Ancient Empire Calendar Year 1813
Since Seth's death, time has flown by like water, years have followed each other, even I did not understand how time passed so quickly
Seth's suicide was a trauma for his friends and men, and a great shock for the Western People
Now the position of heir that I have been chasing for years is mine, of course there is the other side of the coin
Since the last war was not due to Seth's suicide, many people have doubts about whether I deserve the position of Heir
I will graduate from the Academy soon and meet my father for the first time in my life
Ricardo had a vague excitement, he couldn't understand how the four years of the Blood Academy ended
Ricardo had developed a lot physically in the past four years
He was 1.89 tall, muscular, had long blood-red hair that reached just below his neck
His mustache and beard had started to grow visibly
Those who saw Ricardo turned around and looked again
They were losing themselves in front of his handsomeness and magnificence, men and women alike
The Blood Academy had organized a graduation ball for its students who were about to graduate
It was a must to attend this ball in pairs
Ricardo was lying on his bed, his left foot crossed over his right foot, his hands clasped behind his head, thinking about who he should go to the ball with
"Hmmm, who should I take to the ball, Marilin is my childhood friend, I don't want to upset her, but let's face it, we can't have a future together
Sometimes I say, "If only she were not of my lineage, it would be best to part ways"
Ricardo got out of bed and took a pen and paper and started writing a letter
It was an old Academy tradition for male students to ask female students to go to the ball with him in a letter at the Blood Academy
"To Lady Arnheid Payrist, my distant relative from the Payrist Dynasty
I hope she will grant me the honor of going to the ball with you
May my last day at this Academy, where we have accumulated many memories, be crowned with your smile
Signed Ricardo Kislavein."
Ricardo waits until night to deliver his letter to Arnheid, otherwise it would attract too much attention and cause a lot of confusion
Ricardo quietly approaches Arnheid's room in the dead of night
Ricardo senses Arnheid's presence, he is not yet asleep
"He is not yet asleep, it is better this way, at least I can deliver the letter by hand"
Ricardo knocked on the door three times, then Arnheid got up from the chair and approached the door
"Who is it?" he said in a low voice
"It's me Ricardo"
Arnheid opened the door excitedly when he heard Ricardo's voice
"Good evening, Heir of the Dynasty, what brings you here at this hour?"
"Good evening, Lady Arnheid, I won't take up too much of your time, if that's okay with you"
Ricardo gently handed his letter to Arnheid
Arnheid was very surprised and even froze for a few seconds
Arnheid excitedly took the letter, he didn't need to read it to know what it contained, but there was a question on his mind
"Heir of the Dynasty, I thought you were going to the ball with Marilin, not just me, almost the entire Academy thought so"
Ricardo agreed with this thought, Marilin's attitudes and actions had given people the image of a lover in the past years
"There are some reasons Arnheid, in short, I can't go with her"
Arnheid was worried
"If there is no Heir of the Dynasty, did you fight?"
"No no there are just some reasons I can't explain never mind will you come to the ball with me
Arnheid bowed her head even though she was happy that Ricardo chose her she felt very sorry for Marilin she thought they were a good couple they were very good together
"I accept your offer Heir of the Dynasty but I think you should attend this ball with Marilin"
Ricardo understood where this conversation was going he wanted to go to his room without further ado
"Who I go with is my business Lady Arnheid good night"
Arnheid thought she had made the wrong decision but it was too late she regretted it but she was happy to go to the ball with her savior
"I'm sorry Marilin forgive me but all is fair in love and war"
Arnheid entered her room excitedly and started dancing she couldn't sleep until morning because of excitement
The next morning the whole academy was getting ready for the ball
While the students were choosing their outfits
The Academy Masters were preparing the decorations of the Great Hall for the ball and the food and drinks that would be served to the students
Ricardo and Marco were drinking outside the academy in a quiet place with a nice view to get away from all this activity and stress and were chatting about the years that passed
"Time has passed very quickly, don't you think Dynasty Heir? Just yesterday we were kids trying to direct aura and mana, now we are graduating from the Academy at the age of 18"
"Hmm, it really is Marco, the day I first held the sword, the day I created my mana veins and even the day we joined the Academy seems like yesterday to me"
Ricardo and Marco were touching their glasses and drinking from one to another, refilling their glasses that were empty in seconds
While the duo was laughing and having fun, a few other people who wanted to relax a bit had come to the venue
"Greetings to the Dynasty Heir" they all greeted Ricardo at the same time
"Welcome, come and join us"
The group consisted of Ricardo's closest friends Jack, Jacob, Benjen, Heinricht, Jonas and Osiris, they looked like they had come to pressure him
The later hours of the night passed with laughter and fun, the wine, whiskey and vodka ran out one after another, almost everyone in the group was so drunk that they couldn't even see the end of their noses
Ricardo, who was a little sane, performed a healing spell, Ricardo, who was slowly recovering from his drunkenness, performed a healing spell on the others one by one and woke them all up
"Ahhh my head hurts so bad" Benjen complained
"Ah aaah my head damn it, what was all that drinking aaah my head" Jack shouted
Everyone in the group except Ricardo was complaining about their headaches, Ricardo approached the owner of the place and left a bag full of money on the table
"This should cover what we drank"
The owner of the place counted the money quickly, bowed his head in fear and said in a trembling and fearful voice
"Ha-what... dynasty... the... the... this... here... a-a little... missing..."
Ricardo is surprised
"How is it missing, even though I gave all the money I had on me? Although we drank so much, I would be surprised if it was enough" Ricardo thought
Ricardo approached his friends who were writhing on the ground and felt a little embarrassed when he saw their state
"Oh man, it's a good thing we closed the place or we would have been disgraced, does anyone have money?"
The group paid the rest of the bill, the owner of the place wanted to help after seeing their miserable state
"Here, drink this, it's a bit bitter but it helps you get over the effects of the drink"
The group had never seen this brown drink served in small cups before
"What is this?" asked Osiris
"It's called coffee, sir. I had it brought from the Central Lands. It's a very popular drink there
I've even heard that coffee is served to a family who come to ask for a hand in marriage"
"What's the point of asking for a hand in marriage?" asked Jacob
"It is a tradition in the Central Lands sir, if two people decide to get married, the man's side goes to ask for the girl's family, as you can understand, it is something like getting permission from the girl's family for marriage
Here, if the girl's father does not give his daughter away, the wedding will never take place, of course, from what I have heard, in such cases, men kidnap the girl they love
When this happens, the marriage becomes mandatory, of course, this is not a common thing, such situations are mostly seen if the girl's father's stubbornness is not going to be broken
But the result will be severe, the girl's relationship with her father may be strained, they may even never reconcile, but as I said, this is not a common situation, they usually give the girl away and have an engagement, henna and wedding"
"Look, this is very different information, I'm surprised, but what surprises me even more is how do you know this"
The owner smiled
"Because I was born, raised and married in the Central Lands, of course I will know"
"Oh, so you come from the Central Lands, Owner, so why did you come to the West, even to the very center of the West, Kislathor"
The owner of the place, who did not expect this question from Ricardo, answered calmly and cheerfully
"To be honest, things were not going well in the Central Lands. The current Dynasty Lord of the Costin Dynasty is a complete dictator who has crushed the people under heavy taxes.
While his sycophants live in prosperity and wealth, half of the population is poorer than the poor. Corruption, murders and many crimes that I cannot name have become everyday. The Central Lands are like hell."
What the owner of the place told the group was shocking. The Central Lands, which had a very powerful army on the outside, had rotted from the inside.
While the people lived in misery, the sycophants of the Dynasty Lord lived in prosperity and wealth.
"I feel sorry for you, by the way we never asked what your name is?"
The owner of the place, who wiped his tears, answered Ricardo's question
"Ahmet Palaiagolos I am a member of the fallen Palaiagolos Dynasty"
"I feel sorry for you Ahmet, but you have overcome all difficulties and started from scratch, you have earned my respect"
Ahmet enjoyed his conversation with Ricardo
"Contrary to the rumors, you are a very good person, Dynasty Heir"
"What kind of person am I according to the rumors?"
"It is not my place, Heir of the Dynasty, please forgive me"
"Don't be afraid, tell me so I can hear what the people say about me"
"Well, they say you are a cruel, ruthless, extremely handsome person who makes enemies fear and friends trust, of course there are a few more things, for example, one of them is about you not showing any interest in your lover"
The atmosphere suddenly became serious, Ricardo's murderous intent made the air unbreathable
Ricardo held Ahmet's neck and squeezed until the mark of his hand appeared with his thick, deep and angry voice
"Tell those bastards if they continue to spread such rumors I will feed them all to the monsters in Kerbel"
Ricardo threw Ahmet down hard, turned around and left the place
Ahmet was out of breath, in shock, speechless with fear, he had never seen anything like this before
There was silence as Ricardo and his group headed towards the academy
No one dared to speak or chat with Ricardo, but this silence was becoming unbearable
Marco finally broke the silence
"The Dynasty Heir"
"Did you know about these rumors?"
No one spoke up, they just shook their heads as if to say no
Their silence made Ricardo even angrier
"So that's how they gossip about me, I'll show them, if I don't build towers out of all their heads, they won't call me the Dynasty Heir"
Marco couldn't take it anymore
"Ricardo please calm down you always make calm and rational decisions what happened now on the other hand I don't even have a lover"
"Marco didn't you understand who the rumors said my lover was"
"Yes I understand I'm not stupid I'm my sister who is madly in love with you but tell me Ricardo are they lying you never showed any interest in her did you ever give her any face while she had an unrequited love for you did you ever show any interest in her even once you chose Armheid whom you've only known for three years over my sister Marilin whom you've known for ten years TELL ME RICARDO ARE THEY LIEING
HAA ha forgive me I suddenly lost my temper forgive me Dynasty Heir"
Ricardo hadn't expected such a reaction. He didn't know Marco had kept so much to himself.
"Lift your head Marco, you're right. I have no right to talk about what you're saying. Let's go. It's late. Let's talk about this tomorrow with a calm mind, okay?"
Marco nodded. The thousand pieces fell from both of their faces. The smiles that hadn't left their faces all day had been replaced by pessimism.
The next day
Ricardo and Marco thought it was time to talk about some things. Their friends who witnessed the incident last night were also waiting in case a fight broke out.
Marco clasped his hands and started talking, he had a very serious air
"Okay Ricardo, tell me what is it that you found in that girl that you couldn't find in Marilin
Why don't you respond to my brother's feelings
Why do you keep hurting Marilin
When you ascend to the throne, you will have many wives, let her be one of them"
When Marco finished speaking, it was Ricardo's turn, Ricardo's face and aura had a serious but emotional air
"Because I always saw her as my brother
I never looked at him the way he looked at me
When I ascended to the throne I didn't want him to see his children killed by assassins
He can't be happy with me Marco I care about both of you you are like my brothers I don't want you to suffer
Because of me your Grandfather, my master Richard died and now your grandson's children should die for the throne"
Marco swallowed at these words he shouted at him and felt bad for the words he said
"I understand Dynasty Heir we are grateful for the honor of seeing us as his brothers but I don't think Marilin will give up
He is a very stubborn person and a very stubborn person will never stop until he gets what he wants, he will probably wait for you even if years pass"
Ricardo stood up and put his hand on Marco's shoulder
"Well, it's his choice whether to wait or not, but I hope he finds someone better than me"
Everyone stared at Ricardo, their eyes had an expression like what the hell is this guy talking about, it didn't take long for Ricardo to realize this
"What are you looking at?"
"What do you think?" Osiris said, a little sarcastic and a little questioning
When Ricardo didn't understand, Jacob intervened
"Heir of the Dynasty, do you think there is a better man than the heir to the throne in the Western Lands? Do you really believe that?"
Ricardo was a little bit right with these reactions
"Actually, you have a point, but the world is very big, you never know who will show up where and how" Ricardo said a little bit smugly and a little bit seriously
Ricardo and Marco's showdowns had given way to a humorous conversation, everyone was in a good mood except for one person as the ball approached.