Rigel punched the wall lightly with his knuckles. Even though he held back his power, it still caused his knuckles to throbbing in pain. 

After seeing Rowan’s unusual slight smile, Rigel had this feeling that he had known this person before. The previous meeting was not their first contact and when Rigel successfully recalled his memories about the unpleasant gentleman before, he remembered his trial before the amount of his sin debt was announced.

Rowan was there, in the supreme court. He was younger and perhaps he was just there to accompany his father who was still the head of Draco family then.  Compared to his current appearance, Rowan used to look like a normal young man. 

The Barnard that Rigel killed with a blazing fire was a noble family whose rank was above Draco. So, even though they claimed to attend the court on behalf of their deceased ‘friends’, anyone could see they were in joy for instantly climbing the social ladder. 

Rigel was never ashamed of what he did, nor did he regret it.  But seeing Rowan in the previous meeting caused him to feel disgusted. It reminds him how nobles love to use other people as pawns. And probably, the Draco thought Rigel was their pawn for massacring the whole Barnard family, totally erasing their name in Alrauna noble future history. 

“You know Rowan?”

From behind, came Cain’s voice. His young master looked at him with a neutral expression. But since he rarely showed interest in other people, Rigel really appreciated this small attention.

Rigel turned back, facing Cain. His face was calm. 

“I just remember that gentleman from before. Had seen him in the court.”

“On your trial?”

“Yeah.”

“Just that?” 

“Just that.”

Cain shrugged. “As long as you don’t know him personally…”

The prince seemed to dislike Rowan as well. After all, despite being so young, Cain had a good eye for appraising people. Rigel guessed that was possible because he grew up around someone like Andromeda. The trauma she inflicted on him, trained him to notice people with bad intentions at the first glance. 

Maybe Rigel should be grateful that he was allowed to be near him? If Cain wanted, Rigel could be sent back to the dungeon right away. 

“Anyway, pack your things. We’re going on a trip.”

“Where?”

“Beckett.”

***

“I cooked an omelet for dinner.” 

“Egg again? Come on, Rafe. My face is gonna get round like an egg at this point.”

“Don’t eat it then. Tsk. Why so picky?”

Raphael Winters–fondly called Rafe by Rigel–was never a good cook, at least compared to his older brother the famous apothecary Rigel Winters. Rafe defended himself, saying that Rigel had this talent at making potions and differ so many complicated ingredients. That’s basically a cheat code for him to be good at cooking. 

He put two plates of omelet on the dining table. Rigel excitedly sat in and poke at his portion with a spoon. 

“Why do you always put too much salt?”

“It’s you who always season every dish so lightly. My seasoning is fine.”

Their bickering turned quiet once they both had seated and started to dig into their food. 

The Winters sibling were quite close. Rigel basically raised his brother who was eight years younger than him with so much care. Especially after their parents passed away when he had just turned seventeen. And by this time he was twenty three and his brother fifteen, he’s glad that he could give him what he couldn’t really have before. Proper education was one of them.  

“How has the store been recently? Anything happened when I was away?”

“I am good. Uncle Robin recently helped me to trade more ingredients from the south.” Rigel took a big gulp of water, he had finished his brother’s cooking quite fast despite his earlier complaint that it was too salty.

“Let’s invite Uncle Rob to have lunch later. He has helped us so much.”

“He said he’d wait for my turn to cook.” Rigel teased Rafe by poking the rest of his omelet with his own spoon. “Thanks.”

“You complained about it yet you always take an extra portion from my plate.”

“Consider it a compliment? After all, I am the best chef in Beckett.”

Rafe rolled his eyes, mocking Rigel’s narcissism. 

“Anyway. How was the academy?” Rigel asked in a nonchalant manner. He thought that his brother was smart enough to get a scholarship and he should be fine once he adapted to the academy’s life. 

“...It was fine.” Rafe answered. Rigel did not notice that his brother's eyes were void for seconds before. “The dormitory is massive. We could fit our entire house in it.”

“As expected from the best academy in Alrauna.” Rigel then took a big gulp of refreshing lemon tea. “You make the entire village proud, you know?” 

Raphael Winters, at fifteen, had passed the scholarship exam to enter the most prestigious academy in the entire kingdom. He even ranked first in almost every subject. Rigel is so proud of his baby brother.  

As a part of social responsibilities, every year the nobles in Alrauna would fund ten chosen students to study together with their heir in the royal academy. It was not easy to enter the royal academy since from primary to junior state, the education could be so different between the commoners and the noble school. But talent would always speak for itself. That’s why ten chosen students could get picked out every year to study with the heirs of a noble family. From Beckett, Raphael was the only one chosen. 

“And how was the canteen? Heard the foods they serve are good.” 

“Still can’t beat yours.”

Rigel smiled smugly before patt his brother’s head. They have the same red hair but unlike Rigel who kept it short and tidy, Rafe let it grow until over his shoulder and tied it with a thin black ribbon. Combined with Rafe’s youthful face, the younger of Winter siblings sure had ethereal kind of handsomeness. 

“? You cut your hair?” Rigel’s keen eyes could see that Rafe’s hair was about two inches shorter.

“... Well. I asked my friend to trim it. But I should know it wasn't a good decision.”

Both of them laughed. Rigel laughed wholeheartedly, but Rafe sounded like he was forced to. 

“Well… It’ll grow back in no time. Your hair is like wild grass anyway.”

***

Soft taps on his cheek woke him up. Rigel blinked several times. Suddenly regaining his senses, he could feel the carriage he was in was shaking because of the rocky road. 

 In front of him, Cain sat with Nara on his lap. A thick book about politics was placed on the cat’s back but it seemed to not mind at all. The slap came from beside him, and of course Rigel could always count on Lumi to disturb him.

He yawned widely. “What, Missy? Couldn't I take a nap?”

“How dare you sleep with your master in front of you?”

“Why can’t I? I still need sleep despite being a super cool and strong guard.”

“The real cool people wouldn’t say that about themselves.”

“I say I am cool, not humble.”

At loss for words, Lumi resorted to pinch Rigel’s arm. The red haired guard giggled. “I know I am cute. But you seem to really like pinching me.”

“Grrr. Shut up!”

“Anyway… Have we arrived?” Rigel pulled back the thin curtain. The snow had fallen and it created white landscape everywhere he looked. The blue sky had turned deep orange and in a short time, night would arrive. He frowned. He knew for sure that they were still nowhere near Beckett. 

“The snow pile delayed our journey.” 

It took six hours by horse carriage to reach Beckett, but with their current speed, it would be enough to reach the village gate before the sun sets. Winter in Alrauna was cruel. The night was longer than day, and the temperature would drop several degrees when it's time for people to rest. 

“We better stay at a nearby inn.” Rigel sighed. “We have skipped some, right?”

“I’ve told Cain so. But he insisted to keep going.” 

The sun was starting to set. Rigel guessed that Lumi woke him up to help her persuade Cain that they better stay somewhere instead of continuing the risky journey. After all, the path from the capital to the village itself was so rocky, even the best coachman had to be careful. And even though most animals are in slumber, some of the mountain beasts are still going to hunt at night. 

“Oh come on… young master.” Rigel rolled his eyes, his tone begging. “Aren’t you hungry? We already skipped a proper lunch.”

They had their food prepared on the carriage. But compared to the usual full course meal they had at the palace, the bread and fruits definitely were not enough. By this kind of treatment, Rigel knew for sure that Andromeda was more than willing to let Cain starve if she could. What a perfect picture of a cruel stepmother.

As if answering Rigel’s question, Cain’s stomach grumbled. The usually stoic and aloof prince turned so red while Lumi tried to hold back her laughter. 

“Well?” Rigel smiled. 

“Let’s stay at a nearby inn then.”

Rigel opened the small window to tell the coachman to stop at the first inn they met. He could hear that man sighed in relief. Rigel could sympathize with him since he also felt working under someone like Cain is tiring. Don’t forget he sometimes had to babysit Cain’s extra; Lumi Calisto.

“If I am not wrong, in three kilometers we…” 

Before Rigel finished, they could feel the carriage lose its balance after a loud sound of something cracking. All three of them hit their head on the roof of the carriage. 

“What the hell…” Lumi cursed. “Did we hit something?”

No one answered. Not even the coachman. 

After that, their carriage was practically turned upside down. Now they all sat on the roof while the seat was above them. The window glass shattered and its pieces hurt Rigel and Cain’s forehead. Lumi was safe in Cain’s protection while Nara already jumped outside, guarding their carriage which clearly was under attack. 

Then came another sound of something falling outside the window on their left. The three of them looked in the same direction in unison and to their surprise, the thing that landed beside them was the coachman’s head. 

“Holyshit!” Rigel cursed. 

Lumi focused her wind energy to form a shield for the three of them while at the same time blowing up their carriage. Instead of crawling out from the broken door frame, being stabbed here and there by the wood, she chose the easiest way to get out.

Rigel couldn’t decide if Lumi was brilliant or just being impulsive.

But what’s important right now was the fact that they were surrounded by monsters in human form.

“Ghouls?”