Four men were beating a beggar in an alleyway. You could see the scene with just a slight turn of the head, but all the passersby paid it no attentionâbecause the four men were particularly infamous for being bad-tempered good-for-nothings, and the beaten man was just a no-name beggar.
The unlucky beggar, Luisen, curled up his body and endured the violence. His coiled body resembled a mouse that had crawled up from the sewers. He didnât dare move a single muscle. He knew that the more he resisted, the longer he would be beaten. So, he tightly shut his mouth and covered his head with both arms. Dry, straw-like hair trembled.
âAh, what an intense guy. Didnât even make a single noise.â
The gangsters stuck out their tongues. There had to be some kind of reaction for the beat-down to be satisfying; beating on a man who only curls up sucks the joy out of it.
âThis is boring. Letâs go play cards instead.â
âSure.â
âDirty bastard. Donât live your life like that.â
The good-for-nothings spat on Luisenâs trembling back and, snickering, exited the alleyway.
As soon as they disappeared, Luisen stood up while grasping at the wall. Limping on one leg, he slowly moved forward. Perhaps the punks hit something vital; every time he put weight on his foot, he felt dizzying agony.
He scraped the snow off the ground and used it to clean off his bloody mouth.
âAwful jerksâŚâ
It was those good-for-nothings that made the first proposal: âIf you follow us, weâll hand you a fairytale.â Luisen had already been starving for two days now. He begged all day and fulfilled odd jobs but was still unable to afford a loaf of bread. With that one loaf, he could endure a few more days. Snow was already fallingâif he did not eat today, he would surely perish.
Biting back distaste, he had no choice but to accept the offer. However, those men soon began to act as they pleased, grabbing his hair and pretending as if they didnât know him. When Luisen asked for the money they promised him, they jabbered some nonsense, âArenât you enjoying this?â Suddenly, they showed their ill-temper and began to beat him.
From the very beginning, they had no intention to give Luisen money.
âIf you donât give me money, thatâs fine. But why hit me?â
Sniffling, Luisen swallowed some tears. The places hit by the punks throbbed. His whole body ached, and his eyes became blurry as a fever began to come over him. More unbearable than the bodyâs pain, though, was the misery.
âIn the old days, those people wouldnât dare set eyes on my feetâŚ.â
Luisen had lived his entire life without knowing hunger nor hardships. His father was the Duke of Anies, and his mother was a princess. He was born the only son of the duke and succeeded him early. The fertile plains of the south were all his.
He was one of only four land-owning lords in the kingdom. Countless vassals were at his command, and he held the rights to tax them and put them on trial. For the southern part of the kingdom, he held the same authority as the king.
As one of the great lords, he held the authority to host royal coronations and was able to marry into the royal family. Even the king treated him with caution, and the queen made him the crown princeâs childhood friend, to make her son a strong candidate for succession.
He grew up playing in the palace as if it were his own home. He only ate and wore the most precious and best things in the world. Anything he wanted, he got. He lacked for nothing, and not a shadow was cast over his life.
Those were perfect years.
Luisen Anies was not an existence a neighborhood punk would dare stare at. These were people that should have knelt at his feet in complete obedience. They were insignificant beings whose lives and deaths were overturned by his words.
But, howâŚ
âHow did I end up like this?â
Three years ago, in spring, the king fainted. The king was so old and sickly that everyone had already anticipated it. The problem, however, was that the aging king fell into a deep coma without deciding on a successor.
Why, of all things, did the king have two distinguished sons?
The eldest, Ellion, was only the royal concubineâs child. But, as the kingâs eldest, he was given legal claim to the throne. With his excellent schooling and character, he received praises for his kingly nature.
Paris, the younger, was the queenâs child. Thus, no one could find fault in his right to succession. Though his intelligence and character could not compare to that of Ellion, his personality was favorable and left good impressions. All the powerful nobles supported him.
When the king collapsed, the second prince, Paris, gained control of the palace with the power of his mother, the queen. Shortly before that, the first prince, Ellion, escaped to the north, where he had some influence, and began to raise a military presence. Following the two princes, the kingdom split into two factions, and a civil war began.
Luisen and the Anies duchy stood by Prince Parisâ side. There was no doubt in his allegiance, as Prince Paris was both a relative and his only friend.
Prince Ellion was victorious in the civil war that spanned half a year. Prince Paris died during the war, and, when the first prince took control of the palace, the queen was officially imprisoned. The king was at the brink of death, so the kingdom was practically in the hands of the first prince. He then brandished his iron mace at Parisâ supporters.
Even the Duke of Anies couldnât avoid this fate. In the fall of that year, Carlton, the princeâs sword, led the military to the dukedom.
Who is Carlton? Though he is low-born, the first prince recognized his overwhelming military strength. He became an important figure to his faction. Among the nobles, he had other titles more popular than âthe princeâs sword,â: the princeâs butcher, the slaughterer, the noble massacre. He despised those who boasted about their luck to be born as an aristocrat and scorned incompetent lords.
And Luisen was both.
Luisen was extremely frightened by the news of Carltonâs arrival.
âCarlton will kill me. Heâll kill me horribly.â
The young lord abandoned all work and confined himself in his room. He left all upcoming battles up to fate and drank nothing but alcohol. He was terrified and didnât know how to properly respondânever in his life had he experienced a crisis like a civil war.
The peaceful life he enjoyed became a poison. Day by day his terror grew. And, when it became too unbearable, Luisen made an irreversible decision.
âLetâs run away. Letâs run far, far away to where he canât chase me.â
He packed his fortunes and, in the midst of battle, escaped from the castle. He had several vassals, relatives, and friendsâŚsurely one of them would take care of him. He hazily believed that someone would help him. It was a foolish decision made by a mind driven to tatters by fear.
The world became cold as soon as he lost his steady background as the Duke of Anies. All of his trusted friends and relatives turned a blind eye to him. The fortune he brought with him was taken away by muggers and conmen, and the servant that came with him died while chasing the criminals. Too late, Luisen returned to the estate, but everything had already ended.
Angered by Luisenâs escape, Carlton massacred the citizens and set fire to various parts of the territory. Still, that didnât relieve his anger. The heads of the vassals hung from the walls of the castle. Crows flocked to the smell of rotting corpses, crying ominously.
The fire spread endlessly and razed the plains. The yellow, ripe wheat in harvest season was devoured by the bright red flames. Black smoke filled the sky, and the remaining survivors mourned.
At that sight, Luisen ran away once again. He chose to turn away because he couldnât cope with the tragedy he had wrought.
After that, he couldnât settle down anywhere. He felt as if Carlton was still chasing after him. If he looked into the darkness, he felt as if he could hear the hooves of a black knightâs horse.
When he slept, without fail, he would dream of standing in a burning, golden field. The dead became ghosts that followed Luisen. They would trace his face with their nails, cut his neck, and crush his face. With miserable, burned faces they would resentfully blame and curse him.
The world is cruel to a wandering, mentally unstable man.
Due to the civil war and famine, the country was in dire straits. People became unable to care for themselves. Everyday life had broken down, and emotions such as sympathy and compassion had become a luxury. Luisen had to survive on his own strengths.
âWas I such a pathetic and helpless person?â
He was nothing after he lost his birthright and his familyâs wealth. Luisen was not good at accounting and didnât know how to farm, nor was he fit enough for manual labor. He couldnât even fight.
He was ignorant to the ways of the world. There was nothing he could do, even if he wanted to earn a living.
His money ran out quickly. He sold his clothes, his shoes, and even his hairâŚbut quickly found his limit. For the first time in his life, Luisen experienced hunger. His intestines felt twisted, and the sky became yellow.  1
âHurts. It hurts so much. Hungry, anything would be good. I want to eat anything.â
His eyes rolled backwards. His lofty pride shattered in the face of starvation. Aristocratic refinement, morality, and values all collapsed.
For a meal, he would sell even his body and heart. He didnât hesitate to do all kinds of crimes, beg, and steal. The struggle for survival was a symptom of the countryâs collapsing existence and stability.
However, the food he ate in this way was so delicious he could cry. He would weep while wolfing down unknown soup that he wouldnât have even looked at while he was a duke.
Like that, three years passed.
No trace of Luisenâs time as a noble remained. His body was as thin as a twig, and his complexion was yellowed and wan. There were deep shadows underneath his eyes, making him look sickly. For fear of being caught, he often crouched down and hid his body. Ultimately, this resulted in a hunched back and a neck like a turtle.
Actually, it was a miracle that Luisen, who only knew how to eat and play, lasted for three years. They said that the ruined wealthy could only survive for three years, and for him, this was exactly three years. Now, he truly had nothing. Even his beautiful appearance was ruined by a rough street life, and no one wanted it.
âIâm hungry. Iâm hungry. Iâm hungry.â
Vertigo rose up within him.
Two days ago, he hid in the yard of some random family and stole and ate their dogâs food. Come to think of it, that was his last meal. Due to the lack of food available for people, even dog food was too precious to waste.
âI want to eat anything. Anythingâs good, I just want to eat.â
He now thought a lot about when he was a dukeâthe food he would barely touch due to a lack of appetite.
A wide and long table filled densely with mounds of delicacies. He shouldnât have left it. He should have eaten it all without wasting a single bite. If he were handed that now, he would even lick the plates clean.
He missed those days so much. Why couldnât he have understood the preciousness of his life at that time?
Eventually, Luisen burst into tears. He knew crying would only waste energy. Even so, he couldnât stop the tears.
The snowy path was slippery, and his legs were unstable. In his agitated state, he lost his balance and tumbled, falling down.
*Crash*
The snow was cold, and his one and only clothes became wet. He was in a situation where he had no place to dry his clothes nor to change into new ones. He had to stand up quickly so he could shake off the snow and salvage what dryness he had. Otherwise, if he slept outside in cold, wet clothes, he could develop tuberculosis.
But Luisen didnât not move at all. He sobbed with his head still stuck in the snow.
âI should have died back then. Even if I had died, I would have died as a noble rather than living like this.â
âMaybe then the vassals and the citizens wouldnât have died. This isnât a life thatâs worth sacrificing all of them. Iâm not useful anywhere, neither as a noble, not as the Duke of Anies, and not even to myself.â
âIf Iâm going to die anywayâŚit would have been better to not run away.â.
Luisen felt anguish as countless regrets pierced his heart. He was weakened to the point that his heart couldnât bear the intense grief. As his body cooled down, he felt his consciousness fading away. The knife-like pangs of cold and hunger slowly began to disappear.