Chapter 1: The Most Loathed Man
In the middle of seemingly nowhere, along a muddy road riddled with puddles and potholes, some so wide Kaelor found himself gaping at them, the carriage had come to a frustrating halt. Rain from the night before had turned the dirt track into a mire. The wheels were buried deep, sunk in sloshing mud.
Kaelor stood beside his mother, arms folded and brow furrowed, glaring at the two coachmen struggling to push the carriage free. Their clothes were soaked through, splattered with mud, and their backs strained with effort. But no progress had been made.
"This is absurd!" Kaelor snapped, his voice rising with aristocratic indignation. "We’ve been out here for hours! Both of you are weak, incompetent oafs! Get my carriage out of that pit and ride me to Redwood Town before nightfall or I swear, I’ll have your heads mounted on pikes!"
He jabbed his fingers toward them as though casting a curse, his voice cracking with anger and entitlement. The coachmen said nothing, their faces grim, their muscles straining silently.
His mother, a tall and graceful woman in her late forties with her long hair tied into a neat bun, offered the men an apologetic smile. Despite the strain in her eyes, she turned to her son with quiet composure.
"Kaelor..." she began gently.
"Don’t speak to me, woman!" Kaelor spat, turning his fury on her without hesitation. "You got to my father’s bed first, yet all you managed to become was a concubine! And me? I’m his firstborn, the rightful heir and still, here I am! Why couldn’t you make him name me before he died?!"
His voice trembled with bitterness, his fists clenched. His father, the late Lord of the Dukedom of Merlin, had died during a hunting trip, and yet, it was his younger half-brother who had been chosen as the new Duke. The humiliation gnawed at Kaelor like a festering wound.
His mother’s face tightened, but before she could respond, one of the coachmen, his back still bent from pushing, let out a low, sharp scoff.
"Maybe because you couldn’t keep out of brothels and taverns long enough to learn anything about ruling."
The words were quiet, but the silence that followed was deafening.