The sun had barely risen over the noble house of Kaizer when the sound of a deep, thunderous voice shattered the peace.
"WAKE UP, SCUM! IT'S TRAINING TIME!"
Joshua, upside-down on his bed with one leg lazily covered by a blanket and his head dangling off the side onto the floor, jolted awake. In a panic, he tumbled off the bed and rolled beneath it, his fluffy tail the only thing visible.
From under the bed, he peeked out and groaned. "Oh. It's just you."
Lancelot stood by his neatly made bed, already dressed in training gear and standing at attention like a soldier awaiting orders. "Get ready. My father will be training us today. Meet me at the training ground."
He turned and marched out with precision.
Joshua pulled himself out from under the bed, rubbing his eyes. He looked at Lancelot's flawless bed, then at his own chaotic mess.
"Guess I also have to do that."
He mimicked Lancelot's technique, tugging at corners, smoothing the blanket, fluffing the pillow but the result looked like it had lost a fight with a tornado. Still, Joshua stood proudly, hands on hips.
"Guess that'll do."
He strapped on his armor, chest plate, gauntlets, shin guards and tightened his boots. "Alright. Let's do this! But... where the hell is the training ground?"
He darted out of the room and began running through the mansion halls, turning every corner with increasing confusion until he burst into the laundry room. There, he spotted a man in a peculiar suit with silver hair and a long grey beard beside Amy, who was folding sheets with military efficiency.
"Who the hell are you?" Joshua asked bluntly.
The man turned and bowed. "I am Jonathan, butler of the noble house of Kaizer. I was away on business when you arrived. A pleasure to meet you, sir."
"Uh, yeah… likewise. Do you know where the training ground is?"
Jonathan gestured. "Amy, please escort Sir Joshua to the training grounds. Tiffany will take over the laundry."
Amy glanced at Jonathan, then at Joshua, her eyes like twin knives. "Yes, sir," she said flatly. "Follow me, sir."
As they walked down the hallway, Joshua grinned. "So... how's your day?"
Amy's eye twitched. "It was fine. Until you started talking."
Joshua laughed but then noticed something strange: a scar on her neck. A perfect circle with an "X" in the center, like a branded seal.
"I've seen that mark before…" he muttered aloud.
Suddenly, Amy collapsed to the floor and curled into a corner, trembling violently.
"GET AWAY FROM ME!" she screamed, covering her face as sweat beaded across her forehead.
Joshua stopped, hands raised. "I... I just wanted to help."
Footsteps thundered toward them. Jonathan arrived, panting.
(She's not ready. That mark… he must've seen it. My mistake, Amy.)
He turned to Joshua. "The training ground is just outside that door." His voice was clipped, his eyes cold.
Joshua backed away and exited. Why does everyone look at me like I'm a monster? That mark… it's familiar... I've seen it before. But where?
Outside, the training ground was a vast open yard of sand and stone. Lancelot stood at attention beside a towering man with spiky blonde hair, a beard like golden fire, and a body carved from war itself. Scars covered his face and arms like battle tattoos.
Joshua ran to Lancelot's side.
The man turned to him, eyes sharp as daggers. "WHY ARE YOU LATE ON YOUR FIRST DAY?!"
Joshua opened his mouth to explain... WHAM!
A fist cracked into his jaw and launched him across the field. He hit the sand hard, groaning as blood dripped from his mouth.
"I... Lancelot never told me where the training ground was…" he mumbled.
The man appeared in front of him in a blur.
"When you address me, you call me Captain."
CRACK! His fists slammed down on Joshua's shoulders, driving him into the earth.
"GET UP, YOUNG KNIGHT!"
Joshua sprang up, eyes wide, and saluted. Beside him, Lancelot stood bloody but unfazed.
"I am Captain Percival, head of the Kaisen family," the man boomed. "From this day forward, you are a knight of the noble Kaizer house. I don't care who you were. No special treatment. Lancelot may be my son, but he's your equal here. Learn from him, if you can survive."
He tossed them each a wooden sword.
"Let's begin, knights!"
"YES, CAPTAIN!" they shouted in unison.
Meanwhile, inside the estate, Merlin strolled the halls and spotted Amy walking by with a hollow look.
"Hey, Amy, right?" Merlin asked gently.
Amy nodded. "Yes, ma'am."
"You don't need to call me ma'am. I'm Merlin. What's wrong?"
"Nothing. Just… having a bad day, Merlin."
"Did Joshua do something dumb? He can be weird sometimes."
At that, Amy's expression twisted from sadness to rage.
"How can you live with a monster like that and call him your family?!"
Merlin's eyes narrowed. "Hey. Don't badmouth my brother. I don't know what he did, but no one calls him a monster."
"You're insane!" Amy screamed and ran down the hall in tears.
Merlin stood still. (What the hell did Joshua do…?)
By afternoon, Joshua and Lancelot dragged their aching bodies back to their room.
"Do you always train that hard?" Joshua groaned, stretching. "I feel like my bones are melting."
"It'll be worse tomorrow," Lancelot replied. "You'll get used to it."
But waiting at their door was Merlin, arms crossed.
"Hello, handsome," she said, eyeing Lancelot.
Joshua rolled his eyes. "You came just to flirt?"
"No," she snapped. "Joshua, what did you do to Amy? She was distraught."
"I… I just mentioned the mark on her neck. It looked familiar. Then she freaked out."
"That's weird. Maybe she's just a weirdo."
"No," Lancelot interrupted, voice heavy. "There's a reason she reacted that way."
Merlin and Joshua turned toward him, confused.
"Amy was born in the slums. Lawless, dangerous. But Joshua, you weren't. You're a noble. A Xeno."
Joshua froze. "What…?"
"You're from the main werewolf house, the one that buys human livestock."
Merlin's jaw dropped. "So what does that have to do with...?"
"That mark she bears? It's the symbol they branded on humans meant to be eaten. Amy and her family were sold as food. Her parents helped her escape, probably died in the process. Jonathan found her, raised her. That's why she works here."
Joshua's face drained of all color. He dropped to his knees.
"I… ate her family…" His stomach heaved. He collapsed to the ground and vomited, again and again, until darkness took him.
When he awoke, he was in bed. Merlin and Lancelot stood beside him.
"I'm a monster," Joshua whispered. "Ain't I."
"You were a child," Merlin said softly. "You didn't know."
"But I enjoyed it. I ate people. Smiled doing it. I'm a monster, monster, monster... !"
His words spiraled into madness. Foam dripped from his mouth. His eyes went wild.
WHACK!
Lancelot punched him square in the forehead.
Joshua blinked, the haze clearing.
"So what?" Lancelot said sternly. "You made a mistake. But what will you do now, as a man and as a knight?"
Joshua raised his trembling hand to the ceiling and clenched it into a fist.
Outside the door, Amy silently mopped up the vomit.
From inside, Joshua's voice echoed, raw and thunderous.
"I pledge on my life, from this day forward, I will save all humans from werewolves. Even if I have to kill every single one!"
His tears mixed with snot and blood, and he sobbed into his own vow.
Inside the room, Merlin and Lancelot smiled.
Outside, Amy stumbled away, tears streaming down her face.
(He's not a monster after all.)
She picked up her mop and carried on.
From that day forward, Joshua trained every morning under Captain Percival's brutal drills. He got better at making his bed, even if it still had wrinkles. Afternoons were spent sipping tea with Blanchette in the garden, while Merlin and Lancelot ran errands in the human district. At night, Joshua returned to the training ground, swinging his sword beneath the moonlight.
And every night, Amy sat nearby, quietly watching.
Silently healing.
And beginning, perhaps, to forgive.