A Savior from the Fairytale
Suddenly scooped into his arms, Lefonya blinked in sheer bewilderment.
Hugging had become familiar enough after being held so often by Duke Craitan or Felens, but being embraced by Rudeum was entirely new—and undeniably awkward.
Feeling the rigidity in her small frame, Rudeum asked worriedly, "Are you very cold?"
"Mhm."
When Lefonya nodded, Rudeum gently patted her back. His slightly clumsy, unpracticed touch somehow dissolved the tension that had locked up her entire body. She was no longer trapped in the terror of the orphanage's underground solitary cell; she was enveloped in Rudeum's gentle warmth. In that moment, nothing else in the world mattered.
Letting the strength drain from her limbs, Lefonya buried her face against his shoulder. It's so warm. I never imagined I'd feel warm in a place like this.
"Did you... really hear everything?" she mumbled.
"Yeah."
"...How?"
Rudeum offered a faint smile and lifted a necklace from beneath his shirt. Resting against his chest was an identical gemstone to hers.
"When two people share these, speaking the activation command allows you to hear the other person's voice and pinpoint their location."
The explanation sounded familiar. Oh. The boutique.
She remembered seeing it in that luxury general store in the capital. It was the very trinket the shopkeeper had said engaged couples often bought.
"One of the spirits at my command is a Dark Spirit," Rudeum continued softly. "It can move through space using coordinates as long as there is darkness. Summoning it takes a heavy toll, so I rarely bring it out, but the moment I heard your voice and located you, I came straight here."
Whoa. Something like that existed? Lefonya stared up at him in wide-eyed wonder before parting her lips. "You should have told me beforehand. If I didn't know the command word and couldn't call you—"
"That was never going to happen," Rudeum cut in firmly.
"Huh?"
"The command word is my name. And you've always called my name quite well."
Come to think of it, when he first handed her the gem, he had specifically told her to call his name. So Lefonya had always clutched the stone and murmured his name, calling for him over and over without ever realizing it was an activation trigger.
"Then why didn't you come before?"
Rudeum cradled her close, rubbing her back to keep her warm as a soft laugh escaped him. "How could I visit when you called from inside the estate?"
"You used to come just fine! You even rode your flying wolf right onto my bedroom terrace twice!"
"Evading three Aura Masters is difficult even for me. Up to two, I can manage somehow, but three..."
"...Ah."
Lefonya realized what he meant. Following the succession celebration banquet, Habelian had taken up residence at the townhouse. With Duke Craitan, Felens, and Habelian all under one roof, the estate had become an impenetrable fortress guarded by three living Aura Masters.
"Did you wait long for me?" Rudeum loosened his embrace just enough to look down into her face.
Did I wait?
Lefonya's brow furrowed. She had thought there were things she wanted to ask him, but... "...I don't know."
She wasn't sure if that counted as waiting. Lefonya hated waiting. In all her life, waiting had never once brought her the outcome she longed for—not when she waited for her parents at the orphanage, nor when she waited for someone to rescue her from the poorhouse.
"I see. That's good enough," Rudeum said with a quiet chuckle, gently brushing aside the tangled strands of hair from her forehead.
"Good enough?"
"Yeah. You didn't say no. For now, that's more than enough." Rudeum dusted off his clothes and rose to his feet. "Let's go."
"...Where?"
"Wherever you like. Isn't that why you called me?"
Standing before her, Rudeum looked remarkably like the fairytale savior the five-year-old Lefonya had once dreamed of. Back when she had truly been five years old, locked away in this pitch-black cell, she used to imagine a wonderful savior appearing out of thin air like magic, holding out a hand to say, Let's go together! Only by clinging to such fantasies had she managed to survive that waking nightmare.
"Ponya, wherever you want to go. Anywhere that isn't here."
"Yeah." Lefonya nodded, still sitting on the damp floor as she gazed up at him. "Are you going to take me away?"
"That's the whole reason I came."
Trusting people always led to betrayal. Because she let her guard down and failed to suspect Habelian, she had been cast away here. Because she thought the Pope's outstretched hand was salvation, she had followed him straight into hell. It was because she trusted, because she failed to doubt, that history had repeated itself and brought her back to this wretched orphanage.
Lefonya reached out and caught Rudeum's sleeve. With a gentle smile, Rudeum lifted her to her feet.
"Rudeum."
"Yes?"
"Do you know what's happening back at House Craitan? If you do, please tell me." Instead of naming a place she wanted to go, she held tightly to his cuff and looked into his eyes.
Rudeum studied her intently before answering. "What's happening? Of course I know."
"Then—"
"After the noble council adjourned, I received an invitation from the Duke to visit the Craitan estate. He asked for my help, saying you had seemed dispirited lately. I wanted to see you anyway, so I went."
"What?"
"And when I arrived, the entire mansion had been turned upside down because you were missing." Rudeum's expression turned frigid, bordering on lethal. "It was the eldest son, wasn't it?"
"Huh?"
"The eldest son of House Craitan. That bastard did this."
Lefonya clamped her mouth shut, her body stiffening. However much Rudeum might already know, she couldn't carelessly discuss the internal affairs of the ducal family. Sensing her hesitation, Rudeum let out a quiet sigh and reached out to fasten the buttons of the coat he had draped over her shoulders.
"To be blunt, it's a disaster... no, an absolute catastrophe."
"What do you mean?"
"Duke Craitan is completely, utterly enraged. I've never seen him that furious in my life."
"He's... angry?" Lefonya's face drained of color.
If the entire estate had been thrown into chaos over her disappearance, did the Duke believe she had simply run away without a word? What if Habelian and the retainers fabricated a story and gave false testimony? If that was why the mansion was in an uproar... Then I can never go back to House Craitan.
If she had known this would be the end, she would have said a proper goodbye to Felens. She would have told him to make sure he graduated from the Imperial Academy properly this year.
"Ponya. Why are you so terrified?" Rudeum cradled her bloodless cheeks with both hands, gently tilting her bowed head upward. "Are you cold?"
She shook her head side to side.
Rudeum pressed his palms lightly against her squished cheeks and let out a faint laugh. She was practically in despair, yet he seemed amused.
"The eldest and second sons had a serious fight."
"What?!"
"Well, calling it a fight might be generous... The eldest son got beaten to an absolute pulp."
Lefonya's eyes widened in disbelief. Habelian was an instructor who trained cadets at the Military Academy. He had awakened his aura far earlier than Felens, and back in the greenhouse, he had effortlessly smothered Felens's surging aura with his own. For someone like Habelian to take a one-sided beating from Felens was impossible to fathom.
"From what I could see, he took every blow on purpose without even trying to defend himself."
"Why would he do that?"
"Because he knows the weight of what he did. Personally, I think he deserved to be beaten far more." The frost in Rudeum's voice as he said those words was terrifyingly sharp.
"Did... the Duke and Felens oppa find out the whole truth?"
"You mean about how the eldest son colluded with the retainers to abandon you at an orphanage?"
"Gasp!"
Even Rudeum knew the exact details. Lefonya slapped both hands over her mouth in sheer shock.
"The eldest son confessed everything to the Duke and the second son, begging them to help find you. And, naturally, he pleaded for my help as well."
"He asked for help? Habelian did?"
"Yes. He said he went after you to bring you back."
Lefonya's pupils trembled. "Who went after who?"
"The first young master. He went to find you, Ponya."
"...Really?"
"Yes. Apparently, the moment you departed, he realized how terribly wrong it was and immediately pursued your carriage. But he lost the trail in the heavy rain."
Rudeum's face showed no hint of deceit.
"That makes no sense. The one who threw me away here was the teach—no, that man!"
"I know. There's a limit to how foolish someone can be," Rudeum murmured darkly, his voice laced with venomous chill. "Hah. He'll pay for it in kind eventually."
Habelian came after me?
Lefonya still couldn't fully trust Rudeum's words. It was possible he was only telling her comforting lies to soothe her distress. Above all else, the idea that Habelian had chased after her was simply too difficult to believe.
"So he went to the orphanage you were originally supposed to be sent to," Rudeum continued, "only to find you weren't there. They said you had never arrived, and the man who drove your carriage was found dead."
"Dead? What did you say? He's dead?!"
"Yes. His body was discovered near the area where the first young master lost the trail. They claimed the carriage slipped in the mud and crashed. There were no obvious signs of foul play."
"..."
"Though anyone with half a brain knows it was staged to look like an accident."
It was the very man who had dragged Lefonya to this abusive orphanage and handed her over with a pouch of hush money. They cut the loose end.
That driver had been the only person who knew her exact whereabouts. By silencing him forever, the secret of where Lefonya had been dumped would vanish with him. It was a cold, deliberate murder to ensure absolute secrecy.
"Then... does everyone think I was ambushed on the way to the orphanage and disappeared?"
"Yes. I was ready to turn the entire Empire upside down, believing you had been attacked." Rudeum let out a slow, relieved breath. "If I had been even a little later, I truly would have."
"Then..." Lefonya hesitated, the burning question trembling on her lips. "Earlier, you said Duke Craitan was angry enough to cause a catastrophe. That means... he isn't angry at me, right?"
"What?" Rudeum tilted his head, looking genuinely baffled. "Why would Duke Craitan ever be angry at you?"
"I thought... I thought he was furious because I left the townhouse without saying a word."
Hearing her timid murmur, Rudeum let out a wry chuckle as if he had just heard the most ridiculous joke. "Not a chance in the world. He would never do something that stupid."
He spoke with an absolute certainty that Lefonya herself couldn't muster, leaving her with an indescribably strange flutter in her chest.
"...I see."
If Rudeum was telling the truth, and Duke Craitan, Habelian, and Felens were all desperately searching for her...
"Rudeum." Lefonya reached out and took his hand.
Her fingers wrapped around a palm surprisingly rough for a boy his age. Startled by the sudden touch, Rudeum looked down at her. "What is it?"
"I'm not leaving right now." Lefonya tugged firmly on his hand.
"...You're staying here?"
"How much longer I have to stay here depends entirely on you." Fearing someone might overhear, Lefonya lowered her voice to an urgent whisper. "Bring the people of House Craitan here."
She squeezed Rudeum's hand with all the strength in her small fingers.