Elizabeth La Sierre

[Elize's POV]

"Since you value and protect the people you oh so very love, Elize. Why don't you give it a try by joining the imperial knight?" Those were the words of my sister who was hideously smiling as I kneel in front of her, who currently sits in my late father's throne.

Under the mask of my serious and unaffected face is the restraining anger that I have been trying to hold for more than a year since my father's death.

Every single day the Goddess made, I will always be humiliated, if not in front of the servants, perhaps, in front of the nobles who used to support me to usurp the throne.

The cause of this is uncertain, and that is the view of the outsider. But I know very well why my sister became like this.

Before my father's death, we are close. Surely not like a normal siblings since we are no ordinary family. We are the royalty who are fated to rule this country with a majority of uneducated people who grow with nothing to know but survive after all.

But we never hated each other. We neither have grudge that holds against each other. And that is also why it became uncertainty to the others of how my sister became like that.

"You foolish sister of mine, if only not for your existence then father would've been alive." It was that time... The time where my sister's hate started.

As we mourn of our father's death under the cloudy weather as the raindrop falls for sky, she gave me a remark that I can never forget. With a tone of hatred, fury, and possibly disgust.

I know why she said that, and I know why she blames me for my father's death.

So I deduced that it is appropriate for me to be punished. I am even grateful for the Goddess for she still gave me another chance to redeem myself.

She didn't kill me.

"I am very much grateful for your suggestion, your imperial majesty. I will be sure to not to betray your expectation!" I acted in a strange manner, as if we are not even related to each other. But upon hearing my words, my sister grew even angrier.

"If you dare try to come back here with no experience gained, then I will be sure your head will come flying! LEAVE! I have no more words to throw upon you!" Then she stamped her feet before leaving me to my lonesome while I still kneel in minutes.

After a long wait, I decided to raise my head and look at the empty throne. There, I imagine our father giving the both of us the warm look he always has.

I am blamed.

Of the death of my father which I personally witnessed.

And thus, I set off to my journey to become a knight to gain experience of what I truly desire. The value of people, to protect them since they, too, are of the same kind like us.

I didn't dare to set aside my sister's feeling as I will use it to remind me on my path to which she gave me. I will give the satisfactory that I think she needs so I can once again saw her genuine smile that I vaguely remember.

I wanna make her happy once more.

-----

Two years after that, from the bottom of the knightly order, I was able to achieve great feats to deserve my current position as the new vice captain of the 12th knightly order.

However, it was all nothing but a facade. The achievements, the honor, the glory. The Knights are nothing of sort.

And according to my experience for the past two years, despite being a former royalty, I have witnessed gruesome events that almost caused me to lost faith to my comrades who I thought I could fight side by side.

Such occurrence didn't happen for only once too. I can say that it is too frequent that I got used to such feeling whenever I see bloodied nomads lying on the ground that was caused by the blades of the supposed protector of the empire. Us.

At first, I always cry in my sleep while reliving the begging eyes of the people killed by our hands. But then, night after night, I will always be tortured by their loud cries that echoes in my ears until I felt numb and got deaf from it.

So much for being the protector of the people I value very much just like my sister said.

And now, we were again given orders to annihilate an entire ungrateful citizen of a certain territory. A territory that was once a legendary land who is claimed by the Pearson family.

The Pearson territory.

This territory is quite unusual.

It is a land that used to be uninhabitable mainly due to the low arable lands and widespread famine. It is even surrounded by the high mountain terrains that stops people from migrating in the land.

However, after the arrival of Karl Pearson a miracle occur. A place that used to be non-arable, where trees barely alive, became one of the most lively and prosperous territory with the guide of the so called "eternal lord".

For 50 years straight, the isolated territory of Pearson produced goods and income twice the average production of a duke's territory. Mind you, it was a Baron territory. Not a viscount, not an earl nor a count's territory, a barony.

And that was all achieved with only a few townspeople that the lord very much care about.

That story was truly unbelievable, as if it came from mere story made up to entertain the people with naive mindset like me. Even I didn't believe, not until I witness it firsthand.

The man stood beside the window, staring at the buzzling town that I just saw transform from a rundown, stinky group of street, to a spotless, odorless, and possibly lively town.

And there I knew... That the answer I always seek had finally come in front of me.