At the furthest edges of the Beaumont estate, a young man sat by the window of a secluded mansion, staring out the window in deep thought with his chiselled chin resting on his palm. His shoulder-length, wavy red hair did little to obscure his scholarly appearance and his dim, green, melancholic eyes.
Today was his eighteenth birthday. And for a core member of the great House Beaumont, it should have been the day of his coming-of-age ceremony. Yet, there were no preparations or celebrations in place.
He knew the clan couldn't care less about celebrating him, and it suited him well enough; he had never been one for attention, preferring the solitude of his father's mansion at the very end of the family estate.
"Young master?" an aged voice called from behind the locked door of the luxuriously simple, dimly lit room.
"Hobson? You can come in," Konrad replied, turning his gaze toward the door.
An elderly man with pure grey hair and a beard, dressed in a black suit, walked in with his head bowed low. It was his butler.
"Young master, your cousin is here to see you," Hobson said seeing Konrad stare into the distant gardens of the Beaumont estate.
"Oh, Herald is here!" Konrad smiled. He knew his cousin and best friend wouldn't let his birthday slide without a visit. "Alright, go tell him I'll be coming down."
"Seriously, you were going to make me wait? Oh, how you've hurt me, little cousin," came a joking voice. Konrad looked toward the door to see a young man with similar red hair though cut short and a slightly muscular physique. Dressed in a luxurious black tunic with red trimmings, he strode into the room.
"Well, I wouldn't mind that," Konrad joked before turning back to the butler. "Thank you, Hobson. You can go now."
Hobson bowed before retreating and closing the doors quietly. Herald scanned Konrad from head to toe, shaking his head.
"What are you doing? Why are you dressed like a commoner? Today is your day, you dumbass." He turned towards the nearest wardrobe and swung its doors wide. "You're a Beaumont; dress like it."
Konrad chuckled. "I have no occasion. Besides, this attire..." he stretched his blue collar with golden trims, "...is more than a common man can afford."
"Indeed," Herald replied sarcastically, pulling a red suit with silver linings from the wardrobe. "And don't tell me you plan on being holed up in your library all day."
"And what's wrong with that?" Konrad added.
"A library is boring," Herald sighed, tossing the suit to Konrad. "Put that on and let's head out to have some fun, you boring ass."
Konrad caught the red suit. "Alright, alright, I hear you. But don't tell me when you mean 'fun,' you mean the Sapphire Districts?"
"Sapphire? What Sapphire Districts? I don't know what you mean, cousin," Herald feigned ignorance while pouring himself yellow tea from an emerald-coloured teapot.
"Well, just so you know, your frequent visits are spreading like a wildfire spell ,even reaching me in this little corner of mine." Konrad swung the suit across his shoulder, quite content with what he was wearing already.
"Pfft, what is this?" Herald spat out a mouthful of the tea.
"Oh, it's medicine. Next time you should ask," Konrad smirked at his cousin's contorted expression of disgust.
"Oh," Herald replied, wiping his mouth with his sleeve, choosing not to comment further on the medicine. "You shouldn't blame me, Konrad. I'm a man now, and if I remember, every man has to scratch that itch once in a while."
"Really? A 'man'? You're only a few months older than I am, cousin, and I feel no such itch at all," Konrad replied, taking a sip from the same teapot.
"Heh, who knows? Who knows what you read in those libraries of yours," Herald jeered with a grin, making Konrad shake his head.
Knock, knock.
"Young master, if I may," Hobson called from behind the door, causing Konrad to turn in slight bewilderment.
"You can come in," he replied letting the lean figure of Hobson stepped through the opening door.
"Uhm, young master..." Hobson bowed his head, hiding a slight hesitation causing Herald who now sat on a chair to grow w impatient.
"What is it, old man?" Herald's comment earned him a sharp glare from Konrad.
"The Chief Butler just dropped by," Hobson finally spoke making Herald's relaxed posture vanished as he sprang to his feet.
"And?" Konrad asked.
"The Patriarch wishes to see you both." Hobson bowed even lower at the mention of the Patriarch.
"Thank you, Hobson. We'll be on our way." Konrad gave his butler a slow nod before turning to his cousin. "It would seem the news of your patronage to the Sapphire Districts has reached his ears."
"I sure hope not," Herald replied, his voice quivering slightly causing Konrad to throw a jab his way.
"I thought you were a man. Don't tell me you're scared of Uncle?" Konrad walked towards the door.
"Man or not, every man has a monster to slay, and mine, undoubtedly, is my father." Herald sighed, following Konrad out into a long, dimly lit corridor lined with portraits.
"Well, if you wish to have a chance at slaying your 'monster,' you'll have to at least become an Elemental Monarch, and even that is no guarantee," Konrad added with a smile, despite the growing weariness in his heart.
"Nah, that's far ahead of me. Besides, I'm certain this summons is about the Institute," Herald replied with a dull look as they headed down a flight of stairs. They reached a wide parlour decorated with portraits of beasts and fine furniture.
"Oh, the Elemental Institute." Hearing this, Konrad had to suppress the envy rising within him. Because unlike Herald, who dreaded admission into the finest elemental academy in the Velarion Empire reserved for noble sires and the royal bloodlines of the Dawnsires ,Konrad would have been excited to attend such an illustrious establishment. But unlike Herald and every other child of the Beaumont family, Konrad had awakened a blank core: one that carried no fire affinity, nor any affinity at all.