Villiem Reinhardt was only four years old when he discovered the difference between good and bad.
It was the day before his second brother's eighth birthday. He and his second brother, Codette Reinhardt, were playing close to the kitchen that day and had seen the glorious sight of the sixteen-layered vanilla cake baked by the many kitchen staff.
Villiem had been obsessed with sweets that time. He'd told his brother that he wanted a taste of the cake. Codette was also greedy for a taste.
The two of them were aware of the fact that if they went into the kitchen and demanded the cake, the staff wouldn't casually offer it to them so as not to ruin a piece of their artwork ahead of time.
At his young age, Villiem already knew this much.
So, Codette told him that they would come back for the cake when the staff were not around. They would come at night when everyone else was asleep.
Because of that, Villiem looked forward to night time that day.
Codette had promptly come looking for him when the sun was down. The two of them snuck into the kitchen with no one wiser. They ate out of the bottom layer of the cake without any inhibitions.
When they were fully satisfied and about to leave, the cake tipped and descended to the floor.
Villiem knew that he would get in trouble with his father, the king of Everflow, if the man found out that his children's greed had caused him his face.
The one thing the king cared for the most was his reputation.
How would such a man react when he discovered his two sons were nothing but impatient, greedy thieves?
Villiem was certain that his father would subject himself and Codette to multiple lashings of the Redemption Whip. Codette knew it too.
In that specific moment they both realized they would get into big trouble if anyone knew of their mischievous behavior, Codette grabbed Villiem's shoulders and clearly said to him:
"This is not our fault. We were never here. We were both in our rooms sleeping and have no idea of who would dare to eat of the cake at night in secret."
Villiem nodded his head, believing in his brother and convincing himself that the destroyed cake was not their fault.
In the morning, hours before Codette's birthday banquet, the King of Everflow Griffith Reinhardt, discovered that his precious sixteen-layered vanilla cake had been destroyed.
Every living person in Everflow Palace had been summoned to witness the incident that day.
King Reinhardt hadn't even cared to listen to the explanation of the staff and concluded that each one of them was at fault for slacking off and letting the cake get destroyed.
He ordered for them to be punished by receiving a 100 lashes of the Redemption Whip.
Like its name, the whip was invented to drive its victims to the path of redemption. The braided leather rope was designed with iron spikes soaked in deadly poison and left to dry for days before it could be used.
Even the strongest knights of the Empire could not withstand 30 lashes of such a whip; talk less of common people.
Fifty people had died that day from the lashings. The remaining five people, who had barely survived, were stripped of their duties in Everflow Palace.
Villiem had watched all of this happen without saying a single word. If he had confessed, he would have been lashed with the same whip. Maybe not with the same number of lashes, but still…
He hadn't wanted to be in the place of the screaming servants who kept on crying and pleading that they were innocent.
Codette, standing by his side, had repeatedly told him:
"It's not our fault."
But no matter how one looked at it, they were clearly the ones at fault. They were the ones who had done wrong and caused other people to suffer the consequences of their actions.
If they hadn't been greedy, if they hadn't gone to the kitchen at night, if they had confessed to their actions, fifty-five people wouldn't have had to face such horrible judgement.
They were at fault. He and his brother had done a bad thing.
After everything had been said and done, his father hired a new set of hands who delivered an even better cake in the nick of time before the banquet.
However, Villiem had not eaten a single bite of the new cake.
Before he went to bed that night, he made a solemn vow to himself that he would never, no matter the reason or consequence, do any bad thing that would get others in trouble for his sake.
Villiem believed that nothing would make him break his vow.
Nevertheless, it was impossible to do no bad in a world where only the evil thrived. He didn't know it yet, but his vow to do only good would soon become the very root of his many bad actions.