"Aaron, captain of the 8th pillar. The king summons you to the castle, immediately!" A voice said from the hall's entrance.
Everybody turned to look at who it was, as the whole place went silent.
"Marie?" Simon said.
"Not even going to greet me welcome are you? Straight to business." Aaron said as he dropped his cup of wine.
"Courtesy Aaron, courtesy. The king's words precede mine, no matter the circumstance. How have you been, master?"
Everyone returned to their eating and small talks after receiving the message, as though nothing had just happened.
"I'm fine, as always. What's with the dress? When did you start wearing such things." Aaron asked as his eyes scanned Marie from head to toe.
"Don't know, just wanted a change of style, that's all. I see you still like your wine master, even while everyone's on beer."
"Mmm, that's their business, not mine."
Out of nowhere, one of them who had just woken up from his drunken sleep started speaking, without knowing the situation or what was going on around them. "Isn't that Marie? How's your boyfriend? Heard that Hainz guy asked you out."
"…" The whole place went silent again.
"Hainz? What is this I hear about something that may lead to marriage?"
As Aaron returned to his seat, a certain murderous aura surrounded him. Although it wasn't visible, everyone around could tell. "Marie? I'm listening."
'We are so dead! Dead!! Why did that idiot have to go and say it? Who let him drink alcohol? I just hope our fates will be better than those guys.' Simon couldn't help his thoughts. Aaron might be their captain, but he is an impulsive man, worse if someone made him angry, and now, he fears for whoever this Hainz may be. As for them, they are sure to suffer from strays.
At that moment, Simon recalled a memory that further worsened and demolished what little hope he had left.
In the past, there was a woman who boasted to be the wife of one of the richest men in Esnoch surnamed Barliyew. One day on her way back from her regular shopping, she hit and cursed at her slave for dropping her newly bought bag of cloths on their way home.
The slap was strong enough to send the child stumbling a few feet. The little 8-year-old slave had tripped because she couldn't see the road ahead of her as the big bag of cloths obstructed her view.
At that same moment, Aaron happened to be taking a walk in the area, and after he saw what happened, it disgusted him.
What disgusted him wasn't the fact that the woman had a slave, no. It was the fact that the woman had hit a child so hard for something that wasn't even her fault. But he ignored it since it wasn't any of his business.
He continued his walk, only to get spit at by the woman. Although it was a mistake and only because of the direction of the wind had changed suddenly, it did not difference to Aaron's disgust.
As their carriage rolled by, without any explanation, Aaron burned her using fire magic. The burn was so much that when the fire extinguished, there was nothing left of her to bury, not even ashes, as he used wind magic to blow away her remains.
The guards of the Barliye house around the carriage didn't dare move against him. Although they knew how ruthless the fabled Aaron was, never did they expect he would do what he did to a noble, all for a slave.
In reality, He only did what he did because she spit on his face, even though he knew it was a mistake. She was just unlucky to have crossed him while he was in a disgusted mood, which was also her fault by the way.
With that, he felt he had to take the little slave girl, as she would suffer even more in the hands of her masters if she returned. "I think I'll take this responsibility as my punishment for acting rashly."
That slave was later granted the name Marie by him since she didn't want her former name anymore. From that day onward he acted like a big brother to her instead of just a master.
After that day, no one dared treat their slaves inhumanly. Although, some did in secret, others didn't dare to, even in secrete.
Marie was able to grow to her current strength thanks not only to her talent in magic, but also because she had a good mentor and big brother.
Lately, she had been getting distant from Aaron after hearing some bad and scandalous things about him through the king and some others. Whether what she had heard was true or not, she couldn't say, and she couldn't ask because somehow, she didn't want to loose trust in her master an brother.
Aaron knew something was wrong as he could tell just how distant they had gotten, but what he didn't know was what the cause was.
*sigh*
"You know, I have something to do, so I'll be leaving."
"Marieee?" Before Aaron could say anything, she had disappeared using teleportation magic.
"The guts she has. The king has been spoiling her I see, we'll have our chat later."
'Phew… He let me go. If he wanted to, I know he could have blocked dimensional movement within that hall.'
.
.
"I have come in response to your summons, King," Aaron said while walking almost slowly towards the king, who was seated on his throne inside an enormous throne room.
"Ahh, my most capable captain, you have arrived. Come on; let us go to the dining room."
Aaron and the King continued their conversation over dinner, though the King had to eat alone as Aaron just came from a feast and was already filled.
Even as the King had always acted in a friendly manner towards Aaron, a special treatment only he got, excluding the King's family. Aaron never fully trusted the King, or anyone. He was aware of his threat to the throne and the nobles, so he was always cautious.
When going to such invitations for dinner and the likes, he would prepare anti-poisoning potions, amongst other things, Just to be safe.
After dinner, though late, Aaron and the king went outside over the walls of the kingdom to check out a site the King had gotten complaints about recently. It was reported that something suspicious was happening in that area, so the king decided to check it out himself.
"Shouldn't you have just sent your soldiers to take care of this?"
"Come on Aaron, I barely leave the palace at all. At least this once let me come out and see the beauty of my own kingdom."
"I doubt you'll be seeing any such beauty tonight." The king laughed hard to this while patting Aaron in the back, more like hitting. Since they were on a floating board, the King's patting almost threw him over.
"I think you should never pat your son, l..." Aaron said, but before he could complete his sentence, he was interrupted by a sudden stroke of pain in his abdomen and chest. Falling to his knees, with he's hands over his stomach, he felt something.
He immediately tried to use a recovery spell before checking for attackers, but he found out about something even worse. He could no longer use magic.