The General is the Heir to a King
"It's okay to act normally with me. Remember, I'm your aunt. Sometimes I have to be strict or tough with others, but understand that it's my job," she said as she gave me a strong hug.
"I'm sorry for involving you in my problems, but things have escalated beyond what I could have imagined. If I hadn't brought you here now, others would have come after you, and let's just say they wouldn't have had good intentions," Margaery explained.
"Margie!" my mother interjected.
My aunt gave a small, fake cough. "Alright, it doesn't matter. The important thing is that everything turned out well, and you're now safe from the Wolves and their men."
My mother and Aunt Margaery talked for a while as I took the opportunity to sit on the first step of that grand hall and rest. I listened to them share stories and updates about people I had no idea about.
Katherine recounted how we had been living since then. The two of them laughed as if they were normal people, and I worried about the people waiting outside for us, but I figured they must be used to this sort of thing. After all, they were servants of the nobility or something like that.
"What does he know?" Aunt Margaery's question pulled me from my thoughts. Her voice was directed at me.
"Almost nothing, just a bit about the situation of the Duchy," my mother replied.
"You've raised him all this time without telling him anything? Not even about the Evenhart Legacy?"
"I haven't told him anything, and if this mess hadn't happened, I would have raised him as a normal person, just as his father wanted to live before being dragged into the war…"
Margaery sighed. "I don't know if that makes things harder for him to understand or easier… now that he's here, at least he'll understand in practice. I'll ask Sifu to start training him to be a Legacy."
My mother looked at her, nervous. "You're going to ask Sifu? I came here just to resolve the situation by revealing an heir, not to initiate my son into your organization!" she said seriously to my aunt.
"I understand you and your decision, Katherine, but do you think we'll resolve this overnight? Do you want your son to lose to a mere soldier of theirs?" she asked.
"I will protect my son!"
"And when you can't be with him?" Margaery asked.
My mother fell silent.
"It will be best for both him and you. I'm not asking to put him in our organization, just to train him as the law of Evenhart says and prepare him to handle problems if they arise," Margaery said while looking at me.
If they're talking about swords and combat… I can handle myself, I'll just need to train this body from scratch.
"I'll let Sifu introduce the Evenhart Legacy to him. Meanwhile, I'll explain a bit of our history to him. Do I have your permission?" she asked my mother.
My mother agreed.
Now the two of them are standing there, looking at me, and I don't know how to react.
"Sweetheart, come with me," Aunt Margaery extended her hand to me.
With no choice, I took her hand, and she led me to a door with a corridor. I looked back, and my mother remained in the hall.
"I'll need you to be a good boy and listen carefully, understood, Nathan?" she asked.
"Yes, ma'am," I agreed.
"Let's start with the basics."
As she continued leading me down the corridor, I noticed many painted portraits of various families. Each portrait depicted different people, always in the same hall where I had been, with the family leader seated on the throne and surrounded by several individuals.
"What do you think we are?" she asked me.
I thought for a moment. "The duchy that belongs to House Evenhart," I replied, and we stopped at a very old painting.
"Yes and no," she said, pointing to the painting. "Long ago, the region of Evenhart was a wild land full of threats. The few families living here banded together to live as a small community. This small community was led by the first Evenhart. Many millennia passed, and that small community became a country."
"A country?" I asked, surprised.
"A kingdom, to be exact. The region of Evenhart was a small country governed by King Evenhart, who you see in this painting. This portrait marks the time when the Evenharts were officially recognized as kings. Years later, we joined the alliance of the Founding Emperor to seek peace with our neighbors. When we joined the Founding Empire, we came under its banner, but don't be mistaken; we still remained the kings of our territory. Do you understand?"
I nodded in agreement.
"The Empire was divided into what you know as the three kingdoms. We became part of the human kingdom and officially relinquished the title of 'King' for the title of 'Duke.' But remember, Nathan, we are still the lords of our territory. Here, only the Evenharts command. Above us is only the Royal Family and their close relatives who hold the political position of Grand Dukes, but in our lands, we are absolute. Every citizen of this land listens to the Evenharts. We are the ones who share bread when there is no food, provide milk for their babies, and blankets for their children. We may not flaunt the wealth of other duchies by buying useless trinkets and silly statuettes, but that's because we invest our money in our own people and their education. The motto is 'Family united and enemies dead.' You might understand family as just us, but we extend this special treatment to our people. The help is conditional; if they treat us as family, they will be treated as family in return. But if they treat us as enemies... they won't live long. That's how we organize our kingdom, or the 'Duchy' of Evenhart."
At that moment, my mind exploded with this information. My mother had told me that a Duke was like a 'King' in his territory, and I thought it was just a status of nobility or something similar. I hadn't grasped the complexity of the reality she mentioned. They were indeed kings, and there was even a throne.
"I should explain the Evenhart Legacy to you, but I don't want more scoldings from your mother. I'll leave it to Sifu to do the honors. He is an old friend of our family and trains the young Legacies. You'll spend a lot of time with him. Know that he will do things you won't like, but don't take it personally. It will be necessary if you want to stay safe in the future."
"Don't worry, I understand a bit of what you mean," I said.
She smiled. "Excellent. Now tell me, what do you hope to achieve here?" she asked.
"I just want the power to protect my mother."
Margaery started laughing. "That's the Evenhart motto: 'Family united and enemies dead.'"