Chapter 3: Chapter 3: The Vechnos Kingdom(2)

Chapter 3: The Vechnos Kingdom(2)

Victor turned around and focused on Green.

Green had lost all hope of survival as Victor was a Great Knight, and the difference between a High Knight and a Great Knight was no less than the difference between an adult and a child.

Green didn't want to get caught by Victor and then get tortured for answers, so he crushed his front tooth.

The next moment, his front tooth exploded into powder, and he forcefully pushed it down his throat. In the time it took for Victor to reach Green, the poison had done its work.

When Victor removed the helmet, Green's eyes had popped out and were blood red.

Victor cursed in anger and smashed the head into the ground, where it exploded like a watermelon.

Victor then picked up Ferrick and Ryan and left the scene. The next day, a memorial was held for the children and the priest. Ryan was also present to say goodbye to his friends. He no longer had the child-like innocence.

***

"Uncle, I want you to teach me how to fight." Ryan requested Victor after returning to the palace.

Victor, who was stroking his sword, raised his head in surprise and looked at his nephew.

A wide smile spread across his handsome face when he saw the steely determination in Ryan's child-like eyes.

"Your father is going to be angry with you," Victor didn't immediately answer but commented.

Ryan's eyes were still as determined as ever, and he answered, "I will talk with my father and mother."

"You just need to answer will you teach me how to fight?" Ryan asked, shocking Victor.

"It seems you have been forced to grow," Victor mumbled with a helpless sigh.

From his birth, Ryan had been playful and studious, and whenever he would see Victor, he would rush to play with him, calling him uncle.

Victor couldn't help but become emotional, remembering those days. At the same time, it also gave birth to hatred toward whoever was behind yesterday's event.

"If your father says yes, then I will teach you," Victor answered after a pause.

Ryan nodded with a slight excitement on his face. Ryan couldn't wait for the day when he would also become a Great Knight like his uncle and hunt his friend's killers.

***

Ryan's father, Henry, was the sixteenth King of the Vechnos Kingdom. Henry was also a Great Knight, but he hated fighting.

Henry was a proponent of art, culture, and knowledge, so during his reign, the capital Vecna slowly became the cultural capital of the Knight Continent.

Henry wanted his eldest son, Ryan, to also follow his ideology, so instead of admitting him to the Knight Academy, he sent him to the Temple, where he would learn new knowledge.

Henry was a handsome man in his early thirties. When Ryan went to meet him, Henry was in discussion with Loraine, the queen and Ryan's mother.

Ryan was the topic of the conversation since Ryan almost died yesterday. Loraine wasn't happy with how Henry was forcing his ideology on their son and not allowing him to learn combat.

Henry silently listened to all his wife's complaints since he was also thinking about the events from yesterday. Ryan was not only his eldest son but also his favorite of his three children—two from Loraine and one from Erica, his concubine.

When Loraine and Henry found that Ryan was coming to meet them, they stopped fighting. Lorraine immediately rushed toward Ryan when she saw him.

Lorraine's heart was hurting since she could see how it had affected her son. If it were any other day, Ryan would have run into her embrace, but now forget about an embrace; he didn't even smile while greeting them.

"Are you alright?" Lorraine asked Ryan after kissing him on his forehead.

"Maa, Papa, I wanted to talk to you about something," Ryan said.

Lorraine's face fell in sadness, but she still left Ryan and returned to her chair.

Henry had an incomprehensible face as he looked at his son. He couldn't bring himself to go and embrace him.

"What do you want to say?" Henry asked after a long pause. He already had an idea of what Ryan wanted to ask.

Before he came to meet Loraine, he met with Victor. Victor didn't tell him about the meeting between him and Ryan, but from the way he talked, Henry understood that Ryan didn't want to study in the temple.

"Papa, I want to learn fighting from Uncle Victor," Ryan announced, surprising Loraine.

***

"Please keep him safe, Victor," Lorraine requested, with tears continuously streaming down her cheeks.

When she learned that Ryan wanted to learn to fight and start his Knight training, she felt it was normal for Ryan to ask for it after what transpired with him. But she only later found out that Victor was taking him somewhere else, with no answer as to how long the training would be.

"Don't worry, my queen, I will put his life above mine," Victor responded with a solemn vow.

Victor and Ryan had a blood relation, as Victor and Henry were from the same mother. But now that Ryan was the eldest prince, and Henry had also made it clear that he would announce Ryan as his heir as soon as he reached adulthood (16 years old), even Victor needed to treat Ryan respectfully.

"Don't be too harsh on him," Henry requested of Victor. His tone was no longer of the King, but a father requesting his younger brother to train his son.

"Trust me, brother, when Ryan and I return, he will be no longer a child but a man, to whom you can pass your Kingdom," Victor replied.

***

"Brother, don't forget us," Emilia and Peter cried, tears streaming down their cheeks.

Emilia was the youngest of the three, and she was Loraine's daughter, while Peter was the son of the concubine.

The relationship between the siblings was tightly bonded since Henry had been preparing his younger children to be loyal subordinates, not rulers.

Ryan also couldn't hold his tears, as he had also never expected to leave the palace. But since he had determined to grow stronger, he didn't want to give up.

"Wait for me. When I return, I will protect all of you," Ryan announced, raising his fist into the air.

***

"I will be waiting for you," Henry patted Ryan's shoulder and then turned around, returning to the palace.

***

"Let's go!" Victor commanded and then proceeded forward. Ryan followed closely, with a giant bag filled with wooden swords and puppets perched atop his tiny shoulder.