Herod

“Mea son? Homosex?” The Elder Kaustantin grasped his chest, seemingly at a loss for words. “They were COUSINS!” He tore up the missive and threw it into the fireplace before riding hard to Valwyck, leaving his wife to ramble freely with the spirits in their home.

Kaustantin cried for hours, in his youth he never had a figure care for him as much as Adrian, and now his father was gone. (R)

“Those who abandon their families… shall die a lonely death.” Muttered Kaustantin to his wife as they sat opposite of a crackling fireplace at the edge of Valwyck. Despite his harsh words, Kaustantin did not know what prompted Eugenie to do all her actions, perhaps he shall ask her when his time comes, he thought.

Kaustantin smiles as the Office he once worked and lead continues to thrive.

"Humanity lost a real one." Declared the elderly Kaustantin, shedding tears as another lifelong friend leaves to the other side.

Said Husband, still in the process of recovering from a heart attack shook his head and rubbed his shoulder. “Wait till he discovers the last three Palatines were Baruchs…” Mumbled the elderly man, unbeknownst to himself that he had just spilled a fact of nepotism from his lips.

“The Orenian realm has been the sick man of the descendant races for quite a long time, some may even say it began with their loss at the Sutican War. It is the culmination of a steady decline, brought tumbling down by a successive line of inept and dull rulers. Let none question why the peasant rises up against the Crown, it will take a long time for the Heartlanders to come together again.” Kaustantin noted to himself and his disinterested wife as he read the missive in his cottage, he first felt pity to those in peoples in the south, but then remembered how their shared hatred had grown in recent years, thus shrugged.

Kaustantin smiled to his wife, he was prepared to become the stereotypical Haeseni tourist in the poor Silver Isle, Sun bathing as his skin turned red while intentionally talking slower whenever greeted by a local of the silver isles. ”That is a wonderful idea.” @zuziee

Kaustantin wept for the death of his sister, now having no more family members of his age, he was truly, alone. “We will meet again, in happier times.” He whispered to her fresh tomb in the crypts.

"Huh, very nice." Commented Kaustantin after reading the Unbiased History of Oren, a time he was fortunate to live in.

“It is tragic that the new generation of Haense must suffer the horrors of war after their fathers have sacrificed so much for the end of such benightment.” Muttered Kaustantin to his wife before raising his old, dull blade. “No more will children have to live in fear and uncertainty after this Great War will be won.”

Kaustantin eyes the Young King afar from his farm near Lake Voron, after rubbing his chin for a good minute, the elderly man smiled. ”No matter how hard the destiny is to accept, the people you spend it with makes it all the better.” He spoke to himself, but hoped the young King would hear his words too, he prayed he did.

“My friend… thank you… for showing this world what makes a great Monarch.” Kaustantin Baruch uttered weakly as he knelt in his farm in honor of his king and oldest friend.

“This dog which forsakes holy relics, does well to serve the unforgivable anathema.” Kaustantin says to himself as he writes to his nephew in appreciation of his open letter: “You have done well to confront this shameful cretin, nephew, I wish my dearest old friend would niet show anymore tolerance for his kind, our generosity has gone far enough for our hostile southern neighbors.”

“Knowing the rhetoric of this elf, it’s hard to imagine there wasn’t a crossbow held against his head as he wrote this.” Remarked Kaustantin Baruch, amused by the published document.

A distant figure watches from afar with a beaming smile as two dearest friends of his embrace their duty. ”No matter the amount of mercenaries or armies, none shall stand in the way of what is right.”

The Twin of Anne watched from afar as his sister deteriorated further into madness over court affairs. After a short bit of contemplation he decided to turn his back and continue his estranged relationship with his family. Likely never daring to step foot in their apartment for the next year or two.

Kaustantin lividly recalled the day Franz had made him a man who’s days are numbered. Rising out of his empty bed, the melancholic former Palatine couldn’t wash his face before memories flooded his mind. He must’ve made the Prinzenas Royale waste her emotions a thousand times onto him from the time he was a boy. A solemn frown appeared on his face, stableness was never a principle for himself, even as the right hand man. He couldn’t understand how Petra could live with everything she had, how she didn’t flinch when she whisked a dead child from the womb of his wife. He gave up onto it all, when Petra didn’t. ”Many are born luckier than others, ea’hm lucky enough to be born when ea let go of it all.” Kaustantin Baruch mourned for the life of Petra for all his days.

Kaustantin mourned and fasted in the memory of his father in law, a man who shaped his life. Be it for good or bad, the Ayrian man wouldn’t have become the man he is today without such an influential figure in his life. ”I forgive vy, Ser Ailred. Hero of Hanseti and Ruska.”

Kaustantin laid a candle for his estranged and quiet younger brother, regretful to his core that he couldn’t spend more time with him before his unfortunate passing.

"Heartless and cold." Is all Joseph could utter to Moliana at the news of his great aunt's demise unknowingly by somebody he held close in his childhood. Livid memories of abuse and stern gazes by the elder d'Arkent flooded his mind with stress, perhaps he would've turned out to be like Maisie if he had given up on this world, just as she did to pursue the void. "Rest, maybe it is the only thing you'll enjoy in this world."

“Ea’hm niet insane, ea swear.” Commented the Former Palatine regarding the hearsay before he went to beat his niece, Isabel, for making whale noises in public. @sarahbarah

Through the muddy marches of Northern Haense trudged the young Joseph Alexander, his face ever grim and bleak. ”There’s happiness Joey, no matter how cruel this world is.” The words of his mentor rang in his head as the march grew harder for the nimble teen, the words of Moliana grew louder as the pain in his feet dissipated. ”I saw myself in you, Joseph. That is why.” A small tear fell from his eye as he continued onwards, the sharp weather of the North wheezing through the woods. ”It’ll be alright, I promise.” He stopped, the young teen sat onto a rock as those words came back again and again. It wasn’t alright, his family estranged, his friends alienated and most importantly, the mentor whom had always looked after him was gone. Within moments of realization the boy began to break down and wail. There he sat for hours, waiting for Moliana to offer him a hand in this cruel life once again.

“We need to seperate, Kaus.” Kaustantin had always been a man to reminisce of his past, despite how troubled and messy it was, he spared a moment in his day to think of the life he lived especially now after living a life as a statesman. Unlike today. Here he was, the aging former Palatine sat on the edge of his farm, a trusty corgi by his side as he recalled the words of that Orenian Princess he loved and broke the heart of. If only, he thought, with no rash actions of youth perhaps this Princess, Amelia, wouldn’t have gone missing. Frowning, the man turned to view his sleeping corgi, one that reminded him of both the Augustine, and the Princess. “May the future be ever brighter.” He prayed for the Princess, hoping that she would suffer no more and find peace in this life, just as he did. The man then turned with a small smile and went to spend time with his family.