Monstrous Guardian of Evenhart Mansion

Monstrous Guardian of Evenhart Mansion

Nathan Evenhart:

It was still early morning, and I couldn't tell how long I had been awake, staring at the ceiling. It took some time for Athena to disappear, even though I had confirmed she was somehow an illusion... I'd never sleep near that woman.

What the fuck is that thing?

I pushed aside my thoughts about the Psychopathic Goddess of Strategy and tried to focus on sleeping. I lay there with my eyes closed for a long time, but sleep wouldn't come. There was a strange feeling in the air, as if my presence was being sensed or observed.

As a warrior, I know well how it feels to sleep near danger, and that sensation was something being close to me. I got up and walked around the room, finding nothing.

Could there be something in this mansion?

I still didn't know my way around this castle, fortress, or mansion. There were so many names that I didn't understand what the place truly was. It seemed that the "Evenhart Mansion" was a gigantic fortress functioning as a castle, but this castle had an inner part that almost no one had access to, and that's where I was. Only a few staff members had access to the inner part known as the "Evenhart Mansion." The castle had locked areas preventing other people from accessing this place, and its entrances were constantly guarded by soldiers outside. Inside the mansion part, there wasn't a single guard.

This place would now be my home and where I would live. Unfortunately, due to the situation, I was temporarily "imprisoned." I wasn't allowed to leave the mansion area, nor could I go into the castle. I was confined to this place until things settled down. Lucky for me, this place was huge.

The worst part was that there weren't even windows to the outside here.

The Evenhart fortress is an extremely secure location, but the problem was that after losing the people they cared about in that war, they didn't trust outsiders much. My cousin and I were the heirs of this place, so for our safety, we couldn't leave this mansion until the situation was resolved.

My mother assured me that this fortress was safe, but even she agreed with my aunt's argument at dinner...

I looked around and studied my room, where I would be sleeping every night from now on. The room was luxurious and completely different from the small house where I had lived my five years of life. Even though I had been a Sovereign in another life, I never indulged in luxuries, not even when I acted as Emperor. For me, a small room was more than enough. I had lived on the streets in my past childhood and then had to become a soldier, living in small rooms that barely fit my bed. I definitely wasn't used to such luxury.

At least my aunt plans to resolve this situation soon...

With my appearance, she hopes to calm the other nobles. Having only one Evenhart heir, and that being a girl, was not seen favorably. With me emerging, she hoped to buy time until she could lift herself out of the crisis and regain enough power so that her authority wouldn't be questioned. Our duchy entered a significant crisis after the war, losing important people.

This political business is a bit strange to me...

The mansion is enormous, and here live those called "Legacies." Each one stays with their family in some part of this vast place. The Legacies are the heads of their groups, and most of them are always busy taking care of their tasks and training their people. At dinner, what I saw were just the leaders of these vassal families to the Evenhart, and according to my mother, it was very rare for all of us to be together as we did. I could generally find them around our castle handling their tasks, or they might be out in the duchy solving problems. That small group of people is our family's trusted elite, all of whom grew up together, and their entire families have lived with the Evenharts for generations. If one of them has problems, everyone will step in to help, or so my mother said. We could say that they are all my uncles and aunts since that's the level of trust we have in them.

This small group is the Legacy of Evenhart, and I still don't understand what they are. My mother said that I would understand what this organization is as I get taught and initiated by Master Sifu.

What is this feeling I'm getting here?

Since I live in the inner part of this place, I know it's safe to walk around.

But still... why do I feel a presence around me?

I open the door to my room and head into the dark corridors.

Why did they extinguish all the torches?

A part of me goes on alert. The place was much darker than usual. There wasn't a single light source except for the faint moonlight entering through small holes in the ceiling.

Unfortunately, my room was dark, and my lamp was out.

I had no choice but to walk in the darkness and try to make my way to my mother's room.

I need to make sure she's alright... this strange presence won't let me relax.

In that dark corridor, I start walking, trying to make my way to her room while leaning on the walls.

As soon as I take another step, the presence becomes more intense and suffocating. I stop as soon as I realize what might be lurking in that darkness. I've faced something like this before, but I was a bit older and not trapped in a 5-year-old's body.

A predator!

In the darkness of that corridor, even without seeing it, I can feel a beast staring at me further down the way.

Aura! If I had Aura, this thing would have run away from me!

"Who's there?" I ask. "Don't think I'll be intimidated by your trick; you'll need much more than that to scare me."

I speak to the darkness, and only silence answers.

I'm sure there's something ahead of me.

As I was about to continue walking, I saw something approaching me. All I could see was the outline illuminated by the faint moonlight. One paw was placed forward, followed by another, and as I realized, the whole body emerged from the darkness. In front of me stood a nearly black, dark gray panther.

'Grrrr!' growled the panther at me.

Fuck!

The panther was enormous, with a white circle on its forehead.

I start sweating and trying to control this body. If it were in my previous life, a single glance would make this creature piss itself with fear, but in this body, I no longer had my power.

I won't give up! Not yet! I've faced a tiger before and made it back off with my stare!

I try to control every part of my body and position myself, staring at the panther. It keeps its gaze fixed on me, and we stand there, locked in a stare-down.

The panther approached me and blew hot air into my face.

"Carnellian!" shouted a voice from behind me.

The panther let out a small chuckle and vanished into the darkness.

The pressure I felt disappeared, and it seemed like nothing had ever been in front of me.

When I turned around, I saw my aunt Margaery with a small candle walking through the darkness.

"Are you alright, Nathan?" she asks, crouching down to my level.

"I'm fine, Aunt Margaery, but what was that thing?"

She glanced back into the darkness.

"To you, I'm 'Aunt Margie'. And that 'thing' is our guardian. That's Carnellian, a Moon Panther."

A panther? And a guardian?

"Does it roam the corridors?" I asked, a bit surprised.

"Yes. Carnellian is a panther that has guarded the castle's inner parts for centuries. His lair is this mansion. I don't even have control over him; the only thing we do is put out meat every night in the garden and extinguish the torches. He made a pact with an ancient Evenhart leader and has lived here ever since."

"Lives here?"

My aunt let out a small laugh.

"Carnellian knows paths no one else does, secret entrances in the walls. He can hide and move around unseen. Did you think we would leave this place unguarded? He's our guardian. Just ignore him if you see him in the corridors; he usually doesn't interact much. But it seems he approached you to fulfill the pact..."

She took my hand and led me back to my room.

"What pact?"

My aunt paused to think.

"Intelligent magical creatures like Carnellian cannot be domesticated unless they choose to be. It's similar to what you did with that little bird. He simply made a deal with an old Duke that he could live here and be protected from being hunted, as his species is not numerous. The agreement was that he would protect the Evenharts in exchange for our protection... and until now, he's only protected one person, even though he roams these corridors."

I pondered her words.

"Who?" I asked.

"My daughter. He breathed on her face when she was a baby and recognized her as a true Evenhart. He did the same to you just now, so you really are an Evenhart... not that I had any doubts. Quite the opposite, I count on you being an Evenhart."

They have a pet panther? What a crazy family.

"From the way you said it... not just anyone can tame a Moon Panther."

My aunt laughed.

"No one can tame a Moon Panther. They are natural-born killers. What your ancestor did was merely strike a deal. Carnellian is intelligent and didn't like living in the wild. Let's say he prefers the easy life he has here and hopes for human intruders to kill. When there are no intruders... we release some prisoners from death row for him. So, we have just an agreement of cooperation. We don't even need guards inside; he hates them. So, we just let him roam free."

We continued walking until we reached my bedroom door.

"And what kind of protection would we offer to such a creature? I could see that he is quite capable of protecting himself..." I said.

"Moon Panthers are rarely seen, but they go through a period where they become vulnerable. They possess an ability called 'Inheritance'," my aunt explained.

I grew even more confused.

"Inheritance?"

"Yes. Let's say a Moon Panther doesn't need another panther to reproduce. When its body is near death, it enters a state where it generates a cub. Gradually, all its power and memory are transferred to this Moon Panther cub. The original panther grows weak until it has passed everything to the cub, and then it dies. The cub is also weak, even though it has the mind of an adult... the body is still that of a child."

So this thing... is kind of like a reincarnate, like me?

"I imagine that's when they are most vulnerable..." I said.

"Yes. Humans have learned to hunt a Moon Panther and recognize the tracks of cubs. If they see traces of a Moon Panther cub... they won't rest until they capture it.

Generally, the cub won't accept being tamed because it's an adult in a child's body. But still, humans capture them to sell to nobles who try to domesticate them or kill them to display their carcasses as trophies."

"That's kind of sad…" I said.

"Very sad, Nathan. If humans are so eager to try and capture one, why don't they challenge them when they're at their full power? But that's the nature of cowards, Nathan. They prefer to go after us when we're just cubs…"

My aunt looked at me, and I understood her words.

"Is that how the agreement with Carnellian came about?" I asked.

"Your ancestor placed some Moon Panthers in our gardens, which is that forest you passed through when you came here. We don't allow anyone to hunt them or some other animals that only exist here. Carnellian liked what your ancestor did and made a pact with him. Since then, he has lived within these walls."

My aunt ruffled my hair.

"Time for bed, child. I was just getting some water when I saw you. It's not good for you to be up at this hour. Tomorrow… you'll suffer a bit under Sifu's hands…" she said while closing my bedroom door and leaving.

"Man… what a slightly crazy family I have," I said as I threw myself onto the bed.

But they're kind of cool…