Chapter 767: Mad Lord’s Past

But the Mad Lord never knew his father, and when he was ten, his widowed mother passed away from illness. He was raised on the charity of the entire village. The villagers treated him well, and he’d planned to repay their kindness when he grew up. But before he had the chance, everyone in the village—men, women, and children—was murdered. He and a few of his uncles and cousins only survived because they had gone out to sea to fish.

When they returned, they found the same villagers who had been so full of life that very morning lying blood-soaked on the ground. Not even little Raina, who had just turned one month old, was spared. They were all dead.

The Mad Lord sighed deeply at the memory of that horrifying scene. Out of a village of fifty or sixty people, only the seven or eight of them from the fishing boat remained. He was the youngest. After laying their fellow villagers to rest, they decided to venture to Tristone to try and make a life for themselves.

But times were chaotic, and Tristone, especially, was a place where the strong preyed on the weak. Once they arrived, they could only find menial work like shining shoes and pulling rickshaws. The younger ones shined shoes while their elders pulled rickshaws. It was barely enough to get by.

As luck would have it, he and one of his cousins joined a gang, and life became a little easier. But their luck ran out when they got caught in the middle of internal strife. The boss they were following lost the fight. His cousin was killed, but he managed to escape. With nowhere else to turn, he decided to join the army. That’s where he met Old Lowe and the rest of his sworn brothers.

He was the youngest of the group and had to lie about his age to even get in. Fortunately, he’d always been tall for his age, so the recruiters didn’t question it. But then, his entire recruitment class was dispatched to the Far-D Expeditionary Force. What followed were several years in a living hell.

The Mad Lord sighed again. He hadn’t thought about the past for a long time; he’d intentionally buried it. But seeing Old Lowe again had brought all those dust-covered memories flooding back. Of all his sworn brothers, he was now the only one left alive.

He and Old Lowe were the only ones who made it out of the Far-D Expeditionary Force alive. And even then, they were both half-dead. Old Lowe was suffering from internal injuries, and all their other brothers were gone. They couldn’t even bring their bodies back; their bones were left behind forever in that jungle.

He tried to find the uncles and cousins he’d been separated from, but there was no word of them. He was done with war. He and Old Lowe lived in Tristone for a few years, but he grew restless. So, he found a way to head to Port Krol to seek his fortune. Old Lowe refused to go, saying he had to find the young lady he served—June Lowe’s mother.

Old Lowe’s real name was Titus Lowe, and he had once been a gardener for Mrs. Lowe’s family. It was a classic story: the poor boy falling for the beautiful, high-born young lady of the house—a love that was destined to fail. Titus had joined the army to make a name for himself, hoping to return in glory and marry her. But he nearly died, and returned a wounded, disabled man. He was too ashamed to face her, so he simply watched over her from a distance. Sometime after that, Mrs. Lowe’s family also fell on hard times.

The Mad Lord wasn’t clear on the details of what happened. By then, he had already left for Port Krol and lost contact with Titus Lowe. Once he was established in Capria, he sent a letter to Titus’s old address, but it came back, stamped with the words "Addressee Not Found."

Still, the Mad Lord sent men to Tristone every year to ask around. This year, they finally found news of Titus Lowe. Tragically, their reunion was also their final farewell. He’d had six sworn brothers in total. Now, he was the only one left.

"Boss, I made a call to Tristone. We’ve got news about that peerless beauty you mentioned."

Will had just come from the post office. The Mad Lord’s eyes lit up as he asked urgently, "Where does she live?"

"They said she isn’t living in Tristone anymore. This Rosalind Green married a capitalist and left the city ten years ago. She just returned for a visit a little while back but has already left again," Will said.

"Where did she go?"

"It’s not clear exactly where. Probably a small town in the counties surrounding Tristone," Will replied.