The Illusions of Winifred

Prologue

Around 50 years prior to current day Ilogiva...

  In the kingdom of Ilogiva, there was a knight who was well known for being a "royal mess-up", the lowest term to be called, almost a curse. The knight had only made his way into the castle by his blood, and his will to live regardless of his lack of might.
The very young king, named Castellan, was a just man. Although he was bound by rules that he swore to never overrule, he was kind and most considerate. Knowing this, the knight's family (before he had taken on knighthood), had pushed for him to take on apprenticeship in hopes of some mercy. Living in a poor economy, the kingdom could only afford to spare special privileges to the knighted and royal families.
   Enter Knight Eren Winifred. The clumsiest, yet so knowledgeable that it had encouraged his honor into the Hall of Ilogiva's Best. At only 20 years old, he plead to the king to allow simple citizens to try their might to be an apprentice for the Knight's guard. It took Knight Winifred two years, traveling to different cities to gain a reputation with the other protective units across the nation. His most accomplished work: The Toxin of Dark Avenue.
  The road travelled through Jesark, the golden kingdom. The town was known for its lack of crime and poverty for many decades.
  This was, until a sketchy group of "blue-bloods" had come to visit. They had claimed to be family to the queen of Jesark. The queen, blinded by the good fortunes in her land, invited the group to stay in an extra room near her own quarters.
   The group, to be later named the Nightmare Society, had slipped poison in the queen's drink. She fell more and more ill over the course of three weeks, as it was a light poison that was applied every night at their supper together.
  The Nightmare Society was unsuspecting, remaining innocent and having a low profile. They consistently did good deeds for the royal family, providing food and water for even the servants in the castle. They seemed to fit in.
  On one unrelenting night of rain, Sir Winifred and his guard had reached Jesark. They had been trying to reach the queen, as they travelled with a nationally renowned physician. They had been ordered to protect the physician as to assure the safety of both him and the queen. When they arrived at the castle, they had been greeted with rooms to stay in while the queen was being treated.
After three nights of intensive observation on the queen's health, she had died. The morgue was only able to identify the poison after her death, as it was only traces found in the lining of her stomach. She was of the age that her health was already compromised, and the Nightmare Society was all too aware of this.
Sir Winifred was consistently looked over in his group. The captain simply never looked once to him, always calling any other knight but him. Nonetheless, he was simply unbothered. He had suspected of treason within the castle. Behind the scenes, it was very simple for Winifred to slip away from his daily tasks of looking over the king whilst they prepared to leave the kingdom. He intended to find the cause of the late queen's demise.
The obvious answer would be the cooks who had poured the wine and prepared their meals. He skipped right over them. Not very many people had been allowed to live in the castle, and it only made sense to the intellectual Sir Winifred. He knew as he had a low level of respect within his fellow squad. He had gone straight to the king, with evidence of toxic vials within the trash in the Society's quarters. He had watched the servants carry out the trash as to not raise any suspicion of sneaking into their rooms.
The king had immediately denied the accusations, yet the knight was relentless with his evidence. The members of the Nightmare Society had consistently been seen going to and from the kitchen by the servants. Finally, the king had decided to take action. That night, as the king had finally went to tell his own knights to find the Society and take them captive, it was discovered that Sir Winifred had already locked each and every member in the dungeon. The king was impressed (although the Ilogiva knights were quite astonished), and sent word to King Castellan to reward his knight.
As Sir Winifred arrived back to the castle of Ilogiva, he had been summoned by the king. He was rewarded with a meeting with King Castellan, where his idea of a festival to construct a system where peasants could become squires. Thus, birthing the Dukes of Fire festival. He was recognized as a social hero throughout the kingdom. Knowledge had become just as important as strength, if not more.
   The only thing left undiscovered: how Sir Winifred had managed to capture the 7 members of the Nightmare Society only 10 minutes after delivering the news of the queen's death.