It was early in the morning.

Currently, Nathan was with the imperial knights. They had just won a war against a neighbouring Empire and were returning victorious. The imperial knights didn't know his identity as the Crown Prince.

Rather, they only knew him as their leader as he had taken over as captain of this elite division, three years ago.

Nathan was leading their return, and took the South's route. He decided to let the men rest here, before venturing towards the capital. Him and all the knights had successfully made it into the South two days ago and had lodged in an inn at the outskirts.

Right now he was supposed to have gone to the North, but had been delayed as there was an invasion of beasts at the South's borders. He had to supervise the knights in capturing the creatures and they had just successfully curtailed the situation.

Word had not spread about the knights and their arrival. If it had, the knights would have received a grand welcome by the people. For now, Nathan wanted them to lie low.

This was necessary for the plan Adrianna had in store.

After checking in at a small inn, some of the knights had gone to their rooms to get rest. Meanwhile Nathan who acted as the captain, and the assistant captain, alongside the other remaining knights, were still on the street leading to the inn. They were busy transporting the beasts they'd captured from the forest, into a wagon.

The street was narrow, having the inn at the left side and a red two storey building on the right side. Nathan had chose this particular inn because it was opposite this particular red and opulent looking building — a magic guild.

Usually, magic guilds were nothing but a means of swindling the superstitious. They normally performed staged magical phenomena with tricks and Southern lore, fascinating and gaining the patronage of foolhardy aristocrats.

This magic guild was under his investigation. A few days ago, he had been attacked by mysterious people who wielded some powers.

Magic.

It was no understatement to say Nathan was quite powerful. Years of training had led him to develop agile combat skills and swordsmanship abilities coupled with the manipulation of his curse, enabled him to be practically invincible.

Yet, the people who had attacked him almost overwhelmed and he had barely escaped with a formidable defence. This, had made Nathan greatly dissatisfied.

'Tsk. I'm a predator by nature, having to run from some attackers who cowardly hide their identities is unbefitting'.

Eventually he had barely managed to escape, only taking down three attackers, in which two were killed and the other was barely kept alive and taken to his hideout where Nathan studied the man's strange features and found a magical stone which he gifted to Adrianna.

After investigation, he found out that the man was a worker at the magic guild. And what made him suspicious towards this magic guild was its uncharacteristic nature.

Most magic guilds didn't stay open for long. Normally after scamming a few nobles they'd close and the owners and workers would vanish. This guild, however, had been open for six years now. Over the years it had expanded its operations and now stood in an ornate structure. Aristocrats anonymously made unusual transactions with them. According to his Intel, their most popular service were giving blessings on their customer's businesses and helping people's romantic life. What was strange, was the fact that people always attested to the credibility of these their 'magical' powers.

No matter how Nathan looked at it, the guild was strange. The name of the guild also sounded strange and foreign to him.

Ogygia Guild Of Magic.

"Oh-gi-jee-ah"

He muttered the pronunciation of the guild's name as he stared at its name at the front of the building.

He could feel the magic.

There was a strong presence of magic coming from within the building. Normal people couldn't feel it, but he was a member of the imperial family. Their dark bloodline used to be the only magical thing in the Empire.

But now, it didn't seem so.

"Captain!"

A shout from the assistant captain made him snap out of his thoughts. Finally, he tore his gaze away from the magic guild.

"Yes?"

"Some rascals are stealing our beasts from the port!"

"What? Where are the knights guarding the cages?"

While asking the question, Nathan ran to the back of the inn, towards their stable, where his horse was.

The assistant captain, followed him, explaining the situation while he too also saddled his horse. 

"Most of the knights are there, but they seem to be overwhelmed by the people"

'If the opponents are weak, I'll have to punish the knights for incompetency'

Not wasting a moment more, he tugged on the horse's reins and rode forward.

***
When beasts attacked in the Empire, they weren't killed. Instead, they were captured alive and sold off to a nearby kingdom which used them for their research.

Beasts were rare in the Empire. In fact, only ten were seen in two years. Recently, Nathan discovered that they were increasing in number. They had been attacked by a horde of beasts, of different creatures, possibly more than twenty.

And this troubled him.

Lately, so many strange things seemed to be happening around the Empire.

When Nathan and the assistant captain got to the port, the first thing he saw was a clash between the imperial knights and some covertly dressed attackers. They all donned a black get up, from head to toe. The only thing visible was their eyes.

From afar, he took a moment to observe the fight before he would jump in.

'These people, they are fighting defensively. They aren't hurting anyone'

Nathan noticed the people who took a cage weren't seriously attacking the imperial knights.They fought as if they didn't plan on hurting anyone. He noted that the most formidable amongst them, wielded their sword while protecting the person among them, who held a cage with a beast in it.

All beasts possessed strange powers, akin to magic, and the length of their abilities eluded man's complete knowledge.

The beast they stole was the most troublesome one — the Diptera. It resembled a fly, but was as huge as an adult dog. The Diptera was very rare and hard to capture. This was because of its power of enchantment, which it used to hypnotize a person before it feasted on them.

He unsheathed his sword the took a step forward, towards the fight.

"Drop that beast, and I promise to let you go alive"

'But not unscathed'

Of course they didn't answer. Like always, these people never accepted Nathan's initial act of kindness. They'd always waltz right into death.

Nathan observed them and didn't attack. He wanted the imperial knights to deal with them first. For now, he'd just watch and only step in when things got dire. Studying his enemies and noticing the strongest, was part of Nathan's fighting strategy and he derived joy from it.

The fight was ongoing and Nathan observed that the strongest fighter was a particular figure with brilliant red eyes. The moment the assistant captain realized someone among the attackers was extraordinarily skilled, he unsheathed his sword but Nathan held him back from joining the fight.

Noticing his presence and that of the assistant captain, the group all looked at each other and seemed to silently communicate something. They probably realized they were the captain and assistant captain, from their uniform.

The most skilled swordsman of the group suddenly shouted at the person holding the beast's cage.

"Henry, run!"

The person took off running, towards the direction of the ship and was covered by three other people. This surprised the imperial knights and they attempted to run after the person and the beast's cage.

But they were stopped by the red eyed swordsman, who threatened.

"Come at me first!"

They unsheathed their sword and swung it menacingly at a knight. The imperial knight tried to defend with their own sword, but the moment their swords clashed the imperial knight faltered from the sheer strength then fell backwards.

A monster.

That's how the person looked as they subdued the imperial knights one by one, their red eyes glowing with killing intent.

And after Adrianna, the second thing Nathan loved the most, was monsters.

He loved to tear down monsters.

Monsters were commonly found within people. Everyone had a monster, but some hid theirs better than others. Occasionally, even those who could hide their monsters would slip up a bit, revealing their ugly and revolting side. A side that would be scorned by society. Sometimes, people yearned to unravel their inner monster and would often choose a more proper way of doing so. Take him for example. Joining the imperial knight's elite division didn't come out a need for justice and sense of duty. Rather, this venture was birthed from the desire to defeat others. Others equally strong.

Having an incredible ability meant they too had worked blood, sweat and tears. That meant they too had gone through hell, which led to them to train to this extent. This was the real world, not some story were characters were made overpowered so they could shine in the spotlight.

Meeting people like him, who were driven by a need to be strong, a desire for revenge and a boiling hatred. People who worked hard for all they had, but not yet being able to accomplish what truly mattered. For Nathan, facing such complicated people....

There was a sense of achievement he felt, when he conquered other monsters.

A thrill of some sort, knowing no monster could surpass him. Knowing that he was the ultimate monster.

So he watched the imperial knights get subdued by a single figure. The person, clothed in black, their red eyes seeming to glow, didn't kill them, but aimed to knock them out. The last knight to go down was the assistant captain of the knight's division who foolishly stepped in.

Nathan then stepped forward, a beautiful smile blooming on his face.

"You're really strong. I think you should be the new assistant captain"

The swordsman didn't reply. Silently, they lunged forward, raising their sword high and attacking Nathan from above. He had to admit, they were fast.

But he was faster.

Easily, Nathan blocked the attack with his sword. With a subtle twist of his wrist, Nathan struck the person from the left side, his sword slicing through the air with a soft whoosh, making the swordsman move back for a moment. They seemed to observe his stance by creating a small distance, but Nathan didn't give them the opportunity to, and speedily closed in on them.

"Damn it"

The person cursed, barely being able to defend Nathan's strike.

It was then, hearing them curse, that Nathan realized the red-eyed swordsman was a woman.

From the corner of his eye, Nathan saw some people in the person's group, coming back, most likely as support. He saw the person with the beast cage enter a boat, which began to sail away.

All his knights were unconscious, so he had to deal with this workload all alone.

'How unfortunate, I had wanted to carry it on for longer and enjoy the fight...'

Nathan sighed, before he raised his sword, sharply cutting through the air, and clashing his sword against his opponent's with an inhuman strength. The red-eyed swordsman, or rather, swordswoman, stumbled back, their movements growing more desperate, their breath coming in ragged gasps.

Finally, with a swift and decisive strike, Nathan knocked the sword from his opponent's hand. The blade clattered to the ground, its metal ringing out in defeat. With a swift motion, Nathan pinned the swordswoman to the ground, his knee pressed against their back, their hand behind their back, and face towards the ground.

He had contemplated just killing the person and everyone involved in trying to steal the beast since they stressed him. But he was curious to see the face of this woman, who proved to have an excellent skill of swordsmanship.

Besides, they seemed familiar.

Reaching forward, he took off the person's scarf tied around their head, and wavy brown hair rose up, appearing in his view.

"Hey! Don't look! Why don't you just finish the fight?"

The woman shouted from underneath his subduing knee.

He recognized the woman.

'Harper? Adrianna's maid?'

Nathan had secretly been raised by Adrianna and he was very familiar with everyone she was associated with. Her two closest aides, the twins, Harper and Henry, were normally observed by him.

Since he had never made his presence known to them, they did not know of Nathan.

Harper was among the people who were stealing the beast. She even seemed to be the leader of the attackers. The figure who had ran past the docks with the beast cage while being protected...

"Henry, run!"

That was probably Henry holding the beast's cage. No wonder their figures felt familiar to Nathan.

But why were they stealing a beast? Everything they did were always orders from Adrianna. So, was this theft an order from Adrianna? If she had needed a beast, she would have probably asked him to acquire one since he could despite their rarity.

'What could have possibly happened?'

Harper's group came, standing at a small distance away from them, brandishing their weapons menacingly. They seemed to contemplate whether to attack or not, since their leader was captured.

At the same time, the unconscious imperial knights groaned and woke up, realizing the situation. Quickly they regained themselves, and the five knights along with the assistant captain took a stance about to attack.

"Wait. Don't attack them"

Nathan spoke up, commanding his knights. They seemed confused but obeyed the order anyway, yet still on guard, waiting to spring into action.

Nathan retracted his hand that twisted Harper's arm behind her back. He lessened the tight hold, and only pinned her down with his knee, before he asked.

"You work for lady Adrianna, right?"

Harper, who has been struggling under his hold, suddenly froze, and looked up at him, with a slight turn of her neck.

Surprise was etched on her features, as she seemed to contemplate a reply. Then in the next moment, she scowled at him, her eyebrows furrowed. Her dark red eyes contained so much malice.

"Go on and finish me off. You can't get anything out of me"

Hearing her reply, Nathan sighed. He had anticipated the loyalty of Adrianna's closest confidants but he thought they'd be able to easily reach an understanding. He decided to let on more.

"What happened to my lady?"

"I don't know what you're talking ab-

"Listen, the longer you're stubborn, the more everything is delayed. I wish Henry was here, because he has always picked up on things faster than you"

In one breath, he spoke hurriedly, yet with a sense of familiarity to urge for Harper's cooperation. Harper's eyes widened as he mentioned Henry, as if he knew them.

"Who are you?"

As he was about to answer her question, he stood up, setting her free from the constrained position.

"I'm Adrianna's number one person"

Even with the tension building in the air, Nathan casually put his hands in his pocket and looked entertained by Harper who jumped back, and joined her group. She adjusted her head cover, moving it to mask her face once again.

"Harper, we're both on Adrianna's side"

No matter how she tried to contain her facial expression, her shock was visible. How did he know her name? No one had said it. Reflexively, she reached for her sword at her side, then realized that it had long ago fallen and wasn't there. Her hand clenched into a fist, the pain from her nails, facilitating her thoughts.

Harper was wary.

But time was running out, and Henry was alone with the beast. His physical abilities were rather average and he wouldn't be able to use the monster for their plan. Besides, her and the merlot squad, were not totally capable of handling a beast. The purple haired man was probably an imperial knight and based on his uniform, he was the captain of this elite division.

They were trained to handle these beasts. Also, the man seemed to know their identity.

Harper knew her lady had a wide connection reach. So it was possible that she was affiliated with him and the imperial knights.

On the other hand, what they planned to do was controversial and even possibly illegal. Plus, she was never particularly good at making the right choices.

"Commander, we have to consult with Lord Henry"

The person in their group, standing closest to her, whispered their thoughts into her ear.

"No need. I'm the commander of the squad and capable enough to decide"

Unblinkingly, Harper looked at Nathan right in the eye. Whatever consequences her decision would bring about, she believed she would be able to face it. She may not be as smart as Henry, but her instinct had enabled her to survive till today. Without hesitation, she said.

"My lady is being forced to marry a nobleman. The wedding is being held today and we need this beast to disrupt it"

This news came as a surprise to Nathan. A wedding? Didn't he see Adrianna just yesterday?

Nathan inquired, feeling skeptical

"Wedding to who?"

"Ronald Belv"

Aha!

Nathan never expected such a development. Being forced to marry the fiance who you broke up with after they cheated on you? He could already envision Adriana's annoyed expression. Nathan knew she was capable enough to prevent the marriage on her own, but would probably act laid back in order to preserve her kind image she had built.

Also, there must have been a development to hold her back. He could imagine her doing something as drastic as killing Ronald to get out of the marriage today.

After all, he knew Adrianna best.

"Well then, let's go"

"Huh?"

Harper was surprised with his immediate agreement and willingness to follow. Nathan saw this, and chuckled, asking lightly.

"What knight misses an opportunity to make his armour shine and impress his lady?"