Prologue

Prologue [Slight Nsfw, 3913]

Evening,Tordur, Drittweek, Blüthamond, 58th year of Adelsjahr

Once upon a time, there was a retinue camp of a noble family travelling through a dense forest road, heading toward the capital of The Empire. 

There was still time till the sun went down hiding behind the Silvannus range. But the noble decided to rest for the day beside the Rinanatilme Creek– a tributary of Aurelius River.

Their servants moved quickly like winds, from above they might looked like ants creating a fortress for their monarch. While the servant and engineer created this tent city the knight and squire secured the nearby forest.

Inside the most ornate wooden tent, three people were sitting. The woman no older than 30 in a dark green gown reported to the man in an ornamented green coat, "Master, scouts of the Kraüse family have noticed some movement in the northeast of us." 

The lady with a slightly dark complexion in an azure gown with a matching long braid, her eyes a darker hue, as deep as the ocean, deduced–

"So, Spearziek are finally making a move?" 

The man replied to the lady, "Looks like it, my dear Rosalind. But it will be fine; we have knights protecting us. No one in their right mind would dare lay a finger on our family, in the periphery of the Imperial capital moreover; as if these newcomers would dare take this risk."

While looking into her husband's eyes, Rosalind asked, "But Albrecht, Valérian has wed his daughter to Prince Edoardo. Wouldn't the Prince favour them over us? Also, Spearziek's fields yield more wheat, and with the current power dynamic; they might just sacrifice us to them." 

Albrecht, a tall man with a broad frame and deep red hair, rolled up his shirt sleeves, untucked a few buttons, and put on his usual charming and flirty smile. He reached for his wife's chin, lifted it, and brought her closer, saying, "My precious Rose, while your concern is valid; It's currently Blüthamond. Their knight would be busy preparing for the harvest next month." 

He pecked on her supple pink lips and moved closer to her ears, he whispered in a soft voice, "~If they are that stupid then, the next generation of knights, especially my children, are growing stronger every day. Once they reach adulthood, we will shift the balance of power to our side and," he laughed, "eliminate those Spearzieks like their slaves use scythes to cut their wheat."

He kissed softly on her earlobe, moving closer to bury her in his embrace all while biting and savouring his wife's neck and exposed shoulders. Rosalind moaned in soft whispers, her arms moved to untuck the rest of his shirt while her husband reached her back to untie the strings holding her travel gown. 

"I'll excuse myself, Master," she said with a slight blush and envy that her master didn't invite her this time.

Albrecht with Rosalind on his lap, stopped kissing her; smiled at Mélissa, and said, "Meli, join us tonight, but for now, go to our son's logging and relay this news to him." Mélissa obeyed his order and left her master's tent. 

As she exited the tent, the tempting whispers and delightful murmurs of her mistress's intimate exchange tickled her ears.

Luckily the 'tent'  was made with soundproof wood imported from the forest north of Levios territory. She tried to ignore them again and started moving toward her young master's tent with anticipation for tonight.

After walking for a few minutes and passing through numerous stables for horses (and other beasts of burden), maintenance stations for weapons and wagons, food halls, barracks for soldiers and common servants, and tents for Knights and other Officials (though not as ornate as the tent belonging to the Head of the Qourdentz family– Albrecht, and Rosalind), it became clear that calling their accommodations "tents" would be an understatement. 

They resembled wooden houses made of pre-made walls and furniture, skillfully transported via specially designed wagons crafted by Qourdentz engineers. These structures proudly showcased the technological prowess of Albrecht's army and the skill of the engineers.

As she deftly navigated the bustling city of tents and modest prefabricated abodes, she, finally, reached her intended destination. It was an elaborate wooden dwelling, not quite as splendid as Rosalind and Albrecht's abode, yet grander in appearance compared to the neighbouring houses. Enclosed by walls constructed of sturdy logs, these structures offered a semblance of privacy, though, in truth, they would prove feeble as a defence against the assault of a nobleman. In such circumstances, they may be as frail as a wall of paper.

As she enters through the outer gate, a knight of the Krause family intercepts her, "Madam Mélissa? What is your purpose for coming here?", he asks.

"Master has ordered me to relay important news to the Young Master," Mélissa replied.

"Young Master is currently having tea with Mistress Ruperta, let me ask for their permission." the knight said and sent a common servant inside. The servant came and said the message that her master is waiting for her arrival. 

Mélissa then proceeded inside the tent, as she stepped in a delicate aroma enveloped her nose- the fragrance of Igistella, a flower famous for a poison that invokes the sensation of burning if touched, usually the victims cut away the part or skin that has touched this crooked flower. Alas, those rules are for commoners, the noble do not suffer from such fate, as poisons and venoms don't affect The Protectors Of Lands. Noble keep these such poisonous flowers as decorations and Itars.

As she moved in, she could recognize other fragrances in the hallways: Ichastel, Embermoss Orchids, Siren's Breath, and Amethyst Rosella, just to name a few. They all shared two common characteristics: they were highly dangerous, if not outright lethal, for common people, and some happened to be Mistress Ruperta's favourites. A common practice among the nobility was to decorate rooms with the favourite flowers of their fiancé; Young Master Heinrich is engaged to Young Mistress Ruperta, Mistress Rosalind's niece. 

She moved to the guest room of this wooden house passing many Young master's servants, as she reached the door of the room where her young master resided, she knocked on the door announcing her presence and asking for permission to enter.

"Come in." said the voice from inside the room, the voice was of a child no more than 12 years old.

As she moved in the subtle aromas of the deadly flowers strengthened, and there she was in front of four people, two female maids of Felkatae origin– more commonly known as Catfolks. In the middle of the room was a small round table in front of a giant window adorned with those fatal floras with a longsword hung on one of the walls and two small human children sitting in the chair sipping and gossiping.

The child with a similar face to his father and the complexion of his mother and hair with a very dark almost black, with slightly visible maroon on tips tone was Heinrich Qourdentz with his fiancé Ruperta Krause, she looked like a very young version of Rosalind If not for the teal colour. She greeted them and reported that Albrecht had sent a message, "So, what is the message?" said Heinrich.

"Kraüse scouts have reported suspicious activity in our vicinity," Mélissa replied. Heinrich inquired, "Spearziek? Or some of their knight? We are quite close to the territory of Baroness Lavigne Agate after all."

"But aren't we in the imperial territory? The Emperor will not like if these newcomers mess with one of the founders of this empire, especially after the new provinces of the west are due to the combined efforts of Old Master Graphis and Old Mistress Cassia," said Ruperta.

"But that might not be applied to Prince Edoardo, there are rumours that he is not respecting the treaties written by Emperor Alceaus," Heinrich replied. 

"That's troublesome, but if Spearziek did attack wouldn't the Emperor reprimand them? Both Old Master and Mistress have good relations with him." Ruperta asked, "I don't think so." Heinrich replied.

"My mother said that Emperor Alceaus is not appearing in court for some seasons and the Imperial Prince is taking charge of the duties in his father's stead. There are even rumours about succession." he added.

Heinrich ordered the maids to give them some space and make sure none would hear them, they obeyed and exited the room leaving them alone.

Heinrich whispered in Ruperta's ear, "And if the Prince does take his wife's side, we will not be able to ally ourselves with the imperial family. Father said if that scenario happened we might shake hands with the Royals.". Ruperta was stunned and whispered back.

"Would the three families approve of us as former Imperials?".

"Have you heard the rumour surrounding the Levios family's domestic affairs?" He asked and she replied, 

"No."

"The rumours suggest that the Duke of Miledorva family is fueling the flames of rebellion, centring around the succession right."

As the children were chatting, outside the room was quiet, maybe too quiet for one of the Felkatae maids. 

Their biology makes them exceptionally proficient at catching sounds and their lineage spell [Raazwaj], which sends small waves of mana in every direction that pass through everything under a certain distance and bounce back if it touches anything with enough mana, all of these characteristics make them organic sonars.

Freykiran, one of the Felkatae maids heard some mana coming back from–

"Above!" 

A shout came from outside. 

A few moments after that a resounding explosion resonated through the air, its mana signature could be felt throughout the camp.

All three maids sprinted into the room to ensure the Young master and mistress were safe. 

As they slammed open the door their eyes saw Hienrich griping his sword and eye shining with an ethereal glow –[Mana Sight] was the name of the spell currently being used by Hienrich, the spell makes the user "see" mana- usually the basic first spell taught to every mage. 

His veins near his eyes and hands also glowed the same ethereal glow empowering his body with mana, though even with [Mana Sight] being cast Mélissa could see the fear and uncertainty in his eyes. 

Ruperta was in the same state with eyes shining with an ethereal glow, fear, and uncertainty. The veins on her hand were more intricate and periodically pulsated in "brightness" indicating that she was in the process of casting a spell. 

During all this commotion, mana waves could be felt –three, to be exact– signalling the high severity of this incident.

"T... That's where the stables are!" exclaimed the boy. 

"Young Master, Young Mistress follow us," Freykiran said as they were rushing toward the Master's tent accompanied by 10 of Heinrich and Ruperta's knights and their squires totalling 30 in number.

While they were sprinting toward two more blasts could be felt, the sheer size of the mana wave after the shock was enormous almost rivaling the used during Seiges in Turbulent Era. 

As they march forward the entourage could hear clashes of iron and mana within the screams of fear, torment, and anger. They could see the clashes of knights with the Green tabards of Qourdentz, the Blue and Green tabards of Krause, and the unforgettable Red and Gold tabards of Spearziek. 

As they moved forward, Knights and sometimes Heinrich and Ruperta cut down and burned the fools who dare attack the Serpents of Amellia, though blood and gore was nothing new for the young Qourdentz and Kraüse, the amount was too much for these young lords, though not planned this was the first battle for them, the first when the people who they killed were not death row scums chained to the ground.

After some gruesome moments and passing the grounds soaked with blood and riddled with corpses of Knights of Red with some Green and Blue mixed in, they finally reached their destination– the tent of Albrecht and Rosalind. 

What they found was not the ornate wooden tent Mélissa saw when she came to report, what they saw was not what they expected, there they were Albrecht without his shirt slaughtering knights in red and gold, while the ground around Albrecht was bloodsoaked, and the battleground around Rosalind was charred and complete to the brim with mana residue of spells. After clearing remain enemies, Albrecht sends mana waves throughout the camp, signalling every soldier to come to them after cleaning the area of intruders. And Rosalind, who was wearing not but her husband's overcoat, ran toward her's tent.

Sometime later a knight came to Albrecht reporting to him of the aftermath of the intrusion. The knight wore the heraldry of a serpent behind the waves and had a dark complexion similar to Albrecht's wife and hair a shade lighter than Rosalind's. His name was Krause Adalrich, younger brother of Rosalind and father of Ruperta. 

"We lost a carriages maintenance station, sixty per cent of provision to the [Flame Burst] spell, and few of our stead, lower class servants, but we luckily have a majority of our medical personnel and beast of burden survived the surprise attack by these Spearziek knights," Adalrich reported.

"I haven't detected any Lord in them, Master. They were just knights." he further added. 

"Adalrich, those spells weren't the doing of these servants. Their master has to be somewhere nearby. But for now, send the fastest messenger to the capital, and report the incident here." said the head of Qourdentz, "Increase the range and numbers of scouts." he added.

As the knight was giving reports another wave of mana could be felt but this one was more malicious than the previous one, one that both Albrecht and Adalrich were too familiar with,

"Reynaud" both muttered. 

"Mélissa takes the children and runs toward Count Ejdar's territory!" he shouted and readied his sword and manipulated his Arcana, veins of ethereal glow shining on his whole body more intricate than Ruperta's and brighter than Heinrich's. Mélissa obeyed her Master's order and ordered Felkatae maids to carry the kids, the maids, and knights then packed the emergency supplies and sprinted at their full speed for the county.

And after a few blinks the children's entourage was gone. After making sure they were gone he sent a few mana signals ordering the knight to prepare for a battle as he left for his tent to find more appropriate clothing for the coming event.

"Hope he bought Suzette," he muttered under his breath hoping none heard him.

But unfortunately, the worst person who could have heard him did.

"Why are you hoping that woman in here?" a calm voice, as cold as the frigid mountain where Amelia originated from, spoke from inside the tent.

"Oh, my sweet love, I wish to elucidate to her why you stand as the epitome of beauty, the most exquisite pearl gracing the shores of Amelia," he remarked as he entered the tent, moving purposefully toward his wife in an attempt to salvage the worst-case scenario.

Rosalind was there naked with a few of her maids going through her wardrobe to find something suitable for her.

"My love, must I articulate the sheer magnificence that is you? Be it the graceful contour of your legs, the womanly curve of your hips, the tender allure of your bosom, or the charming visage of your countenance, each element epitomizes the very essence of beauty," he said as he pulled her into his arms cupped her face with another and pecked her cheeks.

"You know, by saying I'm the 'best' you are acknowledging her as another 'pearl'?" she said in a cold, and flat voice.

"Rosa you know tha…." Albrecht was interpreted by Rosalind putting a finger against his lips.

"I too hope she is here. I would love to see how long she lasts before inevitably being knocked unconscious." she looked deep into her husband's eyes and their face close enough for their noses to touch, she moved closer and laid her lips on top of his for a quick kiss.

"Now ladies, I bet any jewellery from my own collection that the little Suzie is not going to last more than 3 rounds," she said looking at her maids.

"I say two rounds, my mistress," said one with a giggle.

"Hiedi, if I win then you'll make your Eisblume bread. For a whole month," she said.

"As you wish, my lady," Heidi said with a bow.

Rosalind hugged Albercht's neck and whispered in his ears, '~carry me to our bed, my beloved." and bit his neck.

Albrecht complied with his wife's request and carried her.

He placed her on their bed as Rosa finished tasting his neck and took his lips with her hands scratching his back.

Albrecht took a bite of her shoulder after freeing his lips from his wife's.

"~ahh, ladies help me tire my man," Rosalind moaned.

The three maids obeyed and began to undress.

"~I will not let you have enough energy for that pebble you think is a 'pearl'" she said.

Albrecht lifted his face from her neck filled with red bite marks on one side to reply but was interrupted again by his wife.

"Shhh~ don't waste your energy on useless talks, focus on the 'tender allure' of my bosoms," Rosalind said with a giggle as she pulled his mouth toward her bosoms.

"Ladies come, ~mmmm…. mark my husband so the future pet knows ~ahhh he has favourites," she said between moans as her husband started playing with her body.

"~Haaahh My love, I don't want her ~mmmm…yes just there~ to walk for a few weeks."

"Sure my sweetheart," he said as he raised from her bosoms with a lust in his eyes to make any woman ruin their underwear.

--------------------------------------------------------------

A few hours later, on the outskirts of the forest

The children's entourage was taking a rest near a stream, separating the forest from the grassland ahead, the kids were mentally exhausted, and scared; eating some dried meat.

Heinrich tried to look unwavering, planning for the next move after they reached the county. 

"What should he do in this situation," he thought.

Knights, the maids, and even Ruperta try to look confident and pretend everything will be fine, that he and his fiancé will be there to meet his little cousin. He promised his aunt that he would be the first one to bring a gift for her first child!

But deep down they know this is The Worst-Case Scenario. On a clear battlefield with months to prepare, both families know, a clash will be fatal for both the conqueror and conquered. 

'But this is an assassination attempt! How foolish could he be? The only reason both families didn't summon all their knights was that Prince was busily subjugating the Spearziek and Grandfather and Grandmother were busy subjugating the north. The situation was suspicious from the start when the announcement of war on The Voishtala Kingdom was made a month after both Grandparents were off to the northern fringes of this part of the world!' he continued his internal monologue. 

'Was this planned by The Prince? Did Valérian influence him this much or The Prince is totally in his control? Did The Emperor know this or he is also in this conspiracy?' 

'And as Father-in-law of Prince, of course, Valérian wanted to end this 400-year-old war. As the Prince wanted to achieve stability he decided to sacrifice us. Is he this stupid? This will further ruin the already nonexistent loyalty.'

'And if Father is correct then they were in an even worse scenario, from the tales told by both him and Adalrich they all know how dangerous Spearziek Reynaud was. They could only hope that like those stories Reynaud would retreat as he always does.'

While hoping for such an outcome, something emerges from the foliage in the direction they came in, whatever this thing was it had been following them.

There it was again the knights in red and gold had caught up to them, 'does that mean...NO! DON'T EVEN THINK OF THAT!'

The knights on both sides were ready the Green and Blue knights on Heinrich's side ready to fight and if this was their last time then they would at least take many with them.

Then, a boy came from the red side riding a horse, he was not older than 16 or 17, with eyes as blue as the sky and hair the same colour as the Voishtalan wheat their family is famous for. Behind the child were a few more knights in the same tabards, one of them was a banner bearer, the banner was of the main house of Spearziek, on red, a golden crossed scythe and Warhammer pointing downward in their middle surrounded by wheat stalks. 

The child shouted, "Oh, snake hatchlings, stop hiding behind the water serpents and face me. They will not be able to save you from us!"

"What? Do you wish to be added to the list of slaves who died by the Vertwheat Serpent? Don't you have fields to tend to, Farmer?" Heinrich said, gripping his sword. 

"Yes, I want to cleanse my field of new hatchlings before the harvest season comes." He said, casting [Mana Sight] and manipulating Arcana to increase the flow of mana into his muscles. He then readied his spear and said to his knights, "Cleanse our land of these vile snakes." 

"Spearziek Étienne, I, son of Qourdentz Albrecht, Grandson of Qourdentz Cassia and Qurdentz Graphis, challenge you to a duel!" Heinrich exclaimed.

"Sure, Why not?" Étienne said nonchalantly and charged at him.

He moves fast. So fast even with his spell, Heinrich could barely follow him.

He finally has to face his feelings.

He was scared. Of Étienne. Of his mana. Of his size. And angry at his incompetency and weakness. 

And it came like the slaves used scythes to harvest the wheat. 

Étienne came to kill him. Before he could act duel was ended. 

Ruperta screamed tears running down her cheeks. She hastily cast spells doing nothing more than annoying the Wheat farmers. Knights on both sides charged at each other what followed as nothing more than a hunt, farmers hunting snakes.

Quite ironic, isn't it?

After the fight (if you can call it that) was over, only Mélissa and Freykiran survived as captives. Étienne came to visit them.

"Take these and head to your nest," he said haughtily, his knights threw a soaked sack that gave a red trail, they knew what was inside this bag. Tears run through the maids' eyes like a dam has been broken. After passing the bag they left, leaving the maids alone in the forest with the remains of their Masters defiled like hunted games.

Their will was broken. 

Mélissa had made a bet with her sister Irene, that she would be the one inheriting the title of the head maid from her mother, how could she even dream of that after her master was slaughtered in front of her eyes, she wasn't even worthy of being a commoner-servant in the Qourdentz house. 

While berating herself, they made their way through the grassland reaching their destination, hoping that some semblance of a normal return to their life.

And this is how the farmers solve their snake problem.

According to future historians, this would start their long-awaited, albeit short Golden Age. 

The End