Three days.That's how long it took before the first knock came.
It was past midnight when I heard it.Not the light, nervous rap of a servant.Not the impatient pound of a soldier.
No.
This was deliberate.Measured.A man who knew the weight of knocking on the door of fate.
I rose from my desk, the candlelight flickering wildly as I crossed the floor.When I opened the door, I found him standing there—
Sir Caldus Ravane.
Once a shining knight of the royal guard, his name had echoed in the training yards like a war hymn.Now?
He looked like a ghost wrapped in rusted armor.Hair shaggy and streaked with gray.Scars crawling across his face like bitter reminders.But his eyes—They still burned.
I smiled thinly."You came."
His lip curled."You sent me a letter dipped in poison and promises. I figured I'd come see which one kills me first."
Ah.Still sharp.Good.
I stepped aside."Come in, Sir Caldus. Let's speak plainly. No masks between us tonight."
He grunted and stepped inside.Every movement stiff with old pain.Every step heavy with a man who had nothing left to lose.
When the door shut, I gestured to the table where I had laid out a decanter and two glasses.Wine, aged and dark.I poured without asking.
He eyed the glass like it might bite him.Then he drank.Deep and long.
Only when he lowered the cup did he speak."You want soldiers."
"Not soldiers," I corrected softly."I want wolves. Outcasts. Men the empire spat on. Men like you."
His gaze hardened."You want me to betray the empire?"
I leaned forward, voice low."Tell me, Sir Caldus—did the empire betray you first?"
Silence.
A long, heavy silence that hung between us like a blade.
Then—His knuckles whitened around the glass.His jaw clenched.
"They left my men to die at Marrow Hill," he said hoarsely."Called it a 'necessary sacrifice' while they toasted their victory. And when I spoke out—"He laughed, bitter and raw."They stripped me of my rank. Branded me a coward."
I let that sink in.Let the old wound bleed fresh in his mind.
Then I smiled.Not kindly.But like the wolf I was.
"Help me, Caldus. And I will give you what they stole."I leaned closer, my voice turning to steel."A chance to make every last one of them choke on their lies."
His breath came rough.His hands trembled.But when he looked at me—I saw it.The decision.The break.
"I want their heads," he growled."Not gold. Not titles. Their heads."
I raised my glass."Then we understand each other."
Elsewhere—
At that same hour, Evelyne faced a different battle.One not fought with blades but with poisoned words.
The court had gathered unexpectedly.A sudden council called by Duke Maren—one of the southern lords she had warned me about.
As she stepped into the gilded chamber, all eyes turned.Hungry.Waiting.
"My lady Evelyne," Duke Maren drawled, voice slick as oil."There are… troubling rumors. About your involvement with certain undesirables."
She didn't flinch.Didn't let them see even a crack.
"And what rumors would those be, Your Grace?" she asked, tone ice-cold.
Maren smiled like a viper."That you've been funding mercenaries. Meeting with exiled knights.Even consorting with disgraced nobles. Curious, is it not?"
The court murmured.Shadows whispering.Daggers poised.
Evelyne's nails dug into her palms—But outwardly, she smiled.Sweet. Innocent.
"Ah, I see."She tilted her head, the perfect picture of delicate nobility."Your Grace, perhaps those rumors were planted by jealous rivals. Ones who wish to see my family's downfall."
Maren's eyes narrowed.But she didn't give him the opening he wanted.Didn't lash out.Didn't stumble.
She danced through the verbal minefield with deadly grace.
But as the council dragged on, Evelyne knew—
The walls were closing in.Faster than expected.
When she finally escaped the chamber, her chest was tight.Her hands cold.
She wanted to scream.To tear down the marble pillars they all hid behind.
Instead, she turned her fury into fuel.Her eyes blazed.
"They want war?" she whispered."Fine. We'll give them war."
Back in my chambers, Caldus knelt before me.His oath spilled from cracked lips.His loyalty bound not by honor—But by revenge.
The first piece.The first wolf answering the call.
And as the wind howled outside, I felt it—The storm gathering strength.The empire trembling on the edge.
And I—Leonhart Ascaron—The villain they feared—Would be the one to push it over.