░3░ The Maxwell's Successor

'The knights in our duchy were so easy to manipulate. Not minding some cat's noise'

Damon thought while walking ahead to town with his long brown coat he put on earlier

Never did he know that he was being observed by the shadow knights of the duke

Some of the shadow knights were assigned to spy on him reporting back what he's been doing

Unless Damon knew he was being watched and decided to escape from their grasps but for the moment, he's still in the dark about it

During his walk, he was mesmerized at how beautiful the surrounding is with the leaves of the cherry blossoms falling to places having sun's rays all over

He felt nostalgia after watching such gentle scenery for the second time after getting out of Maxwell's household

'This was the second time I've watched cherry blossoms' leaves falling like they are pieces into place'

Damon thought unexpectedly smiling while looking around the place he's in

During his walk, he can't deny the feelings he had for the moment

Stopping by at a large cherry blossom tree, leaning his back into it resting for a bit while watching how the leaves were continuously falling down

'How long has it been since I've seen something like this? Oh I remember it was that time'

He thought remembering how he saw the same scenery for the first time

Reminiscing the past that was hardly enough for him to forget

Closing his eyes for a second feeling the rays of the sun kissing his pale skin illuminating his red hair like a flame

'I've known Lucius that you're too silent with these kinds of things. Just come here and stand in the middle of the falling leaves. It will mesmerize you and throw away the pain that you're feeling, Lucius' A little kid who had the same features as the duke of Maxwell said smiling brightly looking at a little boy of his same age while feeling the leaves falling to him

The little boy who was silent and was badly beaten by the duke because of his small mistakes, the boy with dark hair and blue eyes was Lucius Maxwell

He's the half brother of Damon from another mother or rather from another prostitute

Yet still, being the successor of the throne Damon, when still a child, understood Lucius and never hate him

He never bother such hatred overflowed him, rather he cared so much - so much- for his half brother even knowing where he came from

Even though he knew he's a prostitute's son from the duke, he accepted that fact because he has still the same blood flowing to him

But what he can't accept was the way the duke torture him, punish him for a little mistake he had done

Just because he's the Duke's illegitimate child

He can't bear looking at his brother being tortured badly by the duke but he also can't do anything considering he's powerless in that kind of situation

Lucius just looked at Damon with eyes that portrayed envy and longing for love after escaping the duchy together with Damon

That day, Damon decided to escape the duchy together with Lucius after being badly beaten by the Duke for breaking a vase

Thinking he needed to relax his mind, asking him to escape with him and because Lucius knew very well that he's only treated as a servant never bothered to disobey Damon

Now that he's calling him to step inside the falling leaves, for a second he paused capturing the view where Damon was enjoying himself looking above together with the sun's rays all over his place

Damon looking back at Lucius only staring at him smiled brightly at his idea then seconds later he went near where Lucius was standing and pulling him towards the place

Until they both felt the falling cherry blossom leaves

'There's no use being bothered by what happened, Lucius. You know father, he easily gets angry about small things. What's important now is to look forward and have your goals accomplished, okay?' Damon said gently holding the beaten hands of Lucius caressing them gently while looking at him with a sad smile

'Goals?' Lucius asked with a rough voice due to him shouting non-stop being tortured by the duke

'Goals are when you set your mind to accomplish something, to achieve what you wanted to achieve in life because at the end of the day Lucius, we only live once. Remember those' Damon said gripping tightly at both of Lucius' hands while gently letting them go and looking above

On how determined Damon to show Lucius what he wanted to portray

'When this time comes again, when we see this season of fall, do remember my words oh and another thing for you to still remember those, do collect seven pieces of cherry blossoms leaves from the ground. Treasure them and only show them to me when you have your goals already. Understood?' Damon said smiling brightly who was now looking at Lucius that was wide-eyed for the moment

As he still processed what Damon had said earlier but afterward knowing how persistent Damon could get, he gave in by nodding respectfully to him while putting his open hands in the air capturing some cherry blossoms leaves

With that scene, Damon remembered well how he made Lucius his friend that very day that he was badly beaten by the duke

He wanted to show the outside world that Lucius never got the experience before

Because Damon knew how he was always kept under the duchy inside a basement living like he's dead and only come to the duchy when the duke had something he needed him to do

'That was Lucius was, my poor brother. If I only have the power but I knew that I'm still a coward inside because of us you never get to know them outside world' Damon thought going back to reality

Opening his eyes that was met by the hot rays of the sun making him closed his eyes again until he felt the leaves stop falling

Now, he opened his eyes where he could avoid the rays and looked down

After reminiscing his past earlier he remembered the promise that he had made with Lucius

Regarding the seven leaves of cherry blossoms, looking at his feet on the grasses full of cherry blossoms leaves, he sadly smiled

'I hope that he already gathered seven leaves of cherry blossoms. That will signify him having his goals'

With that thought, Damon immediately resumed his walk after breathing calmly

'I hope this day will be a nice day away from the annoying princess'

***

After arriving at the place Damon was about to step forward to search the armory shop for swords when he saw a lady almost bump those carriages

He was about to save the lady but there was already a guy covered in all black coat saved her but walked her to a narrow alley

Even though the man had was covered in a black coat Damon knew very well that figure

He knew very well that moved

Lucius? he thought and with that, he immediately followed the two without hesitation knowing that his instincts were partly correct sometimes

The guy covered the lady's mouth only to remove it immediately, seeing this he hid somewhat near from the two to see if the guy was Lucius

But what he saw was the face of the girl, he saw how familiar the girl was

With her pale skin and blue eyes he reminded of someone from his childhood he can't just pinpoint who that child was

Setting that thought aside he saw how the lady asked for the man in black his identity but instead of answering he just walked away

Damon was about to follow him but something urged him to stay and watched the lady that was left in the alley

Seeing how she picked up a crumpled paper being surprised suddenly

When he focused his sight on the paper, he saw their symbol

The Maxwell's duchy symbol

'What in the world? How did it come there and was picked by a lady? Wait so the man in black was Lucius after all?' Damon was about to step his way to trace the guy back but he was stopped after hearing the lady shout

When he looked back at the place he saw how the lady was cornered by some commoner guys that were more like bad guys

He silently went near where the lady was until he heard what they're saying inside the alley

"Hm, would you look at that, surely our boss will be delighted to see a young beautiful maiden' one of the guys said smirking at the lady while licking his lips

"Stay a meter away from me or else I'll scream again!" Iris warned them but they were not fazed at all

Instead, they continue smirking at the lady

"Scream if you want, you knew there's no one in here considering it's a dead-end narrow alley," one of the guys said while laughing evilly at her

Being joined by the other guys to laugh

Iris felt helpless and hopeless for a moment knowing she's a girl and powerless

She was about to run if it weren't someone interfering with them

"Seems like you all were having some gatherings here, ey! Why not share it with me?" Damon said pretending to be interested and a commoner like them hiding his face and body with a brown coat

"Ey man looked for someone else. We already got her. Finder's keepers first" one of the men said as they turn their backs to see a guy that was covered in all brown coat

Making the guys wide-eyed in shock

Same with Iris thinking another mysterious guy had appeared in front of them suddenly

Before they could all talk again from being shocked

Damon immediately passed the guys and held the lady's wrist until he pulled her towards him and made her run fast enough to pass the guys cornering her earlier

The guys after being shocked at what happened again immediately regained their consciousness and chased after the two

They chased the two until they were nowhere to be found and gave up

"Tsk, lucky bastard, ey!" one of the men said while the others just spit on the ground

Damon run fast as he could holding Iris who was breathing heavily while running until they were in another dead-end alley breathing hard enough for the situation that had just happened

Iris was still breathing hard while Damon let go of his hands that were holding her wrist earlier

"That was impulsive of me, I apologize if I ever caused any---" Damon didn't finish what he's saying because of the lady

The lady that looked so gorgeous in front of him

Her hair was covered earlier with some cloth but now the cloth was gone and her hair that was golden blonde showed swaying gently together with her breathing

'She looked gorgeous, is she another noble? She looked just like someone in my past'

Damon thought speechless as of the moment

Iris after looking at his expressions touched her hair only to touch her hair than the cloth covering it earlier

'Not again?!'