We let out a hearty laugh. We savored the joy until the last gasp of it. Sensing the inevitable bad news part of this inquiry. But even the mild-mannered captain of the townguard indulged with us in this fleeting bliss. We are children after all.

Once the ridiculousness of Garth’s comment subsides, the captain adjusts himself and clears his throat. We knew we had to focus seriously now.

“Lord Arys, according the lord Barth you were conscious until the confrontation with Ansel, correct?”

I nodded, “Correct,”

The captain scribbles in his journal, “Lady Hearth, is this where you used your magic to escape?”

“Yes, I–”

I rudely interrupted, “No, lots of things happened before that,”

Hearth understandably motions to me to continue. “He was talking about something… About his parents…”

“Ansel’s deceased parents?” the captain followed up quickly, “What about them…?”

“Well, before that he said something about us stealing their land titles very strangely,” I replied.

“Was this during the ritual?”

“No, it was before Garth’s eulogy,” I said.

“Arys…” Hearth gently holds my hands.

I immediately wondered, “What?”

The captain seemingly scratched out a series of texts he wrote, it took him some moment, “Lord Arys, please. Only during the confrontation with Ansel.” 

“Oh, I’m sorry…” I frowned, “I thought it was important,”

The captain nods, “While we believe that as well, it is important to recall actual events that may serve as useful for the investigation.”

I stammered, “Well, what do you want to know?”

“Tell me what happened during the ritual…” the captain shoots a blank gaze at me, “Lady Hearth told me that she saw a ghastly creature being summoned. Mana particle residue indicates that this is true as there was a magic circle drawn by incantations that can only be done by a group of magic users.”

I stare at his eyes, terrified of the consequences that will follow when I tell them the horrifying recollection.

He continues, “As you can see, our initial investigation indicates that there was a resurrection in the courtyard that night. Evident from the siphoned life force of the other kidnapped victims.”

“Are they fine?” I jolted from my bed, “Amelia! How is Lady Amelia?”

“The healers managed to restore their vitality but I am afraid the physical effects of being siphoned remains. Pale white skin, bleached hair, and whatnot.” the captain’s tone was sorrowful, “My daughter was one of them. They retain their youthful vigor but I am afraid the physical changes will stay. The same goes for Lady Amelia.”

“Well… I guess they look better?” Barth tries to give the captain a sense of respite.

“Barth!” Hearth’s motherly tone froze Barth in place, “That is rude, apologize!”

“It is fine, lady Hearth. No harm done. No offense taken,” the captain looks at Barth, “Thank you, lord Barth. But even though they have some sort of cold attractiveness, I am afraid that it is also a reminder of a traumatizing memory. One that they will never forget.”

Barth avoids eye contact, “Right… Still, let me apologize.”

The captain nods and proceeds to gesture at me, “Lord Arys. After lady Hearth was put out of action by this ghastly creature, we have reason to believe that you saw this suspect. Can you recall its appearance?”

“N-no,” I cleared my throat, “You see, because of Hearth, she disrupted the resurrection, and all this creature had was a body without skin!”

“Without a skin, you say?” the captain’s brow angled upwards, “So it wasn’t a half-hearted effort of resurrection at all, but rather an action done to truly resurrect Ansel’s parents? So you said,”

“No,” I shake my head, “And it wasn’t his parents they were trying to resurrect, it was somebody else. Someone… scary. Apparently, Ansel was tricked by his mages!”

The captain quickly writes in his journal, “For technical reasons, I shall label them as necromancers based on your description, but go on.”

“R-right,” I squinted, looking for the words, “His name was Titus,”

“Titus?!” the captain shouted.

My siblings were startled by the captain’s reaction. I look at the captain, “I-is something wrong?”

The captain clears his throat, “Apologies. But I think my reaction was warranted.” he continues writing, “Before the town even became… well, a town– It was a known fact that this was a famine farm. Meaning it was never meant to stay as a village; farmers were sent here to cultivate the lands and harvest crops to control the effects of famine.”

“Well, the politics behind it is complicated captain,” Barth’s demeanor is serious, “It was poor citizens from the cities who were sent here, not skilled farmers. It was an edict by the king at the time to reduce the population of the cities so they could distribute rations to people of status. They were left to die in the famine, it’s just nobody expected some villages would survive, a generation of wealthy landowners arose and the story of buying noble titles starts there.”

“Err, you’re right the politics and history are complicated but I am not here to debate events that happened a hundred years ago.” the captain rebuts, “I am here to discuss about what happened that night.”

“O-of course,” Barth bowed in respect.

Barth, you’re a real social justice warrior.

“But to your credit lord Barth, that little part of history is what made this town today. But there is one nuanced story that you should know,” the captain said, “Due to the excess number of the Royal Army, they sent soldiers to supervise those farms. The one they sent here was a man named Titus. The founder and ancestor of the Daggerhand family.”

“Titus…” I mumbled, “He… He was terrifying…”

“Is it because of his siphon magic?” the captain asked, “Did you witness it?”

“Yes,”

The captain nods, “I’m sorry,” he takes note of it in his journal, “Not much was known about Titus Daggerhand besides him declaring dominion over these lands. Rumors say he’s imperial but none of that was validated, for at the time he was an abusive soldier who became a landlord, but soon met his demise at the hands of his children, or so they say.”

“His descendants were no better,” Garth suddenly spoke, he was listening all this time.

“You’re right but the people prefer lesser evils,” the captain jots down, he must be recording everything, “In the end the Daggerhand family did not receive a title for obvious reasons, the Lord of this region wouldn’t allow it. The Congress of Barons was also against it. Not because they were abusive landlords, no, far more terrible reasons than that…”

“Why then?” my curiosity piques.

“It’s because Titus was a user of a dangerous magic spell. The Life Drain, or simply the siphon spell.” the captain stares at the ceiling, he must be running out of history to tell, “There are few in history who used that kind of magic, and reasonably none in our time. One particular user is the pioneer of Life Drain, the creator, the one that they call a master of necromancy spells, and his name is…”

I anticipate the next word that will come out of his mouth. Funny enough, my siblings are listening as well.

“Prince Titus of the Emperor’s entourage.” the captain said anti-climatically. His nonchalant tone doubles the disappointment in the build-up.

“Wait, there was a dark prince also named Titus, and nobody suspected Titus Daggerhand might be evil?” Barth asked in disbelief, his exasperation is relatable.

“Yes, and to answer the obvious, why would someone suspect anyone based on the name? We only judge here by deeds and what they become from judgment, lord Barth.” the captain strokes his chin, shaking his hand, must be tired from writing.

Barth didn’t know what else to say, it sounded fair. But he is dismayed.

Garth nodded at the statement, “So what judgment shall Ansel face?”

“To be honest with you, lord Garth. I don’t know. In fact, we don’t know why he didn’t know about his necromancer’s plans, why the necromancers even resurrected someone from a hundred years ago, and why now. That is the most important question, why now, why here?” the captain’s calm tone did not mirror how he furiously wrote in the journal. 

The captain’s tired eyes stared at me, “Unless?” he said, waiting for me to contribute.

I was about to say a word. About an emperor, about princes, about an order. But in the end, I couldn’t. I do not see the reason to do so, my family is not involved in an ultra-historical plot about resurrections and war. We are just a simple family, a bunch of adopted kids. I did not want to involve us any further in this.

Ansel must’ve had bad blood with us but now, knowing Titus, especially knowing Titus, maybe it is unwise to unravel mysteries surrounding his family and let us be caught by the thread. Besides, I doubt Titus cares about our family. This, after all, is a problem that the kingdom will face. I am not a main character. But is this the right choice?