The Truth

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Ever since he was young, he dreams of becoming a swordsman and serve his homeland and take a pledge of loyalty towards his chosen King and its people.

It might be a naïve thinking of him, but Sigrid didn't care about that, and he wanted to at least, make some changes from the rotten system that's called hierarchy amongst the nobles.

When he was acknowledged and introduced within the noble society as the second young master of the House of Count Anatole, others congratulate him while majority of the nobles, especially from the higher class, had a distained looked to their eyes while maintaining their façades of politeness.

Although they appeared rude, but no one dared to outright humiliate him in front of the crowd, and that's because the Countess was with him, together with his father and his other two older half-siblings.

His biological mother, at that time, didn't dare to appear within the crowd and had only stayed at the manor because she didn't want to be scorned and dragged Sigrid with her, even though the Countess invited her and persuaded her to come with them but at the end, the Countess understands and ordered one of her trusted servants to take care of his biological mother while they were away.

There are times that Sigrid wanted to lash out to these people because of how hypocritical they were, however, the words coming from the Countess, his father's legal wife, had imprinted to his mind.

≤ ….. "I may look indifferent and wouldn't bother with these people on whatever they were saying but believe me when I say that I understand what you're feeling right now. Do you think I didn't experience the same approach just like what you're experiencing right now? Sometimes, in order to survive, you need to play with their games but remember that you're the one who should be in control, not them." …. ≥

At that time, Sigrid didn't understand what the Countess was trying to say and had no clue since he was nothing but a young teenager that haven't seen the whole world yet.

≤ ….. "If you want these people to respect you then, prove yourself that you're not just an illegitimate child of our household. Rebrand yourself if you want or compete with my son for the Count's position if that would make you prove your existence within the noble society." …. ≥

Sigrid find it odd when the Countess state those words from that time when they were now at the private parlor of the banquet that their family attended to.

However, that's not it. What's even more surprising is that his elder brother, who is the legitimate heir of the household, heard what his mother stated but didn't react negatively and he eventually agreed to what his mother stated.

If this were from another noble household, the legitimate wife wouldn't be happy if her son's rightful inheritance would be snatched away by someone else, especially, to an illegitimate child, no less.

Even his father and his older half-sister agreed as well but Sigrid thinks otherwise.

He didn't want to compete with his elder brother for the succession and he wasn't interested in his father's noble title.

He wants to wield a sword. A sword that protects the people from injustice and defend for the weak.

Because his biological mother's family, a Baron household, were a household of mercenaries and his mother is a swordswoman. His mother is his first mentor when he first take interest for wielding a sword.

However, an incident happened that left his mother injured and lost the ability to wield a sword anymore and not only that, but their household had also fell to ruin because of some high-rank noble household sabotage their family and was almost framed for treason.

If it weren't for his father to step forward and defend his mother's family, they would be wiped out without proving their innocence.

In order to repay what his father had done for his mother's family, his mother didn't have anything with her other than her sword but since she couldn't wield it anymore, she offered herself to his father.

That's why Sigrid didn't dare to overstep his authority within the House of Anatole as he is already grateful to his father for acknowledging them and he is alright with that.

He doesn't need to earn a noble title for himself and since his mother no longer wield the sword then, Sigrid will be the one who would wield the sword for his mother.

When he reached the age of 12 years old, he conscripted on the Imperial Army as one of the new trainees and he spend his life as a soldier for more than 10 years and because of his hard work and achievements, for all those years, he had rose to the ranks and became the youngest Royal Knight Commander of the Imperial Army and was also appointed as an exclusive Knight for the Crown Prince.

Although his status as an illegitimate child of the House of Count Anatole is still imprinted on the minds of other high-rank nobles but because of his status and achievements as a Royal Knight of the kingdom, he was now highly respected and had many proposals that he received from the other nobles for marriage prospect.

≤ …. "This is your life. Don't let those opportunistic rotten b*stards dictate your life as if they were the ones who raise and feed you. You know, if it wasn't for my husband to help your mother's family household, your mother should be with the person she truly loves? Your biological father?" ….. ≥

And that's how Sigrid had learned the truth. His biological father is not Count Anatole but rather, the Count's elder cousin from the Count's father side of the family, which makes Sigrid is still part of the House of Count Anatole but on a different branch.

In short, Count Anatole is supposed to be his uncle since Sigrid's biological father is the Count's cousin from their father's side.

However, the Count's elder cousin went missing during the expedition that happened years ago and that time, his mother was pregnant with his father when his mother's family was almost framed for a treason and that's why the Count helped his mother's family because he also learned that the Count and his biological father were closed to each other since they were young and the Count took responsibility for his mother when the Count learned that his mother is carrying his cousin's child.

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