|| The Beginning ||

|| Chapter 1: The Beginning ||

--- Year x829 ---

Summer was in full gear in the Capital. Its scorching hot weather and singing sun beetles could be heard from everywhere. The Aeonian Empire's Capital was bustling with thousands of domestic and foreigners, causing the busy roads and streets to be overwhelmed with traffic. Nobles were busy looking for boutiques and tailors to purchase dresses and suits since the Imperial Summer Ball was only one week away. Every noble and high-ranking person was looking forward to the event. 

And it wasn't because they could finally enter the luxurious palace. No, it was because they could finally meet the young heirs of the Grand Duchies face to face. It was the perfect time to introduce their daughters and sons to the heirs to arrange a marriage between them potentially. At the towering gates of the Capital, the sound of dull hoves tapping against the cobblestone alerted the knights.

Hurriedly, they turned to look at the owner of the sound and grew flabbergasted before greeting the figure, "W-We greet the 'Evening Dusk' of the Aeonian Empire, Suzerian Malefic!" The knights nervously bowed their heads to the sole figure, who rode his massive black stallion through the gates. One of the knights sneakily caught a glimpse of the figure's face; he had an insanely attractive face that consisted of a sharp jawline, high cheekbones, a sharp nose, and fullish lips.

However, what made him even more attractive was his sharp hooded sunset-coloured eyes that were complimented by perfectly arched yet neat eyebrows. There were two beauty spots on his face; one at the corner of his right eye and one at the corner of his bottom lip. His short pitch black hair was messily styled, allowing his bangs to drape over his forehead. He was dressed in a formal black military uniform. A black long-sleeved shirt with a tie was tucked into his tight black trousers and a blazer was over it. There were small thin golden patterns sewn into his blazer and shirt's collar while thin gold chains dangled from them.

His large slender fingers and hands were hidden by black leather gloves, showing off the tiny details of his hands. Feeling a stare at the back of his head, he glanced at the bowing knights and silently sent them a bow of his head, acknowledging them. As he got further away from them, the knights raised their heads with dazed expressions. "Whoa..." One knight mumbled with pink cheeks, his eyes gaze fixated on the retreating ravenette's broad back as he disappeared into the busy streets, "He looks so..."

"Perfect?" A teasing voice interrupted him as a tall gruff man wrapped his arm around the young knight's shoulders, startling him. Flustered, the knight tried to make excuses but it only made his captain laugh louder. "No need to be embarrassed!" He teased him with a toothy grin before glancing at where the ravenette disappeared to, "Everyone in the Empire is aware of how blessed he is with those looks... I pity him a bit." 

Meanwhile, the said ravenette rubbed his ear with it suddenly tingled and he furrowed his brow in confusion. He ignored the sensation and continued to navigate through the traffic with a stoic face, oblivious to the gawking stares he got from passersby. Carefully, he took a pocket watch out from his breast pocket; it was a gorgeous pocket watch made from pure silver. 

He glanced down at his for a second when he flipped it open, noticing the time before pushing the watch back into his breast pocket. Steadily, he pulled on the reins and changed his route to a tall building that had the name 'Alora' hanging in front of it. As he stopped in front of the building, he casually dismounted himself from the stallion and neatened the saddle. He raised a brow when the front door of the building slammed open, revealing a panting male worker. 

Noticing how the ravenette stared at him in confusion, he quickly scrambled towards him with a crooked smile. Once he got closer to the ravenette, he had to raise his head to look him in the eye and gulped when he realized that this man was at least over 6'4 ft or so. "Y-Your Grace, I'll take your horse to the stable for you," The worker stuttered with a crooked grin, averting his gaze from him. "Alright," The ravenette stoically responded and handed him the reins, "Take him to the nearest one. I don't want to walk far when I have to fetch him."

"U-Understood, Your Grace!" The worker nodded before taking the horse to the nearest stable. Without another glance, the ravenette walked towards the building and pushed the door open. He was immediately met with several glancing eyes from the customers, who recognized him. Uncomfortable at their gazes, he walked towards the counter with a straight posture. "Ah, you're here, Your Grace!" A cheerful yet light voice greeted him from the doorway that led to the kitchen, causing him to look in that direction.

His gaze landed on a short young woman - who looked to be 5'5ft and around nineteen years old. She had long ashy-brown hair that was braided downwards and round emerald-green coloured eyes. She had natural peachy-coloured skin and rosy cheeks, making her round face look even cuter. She was dressed in a plain cream-coloured summer dress with a white apron on it. There was some flour on the hem of the apron, hinting that she was baking again. 

She was Riyana Zielle, the owner of 'Alora'. Her parents ran a small bakery on the Capital's outskirts until the ravenette offered to sponsor them. In return for sponsoring them, they had to aid him and the First Order Knights with baked goods whenever they had to travel to eliminate Demonic Beasts. 

"You're already back from the subjugation?" She asked with a smile and wiped the floor off her hands as she walked out from behind the counter. "Did His Imperial Majesty summon you again?" She added, her gaze flickering over his face with a frown. Her frown deepened when she noticed the dark yet small circles under his eyes, showing that he had sleepless nights again. 

"Indeed," He mused with a small sigh and chuckled as he pushed some of his fallen bangs out of his face, "His Imperial Majesty summoned me, requesting my presence." She clicked her tongue at his words and placed her hands on her hips, playfully scolding him, "Tsk, it seems that being His Imperial Majesty's Chancellor is a tiring job." He didn't say anything in return but anyone who looked at his cocky-yet-playful smile would know that it was the truth. 

As she picked up a rolled-up newspaper from the counter, she gestured over her shoulder at his tired eyes, "Also, I can tell that you've been losing sleep because of the subjugation again." His shoulders flinched at her stern words and he awkwardly cleared his throat, avoiding her narrowed gaze. With a shake of her head, she escorted him to the second floor where he usually dined. On the way, he sent the seated nobles a slight bow of his head as a silent greeting to them. 

Once they arrived on the second floor, they were immediately met with several full tables of people conversing and having lunch. The second floor's interior was a mixture of an outdoor and indoor structure due to the balconies on the outer area. Potted plants and magic-sourced candles decorated the walls and tables. As she showed him an open table that was hidden under the shade provided by one of the potted trees, he sat down with a small huff. 

"Are you saying that I look that tired after fighting some beasts?" He teased her while taking his blazer off and hanging it behind him, "The First Order says that I don't look tired at all." At his words, she imagined the knights looking terrified as he easily demolished demonic beasts with his swords. "Ha," She scoffed as her brow twitched in annoyance and she shook her head in disbelief. 

"Your Grace," She sternly sighed and snapped her thumb and middle finger against each other, causing a steaming coffee pot to appear on the table with a loud 'puff', "With due respect, you look like a corpse to me." Taken aback, his eyes widened and his lips parted slightly. She ignored his shocked face and picked up the coffee pot to pour him a cup of coffee. 

"I'm worried about your health at this point, Your Grace..." She explained with her lips in a thin line as she placed the cup of coffee in front of him, "I believe you should get a vacation and relax at your villa located in the South." He pondered her suggestion for a few seconds before chuckling. "I'll ask His Imperial Majesty for such an offer when he's in a good mood," He reassured her with a relaxed smile and picked up the cup. 

A strong smell of coffee beans and caramel fluttered past his nose and he closed his eyes, enjoying the scent. "Good," She hummed and glanced to the side with a grin, feeling satisfied that he listened to her suggestion. "Also," She added while looking back at him and taking out her small notebook from her pocket, "I'm guessing that you're having your usual order whenever you get back from subjugation?"

He only sent her a playful glance and took a sip of his coffee, silently giving her an answer. "Then I'll prepare it for you, Your Grace," She mused with a small giggle, bowing her head to him before leaving to get his meal ready. The moment she disappeared from the second floor, the customers stole glances at his relaxed figure and whispered amongst themselves. 

"The Emperor's mutt has returned from the South."

"This was too quick..."

"Did he really finish the subjugation that fast?"

"No wonder he's the appointed captain of the subjugation..."

His ears twitched at the murmuring voices from the other customers and he unconsciously frowned with dark eyes, causing some customers to hush others with pale faces quickly. With a low yet short sigh, he furrowed his brows and opened the newspaper before starting to read through it. For some context, the ravenette - Erix Malefic - was the current Emperor's Chancellor and has received dozens of nicknames in high society. 

The nicknames that people most affiliated with him were 'The Emperor's Mutt', 'Aeonian's Evening Dusk', 'The Devil of Malefic', and 'The Unattainable Bachelor'. From the moment he debuted into society at twelve years old, people already considered him and his siblings to be 'too perfect', especially him since he was the eldest and heir to the Grand Duchy. As he got older, people got jealous of his political and social status, physical attractiveness, military influence, high magic, and position in the imperial palace.

Due to people's high expectations of him, the young soon-to-be Grand Duke was bombarded with political arranged marriage offers, as well as business proposals, joint military offers, and even invitations to be part of several foreign kingdoms' harems. Of course, he harshly rejected these offers without batting an eye. For the last seven years, he had been elected as the 'Most Handsome Man in the Aeonian Empire' by the high social circles in the Capital. 

Even though he didn't have any interest in ladies because of his duties, he was extremely popular with them which triggered thousands of men to approach him with ill intentions. There were hundreds of incidents where the jealous men's families had to compensate the young Grand Duke for their son's humiliating loss whenever they challenged Erix to a duel. He was honestly getting tired and frustrated from constantly hearing about marriage talks when he made it clear that he wasn't interested in finding a spouse yet. 

'Do all these nobles have nothing else to do but pry into my private life?' He thought with a small scoff and sipped his coffee, crossing his right leg over his left thigh as he continued to flip through the newspaper. He recalled how he did an interview a few years ago with the Aeonian Newspaper Company; they were granted a short interview with all five Grand Duchies' heirs to answer society's most-asked questions about them. During the interview, the reporter asked them what were their thoughts of getting married. 

The other heirs said 'no comment' while the ravenette bluntly told the reporter that he had no interest in getting married soon and would rather choose his own spouse than have it arranged for political reasons. He also added that he would not mind marrying someone of the same sex as him since he believed that gender didn't matter when it came to marrying someone you truly love. Because of his answer, thousands of foreign and domestic love letters flooded the Malefic Household, as well as the Imperial Chancellor's mail.

All these love letters were sent by both men and women. Over the last few years, there were even fictional works written about him and the other Grand Duchies' heirs on the back of the daily newspaper. He didn't want to admit it but he enjoyed some of the fictional pieces that were written about him. With a small sigh, he placed his empty cup down and flicked through the newspaper. The newspapers mostly contained information about the Demonic Beast Subjugation that happened at the Aeonian Southern Border. 

Most articles asked how the subjugation was so quickly handled and wrote several scenarios about the reason. That was why he returned to the Capital earlier than usual. A month ago, he and the First Order Knights were deployed to eliminate the Demonic Beasts' nests. However, in three weeks, they had successfully destroyed the nest. Due to the ravenette almost getting into an incident at the nests, they were granted a week off to rest at the Southern Imperial Villa. 

After a while, Riyana returned to his table with a tray in her hands. With a smile, he rolled the newspaper up and thanked her when she placed his meal in front of him. As she took the newspaper from him, she refilled his cup with coffee before excusing herself. He glanced down at his meal and licked is lips with hungry eyes. Whenever he returned from the subjugation, he ordered a medium-rare steak with thick soy sauce and foreign spices. 

He took his time eating his meal and enjoyed the soft murmurs of passersby as they continued their daily lives. Once he finished his meal, he placed all the dirty cutlery and cups together so that it would be easier for Riyana to take. He tugged his blazer back on as he pushed his chair in before heading down to the ground floor so that he could pay for his meal. As he paid for his meal at the counter, he ignored the piercing stares that he received from the nobles sitting at the ground-floor tables. 

When Riyana stood at the door to see him off, he gave her head a gentle pat and thanked her, "Thank you for the meal, Lady Zielle. Stay well and healthy." Without another word, he walked out of the door, oblivious to how flabbergasted and flustered she got at his kind gesture. After getting his stallion from the nearby stable and giving the stableboy a few gold coins, he mounted himself onto the saddle and navigated into the busy streets again. He paid no mind to the flashy carriages that had foreign nobles in them.

However, when an Imperial carriage passed him, a chill ran down his spine and he glanced at the carriage. He caught a glimpse of a gloved hand pulling the carriage down, hiding their face from him. 'That might be one of the princes or princesses,' He thought with a frown and pulled his gaze away from the carriage. There was a reason why he felt uncomfortable with some of the royal kin of the Aeonian Royal Family. Some saw him as a competitor for the throne since he and the Grand Duchies' heirs could easily be chosen as the heir to the thrones because of their social status. 

It also didn't help that the Emperor doted on Erix as if he were one of his many children. Not once did he ask for that kind of attention from the Emperor, but the Emperor kept saying that he was his 'uncle' because he and his father grew up as childhood friends. 'I have a bad feeling about this,' He inwardly sighed with a tired expression and tightened his grip around the reins, clicking his tongue a few times to hint the stallion to gallop. His black hair fluttered in the wind when his stallions started galloping towards the Imperial Palace.