Never the same

Vaterian lay on the bed, Igor already fallen asleep beside him. He knew those nightmares will catch up with him, it happened since Ilse's death, taunting him every night. He took a deep breath and closed his eyes.

____

He saw a carriage entering the gate of Talismania, it was painted in red, decorated with bronze and a coat of arms carved on it. It was a six-winged eagle with dark feathers, a sign of the royal family.

"Vater, where was uncle Ludwig?" A young boy put his head out of the carriage, asking his father about his uncle.

"Vati, you should always keep your clothing on whenever you are, don't undermine then breeze in this land." A man in his early 30 with brown hair sitting beside the boy, not having a great mood today, he warned the boy about the cold.

"Achoo!" The boy paid for his action, he started sneezing. The man didn't talk much, he took out a piece of cloth and rubbed the snot, he put the cloth in the boy's hand, "Remember to blow your nose instead of sniffing it." The man sat back in his seat and his mind started wandering around while the boy shook his body.

The carriage stopped slowly, they heard someone knocking on the door of the carriage. "Joachim?" the person outside asked. "Wait for a while, Ludwig." The father quickly helped the boy wear his cloth and picked up a box which kept safely beside him.

The father and son walked out from the carriage, they meet a man slightly older than the father, behind him was a palace that Vaterian saw not long ago.

The hand of the man was trembling, he asked the father, "Is that…Teressa?". The father didn't reply, he just looked at the child and showed his intentions. The man, Ludwig, realized his failure and squatted in front of the boy, "You must be Vaterian, right? I'm your uncle Ludwig. Where was your sister, she didn't follow you ?"

The boy opened his lips, speaking with his immature voice, "Ilse didn't want to come with us, she was sad about mother was no longer staying with us, even though mother just going to Heiligen." The man patted the boys head, he stared at the boy and turned his head to the father, the father shook his head.

"Good boy, you can go around the building and play around, just remember don't go outside the building." "Yes, uncle Ludwig!" The kid ran into the palace, followed by a couple of servants. Soon the kid was distracted by a piece of music coming from a part of the building. His curiosity made him decide to run toward it.

"Teressa…died…wish…back home." The sound started to become blurry and only some words could be recognized. "We…kept…" The reply from Ludwig was barely hearable, only the music became louder and closer.

____

The scene started to fall apart, only darkness remained. Within the hollow space, heard the sound of Vaterian.

"That was the first time I meet uncle Ludwig, I was 4 and yet to know what happened to my mother. I only knew that Heiligen was a place where noble and clergy were buried 2 years later, but in a way that… I didn't wish to."

___

The stage was lightened up again. It was at exact same place but with extra people, a boy with blonde hair was staying behind the son, all of them was older than they used to be.

"Where was that bastard gone, Ludwig? I hope to see his face before sending him to the guillotine." The father was furious and questioned the man. "He was in the darkest dungeon I could find, he tried to run away to the north but Stefan had successfully captured him before he leave the city."

The father hugged his brother in law while tears were falling down his face, he brought out his word while sobbing, "I knew I can trust you, Ludwig." The man hugged him back, patting the father back to calm him down, but the tears slowly falling from the tip of his eyes exposed his sadness.

"I will support the execution on Albert von Weissburg tomorrow, remember to wash your eyes so you can watch how his head disjoin from the rest of his body." The man said with a wave of great anger on his face, his nephew was now buried in Heiligen with only 14 years old.

The son kneeled on the ground and cried, the only one who didn't hold a great feeling in the scene was the blond child, he tried to force some tears out of his eyes but failed to do so.

____

"We all thought this will bring all the things that occurred in KingsStreet to an end, but we underestimate the cruelty of reality."

____

A man walked into the room, where the father and the son were already in it, besides the table. "Maximillian? Where is Ludwig?" The father asked the man, he didn't have a good feeling.

"Your majesty, I am sad to inform you. My brother, the Grand duke of Talismania, Ludwig von Talismania had passed away, now I will take over his duties to discuss the judgement implied on my vassal." The man bowed down to the father, who was shocked by the tragic news and lean on the coach.

Soon after the father rushed in front of the new Grand duke of Talismania, and punched him in his face, "You Fucking Kinslayer! Even the silver-eyed who worked in the sewer had a greater personality than you did." The father shouted at the Grand duke, he never found a noble could be so ignoble. The son, was completely stunned, sitting on the couch, his mouth was opened and the shine in his eyes was gone.

"Your majesty, I know you were shocked by the news, but my predecessor died naturally on his bed, It was legitimate for me to succeed his throne. I hope you won't question a legitimate ruler of the duchy, nobility could only be honoured but not insulted." The Grand duke take out a cloth and cleaned the blood that came out from his nose.

"I still need to organize my coronation and the funeral of my predecessor. Your majesty, maybe we could delay the secret hearing to another day, I will send you the notice after we finished all the work." The Grand duke opened the door and bowed toward the King with a smile on his face.

"I just hope you kept the judgment of that bastard!" The father held his fist tightly and warned the smiling man, he hold the hand of his child and walked out.

"Sure, your majesty." The Grand duke replied.

___

"It's so stupid that we trusted him, we thought Ludwig's brother will be as noble as him, but we were wrong…"

___

"Your majesty, the nobility had made its decision, Albert von Weissburg will be exiled to the north." The Grand Duke smiled and said to the King.

"You betrayed me! And you! And you!" The king shouted in the court and threw everything around him towards the noble but all of them was blocked by the bodyguards.

"I must warn you, Your majesty! The decision was made based on the 'Principle of noble rule' written by your grandfather. 'The noble had the right to place judgement on their vassal', any breach of that will be seen as a challenge to the nobility!" The man shouted back to the father, his word was clear and loud.

"You all promised me to execute him during the secret hearing, now none of you chooses to side with me." The eyes of the father gazed through the ranks with anger, he never lost so much of his self-control as today. Looking at the guards, he shouted, "Quickly! Chase that Bastard before he ran far enough!"

"I'm afraid it's a waste of time, Your Majesty. The judgement had been placed 4 months ago, It will be irrational to chase him back." The Grand duke bowed toward the father.

The King remember that the coronation was held just 4 months ago, he couldn't take such a beating. His sight turn black and fainted.

"Father!" The son rushed toward his father. After making sure his father was still alive, the son rushed toward his 'Uncle' with a sword in his hand, but he was stopped by the bodyguards of the Grand duke.

"I declare this Noble Assemble had come to an end!" The Grand duke made the declaration that was usually done by the king and walked out from the palace.

___

"Helland was different after this day."