It was a beautiful Monday morning in a Victorian-looking small town, the sun had just started to shine like summer.
The farmers were just setting up their tents to sell their goods at the marketplace, little children played everywhere, and their voices were hardly to be overheard; the small town was always lively during the summer days.
But on a small hill visible from the small town, there lay a small but beautiful castle that was like a landmark of the small town, because most travelers and others who came to visit recognized it by that.
And on the third floor of the castle, a young man was just waking up, he rubbed his eyes briefly and stood upright, stretching a little.
"Man, did I sleep well," he thought to himself.
While he was just about to go to the bathroom to wash his face and brush his teeth to start his day, suddenly someone knocked on the door of his room.
"My Lord, are you already awake?" said a sweet voice from the back door.
"Uh, yes Lilly, I'm awake, you can already prepare the food for me, I'll be there soon" he answered kindly and with a tired voice.
"Very well, My Lord, as you wish," replied Lilly, who was a maid in the castle.
He quickly finished what he intended to do because, after all, he felt a huge hunger.
He hastily put on the clothes that he had placed on the chair in the middle of his room the day before.
He went through the door and hurried down the hallway, driven by hunger, down the stairs until he reached the ground floor.
A huge table stood there where he still saw Lily putting the last thing on it — a basket with bread, to be precise.
"Good morning, Lily," he said with a smile.
"Morning, My Lord, your food is prepared as requested, I just put the crispy rolls you like so much, My Lord," replied Lily with big happy eyes.
He hastily sat down and was just about to take the first piece into his mouth when suddenly there was a knock on the door.
Since the dining table was near the main entrance, he heard it loud and clear.
"Lily, could you please check who needs me at this early hour?"
He said kindly and took the first piece of bread into his mouth.
Lily walked slowly and politely down the hall until she reached the door; she opened the door quietly and unsuspectingly.
"Yes, how can I help you?" said Lily kindly, but as she looked closer, there stood two knights of the imperial army.
"Good morning, sorry for the disturbance, but we were ordered by the Emperor himself to pick up the young My Lord and bring him to the palace," said one of the knights politely.
Lily became slightly nervous and held on to the door frame.
"B-but if I may ask, why do you need the My Lord? He has done nothing!" said Lily nervously and slightly frightened.
"Dear maid, we have no time for explanations, PLEASE BRING THE MYLORD HERE," replied the knight a little loudly, so that even the boy could hear it at the dining table.
Puzzled, he stood up to check.
When he came into the corridor, he saw Lily at the door.
"Lily, is everything alright? I heard someone shouting MYLORD loudly?"
The boy couldn't see the knights properly because of Lily.
But when Lily nervously turned around and looked at him,
"My Lord, the two knights were sent personally by the Emperor?"
said Lily nervously.
The boy ignored her statement and stepped closer to her, gently pushed her aside, and faced the knights.
"So you two, what exactly does the Emperor want from me?" he asked curiously and shamelessly at the same time.
"The Emperor has only ordered us to bring you to the palace, young MyLord. There he must speak with you about something important," replied the knight calmly.
Without hesitation, he thought a little and turned to Lily.
"Lily, please take care of the castle. I will be back soon," he said calmly.
"B-but, My Lord, you don't know what he will do to you," said Lily nervously, leaning closer to his ear.
"Maybe he wants to kill you, My Lord, you know what he thinks of you," she whispered into his ear.
He ignored the statement with a small grin and turned to the two knights and walked towards the carriage, which stood a bit ahead of the entrance gate.
He got in, Lilly followed him to the gate and gave him a worried look before he enters in.
The carriage started, the two knights sat at the front with the carriage driver, so he sat alone at the back.
They went down the hill where the small town was, crowds of people watched curiously from all sides, some murmured about him, since the curtains were transparent, they recognized him in the carriage.
He just looked and gave no reaction, many thoughts went through his head.
"What does he want from me now? Did I do something to anger him? NO. That can't be, I did everything that was demanded of me. But anyway, I sense nothing good, but whatever," he thought to himself.
While they were already on the way out of the small town, he glanced once more at the people, afraid that they might accuse him of something, though he wasn't the most popular in town either.
After they left the small town behind, it didn't take long until they reached the capital of the empire called "Lufius Garden."
Named after the first emperor and founder of the empire, and since then the crown has been in the possession of the Lufius family.
The landscapes were admirable, mountains so tall their peaks went above the clouds.
Everywhere along the way, he saw small towns, villages, and various counties, duchies, and principalities of noble families, all loyal to the emperor and financing him.
They drove for a while until they reached the capital.
The capital had no entrance gates, so everyone could enter freely and without control.
They drove through beautiful streets of Lufius Garden, people of all classes could be seen, marketplaces, shops of every kind, and much more.
He recognized from the carriage that although there were people from every class, the difference between rich and poor was easy to recognize.
The statue of Lufius was the trademark of the city, equivalent in size to ten elephants.
It stood in the middle in front of the palace entrance; from afar one could recognize that the Lufius family held absolute power.
The carriage stopped in front of the palace entrance, and one of the knights in the carriage gave a sign for the gates to open, and they slowly opened, and they drove inside.
The boy looked out of the window into the palace, it was a long distance from the entrance to the palace, so huge was the estate.
The carriage stopped in front of the palace entrance, outside already waited some servants and Prince Ludmilla.
He got out and stood for a moment, looking up to see the palace completely; it looked mighty, guards could be seen at every window.
"Man, I haven't been here for a long time, memories are coming back," he thought to himself.
One of the servants on the palace grounds came closer to him.
"My Lord, I hope your journey was pleasant," said the servant.
"Yes, thank you, it was," he replied kindly.
"Well, well, well, who do we have here?" said Prince Lud, who was waiting outside for his arrival.
The boy didn't even glance at him but was already annoyed by his voice, and he turned to one of the servants in line.
"Excuse me, could someone please take me to the Emperor? I want to get this over with quickly and go back to my castle. I have no patience to waste time with the old Emperor," he said ironically but annoyed at the same time.
"HOW DARE YOU SPEAK ABOUT THE EMPEROR LIKE THAT, YOU SUSPICIOUS BASTARD," shouted Prince Ludmilla from the side.
"I didn't answer you earlier, so don't shout at me, got it? And just leave it!"
the boy replied to Prince Ludmilla, not even looking him in the face.
Which humiliated Prince Ludmilla in front of everyone present.
After all, he is a prince who should not be humiliated so easily.
"My Lords, please don't start a quarrel. The young My Lord is surely just tired from the journey," said the Emperor's advisor named Edward; he had just come through the palace entrance and heard the two.
Both looked at him and it became quiet, Prince Ludmilla looked angrily at the boy, while the boy still didn't look at him.
"Edward, please take me to the Emperor, I want to get this over with quickly!" said the boy urgently.
Edward came to him and put a hand on his shoulder and walked a few steps with him to the palace entrance.
"That will be a little difficult with going back home,"
answered Edward with a nervous smile.
"Huh, what do you mean by that?" asked the boy confused.
"You will soon find out from the Emperor."
replied Edward and calmly removed his hand from the shoulder.
They entered the palace; the hallway was huge, on the right and left were stairs leading to other floors.
Pictures of former emperors and family members hung everywhere on the walls.
They walked a little until they reached the end of the hallway; two knights in golden armor waited there, guarding the gate to the entrance to the throne room.
Edward and the boy stopped in front of them.
"Honorable knights, open the gate; the young My Lord was personally summoned by the Emperor," said Edward politely to the two knights.
They looked at the boy briefly with a serious look and nodded to Edward's request and quickly opened the gate.
"Wow. I haven't been here for a long time, but I must honestly say, it always surprises me anew how majestic the throne room looks," thought the boy.
"Majestic, isn't it, young My Lord?" said Edward to him with a grin.
"From here, you go alone; after all, the Emperor called you and not me," added Edward and turned his back to him, grinning over his shoulder.
The boy said nothing, threw him a small smile also over his shoulder.
Now he went in slowly.
A huge light blue carpet led from the entrance to the throne; on the windows were huge stained glass paintings of emperors holding swords as a symbol of absolute power.
In the distance, he could already see the Emperor sitting on the throne, around him stood some nobles who did not belong to the Lufius family.
He went closer and closer until he stood in front of him.
"Your Majesty," he said and bowed briefly.
"You called me here, Your Majesty," he added.
"Yes, that's right, Serlin, my boy, I actually wanted you to receive this by letter. But I changed my mind because I know you don't particularly like reading letters. Anyway, did you bring your things?" said Emperor Melbert to him.
Serlin looked briefly confused.
"Your Majesty, why my things if I may ask?" he replied curiously.
"Well, because you will attend the Half-Blood Academy!" said Emperor Melbert calmly, sitting on his throne.
Serlin, who was now even more confused than before, replied, "The Half-Blood Academy, what is that supposed to be? I haven't heard of such a thing or read about it, Your Majesty!"
Emperor Melbert looked at one of the nobles present.
"Duke Momoto is one of the teachers at the academy. He will teach you half-bloods how to fight the Yins."
said Emperor Melbert.
Meanwhile, Duke Momoto approached Serlin and extended his hand to him.
"Serlin, nice to meet you. We will surely get along well!"
Serlin returned the hand and just nodded nervously.
He hastily let go of the hand and turned to Emperor Melbert.
"But you can't just put me in some strange academy where we fight against some Yins, and besides, why is it called the 'Half-Blood Academy'?"
said Serlin hysterically.
Duke Momoto, who stood beside Serlin, said, "Your Majesty, may I quickly explain it to him, with your permission?"
With a nod, Emperor Melbert allowed it.
Serlin turned to Duke Momoto, who was standing there confused.
"Serlin, we, all from the noble families, decided that the half-bloods, like you, Serlin, should be put into an academy where at least you do something and don't just sit in castles doing nothing. In the academy, you can and will fight the Yins and kill them.
Recently, letters have come in from all over the world about how the Yins harass, kill people, and destroy their possessions.
That is also one of the reasons the academy was founded. So, that is the short explanation."
said Duke Momoto calmly to Serlin, who now listened carefully.
"You explained that well, Momoto," said Emperor Melbert approvingly from the throne.
Duke Momoto bowed to the Emperor in gratitude and returned to his place where the other nobles were standing.
Serlin, who was slowly calming down, turned to Emperor Melbert.
"I understand, but why are the other nobles present here, Your Majesty?"
"The nobles present from various houses themselves have half-blood children who have already agreed to attend the academy. That is the only reason."
replied Emperor Melbert calmly.
"But anyway, you will attend the academy today without excuse!"
added Emperor Melbert.
"Damn bastard," thought Serlin.
"I understand, Your Majesty!" replied Serlin calmly without showing any anger.