"Mother! Father!" I cried out as I watched them fall.
Tears blurred my vision, but the man responsible seemed lost in his own world, still speaking about gods and trials as if nothing else mattered.
Suddenly, my brother grabbed my hand and pulled me toward a small hole we had dug in the back wall of our house long ago for fun.
We scrambled through it and ran.
As we fled, the screams of our parents still reached our ears.
Anger and despair burned inside me.
Why? Why? Why?
All we had ever wanted was to live in peace.
Yet it felt as though the entire world hated us for simply existing.
We ran for what felt like forever, losing all sense of time.
Night began to fall, but we didn't stop.
When my legs finally gave out, my brother carried me on his back without a word.
Before I realized it, I had fallen asleep.
The next day, I woke up still on his back.
To my surprise, he was still walking, steadily moving toward some distant destination.
"B-brother…" I called out weakly.
He didn't turn to look at me.
He simply kept walking in silence.
I managed to glimpse his face...
Dried snot and tear stains covered his cheeks.
But what struck me most were his eyes.
I couldn't fully understand it then, yet they burned with a fierce, unshakable determination.
Just as I was about to speak again, we both noticed a town gate ahead.
My brother let out a long breath of relief and quickened his pace.
As we drew closer, a guard spotted us and began walking over... only for my brother to suddenly collapse.
_
_
_
Days passed, but our lives did not improve.
The town was overflowing with refugees from a nearby village that had been attacked by a mysterious group dressed in black.
We were forced into the slums, sleeping on the filthy streets.
My brother was constantly beaten by other children.
Everyone fought over scraps of garbage.
Even a half-rotted piece of bread was enough to start a vicious fight.
Then one day, a group of guards arrived in the slums escorting a noble carriage.
A couple dressed in luxurious clothing stepped out.
The man looked to be in his mid-thirties and was the most handsome person I had ever seen.
The woman wore a black gown and a veil that completely covered her face.
"Honey, we should leave this place," the handsome man said with clear concern. "Empire troops are moving into the surrounding territories. It seems our project here is about to be destroyed. No matter how profitable it is, our lives are more important."
Though I couldn't see the woman's face, something about her presence suggested she was not conventionally beautiful... perhaps the reason she hid behind a veil.
"Alex, I know," she replied calmly. "But there is one thing I must do before we leave."
Without hesitation, the lady walked straight toward me and my brother.
The surrounding guards tensed.
"Countess Spina, this place isn't safe. You shouldn't wander too far," one of them warned.
But she ignored him completely.
Her veiled gaze settled on us.
"Child," she said in a gentle voice that somehow reached deep inside me, "...do you wish to change your destiny?"
I glanced at my brother and saw the same mixture of desperation and hope reflected in his eyes.
She extended her hand toward us.
"Take this hand if you do."
A storm of thoughts raced through our minds, but one thing was clear: if we let this chance slip away, we would regret it for the rest of our lives.
Almost as if it were the most natural thing in the world, both my brother and I reached out and took her hand.
"Good choice," the lady said, and I could hear the smile in her voice behind the veil.
That was our first encounter with the Count Spina family.
Inside the carriage, Count Alex Spina and his wife spoke quietly.
"Honey… why did you want those two children?" Alex asked, curiosity clear in his voice.
"You could say… it's to assist our son in the future," the Countess replied in a mysterious tone.
Alex scratched his head, thinking over her words.
"Whatever you say always seems to come true, so I'll trust you on this as well. But what kind of assistance are you talking about?"
The Countess did not answer.
She simply gazed out the window at the dark, heavy sky stretching endlessly before them.