Fifteen years ago, I was born in an unknown fishing village in Sicily, near the sea.

I was raised by my mother, and as long as I can remember, she told me that my father was a good Imperial soldier and was attached to the Imperial Navy.

In the years before and after my birth, in the southern part of the empire, the Carthaginians were dissatisfied with the fact that the trade at sea was dominated by the Grand Duke of the Empire, and organized a navy disguised as pirates to attack the merchant ships of the empire and the Grand Duke.

And so the war broke out...... Or it could be said that it was a conflict between Carthage and the Grand Duke of the Empire.

On the eve of the outbreak of war, my father was drafted to accompany Glia on a journey to the Mediterranean.

It is said that at that time, my mother, who was pregnant with me to see my father off, witnessed countless sails fluttering outside the harbor of Gadlin.

The war lasted more than a year, and when the war ended, the Carthaginians surrendered due to the defeat of the capital, Carthage.

Grand Duke Glia did not take advantage of the victory to pursue, not because he did not want to, but because the conditions at that time did not allow it.

After more than a year of fighting, the soldiers suffered a staggering 60 percent of the battle losses, and almost all of the remaining were wounded.

Needless to say, Grand Duke Gloya was powerful, and in that year he personally took the heads of three epic heroes of Carthage.

Wars, however, are not decided by one person.

Carthage's only legendary powerhouse and several of his men have been pinning down Archduke Gloria on the battlefield.

The Imperial Navy was obviously inferior to the Carthaginian Navy, and this conclusion was summed up after one battle after another.

Even so, in the end, Grand Duke Grea led the Imperial Navy to victory...... Despite the heavy casualties.

The vastness of the Mediterranean Sea is probably known only to the gods of heaven.

When my father returned to his hometown with Archduke Grea, it was already two years old.

At that time, I could only remember, and my father's first impression of me was that of a drunk man with a stubble on his face and a vulgar demeanor.

He gave up his job as a fisherman before the war, joined a local gang, spent his days blackmailing, drank heavily, and went to the slums to find that kind of woman to vent his bestial desires......

This is completely inconsistent with the image my mother told me.

After a few years, she left, leaving her father...... and me.

It's not that she's dead, it's just ...... Missing.

After my mother left, the originally tidy home slowly became dirty and messy.

The mother's departure did not make the father repent, he still drank heavily, blackmailed, used the extorted money to gamble and find women.

Even though he was as depraved as he had been, and even though I was only seven years old at the time, I could still see loneliness in his eyes from time to time...... with regret.

When I was eight years old, one day he told me that he was going to send me to Blackbrath Castle, the castle of the Grand Duke of Greia.

In Sicily, the Grand Duke of Glia had a good reputation.

This is probably because Sicily is the hereditary domain of the Grand Duke of Glia, and he is still very good to his people...... At least better than the rest of the nobility of the empire.

As the Grand Duke of the Empire, he also has an identity, that is, the chief of the papal apologists.

Taking advantage of this status, he opened churches in every part of his territory.

The clergy of these churches, in order to spread the teachings and to curry favor with the Grand Duke of Glia, did their best to help the people of Sicily.

Help them officiate their weddings for free, heal their injuries free of charge, and help them resolve disputes between neighbors.

For a time, there were more and more followers of the Protestant Church.

At the same time, in order to care for the orphans in the realm who lost their fathers in the war, Grand Duke Glia established the first welfare home on the continent.

This move made the prestige of the Grand Duke of Gloria rise for a while.

After my father sent me to the castle of the Grand Duke of Glia, I gradually learned literature, etiquette and management under the tutelage of the castle steward Caroline.

When I first met Archduke Glia when I was eight years old, he was still very young, always arrogant and aggressive.

When I first met him, he said to me.

"I want you to be my faithful servant, just like your father. He manages the gangs in small places for me, and at the same time collects some information in the territory. That's how he got the chance to send you to the castle, you know?"

It was only after I went home and asked my father that I understood. It turns out that what my mother said may be right.

After all, no one dared to disobey the orders of the lord, especially this lord, who was the only grand duke in the empire after the establishment of the aristocratic system......

Father, he is running away, and he is also punishing himself.

To disguise his identity, he disguises himself as a villain. Because no one would believe that a good person who is kind and upright and willing to help others can be a gang leader.

Degradation is only the appearance, forbearance and loyalty are his essence.

......

Six years later, thanks to the teachings of Master Spiegel, the butler, I became the last deacon of Blackthorn.

It was also the year that I was called home by my father.

"I'm engaged for you. ”

I was surprised, but I thought it was right. In Sicily, most people of my age have been blessed by priests to enter the palace of marriage.

And I, because I'm studying, it's been delaying for so long.

The object of the marriage contract is Yelena, a friend of her father's and the daughter of a shipwright who works in the harbor.

She and I have been friends since we were very young, and the only friend I was willing to play with in childhood.

Counting the time, we haven't seen each other for a long time...... Probably since I entered Blackthorn Keep.

The moment I saw her, my heart that was full of anticipation suddenly calmed down.

She is not at all as lively as she was when she was a child.

It seems that she has inherited her father's profession, and her clothes, although carefully prepared, still look a little messy.

I could faintly smell the fishy smell on her body.

Her subterfuge appearance made me feel a little rusty......

And when she opened her mouth to call me "sir", I knew that our relationship would never go back.

And then there's disgust......

That year, I met a girl.

She was the eldest daughter of an unknown nobleman in the Empire, and her name was Vera.

The first time I saw her, I was fallen.

Her appearance is very special, unlike the Romans, and certainly not Gaul, just ...... It's a very special kind.

She is said to be a descendant of a holy family and a Roman.

Are the Holy Families nobler than the Romans?

Come on, the self-proclaimed Holy Clan, isn't it still lingering between the Empire and the Kingdom Alliance?

However, she is a noble woman, and I am only the last deacon of Blackthorn.

At heart, I'm still a civilian.

Aristocrats and commoners......

So, as soon as this ridiculous idea came to me, it disappeared.

Two years later, however...... The idea shifted......