What in goddess name was that? Jason thought as he watched his friend leave the tent.

To go as far away from the royal family as possible?

Jason Aster is conflicted over Victor's words. Victor has worked hard in the army to contribute to the empire – even if that army is not seen with a good reputation in the eyes of many. He has seen how much his friend wanted to be recognized and honored by his family so this sudden new

For a prince, the throne or a better position like the Archduke is one of the best ways they can attain recognition including access to resources that would help them flourish, gain safety, and live a better life.

Staying away from the royal family would mean closer to exile, with no power, no resources, and no protection. For Victor, the lack of protection will be problematic because there will always be people around who would want to kill him just because he is of royal blood not to mention the number of royal members who would use him as a punching bag for no reason. Many royals like to bully others after all and that is not even a unique occurrence.

Jason could not understand why Victor would throw all his status and resources away. He knows the royal family has not been very kind to the prince but in Jason's eyes, Victor deserves the throne after all he has done for the empire.

Jason Aster is from the Aster family, a noble family with the title of Marquess. They were known for their prowess in battles and swordsmanship. But generations ago, an ancestor joined the opposing faction against the former crown prince so when that prince got the throne, his family was almost wiped out and even removed their armies and their resources. So, he is aware of what it feels like as a fallen noble - a noble who lost his status and protection.

His great grandfather has made a deal with the former emperor to gain their noble status again but they have to undergo challenges which is why Jason and his uncle were assigned to the Blue Rose. Jason didn't see it as a challenge, more like a punishment since Jason's father and his uncle, who is the general of Blue Rose, were not exactly the most loved people in his own family. The Blue Rose is known in the empire as the scum of the entire empire army. Most of those assigned in the army are criminals, outcasts, and misfits which is why they always get the missions that no one in the entire regiments is willing to take. Many of those missions made them question their humanity. It was his uncle who turned Blue Rose it is today but despite all its efforts to improve their image, they are still seen as scum.

It wasn't until Victor has made an incredible fight at the Battle of Berdun that made the Blue Rose famous. Claes empire sits in the continent of Zeroldo, one of the only two large continents in the world (the rest are mostly composed of small island nations). It was said that it was once home of a powerful demon king and demons lived in the continent until humans, elvens, and the dwarves who were blessed by the gods were able to defeat them and sealed them away.

But there are times that certain demonic rifts open in the continent and hordes of demons came trampling, terrorize, kill and even eat the humans, elven, and dwarves. And at that time, it was the territory of Berdun that has experienced a demonic rift. Most of the empire's army was sent to defeat the demons and Blue Rose was among them.

Most of the surviving army was not sure of what happened to the Blue Rose at that time. Their numbers were dwindling fast but the survivors of Blue Rose accidentally got sucked into one of the dimensional rifts of the demon world. Jason and Victor were among them and they do not have any memories in that place after they managed to get back at their dimensional plane. But something changed when they got out. That was, all the members of the Blue Rose were able to use magic.

Humans are divided into two major categories, those with magic and those without. Most people with magic came from noble blood and once in a while, a few commoners can have them. The Blue Rose mostly are not of noble birth but when they survived their trip to dimensional rifts, they were able to produce magic which helped turn the tide in the battle.

Victor's magic was also much stronger than it was before. His powers amplified to the point that he was able to summon firestorms from the heavens during that battle which has helped them win the war from the demons. After that people are now looking at the Blue Rose army very differently. Victor even got the title of the Hero of Berdun.

So, for Jason, Victor deserves the throne. So why can't his best friend fight for it? He decided to follow his friend to figure out his change of perspective.

Despite being charming to everyone else, Jason always has trouble trying to communicate with Victor. So instead of asking him what is going on, he decided to follow him around first to assess his friend's changes. And he concluded that Victor is acting stranger than usual. He has been interacting with the other soldiers more easily. The Victor he knows always finds it difficult to talk with other people and always responds with a hum or a grunt and since most people are terrified of him, they don't always approach him casually for a talk. But here he is, talking very well and confidently with the other soldiers. Jason was surprised by these changes.

He also finds Victor muttering to himself a lot in his tent and writing more than usual in his journal. He once saw him yell at the quill "Stupid pen!" throw it across the tent and then picked it up and write on the journal again. Jason tried to peek into what his friend is writing but he could not make any sense of it. There were too many smudges and inkblots to make out what they were (as if the one writing was doing it for the first time) but those are still some odd letters. As nobles, both Jason and Victor were taught to speak some languages such as Elven and Dwarven and some of the languages of the Amalgaman continent (the other major continent in Astoria) in which the empire heavily trade with but he was sure the words written in the journal use letters Jason never saw before.

BOOM! A loud explosion erupted in the practice grounds, debris flew everywhere and more than half of the people in the area found themselves lying on the ground. Luckily, no one was hurt but the rocky side of the mountain they were standing on now has a very large crater on it.

"Victor?" Jason looked at his friend in complete shock. "Since when was your fire strike spell this strong?" He has seen his friend cast those spells before but a simple fire strike spell would not create this much damage. They were low-level spells after all.

Victor also gave him a look of confusion and stared at his hands where he cast the spells. "I – I also don't know." He answered.

Oh, my gods! Victor is overloading his magic! Jason was horrified. Overloading magic is bad.

"Let's get your magical core checked". Jason grabbed his friend to the healers' tent despite Victor's protest. Only the healers found nothing wrong.

"Maybe he is struggling with his magic. He did get injured." Melrick, one of the unofficial healers of Blue Rose said casually when Jason inquired insistently about his friend's health.

"But it was the neck that was hit, not his head," Jason said.

"He could have hit his head when he collapses. We don't know. But it doesn't seem to be a problem for his highness nor connected to the magical core. He seems fine."

"See, I'm fine," Victor said casually.

When Jason could not get any assurance, he went to talk to Rufus. Rufus never leaves Victor's side unless prompted. He found him in the kitchen tent, arranging some food for the prince.

"Is Victor acting stranger than usual?"

Rufus looked at him thoughtfully. "Not that I am aware of the young master." Jason wanted to roll his eyes at his response. It has been so long since he tried to convince Rufus to stop calling him "young master" but he never really budges.

"He did ask me about the financial status of the army and for the account books of his estate," Rufus said.

"And that is strange, why?" Nobles always check their accounts and assets. It's normal for them to manage those that belong to them.

Rufus shrugged. "Because he was never interested in on his finances before. He always leaves it to me."

Jason was still confused. What does that me -? Wait. Victor said he wanted to stay away from the royal family as possible? One would need money to do that right? He isn't running away, is he? No. His friend won't run away like that! It would disgrace the army and its image. Nonononono. Jason shook his head. He is overthinking it. Maybe he is just overworked or something. Yeah, Victor is just overworked.

And Jason decided to stay in denial.