Virtus was born in a small, forgotten village, located in one of the poorest regions of the country. The houses were built with whatever materials could be found, and the roads were nothing more than dirt paths. Despite the hardships, the community was tightly knit, and the few inhabitants knew each other by name. However, the fame of his mother, Mary Nova, extended far beyond the village. Mary Nova was a legendary figure, a feared and respected assassin in the criminal underworld. Her name was spoken with a mixture of respect and fear by anyone unfortunate enough to cross her path.

Virtus had an little sister named Hel, to whom he was deeply attached. The two siblings were inseparable, spending entire days exploring the surrounding forests, inventing games and stories to escape the harsh reality of their daily lives. Hel was the one person in the world with whom Virtus felt completely safe. Her presence was a beacon of light in the young boy's life, and he saw her as a model of strength and courage.

However, fate had a cruel test in store for their family. Hel fell gravely ill with a disease that was spreading rapidly through the region. The symptoms were debilitating: high fever, extreme weakness, and a persistent cough that seemed to worsen with each passing day. At the time, the only way to treat this disease was with very expensive medicines, available only in the pharmacies of the city. But the village was isolated, and the journey to the city center took days. Furthermore, the family lacked the financial means to purchase the medicine or even to undertake the long journey.

As the weeks passed, Hel grew weaker. Virtus, unable to do anything to help his sister, felt powerless. He spent hours by her bedside, holding her hand and whispering words of comfort, hoping that somehow she would recover. But in the end, the disease claimed her life on a cold winter morning.

Hel's death devastated Virtus. The pain he felt was so intense that it seemed unbearable. He withdrew into himself, unable to accept reality. For weeks, he didn’t leave the house, refusing to speak or eat. He felt utterly alone, abandoned in a world that no longer made sense. The outside world, once full of adventures and discoveries, now seemed empty and meaningless to him.

His mother, Mary Nova, was too occupied with her military assignments to notice the inner torment her son was experiencing. She was often away, engaged in secret missions that kept her away from home for long periods. When she finally returned, she found Virtus profoundly changed, but it was too late to repair the damage. The boy she had left no longer existed; in his place was a shadow, a young boy who had lost all spark of life.

A year after Hel's death, Mary Nova’s world collapsed as well. Her illicit activities were discovered, and justice came crashing down on her with the force of a hammer. She was arrested and sentenced to life in prison, a sentence that permanently separated her from Virtus. Before being taken away, she managed to do one last thing for her son: she brought him to the city, hoping to offer him a new chance at life.

In the city, Virtus was taken in by the Vernier family, a couple of high social rank who, despite their wealth and power, could not have children of their own. The Verniers welcomed Virtus with affection and tried to give him everything he could desire. He had just turned seven years old, an age when adapting to a new reality, though difficult, was still possible. The Vernier family, though very different from the one in which he had grown up, tried hard to make him feel at home. But in Virtus' heart, there remained an unfillable void, a pain that no amount of wealth could ever alleviate.

In the Vernier household, Virtus found not only a new beginning but also an unexpected friendship. The Verniers lived in a grand estate with spacious rooms and well-kept gardens, a world entirely different from the small village where he had grown up. In this new environment, Virtus often felt disoriented, but it was