Viola arrived by horse-drawn wagon, critically wounded, and her brother was concerned he had never seen her like that in decades. He never believed anything could get his sister to look like that.
Her hands were barely held by its tendons, her face scarred in ways only a sadistic bastard could do, and she was barely herself. He was inside the wagon while the knight tried to tell him, as politely as they could, to leave; stuck at a weird crossroads where, if Viola stayed in the wagon, she would surely die; however, if they told the Duke to step out, they would surely be sacked.
Meanwhile, he just relished in the metallic smell of his unconscious sister's blood, her grip on his hand so heavy, she almost crushed his hand.
"How are you so strong even when you can barely breathe?" he silently whispered to her, in her unconscious, tense state.
Then, as he was looking at her tense face, she suddenly eased up, her grip loosening to a point where it was non-existent, and her once heaving chest and thumping heart slowed. In response to her sluggishness, his heart thumped so hard it almost broke through his rib cage.
IS SHE D-D-D-EAD?
"Who did this to her!!!!" He screamed at the top of his lungs so much so that it scared his fourteen-year-old daughter, who was silently watching from inside the castle, touching the brown glass separating her from the outside.
"Dad?" She silently whispered, hearing his panicked scream.
Viola didn't know why, but she woke up tired, her body unresponsive, worse of all, completely alone. She woke up a bit scarred. She didn't scream, wasn't confused; she just tested her legs and arms, and, due to their responsiveness, she walked up, grabbed a chair by its armrest, and ripped it out.
"I can't believe he kept all my possessions from when we were young, oh Henry, what would I do without you?" she said, staring lovingly into a brown window, silently gazing at the obscured night sky.
She skillfully manipulated her rapier, taking on a stance and slashing at the empty air, a sharp pain coursing through her as she did so, still she just bit her lips and continued, swing after swing, sweat trickling down over time.
She would continue slashing until the yellow glow of the dawn sun came into view. She was exhausted, sweat trickling like a leaking tap; nevertheless, she continued. Then something magical happened after she changed stance and calmed her ragged breathing.
The sweat from her face suddenly evaporated into a thin mist that glowed in the dawn light as they obediently followed her blade, lighting its path into a magnificent arc that dared to stretch one's imagination.
She kept the show going for a while longer as she performed acrobatics with her sword, always keeping the tip of her sword to the wall. After about two hours of this, a wonderful golden painting appeared on the wall.
The painting was one that closely resembled a bear of sorts, ferocious yet calm, as it stood tall above the forest trees, not normal in any way.
The painting, just as it was finished, slowly began to disappear. Viola held her head in pain, then three knocks came from the door. Without consent, it simply entered; it was Duke Henry Cardinal, Viola's younger brother.
His eyes lit a vibrant blue when he saw his older sister, a bit enraged but perfectly fine, looking at him with a blank look.
"What, is my beauty that mesmerizing? You look weird," he said as he tried peeking behind her to see the rapidly disappearing mural she had painted, while she, however small she was, tried covering it up.
"It's not that it's just...just...just... It's been a while," she took a pause, seemingly unable to finish her next words.
"You missed me, huh?" Henry said as she approached her until he was finally in front of her
"Yes, that, I that, I really do," Viola said as she hugged him tightly.
The hug lasted about three minutes before Viola pulled back, that happy look of hers silently fading.
Henry walked to the bear mural and took the arm stand Viola had painted with her sweat, then drew imaginary teeth on the massive bear.
"It probably looked like this. I did not think bears could seriously get this big."
"Lets not talk about it, I've lost too much to it."
"Yet you aren't grieving or anything, you seem fine."
"I barely knew those soldiers my crew died with him back then, what I lost was Ars."
Henry looked at his own hand as her grip marks were still visible.
"I thought Aurelious got that from the dwarves. It should not have broken that easily."
"It wasn't easy, without that sword I don't know if," Viola paused, it was too bitter a pill to comfortably swallow.
"Really? Then, I should thank the guy in the afterlife when I see him."
Viola stayed in Henry's mansion for the next three months, and news of her retirement spread far and wide. The relentless Azure demon had retired from monster hunting.
"Daddy, Aunt looks a bit off nowadays."
Henry raised his eyebrows at his daughter during lunch.
"You also act differently, you grew up so has she, I'm sure she will get bett..."
"Even you see there is something wrong."
"Celeste, stop engaging in grown-up matters. You are nothing but a child. Just because you are clever does not mean you are suddenly everyone's boss." Henry turned quiet, looking at his bowl in shame, while Celeste simply looked outside.
Weeks later, Celeste came knocking on Viola's door. Viola was surprised; she hadn't seen Celeste in years, and the last time she had seen Celeste, she was never this sweet as to visit her when injured.
"Come in and get yourself comfortable."
Celeste and Viola talked and laughed for a while before Celeste gave her a letter that would permanently change the course of her life. It was an invitation from Elizabeth, the queen of Laufontia, to tutor her son, Prince Auther.
She ran with the offer so excitedly that when she told her brother, he simply told her congratulations, yet he left her with a strange warning.
"Be careful, my dear Vio, for when men dream and wish so hard, their lust for that thing may destroy both their object of desire and themselves."
"Brother, I'll keep that in mind. Thank you for your care during these weird times in my life. I'll visit when I can."
And just like that she was off, to start a journey with a person whom only his parents she knew.
The palace was just as magnificent as always, the maids were nice, but what caught her eye was a boy, nearly a man, so beautifully familiar she thought she was seeing visions.
She met him in the throne room, where he stood arrogantly beside his mother and the queen. He had dazzling green eyes, just like Aurelious, flowing golden hair like his mother's, and a strong yet strangely delicate build, just like hers.
"Duchess Viola Lionheart, do you accept the role of training the young prince Auther in the way of the sword..." She didn't listen to all of it; she was just looking forward to training something that might be better than anything she had seen or even heard of. This would mark the start of her journey as Auther's teacher.
One that would end too quickly.