After

Austria, December 24th 1791

8:37 AM

Lukas was in a dark place. He was sitting cross-legged on the floor and he seemed to be in a trance.

"Huh... where am I? ...Who am I?" Lukas murmured to himself.

Soon, he heard a feminine voice. It was calm and, somehow, also comforting to Lukas. "You are Lukas..."

"Lukas...?"

"Yes... you are... my son. My beloved son."

Lukas at first didn't answer, he just kept looking at the horizon, until he finally decided to speak.

"And... who... are you?"

"I am nobody..."

"...Nobody? But-"

"I am nobody..." the feminine voice kept saying those words, they gradually got louder and gained a tone of fear and anxiety.

Soon, the voice got too loud, so Lukas plugged his ears and closed his eyes. "S-Stop! It's too loud!"

At some point the voice's words changed, but they kept very loud and anxious. "I am just a burden! I am just a burden!"

Suddenly, the voice vanished. Lukas waited a bit until he unplugged his ears and opened his eyes. "What the..."

A feminine figure appeared. It looked slender and had a long, golden-blonde hair, however, its face couldn't be seen.

Lukas raised his brow and finally stood up. He slowly walked closer to the figure until its face could be seen.

It was Frida. Her face was deeply pale and there was blood oozing out of her mouth. Her eyes looked dead and were completely widened.

Finally, the figure said one last word. "BURDEN!!!"

The whole environment shook with the figure's voice and Lukas finally woke up.

Lukas abruptly sat up. The blonde boy was panting and sweat was dripping down his forehead.

Lukas put his hand on his head as he tried to calm down. After a few seconds, he sighed deeply and, out of anger, he punched his mattress. "DAMN IT!" he yelled.

Lukas sighed one last time and left his bed. 'God, I'm sweating a lot,' he thought.

Soon, he headed to the kitchen. As he was on his way, he stumbled upon Olivia. The woman looked surprised to see Lukas there.

It was Christmas Eve, however, the environment was anything but festive.

"L-Lukas, why are you here?! You need to rest," her expression looked tired and she had dark circles under her eyes.

Lukas shook his head. "No. I don't want to. I'm going to lead today's day just like any other," he said.

Olivia sighed. "Lukas, you just-" she was interrupted by Lukas.

"She thought she was burden..."

Olivia raised her brow. "...Excuse me?" she asked.

"My mother thought she was a burden to... everybody, every single person in this world. It was written in the letter. I'll prove that it was not true! If I let mother's death affect me, then it would be true! I'll not let her be a burden! Ever again!"

Resolve was oozing out of Lukas's eyes, so Olivia knew it was useless to try to convince him, even though she didn't agree with what he had said.

Lukas sighed. "Anyway, when is my mother's funeral?" he asked.

"The day after tomorrow," Olivia answered.

Lukas nodded slightly and walked towards the kitchen. When he got there, there was nothing on the table since all the servants thought nobody would be coming to have breakfast so early.

When the servants saw Lukas they were shocked.

"Y-Young master, do you not wish to stay in bed a little further?" a servant asked.

Lukas shook his head. "No. I'm fine. Just bring me the breakfast, please," he said, after that, he showed a smile that really looked genuine.

Upon seeing that, Olivia could only shake her head in disapproval at Lukas's attitude. She still thought he needed to rest and that what he was doing wasn't healthy at all.

Lukas sat on the chair as he waited for his breakfast. As he waited, he remembered about Elias's reaction when he found about Frida's death.

-----

Austria, December 23rd 1791

7:48 PM

Elias walked into the kitchen and he saw all the servants with grieving expressions. As he looked around, he saw Klara and he was impressed to see her. "K-Klara? You are working here?" he asked.

Since Elias rarely left his room, he hardly saw any servant, except for the one who brought him his food. And Klara was never chosen for that task by Olivia, which was on purpose since she still didn't trust Klara a lot.

Klara nodded her head with a sad smile. In any other occasion, she would be happy to see Elias, but now she was truly affected by what had happened.

"It's truly a pleasure to see you again, Mr. Elias," she said as she bowed.

Elias looked around a bit more. "What happened?"

Soon, he saw Lukas sitting on a chair in the corner. His face was the worst among everyone in the kitchen. Elias had never seen him like that.

Lukas had noticed that Elias was in the kitchen, but he didn't even want to look at his face.

Elias was shocked to see Lukas like that. "L-Lukas, you were crying?" he showed an angry face. "What happened here?"

Klara walked closer to Elias. "Unfortunately young master found Mrs. Von Neumann's corpse."

Elias didn't show any reaction, it looked like he was still processing it. "C-Corpse?" he asked, incredulous.

Klara nodded her head. "Yes, it seems it was due to suicide. Mrs. Von Neumann even left a letter to young master before she passed away," she explained.

Elias now looked shocked, he didn't know what to say. Deep down, he knew he was partially guilty for this.

He looked at Lukas in shock. "L-Lukas, I-"

"Shut up," Lukas said. His tone was calm, but Elias could feel the bitterness in his son's words.

Elias didn't know what to say. He looked down and left the kitchen in silence.

No servant there tried to break the silence that perpetuated in the kitchen. They couldn't reprehend Lukas for what he had done. Not even Klara.

-----

Austria, December 24th 1791

8:42 AM

Olivia approached Lukas once again. "Lu- Young master, are you sure you don't want me to tell your instructor not to show up today?

Lukas nodded his head. "Yes, Olivia, I am. Thank you for worrying anyway." he looked at Olivia and showed a smile. "I know this is not being easy for anyone, Olivia. Don't worry."

Olivia looked pitifully at Lukas. 'But you are the one struggling the most, Lukas!' she thought.

Olivia sighed. "This is not you, Young Master. You are not being yoursel-" the servant arrived with Lukas's breakfast.

"Here you go, Young Master," she said with a sad smile.

"Thank you," he said, smiling.

So, Lukas started eating his breakfast as if Olivia hadn't started his sentence.

-----

Austria, December 24th

3:29 PM

In the garden of the mansion, Lukas and Herman were standing in front of each other. Herman was looking down at the blonde boy, who was showing a serious expression.

Finally, Herman sighed. "Lukas, I know what happened. Are you sure?" he asked seriously.

Lukas nodded his head with resolve. "Yes!" he said.

"You know, it's not a problem if you take a week or two off," Herman said.

Lukas shrugged his shoulders. "Well, there is for me. Besides, I'm fine."

Herman sighed. "Okay, let's do it," he said, begrudgingly.

-----

After a few minutes, Herman noticed that Lukas was inattentive. He was zoning out more often and he usually didn't notice that Herman was speaking.

Finally, the both of them went to duel. After a while dueling, Herman had had enough. He raised his fist and hit Lukas's head with enough strength to make it hurt quite a bit.

"Ouch! Hey! What's that for?!" Lukas complained, clinging to his head.

"You're not focused," Herman said straightforwardly.

Lukas sighed. "I am!"

"Who do you wanna lie to, Lukas?" Herman said.

Lukas immediately gave up giving excuses and gritted his teeth. "At least I'm trying! Should you not be a bit more benevolent?" he asked.

Herman crossed his arms. "I was benevolent back then when I told you to take a few days off. During the training I will not go easy on you. Either you are completely present here or I am going home. Do I make myself clear?!" he asked with a serious expression.

Lukas sighed. "Okay. I swear that I am going to work harder," he said.

Lukas picked his sword and positioned himself. 'Relax your shoulders, strengthen your grip and keep your feet firm,' he thought as he followed the lead of his thoughts.

Lukas sighed deeply and went at Herman. He started swinging the sword towards the bulky man as he easily defended Lukas's attempts to hurt him.

'This boy needs to rest. I'll hit him and send him home,' Herman thought as he stretched his arm, which was holding the wooden sword.

After that, he tried to hit Lukas's head, so he could knock him out. As the sword approached Lukas, he looked at the moving weapon. When Lukas noticed the swing, he widened his eyes.

The memories of his mother flashed through his head and, suddenly, he showed an expression of extreme resolve. 'DODGE!!!" he screamed internally.

Herman noticed Lukas's expression and frowned. Lukas jumped to the opposite side of the sword and rolled over. Still, he could feel that the sword managed to touch his hair.

When Herman noticed that Lukas had dodged his blow, he truly was astounded. 'W-What?!'

Lukas quickly got back up and headed towards Herman as he yelled at the top his lungs, however, he was not focused anymore and the bulky man managed to hit Lukas's head quickly and knocked him out.

-----

Lukas was lying on the grass. After a while, he woke up, as he sat up and rubbed his head. "Ouch, my head," he murmured.

When he looked around, he saw Herman sitting cross-legged at one of the benches. Lukas widened his eyes and then he noticed what happened. He sighed in frustration. "Are you... going home?"

Herman frowned and checked his watch. After that, he laughed. "It's still too early, boy! You'll still be hit many times today!"

Lukas looked confused. "But... I wasn't focused."

Herman nodded his head. "True. But that was a common mistake. Even some veterans make it. It's natural that you lose some focus when you are about to hit your opponent."

Lukas kept listening to Herman. "I was referring to mistakes that you usually wouldn't commit. I mean, you weren't even holding your sword properly. At first, I really was going to go home and leave you here. However, when I saw you dodging my blow, and... that expression. You were truly giving your all, boy."

Herman stood up and headed towards Lukas. When he was in front of the blonde boy, he crouched down in front of him. "You were thinking about your mother, right? Are you fighting for her?" the bulky man asked.

Lukas looked impressed. "H-How did you know?" he asked.

Herman chuckled. "It was totally obvious, Lukas."

Lukas chuckled back. "Yes... actually, this death of my mother's... gave me a new goal."

Herman looked curiously at Lukas. "Don't you wanna tell me?" he asked.

Lukas shook his head. "No, thank you," he answered. 'You will mock me. You will say something like: "Hahaha! Bringing light to this world?! Do you think you are God?!" or some shit like that!' Lukas thought.

Herman smiled. 'He's replacing his pain by the resolve of accomplishing his goal. This boy is amazing,' he thought. "You have my respect, boy," the bulky man calmly said.

For someone reason, Herman's words truly touched Lukas's heart. Soon, tears started streaming down his face. His cheeks got red and he started whining.

Herman laughed at that. "You have 5 minutes to cry! Crybabies are not allowed on the battlefield," he said.

Lukas was struggling to speak. He was choking on his own words. "Y-Y-Yes, sir!!!" he said while sobbing.

Herman laughed one last time and patted Lukas's head.