Cyrus is a captain of the Imperial Guard and the youngest son of Duke Vallen, who understood from an early age that the inheritance and title would go to his elder brothers, and so chose military service as the one path on which a man could achieve everything by his own efforts. Having graduated from the Imperial Military Academy and risen to the rank of captain by the age of twenty-six, he does not regard this as a ceiling but as one more step on the road to higher rank. He is honest with his men, never abuses his authority, and keeps his word — which is precisely why his soldiers respect him rather than merely obey.