Training

In the long hallway lined with expensive paintings and marble columns, a boy with curly black hair stepped out of his room, yawning and stretching. The morning sunlight streamed through tall windows, casting long shadows across the polished floor.

As he lifted his head, he spotted Lux walking down the hall with a white bandage wrapped around his head. The boy stopped mid-yawn, staring in confusion. Then a cruel smile spread across his face.

"Good morning, dear brother," he called out with fake sweetness, expecting Lux to stop and bow like he always did.

But Lux walked right past him without even a glance, as if the boy didn't exist.

The curly-haired boy stood frozen in the hallway, his smile fading. He turned to watch Lux disappear around the corner, his hands slowly clenching into fists.

'Did that bastard just ignore me?' he thought, his face turning red with anger. 'Like I'm some nobody?'

If one of his legitimate brothers had done this, fine. They outranked him. But the bastard son? The weakest, most pathetic member of the family? How dare he show such disrespect?

The boy's jaw tightened. This wouldn't go unpunished.

---

Meanwhile, Lux had made his way downstairs and through the main entrance. The living room was empty, which was perfect. He wasn't ready to deal with more family drama right now.

He walked past the elaborate garden with its fountains and carefully trimmed hedges. Servants tended to the flowers, but they kept their heads down as he passed. Everyone knew about the bastard son's reputation.

The courtyard lay to the east of the main house - a large, open space surrounded by stone walls. Training equipment was scattered around: wooden dummies, practice rings marked in the dirt, and racks for weapons. This was where the family's children learned to fight.

Lux found a spot near what looked like a storage building and leaned against the wall to wait. His head still throbbed from the cut Mira had given him, and the bandage felt tight around his skull.

Creak.

The door to the storage building opened, and Mira emerged carrying an armload of wooden swords. She looked surprised to see him there.

"Drop them on the ground," Lux ordered, clearing his throat.

Mira hesitated. She'd expected him to stay in his room, nursing his wound like he usually did when he got hurt. But here he was, actually following through on his training plan.

She set the swords down in a neat pile. Lux stepped forward and picked one up.

The moment he gripped the handle, he knew he was in trouble. What felt light as a feather to Mira felt like lifting a stone club. His arms shook just trying to hold it steady.

'This body really is useless' he thought, forcing a grim smile.

Mira watched closely as Lux took his stance. His feet were positioned strangely. Left foot forward, right foot back, both legs straight and tense. She'd never seen a sword stance like this before.

'What is he doing?' she wondered, genuinely curious for the first time since she'd started working for him.

Lux raised the wooden sword above his head, his muscles straining with the effort. When he brought it down in a powerful swing, she expected to hear the whoosh of wood cutting through air.

Instead, there was a loud SNAP.

Lux's right wrist twisted at an unnatural angle. The wooden sword clattered to the ground as waves of pain shot up his arm. His wrist had dislocated completely.

Mira's eyes went wide. Normally, Lux would be on the ground screaming after an injury like that. The sound alone had made her wince.

But Lux just gritted his teeth, picked up the sword with his left hand, and raised it again.

"Master, stop!" Mira called out. "Your wrist—"

Lux ignored her and swung down again, sending fresh agony through his injured arm. A strangled grunt escaped his lips, but he didn't stop.

Again and again, he raised the sword and brought it down. Each swing sent lightning bolts of pain through his body. Sweat beaded on his forehead despite the cool morning air.

Mira stared at him with her mouth open. She'd never seen determination like this before. Growing up in the Willburn family, a household famous for producing the kingdom's best servants and bodyguards, she'd been surrounded by disciplined people her whole life. But this was different. This was desperation mixed with iron will.

Her family had fallen on hard times recently. Their reputation crumbled, their money dried up, and other noble houses stopped hiring them. They were facing complete ruin until the patriarch of the d'Branmere family offered her a position.

She'd been grateful at first. Serving the bastard son seemed like easy work. He was weak, lazy, and spent most of his time sulking in his room.

Then Lucas Le Branmere approached her privately.

Lucas was one of the legitimate heirs, handsome and powerful, with a real chance of inheriting the family title. He'd done his research on her background and made her an offer she couldn't refuse: he would restore her family's honor and wealth, but only if she became his secret agent.

Her job was simple, watch Lux and eliminate him if he ever became a threat to Lucas's inheritance.

It had seemed like an easy assignment. Everyone knew that Lux had once shown promise as a child, but something had changed. He'd become weak and worthless, unable to improve no matter how hard he trained.

But watching him now, seeing the fire in his purple eyes as he pushed through impossible pain, Mira wondered if Lucas had been right to worry.

---

High above in the main house, a man with black hair and sharp features stood at his office window, watching the scene in the courtyard below. His presence commanded respect, this was Marquis Aldric Le Branmere, patriarch of the family and one of the kingdom's most powerful nobles.

His dark eyes studied his bastard son's training with interest. For years, Lux had been a disappointment. Weak, bitter, and seemingly broken. But today, something was different.

The marquis watched as Lux continued his brutal training, his injured wrist clearly causing him agony with every swing. Most people would have given up after the first break. But Lux kept going, driven by something the marquis hadn't seen in him before.

A small smile played at the corners of the marquis's mouth. Perhaps the boy had some fight in him after all.

After a few more minutes, he turned away from the window and returned to his desk, where important documents waited for his attention. But in the back of his mind, he made a mental note to keep watching his youngest son more closely.

Things were about to get very interesting in the Branmere household.