Blades of The Fallen Realm

Leo ran through the dark, cold halls of the Vance estate as fast as his trembling legs could carry him. His heart hammered wildly against his ribs, and his throat burned from the freezing night air. Back in the tiny, dark shed at the back of the property, his blind father was dying.

Old Thomas lay on a thin straw mat, his lips turning dark blue as a terrible frost-fever shook his fragile body. The doctor had been very clear that if Thomas did not swallow the juice of a century-old Ginseng root before midnight, the icy fever would freeze his blood completely. There was only one place in the whole city that possessed such a rare, life-saving herb.

It was locked safely inside the heavy iron vault of the noble House of Sterling. And Leo’s cold, high-born wife, Clara Sterling, held the silver key to that vault. Leo pulled out his old, battered phone with hands that shook violently.

He tapped Clara’s contact and pressed the screen against his ear, but the line rang twice and went straight to a cold, sharp tone as she rejected his call. "Please, Clara, pick up!" Leo choked out, wiping tears from his eyes as he dialed her number again. It rang once, and again, she hung up on him.

On his third attempt, the call went straight to voicemail because she had turned off her phone completely. Where could she be? Leo’s mind raced in total panic as he knew she wasn't at their main estate or her family's corporate office. Then he remembered that earlier that morning, he had overheard her mother reminding her about a lavish anniversary banquet.

It was hosted at the prestigious Imperial Grand Hall for the city's highest noble houses. Without hesitating for another second, Leo sprinted out of the dark alley into the pouring rain, running six long blocks toward the glittering event center. Leo burst through the massive double doors of the grand banquet hall with his heart lodged in his throat.

The warm air inside the hall smelled of roasted meat, expensive wine, and sweet perfumes. Dozens of rich elders and noble guests sat around long wooden tables, laughing and clapping. Clara Sterling sat at the head of the main table, looking like a high queen in her fine silk dress.

Beside her sat Lord Julian Vance, the handsome, arrogant heir of a rival noble house. Every eye in the room turned toward the doorway as the music stopped instantly, replaced by a suffocating silence as everyone stared at Leo’s dirty, wet clothes. "Clara!" Leo cried out, his voice cracking with pure desperation as he stumbled forward.

"Please, Clara, I need your help right now!" Clara lowered her silver wine goblet, her dark eyes turning ice-cold as a harsh glare covered her beautiful face. She did not even stand up as her sharp voice echoed clearly across the quiet hall.

"Leo?" Clara snapped loudly. "What on earth are you doing here? Who allowed a dog like you to run into my family’s formal feast?" 

"It is my father," Leo panted, slamming his hands onto the edge of her table as tears spilled down his cheeks. “Father is dying, Clara! The frost-fever has taken his lungs!" 

"Your father is always sick," Clara replied coldly, not showing a single drop of worry. "Is that a reason to run in here like a madman and ruin my family's dinner?"

"You don't understand!" Leo begged, his hands shaking violently as he looked into his wife's eyes. "The doctor said he needs the century-old Ginseng root from your family vault! Please, give me my promised monthly allowance so I can buy it from you!" A loud, mocking laugh suddenly erupted from the man sitting right beside Clara.

Lord Julian Vance leaned back in his fine wooden chair, swirling his cup of hot red wine with an evil smirk on his handsome face. "Look at this pathetic live-in son-in-law," Julian sneered loudly, making sure every noble elder in the room could hear him. "He actually thinks his trashy father’s life is worth a priceless century-old herb!"

"Julian, please, stay out of this," Leo said, his dark eyes burning with pain. "I am talking to my wife." 

"Wife?" Clara interrupted instantly, slamming her goblet onto the table so hard that red wine splashed over the clean white cloth. "Do not use that word in front of my guests, Leo!"

"Clara, please!" Leo cried, dropping his head in total desperation. "I am asking for my own allowance! The money you promised to give me every month when I married into your house!" "You want money?" Clara sneered, her eyes full of deep disgust as she stared at him.

"You have not earned a single copper since you walked into my home! You do nothing all day except care for that blind old man!" "I clean your manor, Clara! I cook every meal and wash every floor!" Leo shouted back, his chest heaving up and down. "I work like a slave for your family every single day!"

"That is what a useless parasite is supposed to do!" Clara scolded him without mercy. "You live under my roof and eat my food! You live off my family's noble name!" 

"My father will not last until morning!" Leo wept out, his knees trembling so badly he could barely stand.

"If you do not give me the herb tonight, he will freeze to death!" 

"Then let him freeze!" Clara spat out, her heart completely untouched by his bitter tears. "Your trashy family is a bottomless pit draining my resources! I will not waste a single leaf of rare medicine on an old, useless burden!"

A wave of loud laughter broke out among the Sterling elders sitting at the side tables. "Well said, Lady Clara!" an old elder called out, holding his cup up. "Why waste priceless medicine on a blind dog who contributes nothing to our realm?" "He has no shame at all!" another noble lady whispered loudly, hiding her ugly smile behind a silk fan.

"Interrupting a grand banquet just to beg for money like a street dog!" Leo felt as if a thousand sharp knives were stabbing straight into his heart. He looked at Clara, searching her pale face for even a tiny flicker of human kindness, but he found only cold hatred. "Clara..." Leo whispered, his voice trembling with broken pride.

"I am your husband. How can you be so cruel to my family?" 

"You are a mistake, Leo!" Clara yelled back, standing up from her seat as her face flushed red with anger. "Marrying you was the biggest humiliation of my entire life! You drag my name into the dirt every single day!"

Julian stood up smoothly beside her, a cruel, evil smile stretching across his face as he stepped around the heavy wooden table. He walked slowly over to Leo, holding a heavy gold cup filled to the brim with scalding hot red wine. "You want money to save your blind old burden of a father, little beggar?" Julian asked, his deep voice dripping with pure malice.

"Yes," Leo choked out, swallowing his pride as he looked up at the arrogant lord. "Please, Julian... help me save him." 

"Oh, I can help you," Julian chuckled, his eyes shining with wicked joy. Without a second warning, Julian tilted his hands and poured the entire cup of hot, steaming red wine straight down onto Leo’s worn leather boots.

The scalding liquid soaked right through the thin material, burning the skin on Leo’s feet painfully. The dark red wine dripped off his boots, staining the clean stone floor beneath him. "Oops, my hand slipped," Julian mocked, letting out a loud, nasty laugh that echoed through the entire hall.

The rich guests around the room erupted into wild cheers and loud laughter, pointing their fingers at Leo’s wet, stained boots. Leo clenched his fists so hard that his fingernails dug deep into his bloody palms, his whole body shaking with pure, burning rage. "Look at you, burning with anger," Julian sneered, stepping right into Leo’s face.

"What are you going to do about it, you weak worm? Strike me?" 

"Julian..." Leo growled through his bloody teeth, his dark eyes glaring with an intense, terrifying heat. 

"Listen to me carefully, you beggar," Julian whispered evilly, pointing his sharp finger straight at Leo’s nose.

"If you want a single copper for your blind old burden of a father, bow your head right now." Leo froze, his breath catching in his throat as he asked, "What did you say?" 

"You heard me," Julian smiled, stepping back and pointing down at the wine-soaked floor.

"Kneel down on your knees and lick that hot wine straight off the floor!" 

"If you drink it all like a good little dog," Julian added, pulling a heavy pouch of shiny silver coins from his belt, "I might just throw a few coppers at your face!" Leo looked at the glittering silver coins, and then he looked down at the dirty floor where the hot wine pooled around his feet.

His mind screamed with deep shame, his heart breaking into a million tiny pieces. His father was dying in a cold, dark shed, waiting for the medicine that could save his life. "Do it, Leo!" Clara commanded coldly from behind the table, her voice ringing like a death bell.

"Kneel down and drink it! Show everyone what you are truly worth!" 

"Clara... you are telling me to lick the floor?" Leo asked, turning his head slowly to look at his cold wife. "If it gets you the money for your father, then do it!" Clara sneered, showing zero pity.

"Stop wasting our time and make yourself useful for once!" The entire hall fell completely silent, every wealthy noble leaning forward in their seats with eager eyes, waiting to watch the ultimate humiliation of the live-in son-in-law. Leo stood frozen in the middle of the grand room, his bloody palms dripping onto his trousers as he looked at the cold mud on his boots.

"Well?" Julian urged, tossing the silver pouch up and down in his palm with a loud clinking sound. "Are you going to save your father's life, or are you going to keep standing there like a proud fool?" Slowly, painfully, Leo began to bend his knees toward the cold stone floor.