From the very moment he could form coherent thoughts, Khan had been acutely aware that he did not belong to the ordinary world. It wasn't a conclusion born from arrogant pride, but rather cold, systematic observation. He had spent his formative years analyzing the distinct, hyper-careful behavior of every individual permitted into his orbit.
He had grown up surrounded by elite nannies and austere, ancient scholars who arrived on strict schedules to drill him in high-society etiquette, statecraft, and foundational combat theory. He absorbed every scrap of data like a dry sponge, and from the subtext of those lessons, he understood the reality: he was almost certainly the scion of a supreme noble house. But if that was the case, why had he never once seen the faces of his mother or father?
