Erneis wasn"t of n.o.ble birth; he was a commoner and was born as an orphan. In his younger years, in order to live, he slept in the slums, pickpocketed and did all kinds of odd jobs that would give him even the smallest penny. When he grew up, he decided to live an honest life, and volunteered to be a soldier, with his skills and proficiency with magic, he immediately rose up as an average knight, and then during the defensive wars of Ethareri, he rose up to become a golden knight.However the other golden knights at the time weren"t all happy about it, Erneis didn"t have any n.o.ble blood, yet he was more proficient in it, more than the golden knights at the time, they were mostly sons of n.o.bles who had private tutors. Erneis was constantly victimized by bullying and discrimination, but he didn"t mind, as long as he could do his work properly, and feed the kids he adopted, he was happy about it.
Every day a young caretaker who was also from the slums, would go and cook meals, while the children would do house ch.o.r.es to maintain the house, every time Erneis went home he was greeted with smiles, and hugs from the small children that surrounded him. They called him "Papa", Erneis was still young at the age of 22.
He only wanted a simple life, but at the same time he wanted to serve the king who gave him the golden knight rank. But his colleagues" jealousy ran deeper than he thought, Erneis wasn"t only favored by the king, he was also adored by women, one day after his service while walking home he bought some sweet bread from the bakery as he thought of the happy faces of the children when he gives it, but as he went closer and closer, the common people around him whispered to each other as they stole glances at him, he couldn"t really hear them, but he knew something was off.
He ran towards the house while hugging the bread in his arms until he was in front of it, but what greeted him was the charred remains of their house that stood in the orange afternoon like a skeleton. It had been so alive, so vibrant. Inside had been a place of love and security, a place with memories and warmth. Now the wind whistled through, the orange sky was filled with dark clouds and the steady rain fell right into the burnt wood.
He dropped the bread and started searching for the children he held dear.
"Tom, Pepper, where are you? Rodney, Mika, Jeff, answer me!" As he called out the names of five more children no one answered, as he walked inside, he discovered small charred remains that huddled up together, tears flowed unchecked down his cheeks and dripped from his chin, in their last minutes the children hugged each other. He was too sad to cry out or wail, he just stood there as still as a statue while the magnitude of his loss swept over him.
"I"ll kill them! I"LL KILL THEM!" The young Erneis screamed at the top of his lungs. His shaking body was slowly enveloped up with air, as rage ran through his very being, images of the n.o.bles swept through his mind, he decided to kill them once and for all, even if it meant that it would change his very being.
But as he turned around, what he saw was a man in casual clothes, he didn"t even wear a tailcoat, he just wore a white long sleeve, behind him a blonde child tugged on his breeches and looked at him at the same time. Erneis knew the person, it was the man he saw every day on the castle, the man who gave him his rank, the man whom his loyalty belonged to.
The man"s peaceful crystal eyes looked at Erneis with sorrow, which made Erneis temporarily contain his anger, even how enraged he was, he didn"t want to disrespect the man who gave him everything.
"Your majesty, why are you here, and you shouldn"t bring your child in a place like this," he looked away to hide his expression.
But the man walked up to him and hugged him as a best friend would, and he whispered to his ears.
"I heard the news, I came rus.h.i.+ng... calm your anger, and sheath your sword, I"ll make sure to punish the wrongdoers, they aren"t worthy to be killed by your own hand"
"Your majesty, if you do that you"ll lose the support of the Lords, I have to end them myself, this isn"t your business," Erneis balled his hand into a fist, and bit his lip, while his tears endlessly flowed.
"It"s fine," the King patted Erneis back, the child that tugged behind the King also hugged Erneis on his side and looked at him with her crystal colored eyes that he inherited from her father. The only difference was their hair, the vast difference between golden and brown.
Seeing the child stare into his eyes, Erneis was touched in his heart and finally was able to let out the pain on his chest, he hugged the King"s back tightly as he clutched into the white long sleeves as he cried his heart out. He cried and cried as he recalled the smiles of the children he treated as his sons and daughters, he imagined the fear that they had experienced as they huddled up waiting for him to rescue them until they died.
"Sorry, everyone, Sorry," Erneis held the king tighter to express squeeze out all his grief. The King smiled as he tapped his back, no words were needed.
...
With the King"s help Erneis wasn"t able to dirty his hands with the blood of the corrupt n.o.bles, the day after, the King ordered the investigation and capture of the n.o.bles and publicized their acts, the people of Ethareri were enraged and they lost authority over their domain and were sentenced to death.
Since then, Erneis has been on the King"s side for many years and was promoted as chief, now the Golden Knights recruited common people as well as long as they have the abilities, which was the monthly tournaments, and any form of corruption was punished severely.
A few years later, the child who once tugged at the back of the King as he comforted his favored knight, ascended to the throne, her name was Michaela Acirendra. At the deathbed of the King, Erneis was entrusted to search for his illegitimate children, it was Erneis who found Claire Acirendra. Erneis swore to the King that he would take care of his daughters, and protect them at all costs.
...
???????? ?????? ?? ??? ?????? ????
With Claire, Andrei and Gideon"s attacks being useless against the enemy, Erneis was the only one left who could go toe to toe and damage the beast who has fully transformed, it was a mishmash of different creatures, it had the body of a lion, its tail was of a serpent, it had extensions of claws growing out of its body, and the face had the same features of the emperor. To them, it was a horrible and hopeless sight, but for Erneis who swore to protect the children of the King, it was no more than a monster that needed to be slain.