything was intact, he turned to Jayus with a pleasing smile. "It's time to depart, My lord." That said, he received a groan from the man in return.
"Tell me, Hera," Jayus began, his eyes drifting outside the carriage glass overlooking the tall mountains surrounding the palace. Hera flinched at the sudden sound of his name. Here it comes. It had only been less than an hour sonce their departure, did the duke suddenly gain a new level of disinterest? Hera was prepared for the worse.
"Have you ever thought of getting married before?" Jayus asked. At the strange question, Hera didn't know what would prompt Jayus to even ask him this. A sudden thought crossed Hera's mind in disbelief as he stared at the still absent minded duke staring out the window. Could the duke have fallen in love with someone? Was it the empress perhaps?
No, it couldn't be. Hera laughed, and the tension he felt lightened up. That couldn't be the case. His majesty barely comes out of the estate unless he had business to attend to. And if he were to end up liking the Empress... Well, it wouldn't be impossible. But if he was, then it was Hera's duty to support him. "The thought never crossed my mind. I'm too busy with work to even neet someone," Came the answer from Hera. Just when he thought that would be the end of Jayus's bizzare interrogation, those ruby eyes snuck a glance at Hera in deep interest. "But if you could, would you?" Jayus leaned close in pure curiosity as he waited for Hera's answer. Surprised at this sudden new tactic of killing time, Hera raised a brow. Nonethess, if this was what kept the duke behaving for an entire carriage ride, a little sacrifice shouldn't be a lot. Hera seemed to give it a thought as Jayus patiently waited for him to answer. "I don't think I'd see myself getting married soon if I have to take care of you, My lord." Blue eyes squinted themselves together in displeasure. Yet despite this, the answer seemed to be what Jayus had been wanting to hear all along as he exclaimed in positivity. "Right? Neither can I!"
Hera didn't know whether or not to be thrilled hearing that response. His thoughts seemed to be visible on his face as Jayus shook his head, rapidly. "No that's not what I meant. What I meant was- If both of us can't seem to get married because of our jobs, wouldn't it be sensible if we just married each other? It makes sense, doesnt it? You take care of me all the time, and I provide the money. We're already set, we just need the papers."
A second seemed to pass in pure silence as Jayus uttered those words. Then a couple more seconds passed as Hera tried to process those words. Then a light flashed behind Hera's eyes as he quickly responded, with a hand on his face out of pure horror. "I'm sorry, My lord, but I think that's too much to ask even from me." Hera averted his eyes away, not baring to take in the guilt of having to reject the duke. Jayus, on the other hand, felt like a dagger had been stabbed through his chest at that response. "I was just kidding. If I really did think it was that easy then I would be marrying everyone at the estate already."
It had been a joke, at least. Still, he couldn't help but feel that rejection to sting a little. Maybe it was because he thought too highly of himself, came the excuse he had given his brain.
The coachman up front couldn't help but give a tiny laugh at the young men's conversation, feeling the wood that separated them had been too thin, he couldn't help but overhear it all. As he continued to hold the reins, a strange lump up ahead caught his eye. When they had gotten closer and closer to it, he suddenly pulled to a stop, leading curiosity from the two men inside the carriage to come out.
"Mr. Esmir, what's wrong?" asked Hera as he pulled up beside Esmir, whom, with a wrinkled finger, pointed at the lump down the road with fear. Poor Esmir couldn't even utter out a full word as he helplessly stuttered out sounds. Seeing as Hera couldn't get an answer from him, he went ahead to take a closer inspection at the lump Esmir saw. Upon closer inspection, Hera froze, eyes constricted in graveness. The lump on the road adorned a beautiful suit, ragged from the dirt and bloody from who knows where, it was clear he was a noble. At this point, Jayus also grew cautious of the situation as he appeared beside Hera and he too froze on his tracks. He recognized this person all too well.
"Baron Jerudich..." Jayus said as Hera crouched down to the Baron's body and pressing two fingers firmly on his neck. "Is he alive?" Asked the duke. Hera raised a brow in thought before he released a bated breath. "Doesn't seem like it. He might just be-"
Whatever words was suppose to follow that sentence were never uttered out as a hand grabbed Hera's ankle, unleashing a shrill from both the duke and himself. Baron Jerudich gasped a huge breath as if he had been drowning on land for hours, his hand still clutching tightly on to Hera.
"Please," He gasped. "Young man, please help me!"
Blood began to soak around Hera's ankles and he forcibly pulled his feet away from the injured man. He turned to the Duke, conflicted on his next move "What should we do, My lord?" Jayus himself was rendered too stunned to speak. Standing in the middle of the road with the sun slowly sinking in the ground, Visaril Village was still a few miles away. And now they've just come across a bleeding Baron out of nowhere. Jayus couldn't shake off this ominous feeling. Somewhere within the forest, something violent lurked inside.