In the Island of Oth
The island lay in the northern part of the Othre Continent, a large piece of land that sat at least five kilometers from the nearest coast.
Without warning, they disappeared and left only the Archduke who continued to walk alone.
But.
Deep within the heart of Oth Island, a woman was bound in a cruel contraption of a metal frame that twisted her body against itself, known as the Scavenger's Daughter.
Her platinum hair streaked with blood, and her blue eyes were now tainted with red.
Her body was that of an adolescent, though she was already nineteen years old.
Blood leaked from her nose, mouth, and eyes, staining her pale skin.
A voice echoed in the silence,
"Does it hurt? Good. Pain is honest."
The voice belonged to an old man, his lavender eyes gleaming as he watched her suffering.
"Go on. Beg for your freedom, child."
Behind him were, at least, a hundred people who wore three kinds of crest:
Fifty people bore the same crest as the old man: a crescent moon.
Thirty bore a symbol of chains.
Twenty bore a symbol of an axe.
"How persistent you are…
"Just say the words. Beg, and I'll grant you freedom.
"Do you truly believe your dear father would stain his hands to save you? He's forgotten you, little disgrace.
"Everyone has."
The woman's lips quivered slightly as she raised her head though blood still dripped down her chin.
Instead of crying in pain, she began to let out a chuckle, then louder and louder, and turned out into a faint laughter that she could muster.
"Ahaha…"
It echoed through the cold air.
"Forgotten? I'm sure the youngest still remembers me."
***
In the Othrelis Kingdom.
Step.
As Seven stepped through the Academy's obsidian gates, a familiar cyan-colored carriage pulled up right on cue.
A few students turned to glance at him but he did not spare them a second look.
Creak.
The two knights opened the door of the carriage and he stepped inside.
Thud.
The knights closed the door right after.
Inside, Iria lit up the second she saw him.
"Young Lord! How was the registration?
"Did it go well?
"Was the Academy fancy?
"Did they treat you nicely?
"Was it up to your liking?"
As the carriage rolled out of the Academy gates and into the open roads beyond the Othrelis Kingdom, the scenery began to shift.
Stone buildings faded into the distance, replaced by open fields and hills that stretched far across the horizon.
Iria pouted.
"Young—"
"Iria."
He cut in just in time to stop her rambling.
"Can you tell me who my other siblings are?"
"...Pardon?"
"I… kind of… forgot their names."
He said.
In all honesty, it was because not all the siblings were mentioned in the novel.
Given that his sixteenth birthday was coming just around the corner, he needed this information and make it a pillar of who to trust and who to not.
"…You forgot them?"
Iria squinted her eyes as if she could not determine if he was joking or not.
She sighed dramatically and crossed her arms.
It was not unusual for Seven to be like this.
She had served him long enough to understand his rhythms. So, when he suddenly asked her about his siblings and casually claimed to have forgotten their names, she did not question it.
Though she did think about it inside her mind, she did not dare to say it out loud.
Instead, she acted completely normal.
"I knew it! You really can't live without me, can you?"
"...?"
Iria pouted once more.
After all, she did not hear a response except the steady sound of wheels rolling and trees passing by.
Thus she straightened up with a little huff and brushed down her skirt as she prepared for the long explanation.
"Okay. Let me educate the Young Lord's amnesia-riddled brain."
"You— sigh. Continue."
Iria cleared her throat like she was about to recite a grand speech.
"Let's start with the basics."
She pointed a finger up.
"First is… Lady Eden. She is… someone… that even me don't know much about."
She giggled.
She discussed the basic details that she knew about Eden, from how she was cold to others but a complete opposite in front of him.
But that was all.
Even Iria, who prided herself on knowing the ins and outs of noble gossip despite being a maid in the exiled mansion had little to say with certainty.
Rumor had it Eden withdrew from the succession war to avoid shedding her siblings' blood, though Iria suspected the truth was far less romantic.
After all, there were whispers that she had once nearly killed the third child in a duel.
Still, no one ever dared speak of it openly.
Then there was the second child, Leon Hart.
Iria discussed that Leon was a calm and unbothered man who had distanced himself from the politics of the main house.
He was currently living in the second continent and married into royalty with his ambitions buried deep in the ground.
She also discussed that the third sibling, Atreus Hart, was everything one expected from a noble heir.
Talented.
Handsome.
And impossibly well-mannered.
He excelled in swordsmanship, governance, and even the subtle art of charming the masses. Thus with Eden out of the way and Leon abroad, the title of successor naturally fell to him.
The fourth was…
"..."
Iria could not describe a single thing about the fourth child.
After all, she began serving at the exiled mansion just after the fourth child was exiled and was sent somewhere secretly but not at the exiled mansion.
The only rumor she was able to gather was that the fourth child once massacred at least half of the children of a party attended by the Kingdom's nobility.
In the record, two died and fifteen experienced a death-door situation.
Hence, she was banned in the Kingdom, the Main Duchy, and other territories and cities within the continent.
'Elyssia?'
Seven's eyes narrowed slightly as the name surfaced in his mind.
The fourth Hart sibling.
In the novel, she was one of the only siblings said to rival Eden in raw talent and perhaps even surpass her if she enrolled at the Academy.
But she was not allowed.
After all, talent was not all she had.
She was… unhinged.
Thanks to her psychopathic nature, she was exiled to a remote island named Oth located above the northern coast of the continent.
It was a place discovered and kept secret by the Archduke himself.
Years later, the Archmage Maxvlque found that same island.
And what followed was nothing short of horror as he turned Elyssia into a personal experiment. For instance, he tested his new spells and modified her body with a forbidden magic.
When the Archduke found out that information, he did not hesitate to depart towards the island of Oth.
In the novel, he returned to the Hart mansion afterward and sat upon the throne one last time before he lost his life.
That battle cost him the lives of all five of the Abbaddon, his most loyal knights. But in return, he annihilated the Archmage and his entire army that was present in the scene.
Only one survived that bloodbath:
The hostage:
Elyssia Hart.
Hff…
Seven took a deep breath.
He leaned back slightly in his seat as the memory of the novel lightly lined up with the present.
'If I'm not wrong… the Archduke now left to rescue her...'
Still, despite knowing the future, there was no way he could interfere given that he still does not have enough reputation to convince anyone with his words of knowledge alone.
"..."
Yawn.
He yawned.
Iria continued her mumbling.
She described the fifth child with a change of expression.
She said that the fifth had a gentle soul who wrote poetry, conversed with animals, and wore glasses despite having perfect vision.
And people often called him boring.
Finally, the twins.
Zack and Zach.
Technically the sixth child, but counted as one unit.
They refused to be separated, even on paper. The household staff referred to them as Sixth Zack and Sixth Zach, as if the repetition explained everything.
By the time Iria had gone through all of this in her head, her voice slowly trailed into silence as she noticed Seven who leaned in the corner of the carriage with eyes closed.
Asleep.
She stared at him for a moment.
With a quiet rustle of fabric, Iria shifted her position and moved from across the carriage to the seat beside him.
She was very careful not to wake him.
Gently, she tilted her head and guided his weight to lean against her chest.
She lowered her gaze and brushed a stray lock of hair from his face.
"...Sleep well, Young Lord."