Perplexed, Leane stood up and approached his mother, who was sitting at a nearby tea table, but even she didn’t move.

No matter how mature Leane was, in the face of the incident that occurred in an instant, he didn’t know how to handle it.

And then, it happened.

“Leane!”

The Duke of Bietan, who had been attending to official duties in the mansion, rushed over urgently.

He had come from the mansion to the garden, the venue for the gathering, following an extraordinary flow of power.

“Father, people suddenly stopped moving.”

“Leane, this is…”

As the Duke of Bietan embraced Leane, people collapsed to the ground.

When they regained their senses, they all looked at Leane with eyes tainted by fear.
Only then did Leane become aware of the situation that had just unfolded.

“Is it me…?”

That’s right.

It was the moment when his power manifested.

Rumors spread throughout the entire Wilentia that the successor of Bietan had manifested a powerful ability.

The Duke and Duchess of Bietan sat Leane down and explained.

“This is the ability to control shadows.”

Whether living or non-living, if there were shadows, he could restrict their movements. He could even confine something within his own shadow.

However, as he had recently manifested the ability, controlling it was not easy. As a result, the mansion’s servants would occasionally freeze since the day it first manifested.

“I don’t want this either, but I can’t control the ability. It doesn’t seem to be my power.”

The Duchess of Bietan hugged her son without replying, comforting the distressed young man.

“It’s because you’re still young. It happens to everyone when they first manifest their abilities. Don’t rush it.”

“But I can’t let it continue like this.”

Leane judged his own condition as serious. If he didn’t overcome it soon, an accident would happen before long.

In response to his son’s calm judgment, the Duke of Bietan nodded silently.

“You’re right, Leane. The sooner you control it, the better.”

“Please teach me, Father.”

“Then let’s train.”

Leane underwent training in controlling the ability at the training ground with his father. It was a lesson only given to the heir.

He trained to control the ability, ensuring it wouldn’t manifest arbitrarily, allowing for more effective use.

He expanded the range of the ability, refined it more precisely, and placed constraints on the shadows to avoid accidental mishaps.

During the training, the father engaged in casual conversation.

“Leane, is there a girl you like at the gatherings?”

“No.”

“Soon, we should proceed with your engagement.”

Generally, engagements were designated at a young age, so it wasn’t considered early. However, Leane’s expression seemed disinterested.

‘He seems more interested in training.’

However, the Duke of Bietan was quite persistent.

“Even if she’s not from the 6 Great Families or the royal family, that’s fine. Are you truly saying there is no one?”

“No.”

“This aspect really is different from me. When I was young, as soon as I saw your mother, I chased after her tirelessly.”

Seeing his son making an indifferent face as if he wasn’t interested was amusing, but the Duke restrained his desire to tease him further.

“If you were my son, there might come a day when you’ll be smitten by a girl.”

“Well…?”

Leane chuckled, and the training began.

‘I’m not interested in girls or engagements.’

Leane was sixteen years old. The young man could now completely control his ability.

Finally thinking it was time, the Duke took his son to the deepest part of the mansion, where only the heads of the Bietan family and their heirs could enter—the heart of Bietan.
There was a jewel there. Inside, something seemed to be burning in red.

“This is the Seal Stone of ‘Greed,’ sealed by Bietan’s ancestors.”

“I see.”

“It’s to monitor so that the sin cannot spread further on the surface and to prevent Ircalla’s ambitions. That is our duty, Leane.”

Although he had already learned this fact through his successor education, seeing the Seal Stone with his own eyes and hearing it directly from his father was different.

“You are Bietan. Do not forget that fact. Do not forget the pride as Bietan.”

Bietan.

“Yes, Father.”

As the successor of Bietan, fulfilling the duty and becoming the head of the family. Leane reflected on his pride as his father advised.

Life is unpredictable, and the expected becomes unexpected.

Peaceful moments didn’t last long.

One night, awakened by an unusually bright light outside the window, Leane doubted his eyes.

“Why did it become like this?”

The renowned mansion of Bietan, known for its beauty, was being engulfed in flames, fiercely burning.

The rose garden that his mother loved, the training ground where his father and he would look up at the sky lying side by side, and the entire mansion that held memories from his childhood—all were being devoured by fire.

“Young Master, you must escape from here!”

A knight from the family rushed into the room, urgently shouting.

“What about Father?”