The Runic Alchemist

Chapter 202: The Last Daughter of House Larven

Being proud of her name...

How could she..? She was the last daughter of House Larven, fleeing while her family was butchered and burned alive. She couldn't do anything—anything at all—except running. She was too weak, too inconsequential. She did not matter.

Being one of the regions near the Empire and Eldoris border, it was their duty to protect it.

Once she had started to learn all the things to get as many skills as possible on which her mother really insisted on, Her father, Dorian, taught her swordsmanship. She was very clumsy at it and made tons of mistakes everyday, but her father never got angry with her, he was just not that kind of man.

Instead, he patiently explained and demonstrated every move again and again, until she finally managed to produce an imitation good enough to make him smile with pride.

Einar still wasn't sure if that smile had been genuine or if he was just being kind. She didn't know what other children her age were capable of or what they thought. Were friends supposed to talk about how to better improve their swordsmanship? If so, she would have been interested in that.

As she grew older, the conflicts at the border became more violent. Dorian had already sent all the resources and men he could spare. When another request for reinforcements arrived, there was nothing left to give—except one last thing—his sword. Dorian Vandross Larven was nothing if not brave.

After the constant lectures about becoming a good person, he had taught her one more thing equally important to him, he had taught her to love their country, their home.

She remembered once asking why he stayed with a woman he didn't love instead of being with them everyday. He hadn't ignored her or offered sweet words to soothe a child's curiosity. He had trusted her and explained the truth. What it was that made him live this kind of hidden life. The words he had said,

"The peace we enjoy is built on the foundation of my marriage Einar, and is a union devoid of affection. It's a sacrifice I made willingly to keep this land from constant border skirmishes and falling into chaos, Our house is not rich, nor do we have powerful people to support it, I fought all my life to keep this people away but one man alone, can't hold the battlefield full of enemies.

I am also not as smart as your mother, My sword is all I have, I sacrificed my freedom to give a chance for my people to prosper, think beyond just constant struggles of life but it also means I can never let my true feelings be known to the world.

Your mother knew it before we fell in love. But, Guess I owe you an apology the most. I am sorry I could not give you what was rightfully yours.. Instead, I promise to give you all my knowledge. Will you accept that as your inheritance?"

Einar had been embarrassed by his bold confession at the time and hadn't known how to respond. Only now did she understand just how brave - the man named Dorian Larven truly was. He hadn't run away from his duties or hidden his feelings. He had answered her like a man—a very rare thing in this world, as she had since learned.

When he left to fight the Empire's forces, dead set on destroying them, Dorian entrusted his most loyal knight and best friend with the regency of Windhaven. But the man who had sacrificed so much for his people failed to see the greatest enemy he had made: his own wife, Lady Pricella. Perhaps it had been obvious from the beginning. After all, he had married the daughter of a neighboring enemy.

Expecting her to care about anything other than her own interests was naïve.

Yet the betrayal hadn't come even from her. She was too restrained in her hate for that. It had come from the man Dorian called a friend. In Dorian's absence, that knight had enjoyed his time with Lady Pricella. But their affair was to end when Dorian returned, so they devised a plan to poison him when he came back on one of his usual trips to check on things.

The brave lord hadn't expected his own wife, the mother of his children to come after his life. Continue reading stories on m|v-l'-NovelBin.net

But their plan didn't go as they thought. They underestimated him. Dorian survived the poison, his raw base stats allowing him to endure it. Though both he and the knight were second-rankers, Dorian was more than just that. He had the blood of an ancient defenders in his veins. He was Larven, from the house that had protected Eldoris's borders for centuries in the name of their queen.

Their legacy wasn't mere luck.

Before Dorian could act against his wife's treachery, the knight's true, far more sinister plan came to light. He hadn't wanted to merely kill Dorian and become the lord of Windhaven with Pricella's family's support. No, he wanted it all—for himself. His greed was insurmountable.

He never told Pricella, but his real goal was to burn the keep, killing everyone inside, including Lady Pricella and Dorian's children—the very ones who had called him "uncle" and played with him since birth. He betrayed them all.

That night, the seat of House Larven, which had stood strong for over a century, was reduced to ashes, burned from inside out.

The traitor knight came for them, too. He sent men for Einar's mother, because he knew Dorian loved her more than anything. He knew that, if she survived, sooner or later she would find a way to kill him for betraying her lover. Her mother had fought desperately, clutching Einar in her arms refusing to let her fight, and somehow managed to escape the villa.

They made it to a nearby village, ready to flee forever, when the traitor knight turned Lord of Windhaven caught them himself.

Einar stayed hidden under the inn's bed, obeying her mother's strict orders that she made her swear on her own name. That was Einar's greatest failure in life. She was a coward. Her legs froze, her breath came in ragged gasps, and she watched, paralyzed with fear, as her mother was decapitated before her very own eyes. And yet she didn't move, she could not just move.

What bravery? What honor? She was not her father. She was a coward who let her mother die..

She had survived, She lost her family, her emotions, every single thing that was her world up till now. After crying for days in the forest all alone and lost... She had decided on one thing and one thing alone. She was a coward, yes, but even cowards knew how to kill.. She had lost everything, but she had gained one thing in return: a purpose in life. She lived only for vengeance now.

She needed strength—an immense amount of strength. There was no duty left to fulfill for her, except for the one last task, vengeance for House Larven. She owed that much to her kind father and loving mother.

Afterwards, she could die in peace.