Episode 4 "Picnic"

Viol went into his room in full swing. When he arrived, he locked his door and threw himself into bed. He was out of breath and he was sweating cold. It had only been five minutes since he started listening to his father's speech, but those five minutes made him tired like he did when he cleaned the whole house. He slowly straightened out from where he lay down and held his breath. He started thinking calmly.

"Although Margarate was one of the maids who bullied me, she didn't deserve to die. And Margarate is one of Catarina's personal servants, so her position at home is high. Catarina likes to keep her personal servants close, so Margarate lived with us. I mean, she didn't know a lot people. So murder can't be personal or the work of the "Hearts" Kingdom. Although they are famous for their Animas. So this murder must have been carried out by someone or some people who is close to the Vale Family. That's not all. They must have information about the Vale family. Huh..."

Viol's body shivered from head to toe, his feathers were tingling and his eyes teared up.

"Why was Margarate out of house in the middle of the night from the begining?.. Also last night Catari-"

Viol's thoughts were divided by Alfred knocking on his door.

- "Master Viol, could you open the door, please?"

- "Of course, Alfred, I'll be right there."

Viol looked briefly in the mirror before opening the door. He wiped away the tears that had accumulated in his eyes and calmed himself down. He opened the door slowly with a smile on his face.

- "Come in, Alfred. How can I help you?"

Alfred smiled gently.

- "I see you never compromise your kindness, master Viol. You're so kind to even a butler like me."

Viol was happy for Alfred to praise him.

- "It's all right, Alfred! I don't think politeness is an important trait. Never mind that, what did you come for? Has something happened?"

- "Lady Catarina and Master Gerard are waiting for you downstairs. You were going on a picnic today, remember?"

Viol was quite shocked but he was with his reaction. He didn't want Alfred to suspect anything.

- "Yes, of course!I will be right there! I don't want to keep them waiting any longer."

Viol finished his final preparations and then left his room. He didn't want this morning's events to affect his day.

Catarina was near to the main door, so as soon as Viol opened the door, he met Catarina. He leaned slightly and greeted Catarina in the most polite way he could.

- "I beg your pardon for keeping you waiting, Lady Catarina. I didn't understand how time passed when I was reading book. I can assure you that this will never happen again."

Catarina remained silent for a while but Viol could feel Catarina's icy gaze on his neck. He got a shiver down his neck. Every time he talked to Catarina, this feeling hunted him down.

Catarina, at last, kept walking without saying anything. Viol slowly straightened up and took a deep breath. Talking to Catarina reaaly was exhausting for a nine-year-old boy.

Before finishing preparations and heading for Hannibal, Catarina thought it would be good to have extra guards with them as Thomas was unable to accompany them on the trip. When the carriage was finished loading the goods, they set out with twenty guards, ten servants and Alfred. As there was not enough room in the carriage, the guards were escorting the family on foot by the carriage. Alfred was ahead because he was driving. Catarina, Gerard and the servants were in the back, in the cart. Viol was in front of the cart with Alfred. He didn't want to spend his journey with a ton of people who humiliated him and Gerard's gripes.

Despite the slow progress of the guards and the heat of summer roasting around, Viol was quite pleased with his condition. It was quite a few times he was able to go out like this, as he was almost always at home. On top of that, he loved horses. He read in his books that horses are a warrior's best friend. He thought he was quite lucky to be able to see them up close in this way.

As their journey continued, they finally arrived at the "Crystel Forest", where they had to go through it to get to Hannibal and should had reached it about half an hour earlier. The journey was going to be a little more difficult from here on out. The Forest Road was pretty narrow and bumpy. In order for the wheels to not break, the driver had to constantly transfer mana to the wheels and harden the wheels.

As he moved forward, Viol was mesmerized by the beauty of the forest. Up to long green, yellow, blue and red yesilized trees. Flowers of all kinds of colors, the sun hitting his face through the leaves and the air burning his lungs with its cleanliness. It really was like a part of heaven. At least that's what Viol thought.

But sometimes reality can hit you like a slap.

As they continue their journey, Viol is was enjoying himsel quite a bit while those in the wagon was just trying to pass their time by siting and do nothing and the guards was following the cart just a little bit behind.

Alfred stoped the car at once. Not understanding why they stopped, Viol was shocked to see the look on Alfred's face. Alfred, who always maintained his composure and had a warm smile, had a horrified expression on his face. His eyes were enlarged, his teeth clamped together, he began to shiver with horor and terror that even the slightest wrinkle on his face was visible. He alerted the guards by shouting as loud as he could.

- "Monster attack! Guards! Everybody in position! We're under attack from a high-level monster!"

Startled by Alfred's shouting, Viol immediately entered the carriage. He didn't want to be a burden to the others. The servants were all scared and hugged each other. Feeling the presence of the monster, Catarina jumped off from the wagon and join the Guards. But in that moment Gerard stopped her. He gripped his mothers dress. And started to talk with teary eyes. His voice was also shaking.

- "M...Mom? Where are you off to?"

Although Gerard was cruel to his older brother, he was actually just an eight-year-old little boy. His little hands was trembling, tears crept from his little cheeks, and he didn't want to let go of his mother's dress, which he held on to. Catarina immediately tried to calm Gerard down.

- "Mom's not going anywhere, Gerard! Don't you worry! Your mom's just gonna look around and come back. And you have to be a brave boy until your mother comes, okay?"

Gerard left his mother and wiped away tears.

- "Okay, Mot.-"

Gerard's word was interrupted by the monster's blood-freezing roar. Everyone who heard roaring was frozen. Nobody could move. Some of them weren't even breathing becaues of the terror they felt. The Beast was thrown from the depths of the forest, and as it moved forward, it took Alfred's head, which was standing at the front, with it. Viol watched this scene live. It was as if time had slowed down.

Blood began to gush from Alfred's body, who was left without his head. Turning around a little, Alfred's body finally stopped and then his body fell into the wagon, into Viol's lap. Viol couldn't even react. Only a little word came out of his little mouth that couldn't describe the shock and fear he was experiencing.

- "Eh?"

Seeing the view, the servants broke out a huge scream. Catarina and Gerard couldn't believe what they saw, so they froze. Catarina bit her lips to come to her senses and started yelling.

- "Guards! Circle formation now! Protect us at all costs!"

The guards regained consciousness on Catarina's orders, circling the wagon and moving into circle formation. At that time Catarina entered the wagon, pulling Viol out from under Alfred's body. Then Gerard, who fainted out of fear. Then she went out and started shaking Viol from his shoulders. Viol was still in shock.

- "Now listen to me, Viol Vale! I want you to take your brother and get out of here right now! We'll slow the beast down. You're gonna take your brother and you're gonna get out of here fast! Understood! You're the only one who can protect him! So get him out of here right now! Now go!"

Meanwhile, the monster slowly emerged from the forest. He was holding Alfred's head in his mouth. It was a flaming Tiger King. He was one of the strongest beast in the cat species and even worse hed had reached his adulthood. Even under Normal circumstances, it would take at least ten "10" to fight this monster. This Tiger, about twenty feet tall, was a terrifying beast with one feet tall of longitudinal teeth, diamond-hard skin, fire-yellow fur, claws that could cut down trees in one move, and a spiky tail that was specially created to kill.

But even though he was a monstrous beast, he possessed the nobility of a king, as befits his name. It looked pretty glorious.

The tiger jumped over the guards, smashing Alfred's head, which was in his mouth, with a single jaw move. Meanwhile, the viol, who came to his senses with Catarina's words, took Gerard in his lap and started running as fast as he could. He knew that if they were to stay there, they would only be in the way.

As Viol ran without looking back, he heard the anguished cries of the guards.