Chapter 408 - A Long Chat (3)

As Marcus listened to Lyra recount her past experiences, he could see that her face was animated, and she had quite the fair share of good memories.

However, the last thing she said brought out something new, a seething anger as she talked about how she wished her mother was still alive.

But as much as Marcus wanted to know more about this situation, Lyra quickly got herself together and continued telling the story of her new life in this world.

"Eventually the days of my sheltered life in my parents' manor came to an end when I turned ten. At this point they had long used a status reading device on me and had seen my four blessings. Apparently, this was considered a good omen, as very few are born with a single blessing, and yet I had four. So, my parents when I turned ten had me enrolled in the kingdom's most prestigious academy where the most talented noble children were sent to gain experience and grow stronger."

Lyra then told Marcus about her time at the academy where she quickly rose to be the top dog as her mother had trained her up quite extensively and when she started, she was already level twenty.

"By the time I finished at the age of thirteen I had already ascended to level thirty and was chosen as an apprentice by the kingdom's top great knight. That was when I started to learn the truth about this kingdom."

Up to this point Lyra had been shielded from the true working of the kingdom, and while she knew of its political structure, she did not think it would be as bad as it really was.

Around thirty percent nobles used their position to exploit the common people that had little rights of their own being considered serfs in most territories.

Still Lyra had never expected to see people starving on the streets as the lords took most of what anyone produced for themselves or the few that worked under them and kept the people in line.

Of course, not every place had been like this and even territories that bordered each other could be vastly differ depending on the lord that ruled. 

Some like Lyra's parents had made sure that the people were not bled dry and were able to live prosperous and happy lives.

"Though things actually were starting to get better as the king was slowly reprimanding the worst offending nobles while enacting new laws that allowed people a bit more freedom to move around some."

Though after saying that Lyra frowned and told Marcus about what had happened not long ago that sparked the unrest and rebellion in the kingdom

"Around six months ago, while I was in a dungeon gathering resources for the kingdom along with some of its other great knights, an incident happened. My parents were incriminated in an assassination attempt against the king, and of planning a coup. Of course, I know that this to be lie. My parents, while maybe not the staunchest supporters of the king were happy with the direction the kingdom was going and would never jeopardize the people they governed. No, it was obviously some type of set up." Lyra said while clenching her fists so hard that they turned white.

She was visibly upset going over these events that had not happened to long ago. But after a minute she calmed down began again.

She told Marcus of how when her parents were invited to the capital and when they arrived were ambushed by the accusations. They had tried their best to defend themselves, but apparently the king had a mountain of damning evidence that his intelligence agency called the whispers had collected. 

Lyra's parents along with plenty of other popular and progressive nobles were then found guilty and sentenced to death.

This was the event that sparked the rebellion and led to Lyra joining it as one of its leaders to get justice for her parents.

"The king took their lives of my parents, so I plan to take his. Also, I want to uncover the truth of what really happened. I did a bit of digging before I left to join the rebellion, and found that the shadows had a file on me as well as a plan to frame me for a crime if necessary, along with other possible threats."

With that Lyra had finished up telling the most important parts of her life since coming to this world and paused to allow Marcus to ask some questions.

Though the first thing he actually did was give her a hug and say, "I am sorry that all of this has happened to you. I cannot imagine how horrible it must have been to lose your parents."

Being in Marcus' embrace, Lyra became quite flustered her melancholy disappearing.

She had actually never been hugged by a man other than her two fathers, and Marcus' sudden embrace had caught her off guard.

"Uh, um, Marcus could you let go of me." Lyra said in a panic.

Hearing this Marcus backed away and saw that Lyra's face had turned bright red as she was obviously flustered by being hugged.

"Sorry I should have asked first. You just seemed like you needed a bit of comfort, but that was my bad." Marcus said hoping he had not angered Lyra.

"No, it is fine. And thank you." Lyra said as she began to cool off.

After that Marcus asked her the question that had been on his mind, "Lyra you said that your master was the top great knight. What happened to him. Is he part of the rebellion or has something bad happened to him like your parents?"

However, as he said this Marcus understood he had stepped on a sensitive topic as Lyra went stone faced as she thought about her master.

"No, he is not a part of the rebellion and last I heard he was perfectly fine. He is still the number one of the kingdom's twenty great knights and leads following the king's orders. He is loyal to a fault and would not even consider helping me to find answers after my parents were executed. In fact, you could say he is now one of the rebellion's greatest enemies." 

"I see would you mind telling me more about him. Like his level and how he fights." Marcus said wanting to know more.

Nodding her head Lyra said, "He is level seventy-nine, and certainly the strongest man in the kingdom. I have seen what he is capable of, and his power is still well beyond me."

"If he is that strong, do you even have a chance of beating him. Is the rebellion not doomed already?" Marcus said trying to find out if Lyra had resigned herself to a suicide mission.

Yet the look in her eyes became fierce and she said, "Yes, we do have a chance. I am not the only great knight that defected, and the leader of the rebellion is actually the formerly ranked number four. And while his strength is not quite as strong as my master, he can hold his own. Anyway, I have seen it with my own eyes that my master is not invincible. When we were in a dungeon training, he challenged a boss room but had to flee, not being able to win.. So, I know that we can be victorious if we playthings smart, and fight with all we have."