* * *
The administrator of the Imperial Rietta Shelter, Lady Yuriseu, opened her eyes wide.
“Your Grace?”
It was because Leviathan Jebereuteu had appeared suddenly in a disheveled state. He had also been Lady Yuriseu’s classmate during their academy days.
“What in the world has happened?”
This was the first time she had seen Leviathan look so desperate.
His neat uniform was badly crumpled, and his black hair was soaked with rainwater.
The great knight was even panting, such was the speed at which he had run here.
“A break-in?”
Striding into the shelter lobby, Leviathan surveyed his surroundings. His violet eyes shook violently.
“Ah, you heard?”
“What exactly happened?”
“There was a break-in. They seemed to be after the donations, but the fools were so clumsy they dropped everything in the backyard and fled.”
“What of the children? I heard rumors that they were injured.”
“Some of the children fell and cried from the shock, but they’re fine. None were hurt.”
It seemed the news had been somewhat exaggerated.
“…….”
Leviathan let out a long breath.
Only then did he realize he hadn’t been breathing properly. His narrowed vision finally widened.
Yuriseu’s flustered face.
Children scurrying away upon spotting him.
“The child I brought yesterday….”
His throat tightened.
“Where is the child I brought?”
“Ah, you mean Rubian.”
Leviathan blinked blankly.
Now that he thought about it, he hadn’t even asked the child’s name.
“Rubian….”
He quietly spoke the name.
It seemed fitting, yet strangely ill-fitting at the same time.
“So, where is Rubian?”
“He said his stomach hurt suddenly and went to the bathroom. Now that I think about it, why hasn’t he returned yet? We need to measure his mana, after all.”
“……Mana measurement?”
“It’s an order from the Imperial Palace. Something about catching a fugitive mage.”
Leviathan’s brow furrowed conspicuously.
That damn Emperor. He had been handling it himself all along, yet he’d bothered to test him for no reason.
“Anyone who crossed the border is a target. Didn’t you say you found him near the border when you brought him here?”
Leviathan clicked his tongue.
“Just bring the child here.”
“Yes. Understood.”
Because of the break-in, security knights were combing through the area. Seeing their fearsome figures gripping ice-blue swords somehow made his stomach burn.
The environment…… was rather poor.
‘Looking closely, the shelter seems terribly shabby.’
It was strange.
This imperial shelter had been built by renovating an entire noble’s mansion.
Yet when he looked closely, it seemed lacking from one to ten.
“Lady Yuriseu.”
Just then, a boy approached.
Bright blond hair, turquoise eyes.
Leviathan’s chin tilted slightly.
“Ah, Your Highness the Prince. Did you finish inspecting the facilities?”
“Yes. Thanks to you, it has been a great help. I believe I will be able to properly resolve the assignment His Majesty gave me.”
The child answered softly with a smile, polite and composed.
“Oh? Duke Jebereuteu.”
“What brings Your Highness here?”
He was the youngest prince of Bamillon.
Rihiteu Bamillon. Why such noble blood was in a place like this was beyond understanding.
No, more than that…… had they failed to stop a break-in even with a prince present?
‘Truly a place worse than a shack.’
What have I done.
The furrow between Leviathan’s brows deepened further.
“His Majesty asked me to give my opinion on a new shelter to be built in the south.”
“Who?”
“His Majesty, of course.”
“Report him.”
“I beg your pardon?”
“It’s child exploitation.”
Rihiteu scratched his pale cheek and laughed awkwardly. The surrounding air seemed to melt away. His dazzlingly beautiful face most resembled the Emperor’s.
The prince, who had just turned twelve, seemed a little slower in growth than his peers. Yet there was a brutality in his gaze that rivaled any member of the imperial family…….
Leviathan felt conflicted.
‘Are you already planning to push him into the succession war, Diteurian.’
He cursed the Emperor—whose blood ran blue to the bone—inwardly.
“I am fine. I volunteered for this myself. Ah, but I heard there was a disturbance……. Madam.”
The prince turned to Yuriseu again.
“The silver-haired child has been out of sight since earlier.”
“Hm? Is he not in the bathroom?”
“He is nowhere to be found.”
The child shook his head back and forth.
Strength surged into Leviathan’s hand.
Nowhere?
Then where on earth—
“Given that an unsettling incident occurred, I believe it would be best to search properly.”
“Since this place is quite large, it would be better to ask the knights for assistance.”
“Yes. ……He seemed somehow anxious, so I am worried.”
Leviathan, who had been about to dash out, froze.
“He seemed anxious?”
“I beg your pardon? Yes.”
Why?
Leviathan felt something inside him crumble.
He recalled the child’s face smiling so bashfully even after enduring hardships in the forest.
He had thought such a resilient child would do well here, too.
‘Was I wrong.’
Leviathan’s hands went numb. The voice that had asked what crying would solve suddenly came to mind.
Ah.
That had been a face accustomed to holding back.
“He was sighing so deeply. He hardly ate anything either…….”
The prince’s smooth face tilted sullenly.
“Your Grace?”
“Search outside the manor!”
Leviathan stomped his foot against the ground.
A foreboding feeling washed over him.
The prince was a child with highly developed senses. If even such a prince had searched continuously and failed to find him…….
‘It means he is no longer here.’
Leviathan ran to his horse. He seized the reins and leaped onto its back.
Before he knew it, a rain shower was falling outside.
Rumble. The sky roared violently, terribly unsettling.
People jumped in surprise and scattered at the horse that suddenly burst forth. Raindrops struck his cheeks like blades.
Winter had not yet ended.
Where on earth could he have gone in this weather?
A child accustomed to holding back. A child who had hidden his trembling hands and smiled.
He had known.
“Thanks to you, it’s peaceful.”
So that was it.
This capital was the place filled with peace.
Not the harsh, rough North where one had to swing a sword and train every day.
“Damn it.”
That was how it was. A child accustomed to holding back was like a flower crouching in the shade. Such things only bloomed when cradled with love and care.
Beside people kinder and gentler than himself, who reeked of blood. Only when tended with pure affection could they finally poke their heads out from the shadows.
“Won’t you take me with you, mister?”
But if those words had been the only ones you didn’t hold back.
Leviathan regretted, too late.
‘If it was going to turn out like this.’
He should have taken the child with him.
If he had kept him by his side and protected him, this would not have happened.
‘Damn it all, why do I only make mistakes every time.’
Drop dead, Leviathan Jebereuteu.
He sincerely reproached himself.
Clatter! Clatter!
The horse tore through the capital like a mad beast. He pushed his senses to their limit, trying to detect the child’s presence.
‘If I am wrong.’
He suddenly recalled their first meeting.
The child rummaging through a corpse’s pockets.
He admitted it. Leviathan had seen his own youth reflected in that sight.
“Damn it all!”
Boom! Unable to contain his impatience while searching the dark alley, Leviathan unleashed a burst of sword qi.
A group of knights rushed over at the sound of the crumbling wall.
“What is…… Your Grace?”
It was the Jebereuteu Knights wandering nearby.
His aide, Leon, hurried over.
“What are you doing here…….”
“Find the child.”
Leviathan spoke in a thoroughly subdued voice.
“I beg your pardon? A…… child?”
“A boy with silver hair and blue eyes.”
The knights looked bewildered.
After a moment’s thought, he added,
“His name is Rubian.”
He roughly wiped the rainwater streaming down his face. He should have at least asked the child his name directly.
“Find Rubian.”
“Y-yes sir.”
The knights scattered.
Leviathan, too, raised the reins without hesitation. Just as he was about to bring them down.
“……Mister?”
A thin voice pierced through the fierce sound of rain.
When he snapped his head around, he saw a familiar silhouette walking out from the alley right beside him.
“You…….”
Leviathan’s eyes opened wide.