The sequel begins a month after the end of the first title. A civil war has broken out between the Aristocratic Alliance led by the four noble houses and the Imperial Army of Erebonia led by the reformists, with Rean having escaped with Valimar after the fall of the Empire's capital city of Heimdallr. He makes it to his hometown of Yumir where princess Alfin also escaped to, but she is kidnapped along with Rean's sister Elise. Source: Wikipedia, "The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel", available under the CC-BY-SA License.