Chapter 2 : Bitter Dreams

The march was halted and camp was set up again.

Pedro was eager to set up my tent again and even volunteered without my asking, probably because of the leftovers I gave him earlier.

Despite being such an unreliable looking fellow It was good to have a willing servant at my beck and call.

Unlike Orlando who for lack of a better word showed little enthusiasm for serving his lord.

I searched for Orlando and asked him to take care of my horse again but he actually had the guts to tell me he would do it after he set up his own tent.

Victor Vincenzo : ("Unacceptable!")

I ordered him to take care of my horse right this instant and to come find me from now on whenever we set up camp.

When I raised my voice and spoke firmly to him, Orlando caved in and agreed apologizing.

Orlando : "Sorry milord I-I will do it right now".

Victor Vincenzo : "I would expect nothing less".

I handed him the leash to my horse and walked away

Although I couldn't be sure in the corner of my eye as I turned to walk away I could swear I caught a glimpse of Orlando quietly mumbling something?

Orlando : "Asshole".

I paid it no heed, such tiny matters were too insignificant to pursue for all I knew I could have been mistaken.

So long as Orlando obeyed me without question then all would be right.

Orlando would obey because he had no choice; any peasant foolish enough to offend their lords would be punished; it is simply the natural way of the world.

When I returned to my tent I asked Pedro to line up a few wooden crates so that he could put my cotton sheet over it to make a bed.

I wasn't going to sleep on the floor like some dog.

Upon completion I gave Pedro my permission to leave.

I walked inside the tent to find my makeshift bed and a lantern next to a wooden crate nightstand.

The blanket was made of cotton unlike the cloth everyone else used so I had some comfort.

I took off my hat, doublet, leather shoes, untied my hair and left my sword by the bedside before laying down.

The crates felt rough but the cotton did help, sadly I had no pillow so I used my hat instead.

I could say without a doubt in my mind that this was the most miserable bed I have ever laid upon.

I turned my lantern off and stared blankly at the tents ceiling.

I could see nothing but complete darkness, this was my life now.

Victor Vincenzo : "Fuck me".

I let out a long and tired sigh.

I truly felt like the most unfortunate man in the world right now.

I should be at home sleeping in a proper bed with appropriate night attire and a belly full of wine.

But instead I am here…

I turned to God and prayed before closing my eyes and waiting to fall asleep.

Victor Vincenzo dreamed of yesterday, while his mind recounted the story of his life.

Born the fourth and last child to a noble family Victor's mother died during childbirth.

As a result from birth he had gotten the unjustified resentment of his father Felix Vincenzo Fiore head of the prestigious Fiore family.

All his life Victor Vincenzo had a rather awkward and distant relationship with his father, getting along well with only his siblings and grandparents.

Despite this Victor held no resentment or ill will towards his father.

If anything Victor respected Felix deeply as a noble head and aspired to be just like him if not better if possible.

His chances of inheriting the family head position were low given that he was a spare to a spare.

But regardless Victor dreamed of becoming a prestigious noble like his father one day.

Even now as Victor dreams his resentment and blame falls to only one person for his current situation, a lowly peasant girl by the name of Isabella.

Isabella was a young maid for our family with a pretty face for a commoner having pale skin, long brown hair and hazel eyes.

In all honesty I knew very little of Isabella except that she was much younger than me, barely a girl of sixteen I believe.

It was not until later that I discovered the relationship between this girl and my father.

It had been a normal morning like any other.

I was reading a book on poetry while my servants and maids attended to me and fed me breakfast in bed.

The day carried on as per usual I had been in the gardens practicing magic with my noble ring.

The noble ring was a magic item that most nobles had to cast low tier magic on the fly.

Used more often as an accessory than for practical use.

Each one was unique and customized to the preference of said noble mine was a simple gold ring with an orb shaped red magic gem in the center.

I did not have enough money to have it customized with intricate patterns as my allowance was no where near the same as my siblings.

But it did have my name engraved into the under gallery of the ring.

The Fiore family had an affinity for fire magic but I was born with an ice affinity something I am told I inherited from my mother.

The day looked like it would be like any another until a servant ran up to me saying that my father had summoned me to the family round table.

Naturally surprised and curious as to why my father would call for me instead of my elder brothers I put my book down and followed the servant with haste.

When I had arrived at the family round table I was surprised to see a maid there.

This room was prohibited to only family members and trusted guards even I have only been in here a handful of times.

The room itself was nothing special just an office but the round table in the center is what caught the attention.

The round table was a large grey white marble map that sat in the center of the room.

It was a small detailed three dimensional map of the Kingdom and the surrounding areas with various colored pieces placed on top representing the various factions and nobles.

I respectfully greeted my father ignoring the maid and quietly waited for an explanation.

My father Felix Vincenzo Fiore was a man in his mid forties tall and strong, his hair and eyes colored bright red.

He had a man-bun with a receding hairline and thick beard, his sharp eyes and long dorsal humped nose gave him the air of an experienced general.

My father despite being a noble head preferred to be dressed in armor instead of his noble attire so it was not uncommon to see him clad in armor throughout the day.

The armor itself was a black plated metal with golden trims and accents of red clothing beneath the chain mail gaps with a long red cape attached.

His helmet was nowhere to be seen.

Felix Vincenzo Fiore : "Victor do you have anything to say to me".

My father spoke in a cold and stern voice.

It brought a chill to my spine.

I didn't know what he wanted me to say?

Victor Vincenzo : "Forgive me father I do not".

I bowed my head deeply but even still his sharp eyes pierced at me.

Felix Vincenzo Fiore : "..."

The situation was strange and nerve wracking.

Felix Vincenzo Fiore : "Raise your head".

Victor Vincenzo : "Yes father".

I did not want to meet his eyes.

Fear made me hesitate.

But it would be disrespectful not too so I forced myself to the best of my ability to keep my composure.

Felix Vincenzo Fiore : "You have been accused of stealing from the family treasury".

My eyes widened and a stupid expression of disbelief formed on my face as I looked to him.

Victor Vincenzo : "What!?".

Felix Vincenzo Fiore : "We have a witness to support the claim".

I followed my father's eyes to the maid that had been standing there with her head down the entire time.

If looks could kill the girl would have died horribly under my glare I wanted to scream and shout profanities at the false witness.

But how could I speak in front of my father without permission?

I waited angrily and dumbfounded for my father to continue.

Felix Vincenzo Fiore : "Isabella do you swear to me that you saw my son Victor Vincenzo stealing from the family treasury".

The maid raised her head and for the first time our eyes met, she was unafraid of my glare and turned to my father.

Isabella : "Yes I swear on my mother's grave that I witnessed your son stealing from the treasury at the dead of night milord".

The amount of bullshit spoken made my head hurt with rage.

Victor Vincenzo : ("Madness! Nonsense! Complete lies! Fuck how could you swear on your mothers grave!? You lying whore! Have you no shame!?")

Felix Vincenzo Fiore : "And what did you see him take from the treasury".

Isabella : "A golden sword milord".

My father finally turned his gaze towards me and motioned for my reply.

I immediately objected and shouted out my response.

I was so enraged that I blurted everything out quickly all at once.

Victor Vincenzo : "Lies all lies!-If you saw me at the dead of night then why did you wait until now to report me!-You're lying!-Father, how could you take this peasant's words over mine!-This is absurd this is-".

Felix Vincenzo Fiore : "SILENCE!"

I bit my tongue and held my breath.

Fearful of my father's gaze I turned to glare at the maid who had a calm and completely unfazed expression.

My father snapped his fingers and two family guards clad in black armor with a red feather on the helm came in holding the family great-sword.

The two knights kneeled holding the blade up for all to see.

The great-sword had a golden intricate hilt of four spiraling dragon heads opening their mouths to where the blade is connected.

The eyes of the dragons were small glowing red magical gems that when active would make the blade ignite with a flame.

The blade itself was a clean white metal of some kind.

Felix Vincenzo Fiore : "The sword was found locked in a chest beneath the floorboard of your bed".

Victor Vincenzo : "How can that be!? No wait I am being framed!"

Felix Vincenzo Fiore : "I have heard enough".

Felix Vincenzo Fiore : "Take him to the dungeon I will see to his punishment later".

Victor Vincenzo : ("DUNGEON!? No that can't be! Me going to the dungeon why!?")

When I asked myself why this was happening to me.

I could only think of one person, Isabella, who stood there looking at me calmly and without expression.

Victor Vincenzo : ("Was she looking down at me? A FUCKING PEASANT WAS LOOKING DOWN ON ME!")

My father and the maid turned to leave as he was handed the family great-sword and the guards approached me.

My face turned red.

I could feel hot tears forming in my eyes as a vein showed itself on my head.

My right eye was twitching and my teeth were tightly clenched.

In my entire life I had never been so angry at someone before that I felt like my very soul was burning with a passionate hate.

My vision blurred as the knights neared me, my father and the maid had their backs to me as they neared the door.

Victor Vincenzo : ("Die!-Die!-Die! I WANT YOU TO DIE!")

In an act of passionate fury I raised my hand and activated the magic ring on my index finger to cast a spell.

Victor Vincenzo : " SPIRALING ICE SPEAR!"

The ice spear spun past the guards my father immediately turned around to guard himself but to his shock the spear did not point at him but instead at the maid beside him.

Felix Vincenzo Fiore : "Ah!"

He could do nothing but watch as the spinning spear of ice impaled and skewered the maid against the wall from her stomach in a bloody display.

Her mutilated and contorted corpse had her head hung down surprisingly still intact only showing her beautiful faces last expression of confusion and pain.

My enraged father personally beat me into unconsciousness with his bare fist and had me thrown into the dungeon afterwards.

I don't remember much of the beating or of what happened after the maid died.

But when I woke up my wounds had been healed and I was sitting in a dirty rat filled dungeon alone waiting to be let out.

A peasants life is worth nothing when compared to a noble so killing one was the equivalent of killing a chicken.

I should not have been punished or beaten but I was…

To my surprise I was tried in my family's court for the slaughter of my unborn step sibling who technically counted as a family noble.

It turns out the maid was apparently carrying the bastard child of my father.

So I was given an ultimatum either renounce my family name and be exiled into peasantry or join the Holy Orders crusade into the Dark Forest to build relations with the Church of God.

Many described the crusade as a suicidal journey given the Dark Forest reputation.

But I would rather die by choking on a horses cock then living as a fucking peasant so naturally I chose the latter.