Inside the castle, a group of people had gathered at the throne room as a man who sits on the throne slaps his hand into his armchair.

"Fool! You sent the letter to him?!" - King

The king, who was glaring at a young boy, almost tried to slap him with his hand, yet, lays his hand down as he began to turn to the rest of the people whom are subservient to him.

"What do you think of this Sevian?" - King

"I request your majesty to send Sir Marus-" - Sevian

"*Cough* *Cough*..... Your Majesty, it seems that I am unwell.... I request for a time off from my duty for a month...." - Marus

A man with a long hair, tied behind him, rearranges his glasses as he turns to the large man while the man began to cough as if he had caught on some disease.

Yet, all the people there just stared at him with dead eyes, not believing his words to be the truth.

Facing such stares, the man stopped coughing and just stared downwards, slowly tears began to shed from his eyes...

"Y-your majesty.... I-i don't want to face him..... Duke Artonis is a monster and....and....he isn't human at all...." - Marcus

All of them fell silent as if that memory of that time was still fresh on their minds.

Seeing The Commander of the Kingdom's Knight Division being toyed till mental breakdown, the perpetrator just scoffs him off and begans lashing out insults while beating him till the inch of his life.

"As the sole commander of the Kingdom's Army, I expected you to hold out for more than an hour but not even for 5 mins, you already lay on the ground and I haven't even used magic on you. Just pure swordsmanship." - Artonis

"You are tasked to defend the kingdom, given the title by the king and now you lay on the ground, defeated by a feudal lord no less who had just stopped honing his blade and hone his pen. I expected better from you." - Artonis

"Tch. If it not for your noble bloodline and my job as a feudal lord, meatheads like you who can't even defend himself are deemed incompetent to even become the commander. If your father, hailed as a hero were here to see such a pathetic side of you, I also bet he would try to adopt me as his son and exile you for being useless. " - Artonis

Cold, arrogant and full of insults to throw at, the commander who was not only publically humiliated by the king and those around him, could only shed tears in pain as Artonis clicked his tongue and began healing him.

"Now, lets begin your retraining once more..." - Artonis

"No.... Please no..." - Marcus

"Come now Son of the Former Hero. You should bask in this opportunity to grow into a splendid commander like your father did, I also happen to know magic to heal injuries as I am rather becoming proficient of it." - Artonis

"Y-you monster...." - Marcus

He soon see Duke Artonis slowly becoming more and more terrifying in his eyes as the Duke just casually deny his words.

"Sir Marcus, I am a pure human race and a true noble bloodline to the kingdom. Why am I refer as a monster when all humans could also achieve this result? You however just lack more training as even a meathead such as you could become as strong in the pure skill of swordsmanship. Now, come and lets continue our training. " - Artonis

"Noooo!!!!" - Marus

Snapping back to the throne room, everyone was surprised at the commander's outburst of his voice as he quickly turned to the young boy and proceeds to grab hold of him.

"Y-you....Even if you are the prince of this kingdom.... I..." - Marus

"W-wait!" - Prince

As the first prince of the kingdom and a talented man who would soon replace the king in the near future, he was currently being grab hold by the Commander of the Knight's Division as the other nobles and even the guards tried to separate them both. Yet despite so, they couldn't even hold down on his strength as the prince started to compromise to the knight. 

"L-lets just have Sir Reiter to face Duke Artonis and...." - Prince

"I'm sorry your highness but it seems to be that you try to throw this problem to someone who is unwell." - Reiter

While Marcus relaxes his hands on the prince and turns to the robed man on his right, the man acted calmly as he was picked by the prince, yet.... 

"..............." - Everyone

They could see that the man began to tremble at the notion to face off against the monster himself as he is also in the same state as the commander.

As the Chief of the Magic Division, he also had been issued by Artonis for a retraining by him as well. He also wasn't spared by him as well yet was a bit more lenient due to their physical differences. However... 

"Even if you are a magician, you should also have the stamina required to endure a long battle. Many magicians who are sent to battle are deemed incompetent if they couldn't last in a battle when it goes on for a long time. I had requested some blacksmiths to make a device such that it could help in your training. " - Artonis

He began installing metal braces on Reiter's legs as he could feel the heavyness of those braces. Artonis continued while looking at the magician in disappointed look. 

"Marquis Reiter. It should be a blessing that I am already compromising on this to you. Since you don't go onto the frontlines, I should expect to at least be able to train you enough to last longer in a battle and it such a good time since I have completed my training in the healing magic. " - Artonis

"So, you should be quite blessed that you won't 'die' on the training and be barely 'crippled' like Sir Marcus." - Artonis

As he closes his eyes in satisfaction to his great thinking, Reiter paled as he began to run while Artonis just silently stood there while nodding. 

"Hmn. Thats a good attitude for someone whose willing to get stronger. I shall give you a headstart as a way of rewarding you." - Artonis

"Waaaahhhh!!!!" - Reiter

All he could remember at that time was his primal instinct to flee from the Duke as after sometime passes, hail of magic began to rain down upon him as he could barely dodge some of the attacks and not only he wasn't able to rest, the Duke began healing him back to full health and continue on with the training as everyone except the prince could remember that moment.

The king even went silent as he also tried to find someone not been 'Retrained' by Duke Artonis as everyone look away from him and even he, the king, the Duke's superior wasn't spared by him as well.

He was only spared due to the queen vouching for him at that time and the Duke was more respectful for the queen than him as the prince was helpless at the situation. 

'I-i just got back in time to the past and It should be possible to stop the events from happening this time. Duke Artonis is just a feeble person when we faced off against him yet.... These people....' - Prince

The first Prince of the kingdom, Leonias, who not only inherited his memory of the future but also know what would happen to the kingdom in the distant future. He knew that the Duke must be stopped in order for the kingdom to be safe as he sent a letter for him to come to the kingdom and report on the matter of his 'Research'. 

The prince knew that it was possible for them to beat that person since he is weaker and not only that, his 'Machines' haven't been made as of yet.

Yet, the prince who believe that the Duke is now just a feeble man, had completely forgot that he had returned at the time the Duke had only been secluding on his research for a month. Not only that, while he was just slightly weaker due to working as a Feudal lord at his territory, its still the same strength the people in the room feared and cause a scar in their hearts and mind.

"Plus, I have gotten a report that the Duke is holed up in his place, working on his research, such that he has gotten weaker. Even Sir Marcus and Sir Reiter could beat." - Leonias

"My boy! Thats Excellent News!" - Marcus

Hearing that the Duke is holed up in his lab and had completely forsaken his training, Marcus had a sudden burst of energy as if his fear was an act all along. Sir Reiter who saw a large man acting stupid, he just smirks yet was also happy in his mind as the terror they all feared in the past had now been buried in their hearts.

The people inside began to feel relief yet there was only one person who sense something wrong... 

'No.... I think something is wrong...' - King

As the king of the kingdom, his senses in battle may had dulled yet he still feels a bit foreboding as if this situation is just a grave misunderstanding of sorts.

"Your Majesty, I've just been recently informed that the Duke had just come out from his lab and he began to not only be seen training, he also replaced his tutor as being incompetent and...." - Sevian

"Sevian." - King

"Yes your majesty?" - Sevian

The prime minister feel that the king quieted him down as he turns to his men who was excited at the fact that the Duke wasn't the same man they feared as tears began to roll on his face as he turns to him. 

"I don't want to face his wrath..." - King

"........ I understand your majesty...." - Sevian

The prime minister knew what the king meant as he decided to be silent and let these ignorant people be unaware that the Duke being weak is just a fake belief.... 

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"My child. This here is the spirit of the wind. She loves to prank and a freespirited being. However, they are friendly and love to be around children." - Artonis

"Wah...." - Aria

A green shining orb began to float around Aria as she was amazed at how pretty the ball of light was. It then began to dance around her as she felt amaze at how carefree the spirit and it took a liking to the cute Aria. 

Artonis just stare at her without even a slight movement in his expression as he could feel something inside him began to grow in his heart. He doesn't understand what this thing was yet he just ignore it as he sense something from afar.

"M-my lord?" - Head Knight

The knight also sense this later than Artonis yet he just dismisses the thought of scolding the knight. 

"Deal with it and tell the driver to continue moving without stopping. If you don't come back uninjured, your training will be doubled when we come back home." - Artonis

"Yes my Lord!" - Head Knight

Artonis didn't want to waste time battling out these weak bandits as he prefers to watch his daughter play with the spirit. He just wants to spend his time close to his daughter as he regretted not being there for her in his past life.

The knights of the Artonis Household are the top soldiers, even comparable to the royal army of the kingdom. Yet, only the Head Knight is special as he is especially trained under by Chrono Artonis himself and he is one of the people he praised as 'Good'.

Head Knight of the Artonis Household, Keith has always respected and feared Artonis from the bottom of his heart.

Respected as he once adventured with Artonis and the group of people he deemed as 'Good'. Yet, everyone in the group feared Artonis due to his satisfaction to 'Train' talented people.

He doesn't spare women in the group as well if he deemed to be talented as those who had been with him had always been wary of pissing him off.

'The last time the group manage to give him emotion, that woman.... I mean the queen.... She always regretted her decision.' - Keith

He remembered that time as the queen asked if he could smile and he replied if she wants to train with him. She accepted, thinking it was about bed techniques but she didn't expect to get the beating of her life and she always feared the word 'train' like the rest of them.

'Well, she at least given a smile to which she was happy about it' - Keith

This was the Head Knight's thoughts while mowing down the bandits as he quickly returned to the carriage, which was heading to the capital.