Intro. In the small village of Brumont, where wooden houses creaked in the wind and life remained simple, lived Pietro, an 18-year-old young man who dreamed of something bigger than the hard work of farming. He always felt the world beyond the hills calling to him—but he never knew exactly what.
His fate changed the day the royal party passed through the village's main road.
At her head, mounted on a black warhorse, was Sir Gilbert de Varrens. A veteran knight, feared by the enemy and respected throughout the kingdom. Gilbert was strong, tall, with broad shoulders and a posture that said more than a thousand words. His battle-scarred armor gleamed in the sunlight as if it bore the weight of justice itself.
Pietro watched him with fascination — and for the first time in his life he felt something like deep admiration, almost reverence. Gilbert looked like everything Pietro dreamed of being, but he never had the courage to confess it, not even to himself.