861 Henry's Past

"Brother!"

Landon stepped out of his vehicle and hugged the lean man before him.

Henry, himself and Astar had similar body sizes and were all somewhat slim when compared to many.

William and Sirius were a little bit muscular than they were, but not overly exaggerated.

Henry smiled broadly while hugging his lifesaver.

This was the man that saved his life when he got captured earlier.

And this same man still came to his aid to put him on the throne.

Of course, Henry wasn't dumb.

There was no free meal in this world.

Even though he already had a positive feeling towards Landon based on all he heard about Baymard, he still held back a bit when he first met Landon.

Why?

Because he didn't know why this famous man would favour someone like him, so he felt like he wouldn't live up to whatever Landon's expectations were.

In fact, one could see where Henry's inferiority complex came from.

Because in his case, he was truly alone with almost no support in this cold world.

For William of Arcadina, he had his parents alive, who also pushed him through in a way.

For Penelope in Carona, her parents did the same.

Sirius from Yodan was also similar because I'm his father had hidden the fact that he was the successor of the throne from everyone.

So no one even mentioned him, making him gather more forces in the dark.

His father had cleared the way and done several things in secret for him as well.

Not to talk of Astar from Terique, who had the backing of his family as well.

All these people had support one way or another.

But Henry's case was different.

His mother died when he was still a child, and his stepmother's in the palace prevented him from learning all he could.

They only allowed him to know how to read, write, sword fight, and do addition and subtraction.

Things like learning military tactics or other military skills weren't taught to him in the palace.

Of course, they did all this to him behind his father's back.

So every time his father questioned his sons to see their progress, Henry always remained at the bottom.

In Julius' eyes, he was a worthless son.

That said, Henry's maternal grandfather usually found ways to invite the boy over to teach him some things that weren't taught in the palace.

So Henry wasn't precisely losing out much.

But how could good things last for long?

Fate played a cruel trick on Henry, as just that a while later, his mother's family seemed to have committed some sort of crime, pulling their status from high-ranking nobles to lower class nobles.

At that moment, their contacts became limited as many didn't want to have anything to do with them, and their money began to shrink.

Of course, everything should've been fine since they had a ton of treasures that could last them decades in their treasury.

But how could things be that easy?

A while later, one of his royal mothers claimed that the family wanted to assassinate her, and all evidence and witnesses testified it to be true.

So his grandfather who was said to be the culprit was executed, and as compensation, 80% of what was in their treasury was sent to the palace.

Henry felt desolate during that time as everything he ever lived was taken away by the royals.

They killed his mother, and then they followed to kill his grandfather too.

Everything made his blood boil amd he wanted nothing more than to get revenge.

But how could he when he had no support?

The moment he turned 14 (legal adult age in Deiferus), he was given his knights to manage, which were made of the weakest knights around.

Of course, he was also given a very remote and dangerous place to govern as well.

The city was filled with criminals, gang members and whatnot.

Fortunately, a few people who were his grandfather's shadow guards came to him and swore their allegiance to him.

Why?

Because of their promise to his grandfather.

In this cruel world, Henry's grandfather was really a good and simple man.

In his younger days, he broke away from the clan because he couldn't do the things they asked of him.

And then, he bought an estate and started his own family.

He was a war God who only fought justly and had won countless battles for the empire, so his feats were mighty.

He did his best to raise Henry without trying to make it too obvious.

But sadly, the enemy his time was up.

The famous war God of Deiferus died because of a framed assassination attempt.

Even his father was happy about it because his father had always been wary of the war God.

Henry was all alone at that point, and his grandfather's people dared to contact him yet because they would be putting him at risk again.

Nonetheless, the royals captured many of his grandfather's people and killed them off.

Of course, many stayed in hiding and assumed noble lives as farmers and peasants.

Nonetheless, they were very loyal to his grandfather, and they more than anyone else knew that if they ripened their mouth to reveal any secrets, then they too would die.

So many of the war God's secrets ended up dying with him.

The royals who wanted to know everything ended up learning of just one of his hideout bases.

The rest were still a mystery to this day.

It was as if the heavens were constantly preventing them from knowing anything else because they couldn't pry open the mouths of these people.

And so Henry used his grandfather's bases and began his journey of survival.

At the time, Henry never thought of taking the throne, just getting revenge.

But after speaking with Landon, he changed his mind.

Why?

Because Landon had the same vision as his grandfather.

And after seeing the contract, he was even more convinced of Landon's character.

The man had a goal to help the people and wanted to put good people on the throne.

Apparently, this was the reason why this great man chose to put him on the throne.