“Leon, my son, tell me what the hell you did here?”

The duchess folded her arms as she kept staring at Leon with an impassive gaze. Traces of anger could be seen on her beautiful face. Her own son obliterated half the garden in a matter of minutes, which took years to build.

Countless amounts of money and hard labor was spent here, but he just ruined it like nothing.

“I… I can explain.” Mumbled Tim, lying on the ground, observing his mother. She didn’t look that kind and gentle anymore.

“Explain then!”

“It was… it was an accident. I never wanted to do any of this.” Said Tim, slowly standing up on his feet. “It all just happened.”

“Yeah! You are right. It all just happened on its own, right?”

“No!”

“You know what happens when you spin the already heated air too much? It is common sense, Leon. You don’t need to go to mage academy to understand this.” She replied, gritting her teeth in frustration. “I have taught you both to use no destructive spells in closed areas like this. But… you two will never listen.”

Tim stumbled a couple of steps backwards as the wind surrounding them blasted away, reacting to her anger.

“I didn’t use any spells…” He whispered, trying to clear the misunderstanding, but his mother was not in the mood to listen.

“I know what you did.” The duchess moved close to her son as the breeze picked its pace and the air started howling. “Listen, young man, if you will not obey my rules, then you have no place in my home. Understand.”

“Ye-s mother!” replied Tim frantically, as his body trembled in fear. For some reason, he was more scared of this woman before him than anything else in his entire life.

“And if you do anything like this again, then I swear to God, I will make your life worse than hell.” She added in a menacing tone as her eyes glowed azure for a moment and in return, Tim frantically shook his head.

Leon needed to learn the value of others if he was ever going to be a competent ruler. It was her job to teach him morals, and she had tried but everything was fruitless. He failed to learn anything.

He would be twenty in just a couple of months and marry the only princess of this empire. He would be the future duke. But if his nonsensical actions continued mixed with his hell touching reputation, then nothing would happen.

“That rule applies to everything, not only this one. You will do whatever I say whenever I say. And if you don’t, then my son, you know what’s coming.”

“Yes!”

***

After some time of glaring at Leon and assessing the damage, the duchess went inside the castle and Tim exhaled deeply. She literally scared the shit out of him and he just stood there like a scared kitten.

It was not about courage or him being a coward. It was about respect.

Even though the duchess was Leon’s mother, not Tim’s, he still subconsciously accepted her as his mother. Her actions, personality, temperaments were all too similar to his own mother. He found his long gone mother in her.

Probably, it was the sole reason for her words to hit Tim and to weigh heavily in his heart.

“I should not have done that.” Tim sighed, talking to himself. “But it is not like I knew this shit was going to happen…but it happened anyway…. Man, I really should get my act together and stop acting like a teenage boy. 

So, after sighing a couple of times and reflecting upon his mistakes, Tim left the garden. He went to his room, where the rest of the night was spent doing nothing except sleeping like a log. He was tired from all that tornado shit and the too comfortable bed did its job like a champ.

***

A luxurious carriage was moving along the road of the town named Dewdrop, carrying the insignia of house Esper, which was a golden dragon wrapped around the longsword with a diamond on top of the hilt. All of it was embroidered in a black flag.

And inside, sat Tim, who was observing various traditional buildings and people beside the road. Everyone’s attention was on the carriage wherever it passed.

Leon was going to the palace where the emperor lived along with his family to apologize to the princess whose birthday party he missed.

Well, Tim didn’t, but the man named Leonhart did. And now Tim had to do the job in his place. 

Tim’s memories were still fuzzy about the princess whom Loen had met. Many things were unclear, but he couldn't care less. His plan was to just go there, say sorry, and come back. 

The journey would take four hours, up and down, and he would spend one hour there. Five-hour trip and he would be out of the duke’s way. A perfect plan and how long even a brief apology would take?

And soon the carriage reached the outside walls of the Emperor's enormous palace, which was big, way too big, like twenty or thirty times bigger than the estate he had found himself in.

The carriage entered through the gates and was escorted by Imperial guards wearing white armors with longswords strapped on their waists. They guided it towards the main gate of the castle and shortly it came to a complete halt.

In the next moment, the door to the carriage opened and Tim exited with a casual smile on his face. The butler and a couple of maids, who already had the information about his arrival, greeted him.

With no delay, Tim was taken to a lavish garden inside the palace where he would meet the princess.

He was given a seat under what seemed to be a large wooden umbrella covering four chairs and a small round table. Then the wait began where Tim just looked around the all too familiar garden.

Due to him sharing Leon’s memories, Tim remembered being here for many times, but his motives and reasons were imprecise.

Further leaning on the chair, Tim focused on the engravings of the masterfully crafted sunshade.

Soon some servants came and placed some snacks and tea on the table, saying nothing to Tim and he too didn’t mind them. He busied himself with thoughts about himself, or rather, about Leon. The glimpses he was getting were not positive.

They could be best described as the worst of the worst. Killing people, picking fights, gambling, drinking, apathetic nature, disobeying laws, and many more. The list was endless.

All those antisocial behaviors had pushed his reputation beyond recovery, but seemed like they were just the tip of the iceberg. He was still forgetting something. It was there, but he could not quite put his hands on it.

And just like that, an hour passed, but there was no sign of the princess. Tim had seen some maids walking here and there, but now there were none. He sat there, alone, in the vast garden, waiting for someone he never met.

The same thing continued for the next hour until Tim had enough of this waiting game. He waited this long, as returning without accomplishing the mission would be harmful. The duke won’t be pleased with this outcome. But now he had a reason.

He waited that long, and that was more than enough. Even if she was a princess, stranding someone for two hours was way too much.

Tim rose from his chair, ready to leave, but his steps halted once he heard some approaching footsteps and girly giggles.

And in the next moment, two girls, probably fifteen or sixteen years old, came into view, chatting together with overjoyed expressions on their faces.

One of them smiled, looking at Leon, walking ahead of the other one.

She was pretty, really pretty. Well, even calling her pretty would be an understatement. With glistening azure eyes & long white hair mixed with golden which resembled the color of sunlight, she seemed like a fairy descended from heaven.

All her individual facial features seemed to be carefully molded gems on the fair creamy skin of her face that was the canvas; it brought her features into a surreal, almost phantasmal work of art.

Behind her, just a couple of feet away, walked another girl with sapphire eyes and long silvery hair. Her facial features were not that distinct, but still she would be considered more attractive than most girls could ever be.

The girl with silver hair pulled the chair and the other one sat gracefully, placing both of her hands on the table as she gestured Tim to sit.

“Did you wait long, Lord Leon?” She asked.

“I should say no, like a gentleman, but I will say yes. I waited a little too long.” Answered Tim firmly, leaning on the chair, cross-legged. He was being honest and his annoyed mood made him a little brutal.

It didn’t take long for him to figure out who these two were, as his brain relayed the information in an instant.

The too pretty girl was the imperial princess who went by the name Elizabeth Isolde Von Elysium, first-born daughter of Emperor Perthran Isolde Von Elysium and Empress Minetta Isolde Von Elysium. The only princess of the Espedor empire.

Next to her was Shatrina, the childhood friend from the house of Abercron. A powerful marquis household and a vassal of the Elysium family.

“Oh. I am sorry then. I was a little busy.” Elizabeth gave a charming smile, but the impassive look on Leon’s face didn’t fade. “So why don’t we get to the point and you tell me the reason for your sudden visit?”

“Sure, why not? So, my reason for arriving is to apologize for my unintended rude behavior. I missed your coming-of-age party because of my negligence and I am deeply sorry for that. It was a mistake and I have reflected upon it. It won’t ever happen again.” Responded Tim courteously using his professional voice.

Elizabeth, who didn’t expect that much politeness in Leon’s tone, was honestly surprised but recollected herself. “It is not the first time we are doing this, are we?”