Alejandro’s Oath
The sky burned crimson as the setting sun dipped beneath the horizon. A man stood on the wharf adjacent to the town of Sirius and looked out to sea. He remained there for some time, until the sun was gone completely and darkness had settled over the land.
Just then, he abruptly reached into his pocket and took out an antique pipe.
It’s been over twenty years. We’ve been together a long time, you and me.
The pipe had a luster to it that suggested it was regularly cleaned and maintained. It did have a few cracks and scratches, though, indicating that it had seen years of use.
The man placed the pipe between his lips and used verbal thaumaturgy to ignite a small flame on the tip of his finger. An image surfaced in his mind—a sinking ship at sea, and the face of his father, who had shared its fate and disappeared into the fathomless depths.
His father had been an admiral in a large country’s navy and had captained a ship. After he was defeated in combat, he accepted responsibility for this by dying at sea. His death had a profound effect on his son, as he knew it would.
The wooden pipe was a memento of his father. His father had received it from his grandfather, and his grandfather had received it from his great-grandfather, and so on. It was the mark of the headship of House Rosso.
What would Pops think of me if he saw me now? Do I bring pride to the family?
The man’s name was Alejandro Rosso. He was a confidant of Simone Christof of Epirus’s Christof Company, and he traveled the continent in her name. Now, he was in charge of their activities in Sirius.
However, as a member of House Rosso, Alejandro hadn’t always been employed by the Christof Company. The Rosso family were originally from an island nation to the north of the central continent. They had served in that country’s navy since Alejandro’s great-grandfather’s time. Or rather, House Rosso had produced generations of admirals who’d commanded that navy. Nonetheless, it only took a moment for that noble house to crumble into obscurity.
When the old king passed away, he left behind a feebleminded but legitimate eldest son and a wise yet illegitimate child borne from his womanizing ways. This had naturally divided the kingdom over the question of who was the worthier successor.
Many believed the eldest son was the legitimate heir due to his pure blood, but his despicable behavior bought him the ire of many people. His mother, the queen, wasn’t much better than her son, making it clear where he had gotten that disposition.
Their entourage acted much like them, tyrannically ruling over their country and essentially grinding their subjects into dust through oppression without a hint of mercy. They lived in luxury off the backs of their people, and saw it as the natural course of things.
The nobles, concerned with the direction the country was taking, gathered under the bastard child’s banner, as did the commoners suffering from the royals’ oppression. So it came to be that the illegitimate child inherited the crown.
However, when he assumed the throne, House Rosso hadn’t been among the nobles invited to that important event. Bound by the customs of noble society, Rosso’s father had believed that the legitimate son should have been the heir even though he was a fool and a despot. In siding with the eldest son, he perished, leaving Alejandro with only his pipe and the mission of restoring House Rosso’s glory.
I’m still far from restoring my family’s honor. But someday, I will succeed. And to do that...
Alejandro was indebted to Simone’s father, and so he remained with the Christof Company despite its failings. He did everything in his power to help Simone keep the company afloat. Still, it was impossible to resist the company’s greatest rival, the Mystel Company, given that Epirus’s governor, Count Salzberg, backed it.
Fate, however, could be quite ironic.
Having given up on reclaiming his family’s past glory, Alejandro had resigned himself to sinking with the Christof Company. But before that could happen, a man called Ryoma Mikoshiba had appeared and changed everything.
Alejandro released a puff of smoke from his lips, as he swore once again to restore his family’s name for the sake of his deceased father.
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