﻿As the first light of dawn began to creep over the horizon, a gentle but persistent prodding roused Edwin from his sleep. He blinked awake, his senses immediately on high alert. Looking up, he saw a boy about his age standing over him, holding a wet knife in his hand. The boy’s clothes were finely made, but his expression was filled with worry and concern.

“Hey, wake up,” the boy urged softly, his voice carrying a mix of urgency and kindness.

Edwin sat up, still groggy and disoriented. He looked at the boy, noticing the pain etched into his features—a pain Edwin recognized all too well. Despite the noble attire, the boy’s eyes held a haunted look, one Edwin had seen reflected in his own eyes countless times before.

“My name is Edwin,” he said cautiously, wiping the sleep from his eyes. His voice was barely a whisper.

The boy stared at him for a moment, seemingly taken aback by his words. “My name is Alex. Will you be my friend?”

Alex’s question caught Edwin off guard, but he couldn’t help but feel a flicker of hope in the offer. In a world filled with darkness, friendship could be a powerful ally. Without hesitation, he nodded. “Yes, Alex, I’ll be your friend.”

Alex offered a weak smile and gestured for Edwin to follow him. “Come with me.”

They walked in silence until they reached a small, secluded room. Alex nervously opened the door, revealing a group of slave children lounging around. The moment they noticed Alex and Edwin, the atmosphere shifted.

"Look who the noble dragged in," sneered a male deer, his voice dripping with disdain. The others snickered, their eyes narrowing as they fixed on Edwin.

"I guess Alex couldn’t get a friend, so he bought one," mocked a male rabbit, his tone laced with cruelty.

A female deer approached Edwin, her steps slow and deliberate. Without warning, she spat in his face, her expression one of pure contempt. "I'm not dealing with one of those slaves," she sneered, laughing harshly. "What did you do, dig in the dirt? We work in a castle, freak."

Edwin wiped the spit from his face, his heart pounding. He had hoped that Alex's offer of friendship might lead to something better, but now he realized how naïve that hope had been. He looked to Alex, who stood silently beside him, his face a mixture of fear and shame.

The male deer stepped closer, towering over Edwin. "You think you're better than us because you’re friends with him?" He shoved Edwin, sending him stumbling backwards.

Edwin tried to steady himself, but before he could respond, the male rabbit joined in, shoving him from the other side. "You don’t belong here," the rabbit hissed, his voice low and menacing.

Edwin glanced at Alex, confusion and concern etched on his face, but before he could speak, the female deer’s laughter cut through the air. "Even the nobles know you're worthless, Alex. You’re just another punching bag."

With that, she shoved Alex hard, sending him crashing into the wall. Edwin tried to step in, but the other children quickly overwhelmed him, pushing him to the ground. Kicks and punches rained down on him as he struggled to protect himself.

Alex tried to crawl away, but the male deer grabbed him by the collar, dragging him back. "You think you can just bring someone in here and we’ll accept it?" the deer sneered, slamming Alex against the floor. "You don’t make the rules here."

The beating was relentless. Edwin curled into a ball, trying to shield himself from the blows, but the pain was overwhelming. Beside him, Alex gasped for breath, his fine clothes now torn and dirty as the children vented their frustrations on him.

Finally, after what felt like an eternity, the children grew tired of their cruel game. The female deer spat on Edwin one last time before turning away. "This is our world," she said coldly. "You don’t belong in it."

With that, they left the room, their cruel laughter echoing down the hallway as they disappeared from sight. Edwin and Alex lay on the floor, bruised and battered, the weight of their shared pain heavy between them.

For a long while, neither of them moved. The silence was only broken by their ragged breathing as they tried to process what had just happened. Eventually, they both managed to sit up, leaning against the wall for support. Edwin gingerly touched a bruise forming on his arm, wincing at the sharp pain.

He glanced over at Alex, who was wiping blood from the corner of his mouth. The young noble looked as defeated as Edwin felt, his fine clothes now torn and dirty, his eyes filled with a deep sadness.

Edwin broke the silence first, his voice quiet and uncertain. "Why do they do this to you? You’re a noble… they’re supposed to fear you, aren’t they?"

Alex sighed, the sound filled with weariness beyond his years. He didn’t meet Edwin’s eyes, instead staring down at the floor. "It wasn’t always like this," he began, his voice low and heavy. "When I was younger, things were different. But then… the other nobles started bullying me."

Edwin listened, trying to understand. "The other nobles?" he echoed, his confusion growing.

Alex nodded slowly. "They said I was weak, that I wasn’t like them. They’d call me names, push me around, beat me up… and I never told my father. I didn’t want him to think I was weak too."

He paused, his eyes distant as he recalled those painful memories. "But it didn’t stop there. After a few months, the slaves here—people who used to treat me with respect—started acting differently. They saw how the other nobles treated me and decided I wasn’t really one of them anymore. They began to treat me the same way—hitting me, mocking me. They started seeing me as just another target."

Edwin felt a pang of sympathy for Alex. He had his own scars, but hearing about Alex’s struggles made him realize that suffering wasn’t exclusive to slaves. It was a bitter truth that crossed the lines of status and power.

“You didn’t tell your dad about the bullying?” Edwin asked quietly, trying to piece everything together.

Alex shook his head, his voice trembling slightly. “No. I thought I could handle it on my own. I didn’t want him to think less of me. But now… I don’t know what to do. No matter where I turn, it feels like I’m alone.”

Edwin reached out, placing a hand on Alex’s shoulder in a gesture of comfort. “You’re not alone anymore,” he said softly, his voice filled with a quiet determination. “We’ll figure this out together.”

Alex finally looked up at Edwin, a faint glimmer of hope in his eyes. He nodded slowly, the beginnings of a fragile bond forming between them amidst their shared suffering.

For the first time since they had met, Alex didn’t feel entirely abandoned. Despite the bruises and the pain, he felt a small, flickering hope that maybe, just maybe, they could find a way through this darkness together.

Weeks passed, and the tension that had built up within Alex finally reached its breaking point. The constant bullying, the beatings, and the mockery had worn him down, and he had grown tired of being seen as weak. One afternoon, as he and Edwin entered the familiar room where the other slave children lounged, something inside Alex snapped.

The male deer, one of the ringleaders in tormenting Alex, noticed the change in his demeanor immediately. "What's with that look, freak?" the deer sneered, his tone dripping with contempt.

Without a word, Alex lunged at the deer, his fists flying with a fury that caught everyone off guard.

The room erupted into chaos. The other children scrambled to get out of the way as Alex attacked the deer with a ferocity none of them had ever seen before. His fists pounded into the deer's face, each blow fueled by the pent-up anger and humiliation that had been festering inside him for weeks.

"Alex, stop!" Edwin shouted, rushing forward to try and pull him off. But Alex was too far gone, too consumed by his rage to hear Edwin’s pleas. His fists kept coming, even as the deer cried out in pain, his face bloodied and bruised.

The other children backed away, watching in shock as Alex continued his relentless assault. It wasn’t just about the deer anymore—Alex had become a whirlwind of anger, lashing out at everything that had tormented him.

Edwin finally managed to grab Alex’s arm, trying to pull him back. "Alex, you’re going too far! Stop, please!" But Alex shoved him away, his eyes wild and unrecognizable.

The next target of Alex’s fury was the male rabbit who had mocked him the most. Alex turned on him with a snarl, his fists flying with the same brutal intensity. The rabbit barely had time to react before he was on the ground, trying in vain to shield himself from the blows.

Edwin watched in horror as Alex kept hitting the rabbit, his rage only growing with each strike. "Alex, please!" Edwin pleaded, desperate to get through to his friend. But it was as if Alex couldn’t even hear him, his mind lost in a haze of anger and violence.

The rabbit’s cries grew weaker, his body battered and broken under Alex’s unrelenting assault. Blood pooled on the floor, and the other children stood frozen in fear, too terrified to intervene.

Just as it seemed like Alex was about to beat the rabbit to death, the door to the room slammed open with a thunderous bang. Alex’s father, the nobleman who ruled the household, stormed in, his eyes blazing with fury.

"Alex, that’s enough!" he roared, his voice cutting through the chaos like a knife.

Alex froze, his fists still raised, his breath coming in ragged gasps. He turned slowly to face his father, the realization of what he had done dawning on him like a cold, hard slap.

The nobleman crossed the room in a few swift strides, grabbing Alex by the arm and yanking him away from the rabbit. "What do you think you’re doing?" he demanded, his voice cold and sharp.

Alex’s rage drained away as quickly as it had come, leaving him feeling hollow and sick. He looked down at the blood on his hands, the broken bodies of the children around him, and felt a wave of shame and fear wash over him.

"I… I couldn’t stop," Alex stammered, his voice barely above a whisper. "They… they wouldn’t stop hurting me."

His father’s grip tightened on his arm, his expression one of furious disappointment. "And this is how you respond? By becoming just like them? By nearly killing someone?" He shook his head, his eyes filled with a mixture of anger and something else—something that Alex couldn’t quite place.

Edwin, still reeling from what had just happened, stepped forward hesitantly. "Sir, please… it’s not all his fault. They’ve been bullying him for weeks. He just… he couldn’t take it anymore."

The nobleman glanced at Edwin, his expression softening slightly, but his anger didn’t dissipate. He looked back at his son, his voice stern. "We’ll deal with this later," he said, his tone brooking no argument. "For now, you’re coming with me."

He hauled Alex to his feet, dragging him out of the room. Alex didn’t resist, his body limp with exhaustion and shame. As they left, the nobleman turned back to the other children, his voice cold and commanding. "All of you, clean this mess up. And if I hear about any more of this behavior, there will be consequences."

With that, the door slammed shut behind them, leaving Edwin and the other children in a stunned silence. The room was eerily quiet, the only sound the ragged breathing of the battered children and the soft sobbing of the rabbit who had come so close to death.

Edwin knelt beside the rabbit, his heart heavy with guilt and worry. "It’s okay," he whispered, his voice shaky. "You’re going to be okay." But even as he said the words, he wasn’t sure if he believed them.

The events of that day would leave scars on everyone involved—scars that would take a long time to heal, if they ever did. And as Edwin sat there, trying to comfort the injured rabbit, he couldn’t shake the feeling that something had been irreparably broken in Alex, in their fragile friendship, and in the world they both inhabited.

Nolan led Alex to his private study, the journey through the grand halls of the estate filled with a heavy silence. When they arrived, Nolan gently closed the door behind them, turning to face his son.

"Sit down, Alex," Nolan’s voice was kind, but firm.

Alex obeyed, sinking into a chair, his head hung low. Nolan stood by the window for a moment, gathering his thoughts before he spoke.

"I know you’ve been struggling, son. I see the pain you’re in, and I understand how hard it is to keep it all inside. But what happened today cannot happen again," Nolan’s expression was serious but not unkind as he turned to face Alex.

"I just… I didn’t know what else to do," Alex looked up, his eyes filled with a mixture of shame and confusion.

Nolan sighed, moving to sit beside Alex, his voice softening. "I know. And that’s why we’re going to work on this together. You don’t have to face this alone, Alex. But you need to learn to control your anger. It’s not about pretending it doesn’t exist—it’s about channeling it into something positive, something that won’t harm you or those around you."

Alex nodded slowly, the words beginning to sink in.

"You have a good heart, Alex. I see that in you every day. But being a leader, being strong, isn’t just about power—it’s about wisdom, patience, and the ability to stay calm even when the world is pushing you to your limits," Nolan’s tone was gentle but unwavering as he placed a hand on Alex’s shoulder, giving him a reassuring squeeze.

"We’ll figure this out, together. But you need to trust me and yourself. You’re capable of so much more than you realize," Nolan’s voice carried a note of encouragement, a father’s belief in his son’s potential.

"Thank you, Father… I’ll try," Alex looked at his father, a flicker of hope in his eyes. For the first time in a long while, he felt like he wasn’t alone in his struggle.

"That’s all I ask," Nolan smiled faintly, his stern demeanor softening. "Now, let’s start by figuring out how we can make things right. It won’t be easy, but I believe in you."

After a while, Edwin was summoned to meet with Nolan. The guards escorted him through the estate, the atmosphere tense and foreboding. Edwin’s mind raced with thoughts of what awaited him as he was led into Nolan’s private study.

Nolan stood by the window, his back turned to Edwin as he entered the room. The guards left them alone, and for a moment, there was only silence.

Nolan finally turned to face Edwin, his eyes cold and calculating. "I know what you tried to do," he said calmly. Edwin opened his mouth to explain, but Nolan raised a hand to silence him. "You don’t need to speak. I’ve already heard enough."

Edwin’s heart sank. He had done his best to protect Alex, to stop him from going too far, but now he stood before the most powerful man in the household, unsure of what judgment was about to be passed.

"It appears that Alex is too weak to lead," Nolan continued, his tone emotionless. "He has the heart, but not the strength. And in this world, strength is what matters most."

Edwin felt a knot tighten in his stomach as Nolan’s words sank in. He knew how much Alex had struggled, how hard he had tried to endure the bullying and the beatings, but Nolan’s cold assessment left no room for sympathy.

"I have a proposition for you, Edwin," Nolan said, stepping closer. "You’ve shown resilience, and more importantly, you’ve shown loyalty—both to Alex and to the ideals of this household. It is clear to me that Alex needs an example to follow, someone who can guide him."

Nolan paused, his gaze sharp as he studied Edwin’s reaction. "I will make you my temporary heir," he declared, his words heavy with significance. "From this day forward, you, Edwin Brown, will be Edwin Skycross."

Edwin’s eyes widened in shock, the weight of Nolan’s words almost too much to process. He hadn’t expected this, hadn’t even considered the possibility.

"Make sure you set an example," Nolan continued, his voice carrying a hint of warning, "so that Alex will be ready to claim his estate when I move on from this world. He needs to learn what it means to lead, and he needs to see that strength does not come from rage, but from control and wisdom."

Edwin struggled to find his voice, his mind racing with the implications of what Nolan was offering. "But… what about Alex?" he finally managed to ask, his voice trembling slightly. "He’s your son. Shouldn’t he—"

Nolan cut him off with a stern look. "Alex is my son, and he will remain my heir in name. But until he is ready to lead, he needs someone to show him the way. Someone who understands the weight of responsibility and the consequences of weakness."

Edwin nodded slowly, the enormity of what was being asked of him settling heavily on his shoulders. He had never imagined himself in a position like this, but now, it seemed he had no choice.

"Do you accept this responsibility, Edwin Skycross?" Nolan asked, his voice steady, his eyes locked on Edwin’s.

Edwin hesitated for a moment, the name feeling foreign on his tongue, but he knew there was only one answer he could give. "Yes, sir," he said, his voice firm despite the turmoil in his heart. "I accept."

Nolan nodded, satisfied. "Good. From this moment on, you are no longer just a slave. You are a member of this household, and you will act accordingly. Make sure you do not disappoint me."

With that, Nolan turned away, signaling that the conversation was over. The guards re-entered the room to escort Edwin out, but not before Nolan gave him one last piece of advice.

"Remember, Edwin," Nolan said, his voice carrying a finality that left no room for doubt. "Strength is what will ensure this family’s survival. Never forget that."

As Edwin was led out of the room, his mind swirled with conflicting emotions. He had been given a new name, a new identity, and a new purpose. But the burden of it all weighed heavily on him. He knew that this was just the beginning of a new chapter in his life—one that would test him in ways he could never have imagined.

And as he walked through the grand halls of the Skycross estate, Edwin couldn’t help but wonder what the future held for him and for Alex, the boy he had once called a friend.
