Titus’ past

She was not surprised when a letter from the princess arrived again.

“Dear Lady Vienna,

Thank you for visiting the tea party. I was quite entertained as I was a bit annoyed at Countess Tumaini. You were so cool and strong! I aspire to be like you. If you have time, feel free to visit the palace, I would love to see you again.

Truly yours,

Princess Avelina Opheli de Solerr

She sighed. She did not have any plans to be friends with her. If anything, she wants to stay away from the princess.

As she ate her breakfast with her father, her father spoke up, "The Emperor wants to meet you today with me, my dear."

“Really? I am grateful, father.”

“Bring with you your knight.”

She nodded. Finishing her meal, she prepared herself, wearing Duke Raziel’s gift, an elegant dress, and descended the stairs to go with her father, and together with his knight, they got to the palace.

His majesty, the Emperor greeted them with a warm welcome. “I’m glad you could make it here, Duke Xaviera, Lady Xaviera, and your knight, Lieutenant Titus Matthan de Vivar.”

They all bowed.

“Sit down and let’s have a casual meeting.” The emperor offered and they did as he told them.

Glancing at Lady Vienna, the emperor smiled. "I would like to thank you first, Duke Raziel for informing me last time about Princess Avelina’s family breaching the agreement. We are now trying to solve it. If you didn’t tell me about it earlier, then it would have caused more damage to our empire.”

Her father bowed, “I only delivered it to you, your majesty. My daughter only asked me to tell you about it.”

The emperor’s eyes widened in shock.“Really? I wouldn’t have known that! Your daughter is amazing. If only she's not married...I would make her marry my other sons.”

She stopped at that. Marry? She released a chuckle. "I'm happy with my fiance, Duke Raziel, your highness." She spoke up.

“I see, I apologize for that.” The emperor then cleared his throat. “Anyways, there’s also another reason why I ask you to come here.” He said, looking at her knight, Titus. “I have been waiting for years now. I think it's time to come and fully join my army…”

Beside him, Titus stiffened. The emperor had always been bringing this up, but Titus always rejected him. He only wanted to serve her lady, Lady Vienna.

In fact, if Lady Vienna didn’t force her to participate in the recent battles, he wouldn’t even dare to obey the emperor’s commands, even if his father is the general of his army. Titus moves and lives only for her lady.

“I appreciate this, your majesty,” Titus spoke up. “But forgive me, I couldn’t accept your request. I want to stay at Xaviera’s. If you want me to participate in battles again, I could participate. But I won’t leave my lady.”

The emperor sighed, then offered again. “Then I’ll grant you a wish. Anything you want. Women, power? Do you want a wife? I could give it to you.”

She could feel Titus feeling pressured right now. Whatever he decides, she’ll have to respect it. He then bowed at him. “Thank you, your majesty. I don’t need it. I’ll only serve my lady for the rest of my life.”

The emperor now looked disappointed. But he forced himself to smile and dismissed them. The ride home was quiet, and when they arrived at their mansion, Lady Vienna couldn’t help but talk to Titus.

“You should have said yes to the emperor, Titus.” She started.

Titus just smiled at her. “I promised to protect you, my lady. And a knight never breaks her promise.”

“But I have Duke Raziel now. It’s time you have to lead the imperial army after your father retires.”

Titus just sighed. “I’ll think of it, my lady.”

He then recalled the past. How he met her lady. He was two years older than her.

His father and Duke Xaviera were friends. And when his father visited the Duke’s mansion, he caught sight of his beautiful daughter playing alone.

“Keep her company, Titus. We’ll be discussing the duke’s study.” Said his father.

“No! I don’t want to!” He yelled, tears in his eyes. He had heard that the little lady was pulling out hairs and nails from people so he was scared when he learned the truth.

But when he took a peek at the lady, she was calm and had two little dolls by her side. She noticed him and grinned. “Oh, you don’t have to keep me company. I have Jacko and Jean.”

Young Titus looked around. There was no one. “Whoa, who are those?”

The little lady chuckled. “My friends, can’t you see them?”

He shook his head. There was really no one beside her. Was she this lonely to have imaginary friends?

Minutes later, they seemed to get to know each other and were running around. Titus heard the rumors wrong.

The little Lady Vienna turned to look at him, beaming with her little crooked teeth. She had dirt on her face from playing, but she looked pretty as the sun glistened around her. His heartbeat quickened at the sight. It was purely magical...

And when she tripped that day, crying her eyes out, he had finally made a decision. “I’ll be your personal knight starting today.” He announced, standing proudly.

Little lady Vienna’s cries stopped and laughed at him. “How? You’re still a child like me!”

He smiled, “One day when I train enough, I’ll serve you forever.”

****END OF FLASHBACK***

And he was true to his words. Now that he’s 23, he never stopped serving her.

Packing his things, he threw a cloak on and put the cloak on his head. Hopping on his horse, he went to his home in Glenarm. “Father, I’m back.” He announced upon reaching his destination. With his dead mother, he only has his father and their house is always empty as they go on battles here and there. Well, it didn’t feel at home. For him, the Xaviera’s mansion is his home. They were kind enough to treat them for who he is.

His father’s strong and muscular figure appeared by the door. “I heard the emperor call for you.”

He nodded. “Yes, father.”

His father looked at him grimly, “As I’ve said before, you have to take this seriously. Our family had been serving the emperor for decades now. Leave the Lady and go to the emperor.”

“I'm a knight. I swore in the lady’s name. I won’t betray her.” He halted at that, growing tired of hearing him always talking about it. “And are you sure about that father? Is serving the right term? Or is it an emperor’s dog?”

Hearing that, he felt the sharp sword pointed at him. “What did you just say, my child?”

He scoffed, feeling the sword growing deeper on his neck. But he just let his father look him straight in the eyes. “Go on. Once I take control of the army, I’ll reveal your secrets, father.”

He could feel his father removing the sword from his neck. He smirked. This has always been a great threat for his father as he did not have a choice since he’s the only child. His father clenched his jaw, “If only your mother was still alive.”

Tsk, there he goes again. He rolled his eyes. “Yeah, you let her die. You were too busy in the battle that you chose the emperor over your own wife.” He spoke up.

His father stood silent at that, looking at the ground. Whenever he mentions his mother, he always looks weak. His father’s weakness was his mother. And when his father’s enemies knew that, they took advantage of it and killed her when he was out to the battles.

He knew his father regretted it so much, but what can he do now that she’s gone? He was still a child back then when it happened.

And he hates his father for it. That is why he refuses to be the emperor’s dog. He’s scared that Lady Vienna would meet the same fate as her mother. She is his weakness after all…

He sighed. He’ll have to train more.