Ginehart was a well-known name in the kingdom of Lunaira, ever since their rise to power people were already clamoring to make connections with them. Some succeeded while the others failed as the family in itself were difficult to approach and please, even more so when Ulysses Ginehart became the youngest Military General in history of Lunaira.
His prowess in the battlefield was highly praised and he was even called the God of Chaos. He won several battles and successfully defended against several invasions by his wit and strength. He was even one of the few who managed to win against an army with mages amongst their ranks.
All of these contributed to him becoming the current head of the Ginehart dukedom even though he was not the first born. Amongst the seven siblings, he was only the fifth and yet his father named him the head just before he died because in his eyes his other children were deemed incompetent.
Nobody made a fuss about it because the power and influence of Ulysses can't be challenged and his siblings don't have the ability to compete with him. But even so, the jealousy and greed could still be felt from them as they watched Ulysses and his family be showered with praise especially when Linius Ginehart followed his father's footsteps.
The only weakness they had was the general's younger son, whom the public had not yet met. Although Linius said that they only used it as an excuse to avoid banquets, the branch families knew that it was not just an excuse because it was the truth.
Linius's younger brother was born with a very weak constitution and they've tried everything to cure him but nothing worked and because of his father's distrust with mages he was unwilling to let them use magic to heal him. This was the weakness the branch families believed would take down Ulysses but Linius's younger brother was strictly guarded that nobody had ever seen his face or knew his name.
Ulysses knew that these vicious people would target his son so he did everything he could to hide his whereabouts and his identity. Linius was also active in making sure that his brother was safe that he even went and killed everyone who saw his brother's face.
"If you need to watch out for someone then be careful of my cousin, Lindon Ginehart since he is a man who always tries to find fault with other people. He often visits the manor because he wanted to get my father's attention and he might hold a grudge against you because you'll be posing as my younger brother," Linius sincerely answered because he was actually looking forward to when the master and his cousin will meet.
Lindon Ginehart was the first born of his father's second brother. He was ambitious and was very good at politics. These past few years he had been building his connection at the capital and socializing with other nobles just to gain power to contend with Linius. He was aiming for the position of head.
At his mother's birthday party, he will surely come so if there was a person that they needed to be wary of he would be that person. Linius looked at the group but they seemed to be not bothered even though he told them all they needed to know about his family.
"Since your brother is sickly, should I act like a sick person?" Cygnus ignored everything he heard and only focused on one matter, how he should act in front of people.
"I told you already that you don't have to do anything and just be yourself since no one from the branch families nor the servants know my brother's face, name and personality. So, it doesn't really matter," Linius answered because truthfully, he doesn't want to see them acting again. He was more comfortable in seeing who they really were.
"Alright then," Cygnus nodded. "By the way, what is your mother's name? If I become your younger brother, then I should know the names of all of your family members, right?"
Speaking of that, Linius fished out a stack of papers from his bag and handed it to the man. It was a compiled list of everyone in the branch families, from the oldest members to the youngest and on top of that was the information about Duke Ulysses Ginehart and his wife, Duchess Linette Ginehart.
"I'm just curious, why are you even giving me all this information? Aren't you afraid that I might use it against you in the future?" Cygnus looked up after he was done browsing through the papers.
"I am already under your control so why would you use that information against me when all you can do is control your blood inside my body and kill me?" The major raised an eyebrow at the question.
A crisp and lively laugh came out from the master's lips at the answer. He looked at Linius and nodded his head, 'Yes, why would he be afraid?' He thought to himself.
"Then where is the information about your brother?" he asked after a short silence. Linius did not answer and was only looking outside of the window, at the trees and grasses they passed by.
The air around him suddenly turned solemn just as his silence persisted. Cygnus did not press the other to answer and only waited patiently for him to answer.
"He died, not because of his sickness but because of those people," he suddenly started. The answer startled Nina and Astrophos who were with them inside the carriage. According to the major, his brother's location was hidden and well protected so how can that happen, they wondered.
"A traitor revealed my brother's location. One of the people we trusted and yet he still turned his back on us and told them where my brother was. They burned him alive." His fist clenched at the memory of that night.
He was halfway out of the dukedom to a mission when an urgent message reached him, that the house where his brother was residing suddenly caught fire. He rushed back and abandoned his mission only to be too late as the house had already collapsed to the ground.
Linius could remember how he stood there like an idiot as the fire swallowed the house. He felt how powerless he was at that time and when they started to bring out bodies from under the rubble, he started to feel pain on his chest. And the realization that his brother died, slowly dawned on him like there were needles piercing his entire body.
When they brought out the last body, he was brought to his knees because instinctively he knew that it was his brother's body. The necklace he gifted him on his twentieth birthday was still on his neck. His hands trembled as he reached out to the burnt corpse but he could not even touch it because of his guilt.
Although they were devastated, they suppressed the news of the tragedy and told the people that his brother was fine. They did not want the culprit to celebrate just because they succeeded in killing his brother. They proceeded with the funeral with only them as the attendees. It was a solemn and silent event.
His father locked himself in his study for a week while his mother cried often whenever she remembered her son. Linius left to continue the mission he abandoned. They struggled with the grief while showing the world that they were doing fine because they did not want the culprit to panic and make a mistake.
"Should I help you make the culprit suffer? Because if you ask me, that is my specialty." Cygnus suddenly suggested out of the blue because based on the major's story, they haven't caught the culprit yet.
"That's why I'm letting you take my brother's place. I know that you hated nobles so I'm hoping that you'll hate the person who killed my brother and kill him in the end."
