DEATHWISH

Quidel chuckled. Before Angus became a chef here, the person who's in charge of preparing tea and snacks for the Duke fell to him. He is the main butler after all.

So, to resume this task after a while, it feels a little awkward.

Nevertheless, thanks to muscle memories, it only took a moment before the dormant skills kicked in.

Quidel began with the tea. He grabbed a bit of the dried Pepper Ice tea leaves, and put it into the tea pot. Ice Pepper tea was very good for one's body and spirit. It cools the nerve, and warm the body at the same time.

The tea leaves were rinsed with hot water, before the liquide was poured over the cups and tea pot. Only then, Quidel poured hot water inside the teapot again. Letting the tea brew peacefully.

As the clear water gradually turned red, Quidel turned his attention to the snacks.

Thankfully, the Duke's taste was straightforward. He only ate two things when it's tea time. Fried apple pie, and hot and crispy chicken sandwich. Which, unsurprisingly, is the common celebration meal of a soldier.

Quidel took a bread bun, and slice it horizontally in half. He scooped a mixture of cabbage, carrots, green peppers and yoghurt on one of the slices. Then he reached for the crispy fried chicken fillet resting on the wire rack, and placed it on top of the mixture. Lastly, he spread a healthy amount of chilli oil on the other slice of bun before crowning the sandwich.

After coating the apple pie in cinnamon sugar, Quidel put everything on a tray, and went to the Duke's office upstairs.

Instead of knocking, Quidel stealthily opened the door to the study. Seeing the Duke acting the way he is, Quidel immediately produced a smile.

"Would you like some tea while you watched, My Lord?" Quidel asked. A hint of sarcasm interwoven in his words.

Duke Aelius noticed that, yet chose to ignore it. "He's lasting a lot longer now, Master. Utu is getting stronger."

Quidel approached the window. Aelius didn't even move. His eyes glued to the courtyard. Where his son religiously swung his sword. Quidel also noticed Aelius holding his pocket watch in his left hand. Obviously timing his son while he watched.

"Really? Sounds like the Young Lord is getting better. Congratulations My Lord."

Aelius turned and face Quidel. "You don't sound happy, Master? Is there something wrong?"

And that's why Quidel can just walked into Aelius's study without knocking. When Aelius was only a trainee soldier, Quidel was his instructor. He taught him martial arts, swordfighting, even fire mage skills. It is unknown why, when Quidel retired from the army, he chose to be the butler of his student.

"Heh. So you do realize something's wrong."

Aelius was startled. Quidel would have chuckled if this is not a serious matter. His naive and awkward expression was the same to when he was younger. "Uhhh, what? I don't understand, Master."

Quidel shook his head. "You've been watching your son all these years. Haven't you noticed anything?"

Aelius turned his attention back to his son, who is currently lying on the ground. Trying to catch his breath. Aelius didn't understand. What could be wrong? Utu's training seemed to be progressing nicely. In fact he is leaps and bounds ahead of soldiers much older than him.

"I really don't know, Master." The Duke scratched his head like a boy caught red handed by his headmaster. "Utu seemed fine to me. He seemed more than fine, in fact. I wonder what could be wrong?"

Quidel shook his head. "Haih. You know, when I retired, you asked why I want to be your butler right?"

"Huh? Oh yeah. I'm still wondering about that. I'm honored of course. It's just...weird. Do you have a particular reason, Master?" Aelius's eyes gleamed in anticipation. The question that plagued his days and nights may possibly be answered.

Quidel paused for a while. "Because you have the quality of a king. The kind of king I wanted to serve."

Aelius was shocked. "What? But I'm no king? Nor do I have any ambition to be one." Aelius looked around, as if afraid someone else might be listening. "Besides, that kind of talk could be treasonous. You know?" He spoke in a hushed tone.

Quidel turned red with anger. "You blokehead! I don't asked you to kill the Zanders or anything. Listen carefully! Idiot!"

"Hehe. Sorry master."

Quidel shook his head. "I meant the quality of a king. You are kind. And you have the strength to be kind. You can bravely stepped forward to slay your enemies, yet showed compassion to the weak. Even to those from other nations."

"Oh? That's what you're talking about? Well...it's all thanks to your teaching, Master." Saying that, Aelius was beaming with pride. Imagine that. His master, the one known as Captain Soulburn, who turned the entire enemy platoon into nothing but ash, is giving him heaps of praise. Today is good day, he thought.

Unfortunately, Quidel was not finished.

"Yeah, thanks to me alright. Never would I have realized. All this while, I am just raising a soldier, instead of a human being!"

Aelius's mood turned sour. He was just being praised a second ago. Now, his master accused him of being a monster. "Wh-what do you mean, Master?"

"Take a look there. Look at your son. Do you know what I see?"

When Aelius said nothing, Quidel was even more disappointed. "I see a boy rushing to be a man. A child who carried the weight of the world, without realizing he was crushed under it. If he continued, I'm afraid..."

Aelius waited for Quidel to continue. "I'm afraid that all that negativity shall turned him to Chaos."

That statement was like thunder to Aelius's ears. His observation of his son immediately transformed. He cannot believed he didn't notice it before. The hilt of the sword was covered in blood. Obviously from the wear of tear on Utu's palm. And most obvious, Utu had been collapsing on the ground for how many times now. And that's just counting today. Aelius's eyes turned glacial.

"Dear lord. I am a bad father." Aelius hung his head in shame.

Quidel put his palm on Aelius's shoulder. "You're not a bad person, son. It's the war. It numbed us from being human."

Aelius smiled bitterly. "Father was right. He said when killing monsters, we should be careful not to turn into one ourselves."

Quidel also smiled bitterly. "Wise words indeed."

They sat in silence. Watching the snow falling down from the sky. Even the sky wanted Utu to take a break. The snow was piling up, stopping Utu from training. He had to step inside to warm himself.

"So...so what should I do, Master? Should I...should I go and talk to him?"

Quidel shook his head. "That normally works. But...you remember what you said the night you almost died?"

Aelius's mind went back to that night. When Nerine had depleted almost all of her mana to keep him from crossing over. He remembered consoling the horrified nine year old Utu. He remembered telling his child to be strong so he could protect the family. It was a good idea at the time. Right?

Aelius slumped in his chair. "So...so I'm the cause of this?"

Quidel did not want to admit it. Having to tell a parent they ruin their child is one of the worse thing to happen to a parent. Hesitantly, Quidel nodded.

"Then what should I do, Master? Should I...I don't know...talk to him or something."

Quidel shook his head again. "That would normally worked. However...I don't think it would work. Right now, the Young Lord was in a mission to get stronger. He is constantly in self doubt. No amount of talking would help."

"Then...what should we do?"

It was silent for a bit. And then, Quidel spoke. "Perhaps...we need to beat it out of his system."

"Pfft, you're getting senile Master. Don't you think that would kill the boy. My child!"

"You ungrateful student! You think I don't know that. Just trust me alright."

"Hehehe, fine. Master is the wise one after all."