Most precious

Duke Yvonne was silent as he heaved a heartfelt sigh. "I don't want to have my son on a battlefield, even though your swordsmanship is amazing to no ends, I still don't want to have my son on the front lines."

"It's alright, I'll will manage somehow. If I can't do a small mission like this, how will I inherit the Dukedom?" Victon replied softly "...does mother and the twins know?"

"No, they don't. Your mother will definitely break havoc when she finds out." Said the Duke rubbing his temples.

"I'll try to coax her... when will I go to the fief?" Victon asked.

"One day from now, I have to make preparations tomorrow then the day after you can go" his father replied.

"Hm" Victon nodded then made his way to the door to leave.

"Victon..." his father said, "please be careful."

"...I will" Victon replied softly then made his way out of the study.

Victon walked through the marble hallways with luxurious leather shoes making loud clacks. He made his way to the third floor and entered his enormous room. Coming in, he didn't bother to change and slumped onto the bed tiredly. 'Going away huh...' Victon thought, 'I had only meet with her for a few weeks... what if she doesn't remember me when I come back?'

Victon pulled out a hairpin from his pocket and fiddle with it. The hairpin was purple and gold in color, designed with ruby gems. He wasn't able to give this to the little girl because he had bought her the book before, so he forgot about it. Victon picked this hairpin with rubies among the other luxurious accessories because it had reminded him of her fiery attitude. He chuckled at the thought of her getting mad and pouting her lips. He didn't know how to feel about this, he liked to play around with her, but what does she mean to him? His heart beats faster when he saw her smiling widely with her cute cheek dimples, but what does that mean? Maybe because he's surrounded my brothers, he must've thought of her as a sister. Victon thought of giving the hair pin to her as a goodbye gift before he departs and drifted into sleep.

********

Victon woke up the next morning as the sun shone on his finely sculpted face highlighting his features. He grumbled as he sat up, feeling sluggish he went to change and freshen up.

Combing his hair back, fixing his cuffs and collar, Victon then took his beautifully engraved sword ,representing the Dukedom, and walked down to the dinning room for breakfast. He walked into the dinning room, but froze when he saw his two brothers crying with red eyes and his mother holding in her tears. 'Here it comes' Victon thought as his mother looked at him.

"Victon, this is mission is too dangerous for a young boy like you, this is the front lines! What if Venus decided to invade? What if you get hurt?" His mother said with concern, her tears threatening to fall out.

"Mother you know my swordsmanship better than anyone else. If anything happens I can protect myself, so don't worry" Victon reassured.

"Who's going to help me with my homework now?!" The twins said at the same time with tears on their cheeks.

"If you keep asking for help, how are you going to learn!" Their mother said to them.

"Alright, settle down, let's eat our breakfast now" said the Duke.

"And YOU I can't believe you let our son go just like that!" The Duchess bickered. Knowing he couldn't refute his wife, the Duke avoided her glaze with cold sweat on his forehead. 'She will nag me for the next few months' thought the Duke with a sigh.

"Mother, can you help me pack later?" Victon asked coming to the Duke's rescue.

"Of course, I can darling" his mother replied sweetly.

'Nice one Victon' the Duke thought, this was one of the reasons why he didn't want Victon to leave. His oldest son is the only one who can calm down his wife's fiery temper.

Later, Victon and the twins went to the training grounds to duel. It was Victon against the two and of course, Victon won without even breaking a sweat.

"Train more and get stronger. While I'm not here it's up to you two to protect mother and father, understand?" Victon said looking down at the twins who are breathing heavily and covered in sweat.

"When you come back I'm going to be stronger than you! Just watch!" Desmond declared.

"Yeah! When you come back, you won't be able to breathe while fighting us!" Hendery declared.

"Hm" Victon nodded at their resolution.

Back in the mansion, his mother had packed the clothing and other necessities for tomorrow's departure.

"Thank you mother, I'm going out for a bit see you later" Victon said to his mother leaving her a kiss on the cheek.

"Why are you always going out in the afternoon? Is there a daughter-in-law I should know about?" His mother raise an eyebrow.

"... maybe" Victon replied with his eyes softened up not knowing that his mother caught the change in his eyes. Victon left before his mother got a chance to interrogate him further.