An infant's cry shattered the silent dawn of Castle Aberleen. House Paxley, the most powerful and influential duchy in the Moniyan Empire, finally had an heir.
The child's father Duke Paxley named him , and soon his younger brothers were born one after another. But as the eldest son and the family heir, had been subject to more strict discipline since his childhood. He was never allowed to be as free-spirited as his brother , and since as early as his boyhood, he'd been occupied with studies and official duties all day.
did not only learn the things required for a normal nobleman. His father Duke Paxley would also secretly teach him the spell that was only passed down to the family's direct descendants. It was a devious, ruthless spell that killed people neither honestly nor honorably. once felt skeptical because the secret family spell didn't match the honorable history of House Paxley that believed in the Lord of Light, and for this, he went out of his way to read on the family history.
However, fate didn't allow him to find any answer. The year when just turned 18, his father who had high hopes for him went missing along with his mother in a sandstorm while visiting Altair. After his father's presumed death, had to bear the heavy responsibilities of the family as the young heir and became the head of House Paxley.
showed a degree of maturity that a young man like him barely had, whether it was due to his father's teachings or the heavy burdens of the family. He was passionate in social circles but cold and aloof when facing his political enemies. He displayed a perfect noble gentleman's kindness in politics, but on battlefields, he seemed like a ghoul casting merciless spells. To most people who'd worked with him, was a shadow that could never be caught.
After the late Duke Paxley was presumed dead, was not only left with the responsibilities of the entire family, but also his young brothers and sisters. In fact, he was not as mysterious and inscrutable as others saw. His intention was surprisingly simple: the duty of protecting House Paxley had been engraved in his mind since he was the heir, so his family and the blood ties were everything to . No matter what evil deeds or good things he'd done, they'd all been for one purpose—the future of House Paxley.
once thought that protecting the house and protecting his families were completely the same, until one day, the curse from the ancient prophecy befell his younger brother, ...
never showed it to anyone, but among all his brothers and sisters, had been the one he'd paid the most attention to. Because saw the qualities that he didn't possess on —he was a free-spirited rebel who'd wreak havoc without a second thought. But didn't dislike his brother for it, and he thought maybe they were supposed to resemble each other as brothers, except that he had no choice but to turn into the person he was now. Whenever he looked at , he seemed to see the person he could have been.
Therefore, even though the entire Moniyan Empire knew that had a trickster good-for-nothing brother, he'd never discipline about his delinquent behaviors. Even one time when little accidentally cut 's face with a knife, leaving a permanent scar on his cheek, only patted him and didn't say anything more. Of course, didn't dare to bring any sharp objects near his respectable brother ever again.
As the heir of the family, had heard about their ancestors' prophecy from his father since still young. He knew that whoever in House Paxley had a dark mark appearing on their body would be attached by the deity. So, when he found the mark on , he immediately made the decision to imprison him and cut out all the connection between him and the outside world, temporarily preventing the other family members from finding out about the changes on .
was engrossed by immense pain afterwards. 's existence was without a doubt a sword of Damocles hanging above House Paxley, but didn't want to kill his brother. However, what he did to protect didn't buy them much time. A few days later, the elders of the family found out about 's secret and soon arrived at the place where was held. And they were obviously not here to spare 's life.
The situation didn't allow to hesitate any longer, so he made the decision to ask the servant who'd been watching over to free his brother in secret. But rather than just letting roam free, had been keeping an eye on his brother, and as expected, his wayward brother didn't follow his order and stayed in hiding in Castle Aberleen instead.
The young Duke Paxley let out a sigh and decided to do it himself—to find the root of the dark-mark curse and save his brother, while putting an end to the fetters of tragedies that had confined their family for centuries.
