"Your demise."
Luke kept thinking about these words as he looked out of the carriage window. It had been almost half a month since he left the palace. Despite his sisters and mother convincing Alfred, Luke had become so isolated that he could no longer bear it and left the palace.
More like...he was exiled while he was trying to vanish.
Before he was exiled, a proclamation had been issued stating that he had been banished. Though he still held his title in name, the truth remained unchanged: there was no longer any connection between him and his family.
Even if he were a Hiera and still bore that surname, he could never return to the palace.
The place he had gone to was a village as isolated as he was. A place in the far north, at the edge of the Hiera Empire, where the population was dwindling each year.
The only thing Luke's grandfather, the previous emperor, had left him when he died.
Even though each of the seven princesses had received incredible gifts, and almost the entire inheritance had gone to them, the only thing left to Luke was a small plot of land.
The only peculiarity of this plot of land was that it was not under the empire's jurisdiction. It was still within the empire, but while everything else, including the kingdoms that were vassals of the empire, was under the empire's name, this plot of land was under Luke's name.
Still, Luke knew that this was his grandfather Liam Hiera's final act of torment towards him.
After all, Luke knew who had played the biggest role in his mother's death...
He was now completely alone... separated from his family. Even as he left the capital, thousands of people had gathered in his name and shed tears, but he was now completely alone...
Well, almost alone.
"Your Majesty, if you look out the window, you can see that we are almost at the village. I think we will arrive in three minutes at most."
This person was Kevin Typhoon. He was 53 years old, with grey and white hair that portrayed his age. He was wearing a tuxedo that indicated he was a servant.
He was the head of the noble Typhoon family, the family that had served the empire for thousands of years. Or rather, he had been the head. Upon hearing that Luke was leaving the palace, he had stepped down from his position as head of the Typhoon family and placed a resignation letter on Alfred's desk, effectively slapping him in the face with the letter.
"I understand," Luke replied. He was in much better shape than before... Only his trust in people had diminished greatly. Due to the trauma of being abandoned, he had left the palace suddenly without even saying goodbye to his sisters and mother.
"THUD! THUD! THUD!"
When a sudden noise came from in front of the carriage, Luke already knew they had arrived. After a long journey, they had finally entered the borders of this nameless village.
Kevin, who had gotten out of the carriage, gently helped Luke down, and at the same time, someone jumped down from the front of the carriage.
This person was known as Callum Cestis. He was a 32-year-old man with jet-black hair. He was seen as the future leader of the Cestis family, but it was clear that, like Kevin, he was loyal to someone else. Someone who had been exiled. That someone was Luke himself.
Two people who had willingly left their warm homes to follow Luke.
As Luke walked calmly into the village, he could feel eyes watching him.
After a short while, he stopped and looked around seriously.
"Does anyone know where the village headman is?"
When Luke asked this question, an old woman emerged from one of the dilapidated houses standing on the edge of the village. She was bent over and probably over seventy years old.
"Our village doesn't have a mayor, young man. We're just trying to survive together," the old woman said suddenly.
Luke looked around after hearing these words and hated his grandfather Liam once again. He was truly a terrible man. Leaving them in such bitter cold was equivalent to abandoning them to death.
Some of the houses didn't even have roofs.
"I understand. Can you please gather everyone in the village together?" Luke asked.
Even though the old woman couldn't understand what was happening, Luke's clothes and the two people behind him managed to convey to her that he was an important person. That's why, in just ten minutes, everyone in the village had gathered together.
"Forty-one people, Your Majesty. The village has a population of exactly forty-one people," Kevin said after counting.
But that wasn't all. Of those forty-one people, six were injured, a few were children, some were elderly, and the rest were women.
There wasn't a single man. Not a single one.
"Puff... Well, this is going to be difficult," Luke said suddenly, then turned to Kevin and gave him a direct order: "Enclose the village boundaries with earth magic, Kevin."
Kevin nodded immediately and disappeared in a short time, passing through the village people as if nothing had happened.
Although the village did not have a large population, its borders were extensive, which was an advantage. This village could have been a town.
Luke had already decided to take good care of this place. At least until he died.
After giving Kevin his order, he did not stop and turned to Callum, saying, "Go and hunt wild animals. If you can find a wild boar, that would be best. It will be difficult to find, but if you can find a few wild plants or fruits, that would be good too."
Callum shook his head and immediately disappeared.
Now, only Luke and the villagers were left alone.
Luke had, of course, noticed the looks they were giving him. There was no way he couldn't have. With just a few words, everyone had already started looking at him with emotional eyes.
Of course, there was no chance that someone with such a noble appearance would suddenly appear and help them... At least, that's what the villagers thought.
Now, however, they were seeing a living example of it.