"This won't change anything between us, you hear! I will always love you," a delicate female voice could be heard saying. It was Irnfrid, who was now sitting together with her husband holding hands. They were on a divan, which stood in one of the opulently furnished private rooms of the imperial palace, which was once used by the country's former elite. In the large room with its high, richly decorated ceiling, there were all kinds of luxury goods lying around, which the two of them, who had grown up poor, didn't even know what to do with. Theodor's gaze gloomily fell on the fine wooden floor. He replied: "I know that. And I love you too." Then he gave her a kiss. However, his expression and mood remained sour. So, the heavily pregnant Irnfrid tried to cheer him up:

  "Moping around is no solution now either! You've achieved something world-changing and nobody can ever take that away from you. Besides, there's reason to be happy. Our first child will be born soon. Have you thought about a name yet?" Without thinking twice, the man, who was still staring holes in the ground, replied: "Alexander." - "That's a nice name. Personally, I would have had the idea of naming him Markus. And if it was a girl, Marzia," said Irnfrid. Theodor responded briefly: "No. Alexander." He did not argue. Hence, the child's name would be Alexander. He didn'teven consider, that it could be a girl. His wife sensed how upset her husband was and let it go. However, his really bad temper and bitterness continued to worry her. For the field marshal, the loss of his hand was tantamount to the loss of his honour. Although the others didn’t see it that way, the old ideas that he had been taught in his youth in Kasharovar still lingered deep inside him, in a place where no one could reach him.

  He wanted to prove to the world and especially to himself, even if he didn't realise it, that he was still "worthy". He would still prove himself capable on the campaign against Camenia. Therfore, he was now working at full stretch to head south with the army again soon. But one thing postponed his departure by a day. What was that? The birth of his child! Suddenly, as if it was an act of God, Irnfrid went into labour on the very day that Theodor was due to leave. So, he stayed here to support his beloved. Everything went well and a healthy Alexander saw the light of day.

  While all this was going on, there were completely different developments happening somewhere else. Just as the informants had predicted, a coup took place in Zeemark and those who took power were more interested in saving their own skins than waging an ideologically motivated war, that they did not appear to be able to win. They, too, soon offered their submission to the Holy Ordanian Empire. Then, one beautiful day, a cavalry company suddenly rode up to the palace of Meglarsbruck. They were the household troops of the Duenitz and they had brought a prisoner with them. It was none other than Lucius, the son of the former usurper. They were immediately directed to August. The latter was very pleased with the news he received from them. "Greetings, Mr Chief of Staff! I am called Roderico and am a vassal of the Prince von Duenitz. I bring good tidings, that the usurper Gabriela Cornel has been slain by our men. We intercepted her on her way southwards. If he wishes to inspect the body, the lord is invited to do so." - "Yes, I will certainly do that." Then he looked at the bound boy. "And who is he then?" - "He is her son, Lucius Cornel. He offered no resistance. I'm asking you what you’d like me to do with him." - "Hand him over to our guards here. We will decide what to do with him." - "As you wish."

  When Wenzel learnt about their new prisoner, he was interested in getting to know the boy. His thought was that no one should be made to pay for what his parents had done. So he went to the small dungeon that apparently existed in the huge basement of the palace.

  It was dark, cold and damp. Under these conditions, he was sure to fall ill soon. The child was very frightened. "What are these people going to do to me now?" went through his mind. The very first imaginations, that his mind came up with made him tremble with fear. His mother had often told him how evil these people were. And they had also showcased that, when they killed his beloved mother right in front of him. The images were still haunting the boy's when he was suddenly startled by the creaking of the wooden door. A young man walked into the cell, a few stubbles sticking out of his face. "Are you Lucius?" he asked him. The lad didn't answer, but pushed himself a little further into the corner of his cell. This was not because he was afraid, although that was also true, of course, but because he wanted to place himself right above a certain stone in the floor. He had hidden his ring underneath it, the signet ring of the old king. He had managed to smuggle it in. Perhaps it was even his ticket to freedom, if he could learn how to use it.

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  Wenzel now responded to his behaviour by saying: "You don't need to be afraid of me. I'm not here to do anything bad. I just want to talk to you." The little boy gave him an incredulous look, but didn't say anything. The wizard then sat down on the floor next to him. "Hello, I'm Wenzel. What's your name?" he began the conversation. "Lucius," it came back in a low voice. When he realised, what Wenzel had just said, he spoke: "The devil?" - "Well,….yes. If that's what you want to call it. But I'm not an evil person." The boy eyed him nervously again. Then he made the justified objection: "Why should I believe you, especially after all you've done?" Wenzel nodded and said: "Yes, that's true. I'm sorry about your mum. It wasn't really intentional." The mage was now claiming things that he didn't know were actually true. "But your mum wasn't exactly a saint either." There was no reply. "So many innocent people have been murdered because of her. Don't you think that's bad too?" The little boy still didn't respond.

  But after a few moments of silence, he replied: "Yes, doing evil to others is bad. And I've never understood or liked mum's..... mother's strange demon worship or whatever it was." This statement aroused the interest of the Chosen One, but he didn't know how to probe here without making the wrong impression. He wasn't very adept in dealing with people. Finally, Wenzel asked him: "Do you think it is justified to destroy others just to achieve your own goals?" His dialogue partner didn't think twice and replied: "No, I don't think so." Wenzel was satisfied with that. He stood up and told the prisoner: "I will see to it, that your life is spared. I don’t believe that you are evil at heart. But I also don’t think that I can secure your release." Lucius remained silent. He did not say thank you. After the cell door was closed again and he was alone, he would continue to work in vain on his escape. The boy had been given no reason to change his mind about these diabolical magic users. Wenzel, for his part, thought that they were now even. They had taken his parents from him and the Martyrs had taken Lucius' mother from him in return. The only difference was that Wenzel was on the side of the victors.

  He then went straight to Brahm and Ferenc. The three of them then approached August, with Brahm taking the floor to help the somewhat cowardly Wenzel. They had two requests: To spare Lucius and to increase the number of bodyguards for the future emperor. The chief of staff was reluctant on both counts, but was put under so much pressure by Brahm that he finally gave in. Afterwards, the magician was delighted that he didn't have to do this himself. Thus, they went straight to Theodor and told him that Wenzel needed a number of new bodyguards. He took them to a regiment of the Martyrs' Brigades and simply asked directly which of them would volunteer for such service. As being a bodyguard was a much quieter and less dangerous job than going out onto the battlefield, a huge number of men immediately volunteered.

  They were asked to follow the three of them and then had to queue in front of a door, where they were let in one by one for their "job interview". But it wasn't an interview at all. Wenzel sat down next to them and looked into their thoughts and past to ascertain whether they were loyal and wouldn’t betray him. This selection process was very strenuous and took several days. In the end, the Chosen One only accepted one hundred of the most loyal and trustworthy men. From now on, they would form a new unit that was solely subordinate to Wenzel: the Crown Guard. To this end, new uniforms for the guard and new clothes for Wenzel with his own coat of arms were commissioned. The lack of protection for the young man was now finally history.