By the time the tired envoy made his way back to Madnhold Castle, it was already dusk. It had been raining since the afternoon, and the tired horses were struggling along the muddy roads. Alton, sullenly leading a small detachment of knights and infantry, looked back at Tirio worriedly. Tirio collapsed in the saddle of his saddle, unconcerned about what was happening around him. His broad shoulders hung weakly, his head bowed sadly. The continuous rain flowed down his haggard face like a stream. Seeing his previous lord, who was also his master, in such a state, Arton's heart broke. He was forced to look to the side. Looking ahead at the castle, the captain saw Tirio's advisors gathered at the gate to greet their returning lord.

Tirio's stomach was knotted. He was kept out of the Light. For 30 years, he served as a paladin, and he never expected that the blessed power would be stripped of from him. He felt like he was completely empty. Tossed and tumulted with despair and pain, he couldn't even look up at the scene of his former home.

Arton slowly rode forward to the gate and dismounted. The advisors saw that Tirio was nearly asleep and asked the captain what was wrong.

Arton grimaced. "Something has changed," he said briefly to them. The advisors looked at each other in bewilderment.

"What do you mean, Captain, where have you both been these days? What's going on with our lord. One of them asked eagerly.

Arton lowered his head with shame and sadness. "Our lord Tirio has been convicted of collaborating with the Alliance," he said with a heavy heart. "The High Court has ordered him to be banished from our land. The advisors gasped in shock.

"You must be mistaken. Impossible!" An advisor said with a shudder. He looked into Alton's eyes and saw that it was clearly not a lie.

"No," the advisor said, blankly. Arton nodded horribly, helping Tirio get off his horse.

"So, who is our current lord, Arton, and who will run the entire Firehand Valley?" Another advisor asked. Arton shook his head, and he replied with contempt, "Bathras will be your new lord, for now. It sounded like a bad joke, he thought to himself. He hugged Tirio and began to lead him inside. "I ask the guards to be on guard tonight. Tirio is to remain here and under house arrest. As soon as dawn came, I escorted him to the border with a group of infantry. Until then, neither of us can be bothered. Clear?" The captain demanded in a hoarse voice.

The frightened advisors simply nodded in agreement. Arton dragged Tirio into the house to take shelter from the rain and led him to his private room, hoping that he would not be forced to face Calandra before morning. More than once, he wondered if there was something he had to do and didn't do to prevent this qiē from happening.

Arton asked Tirio to lean against the wall outside his private room, then opened the door.

"Thank you for your help, Arton. This is...... It's hard to get through. I just want you to understand that you are a good friend of mine. I'm sorry for this qiē that happened," said the former paladin.

Arton nodded, slowly turning to the side. "If you need anything, tell me," the captain said and left.

Tirio watched him leave, feeling just strong enough to close the door behind him, and collapsed in his chair. Emotions overwhelmed him, and he covered his face with his hands. His limbs trembled uncontrollably, and the tormented emptiness within him swallowed up what was left of his soul. He could not confront his wife and sue her for what he had done. Ironically, he had refused to lie to her for so many years, and he found that he could not allow himself to tell her the truth now.

The door to Tyran's room opened, and Carandra crept out, closing the door with her hands behind her back. She looked surprised as she watched Tirio sit in the shadows.

"Tirio, what's wrong?" She asked urgently. She lit a decorative lantern, bathing the room with a gentle light. Shadows danced on the wall, and she knelt beside her husband.

"Where are you? I'm dying of sorrow. ”

"I followed Lord Dathohan back to Stratholme," he said in a low mutter, his head still down.

"You know, Tirio, you've been slipping away at every turn lately. If I hadn't known you best, I'd have taken it for granted that you're going to have fun with another woman," she said teasingly. Tirio looked up at her. Looking at the numb look in his eyes, she knew that he was not amused in the slightest.

"Tirio, dear, what's wrong, what's wrong with you?" She asked worriedly. He looked at Tyran's room carefully.

"The child is asleep?" He asked softly. Kalandra frowned and replied that he was asleep.

"I don't know what to say to you about this, my love," he said melancholy, "but I have been branded a traitor, and stripped of my title. ”

Her eyes widened in shock. He wasn't kidding, she realized. In fact, when she got closer to see him, she was amazed at how frustrated and deflated he looked. From what she had known about him for so many years, he had never looked like this. This frightened her greatly. She shook her head, unable to grasp the depth of the situation.

"How so, Tirio, what did you do?" She asked in a choked voice.

He closed his eyes for a moment, holding his breath as he tried to calm his heart's pounding heartbeat. "Do you remember the secret I didn't tell you in the first place?" He asked. She nodded, her eyebrows furrowed anxiously. "The orc who fought me saved my life, Carandra. If it weren't for him, I would have been crushed under a crumbling tower. In order to repay him for saving me, I swear that in my honor, I will keep his deposit a secret. ”

Carandra covered her face. She shook her head as if she didn't want to hear it anymore, but Tirio continued.

"I was forced to follow direct orders to hunt the orc. But when it came time to capture him, my conscience overwhelmed me. To preserve my honor, I fought to release it. I was arrested on the spot and taken to Stratholme for trial," he said.

They sat there quietly for a while. Kalandra sobbed, wiping tears from her eyes. "I can't even begin to imagine you thinking like that," she said breathlessly. "That orc is a brute, Tirio! It has no concept of honor! You gambled our family's lives with your stupid willfulness!" She spat on, carefully keeping her voice low. She didn't want to wake Tyran and make him look at his father. Tirio just sat there with his head down. For some strange reason, seeing him look so weak only made her more anxious.

"And what are we going to do now, Tirio, did you think about that when you made a bet on sacrifice?" She spoke softly, with an uncontrollable sense of loss in her voice.

He stood up and walked to the window. The night sunk thickly covering the fields outside the castle. The rain was still pouring down, as if nature was trying to shed its own squaor in the world.

"I've been banished, Carandra. As soon as dawn I will be escorted to the border," he said heavily. She blinked in shock.

"Banishment?" She whispered. "You deserve to die, Tirio, I told you that your precious honor would end us!"

He turned to face her. "No honor, woman, the qiē we have is meaningless!" As he spoke, he looked around at their rich possessions.

She waved her arm dismissively.

"Can your honor feed us and give our son decent clothes? How can you still have such stupid thoughts in the face of an accident? What happened to this trustworthy man I married?" She asked.

He gritted his upper and lower teeth and turned to face her. "I've always been like that, Carandra! Don't tell me how unexpected this is! You understand that marrying a paladin requires a certain sacrifice. ”

"But I've made a lot of sacrifices. Every time you ride out to fight, I keep my mouth shut. I'm sitting here, alone, for countless hours—waiting to hear if you're alive or dead. Have you ever wondered what I was like? I never complained that you left us in those days for the sake of bureaucratic duties. I understand that you have work to do. I understand that people are counting on you. But I'm counting on you, hell, and I'm keeping it in my heart, so that you can 'do your duty' with honor." I know how to sacrifice, Tirio. But this time the price was too high. ”

"What do you mean by that?" He asked, even though he already knew the answer. She grabbed him and stared at him with a burning gaze.

"I love you, Tirio. Please take my word for it. But I can't go with you...... And neither can Tyran," she said softly. Carandra turned to the side, unable to meet his eyes. "I will not allow our son to grow up as an outcast, or to be the object of ridicule and ridicule for the rest of his life. That's not what he deserves, Tirio, and I don't deserve," she said.

Tirio felt that his life no longer had any meaning. The loss of the Light is painful enough; He wondered if he could afford to lose her. His head was dizzy.

"I know how you'll feel, Carandra. Trust me, I can," he could barely speak. "Are you sure that's what you want?"

"You ruined my life. I'm not going to wait until you're all in the end, and I'm not going to let you ruin us!" She said almost violently. She hugged herself, trying to steady her stinging nerves. "I hope your precious honor will make you feel warm at night," she said.

"Carandra, wait," Tirio said as she left. She walked quickly to her room and slammed the door behind her. Tirio heard the latch shut, and the faint sound of her whimpering.

Unable to comfort her, Tirio pressed his head against the cold glass of the window. Absent-mindedly, he watched as the raindrops splashed on the glass. He knew her well and knew that she wouldn't change her mind. He had lost almost everything he had always cared about in the past. The only thing he left in this world is his honor. He was even convinced of it.

As if in a trance, Tirio walked into his study and sat down at his large, shiny oak desk. He lit a few candles and found a piece of parchment, ink, and a new quill. Not knowing exactly what he really wanted to say, he began to scribble his thoughts on parchment. His hands shook as he wrote, smearing the ink with a lot of smudges. He took out all the words in his heart and wrote them on parchment, expressing the qiē he felt and explaining the qiē he had done. He sat at his desk and wrote late at night.

It was still an hour before morning, when Tirio entered Tyran's dimly lit room. Carandra herself had been crying and had slept a few hours earlier, so Tirio knew that no one would bother him. He walked over to where his son was lying, and the child was asleep peacefully. Curled comfortably in his blanket, the boy breathed steadily. Tirio watched him sleep for a while, in awe of the child's innocence and innocence. He understood that what his son deserved was not a lifetime of forced exile. What he deserves is a good thing that life has to offer.

With a trembling hand, Tirio reached into his coat pocket and pulled out the piece of parchment he had written. Tears filled his eyes as he carefully placed the letter under his son's pillow. Maybe one day, the child will understand what I am doing, and he hopes for it. Maybe somehow, he will remember me, and be proud. Tirio patted the child's head and kissed him on the cheek.

"Goodbye, my son," he said, trying to hold back his tears. "Be a good person. ”

With that, he left quietly, closing the door behind him—

Dawn descends on the quiet fields of the Valley of the Hearth. The oppressive storm clouds had blown away, and the sky was bright and crystal clear. Within hours, the old orc Itreig will be hanged in Stratholme. Tirio had decided that he wouldn't let that happen. Whatever else happened, Itreig couldn't die. With some difficulty, he got past the scattered guards of the castle and reached the stables. He saddled Mirada as fast as he could, and prepared his meagre supplies for the trip to Stratholme.

He put his feet on the stirrups and pulled himself up towards the horse.

"This is the second time, I caught you trying to sneak away, Tirio," Arton said, standing at the entrance. Tirio's heart froze. He looked around and saw that none of the guards were with the captain. In fact, the convoy was nowhere to be seen.

"I expected you to try something like this," said the captain.

Tirio gripped his reins tightly and cleared his throat. "Are you here to stop me, Arton?" He asked tightly.

The captain stepped forward and tightened the belt of Mirada's saddlebag. "Even if I wanted to, I doubt I had what it takes," Arton replied matter-of-factly. "I sat all night, thinking about what you said at the trial. I think maybe I get what you're feeling. You've been doing what you think is right. You've always been like that. So I can't condemn you. ”

Tirio nodded and leaned down. He placed his hand on Arton's shoulder.

"I beg you a favor, old friend. It's the most important thing I ask of you," he said, holding his breath.

Alton sternly looked up. "Whatever I can, I'm going to help," the captain said.

"Take care of them for me, Arton. Keep my son safe," Tirio said.

Arton raised his arm and grabbed his friend's hand. "I will," was all he could say.

Satisfied, Tirio nodded to Arton and looked out toward the edge of the woods in the distance. He stabbed his spur into Mirada's side, and sprinted out of the stable with lightning speed. Stratholme is only a few hours away. If he had ridden as fast as the wind, he would have been able to stop the hanging on time. He rushed down the path, urging the faithful Mirada more often and with all his might than he had ever done before. (To be continued.) )