Chapter 32: Feltan Kingdom

Kiana looked at Asher and wondered how much they would have to teach him again. This was all basic information that every person knew here. She wished the tutor would get here quickly as she could tell Asher had a fire burning in him, that pushed him to learn.

'He wasn't like this before… looks like his memory loss changed him a lot more than we are expecting. I should inform the madam about this too…' Kiana thought.

She let out a silent sigh before speaking.

"Just like how we have gifts, animals can also have gifts. The animals that have gifts are usually much stronger than normal and are called as rune beasts. When they are killed, there is a chance that their gift will condense into a rune crystal within their bodies.

It is these rune crystals that are used by the artificers to make the various artifacts." Kiana answered.

As soon as Lucius heard this, a big smile appeared on his face that sent a shiver down Kiana's spine.

'What is that… why does it feel… so unnatural?' She wondered.

"I see. Now that is really interesting. Anyways, when is the tutor arriving?" Lucius asked, changing the topic.

A lot of new ideas had appeared in his head after hearing about Rune beasts, and he needed time to ponder on them. He noted them down in his mind for now and would think in detail afterwards.

"By the time we are done with the breakfast, the tutor should be here I think," Kiana answered, pushing the feeling of discomfort she felt from Asher away.

Lucius nodded and both of them went downstairs to the dining hall. This hall was different from the one from last night and was much smaller. This was only used by the family and thus didn't need as big of an area as the main hall.

The moment Lucius entered, he also saw Lita arriving along with her two attendants.

"Asher! Good morning, how are you feeling now?" Lita questioned with a happy expression.

"I am good mother. Much better than yesterday, I think I should recover completely in a few days." Lucius answered.

"Etara's grace! That is amazing news, I'm sure your father will be pleased when he arrives tonight." Lita said before sitting down at the table.

Lucius did the same, and Kiana sat beside him. He looked at her for a few seconds and deliberate on a question he had been wondering about for a while.

"Mother, Kiana… I think this question will be rude but I need to know something." Lucius spoke.

Lita and Kiana stopped what they were doing and looked at Asher with concerned expressions.

"What is it, dear? You know you can ask us anything," Lita replied.

"Yes, we will never find it to be rude," Kiana added.

"The question is have is related to Kiana." Lucius said.

"Related to me? Sure go ahead." Kiana replied.

"Who… are you, Kiana? I mean I know you are supposed to be my maid, but your actions and behaviors seem inappropriate for a servant." Lucius asked straightforwardly.

Lucius had expected them to answer him seriously, but for some reason, Lita was chucking now and Kiana seemed to be close to laughing too.

"Hahaha! Sorry, we should have explained this to you earlier. Now that you don't have memories I understated how difficult it must have been." Kiana spoke.

"My dear, Kiana is your cousin," Lita revealed.

"My cousin? But then why is she a maid?" Lucius questioned.

~Sigh~

"It is mostly because of the situation from the past with my parents," Kiana spoke.

Lucius looked on in interest, as he wanted to know more. He could tell that there must have been some kind of a solid reason behind this, otherwise something like this would be quite impossible.

"Kiana, is the daughter of my half sister Melia. Before I was married to your father, I lived in the Feltan Kingdom. It used to be a neighboring kingdom to our Grantz kingdom but was annexed about twenty years ago in the ninth holy war." Lita explained.

"Holy war? What exactly happened?" Lucius asked with great interest.

He was finally getting to know more historical details about the world and had also gotten to know the name of the kingdom he was currently living in which had excited him.

"The king of the Feltan Kingdom was an immature ruler. He became the king shortly after his father died and started abusing his power, just as a lot of people had expected. My father, your maternal grandfather was a Count as well. His loyalties belonged to the former king, and he was enraged after seeing the young kings' actions.

The nobles were split into two parties, one that was in the favor of the king and one that was not. There were many machinations that were hidden in the shadows and that led to the noble faction that supported the king to win.

It was fine till now and the other kingdoms didn't mind this, but then the king did the one thing that was taboo. He refused to let the priests of Alana to work freely in the kingdom and even dared to levy special taxes on them. He then refused to pay the tithe and threatened the church to accept his demands.

What a fool he was… people had forgotten the powers of the church after decades of peace, it seemed, and he mistook them for a claw-less tiger. But the reality proved to be a wake up call.

With the crime of blasphemy, no kingdom dared to provide him aid as the crusaders invaded the Feltan kingdom. It took a mere two days for the kingdom to fall and the nobles to be arrested.

Grantz kingdom was the biggest gainer due to the Grand Cathedral being located within its borders and thus got control of fifty percent of its lands." Lita narrated.

"Hmm… but why were Kiana's parents implicated then? Wasn't grandfather opposed to the king?"