Chapter 16

Chapter 16

I guess it’s a big deal that I saved Kallen. I peered down as I fiddled with my fingers.

Jade brushed the hair from my forehead. “There’s so much I wish to ask you. But first, why did you do such a foolish thing? If my father had been shot by a tranquilizer arrow, he would have been perfectly all right. And yet, you chose to take the arrow for him.”

“But even a tranquilizer arrow would have been deadly if it pierced the heart, right? What matters is that everyone’s alive.”

Jade blinked. “You really are interesting. Quite remarkable. You’re so small, yet you’re braver than anyone I know.”

A compliment. And considering it was from Jade, it was a significant one.

Embarrassed, I lowered my gaze. “I don’t believe I’m remarkable at all. I simply knew you would be sad if His Grace were injured, and I couldn’t stand the idea of that,” I sheepishly explained.

Jade smiled gently. “You’re sugarcoating your words, but it’s nice to hear such sweet things all the same,” he said.

I wanted to ask what he meant but hesitated. Both Kallen and Jade are out of the ordinary, so I shouldn’t strain myself trying to understand them.

“I’m sorry for doubting you, Lae. I should have listened to you from the start. Let’s agree that I’m in your debt, shall we?”

He’s sorry for doubting me? Oh, is he talking about when he got angry at the fortune-teller’s house? A shiver ran up my spine.

Come to think of it, how am I going to explain barging into the house? Thankfully, Jade isn’t questioning me about it yet, but I can’t exactly say, “I read about what would happen in a novel.”

“By the way—”

“Jade, I’m starving! And so terribly sleepy!” I interrupted, trying to distract him.

“All right. I’ll go ask them to prepare some food for you.”

In no time at all, a few nurses entered to help me wash my face and feed me some warm food.

“Father’s at home right now, but I’ll send someone to fetch him,” Jade said.

I jumped out of my seat. “No! It would be a terrible waste of time for him to come. It’s quite all right. There’s no need for me to see him.”

I might faint under His Grace’s interrogation right now. What’s more, I saw him commit murder! Who knows what he’ll do to silence me?

Jade cocked an eyebrow. “It’s all right?”

“Yes! I’m so happy that you’re looking after me, Jade. But His Grace is very busy, so I understand if he can’t come visit.”

Jade hummed contemplatively. “Do you think that my father never came to check on your well-being?”

“Um, he probably came once…”

Jade looked at me rather peculiarly.

“Or twice?” I asked, my eyes widening in confusion.

“Don’t be ridiculous. He came every day without fail. He’s only gone now to attend to some business.”

He came to visit me every day? That means he’s not angry, right? H-he won’t kill me, then! Maybe…

Jade’s expression grew even more inscrutable.

What’s wrong? What on Earth happened while I was asleep?

“Let’s talk more about the incident when Father arrives,” Jade said.

My heart dropped at his words.

Should I say that I lost my memories due to shock from the injury? In my past life, claiming to not recall had been a foolproof way of weaseling out of trouble, But I doubt it’ll work on Kallen. He’s the ruthless dark hero, after all. I need to think of something…

I looked around the empty room and sighed, relieved that Jade had left me alone to sleep. Then I squeezed my eyes shut and desperately racked my brain, which had gone foggy from all the medicine I was taking. I had to come up with an excuse before His Grace returned.

* * *

“What is this…?” Sion asked in disbelief.

Kallen followed his gaze with a scoff. “Unbelievable. Are the kingdom’s police paid to do nothing?”

“They said this happened while they had momentarily stepped away from the crime scene,” Sion explained. “It’s been a few days since the incident occurred.”

The two men stood at the entrance of the home of the fortune-teller, whom Kallen had captured and punished with his own hands. The crime scene had been covered with bright red morning glories.

“Morning glories lined with gold…” Kallen muttered, then wrinkled his brow. “Hold on.”

He slowly walked toward the floral grave. From the countless blossoms, a pale human hand jutted out.

“There’s a body,” he whispered to himself. Then, in a deep voice, said, “Sion, fetch the police.”

* * *

A few hours later, the police briefed Kallen on the incident.

“According to our investigation, the boy peddled flowers on the street.”

Kallen paused. “Was he related to the fortune-teller?”

“When we asked around, a few orphan children said he would often try to entice noblewomen into buying some kind of potion.”

“So he was the fortune-teller’s peddler.” Kallen gritted his teeth.

“I wonder who these flowers were intended for,” the policeman muttered to himself.

“What did you say?” Kallen asked.

“I mean, even if they were meant to hide the body, I don’t see what reason there would be to fill the entire room.”

Kallen froze. A thought suddenly occurred to him. “The children you spoke to about the boy… Do they live in the back alley?”

“Yes, Your Grace. They also said that the boy would hand out leftover flowers to them now and then. Why do you ask?”

Kallen felt his heart skip a beat. On Lae’s first day at the manor, she had mentioned that someone had given her these very flowers.

“When I woke up this morning, I saw someone had left me these flowers. It might have been one of my friends. When he has extra flowers, he would sometimes give them out. Oh! There’s an older boy who sells flowers, you see. Once in a while, he’ll give his leftover flowers away to us kids.”

If this boy is dead, then that means…

“Sion, let’s go.” Kallen quickly turned around and stepped into the carriage. “There’s no time to waste. We must check on Lae!”

* * *

The sound of hasty footsteps echoed down the hallway, and then the door flew open. Kallen entered with his long tailcoat flapping behind him, and Sion, looking somewhat perturbed, followed in his wake.

What’s the matter with them? Even though I was able to meet Kallen’s gaze, I couldn’t think of how to greet him.

I knew it, he must be furious. What do I do? Should I tell him that his secret is still safe? That I don’t know anything? I’m glad he’s all right, but…

“Lae.” Kallen, who had stopped right in front of me, leaned in to pull me into an embrace.

What’s this? The look on his face… Why does he look relieved? He kneeled before me to better look me in the eye.

“Daddy’s here,” he said.

His words rendered me speechless, and I found myself blinking in silence.

“I’m sorry I’m late. I had some urgent business to attend to. I’m glad to see you’re safe and sound.”

Both he and Sion, who was standing behind him, fixed me with an odd look.

Are they relieved that I woke up? I was afraid Kallen would chide me for what I did, but his reaction feels a lot… warmer than I expected.

“I was desperately worried,” he said.

Suddenly, my eyes felt hot, and the words I had prepared for this moment flew out of my mind. When I’d lived on the streets, I’d been forced to suffer alone, every illness or pang of hunger my own burden to bear. I’d had friends, of course, but in a dog-eat-dog world, we’d taken care of ourselves when we were sick.

It feels nice to have someone worry about me. I swallowed the strange sensation that rose in my throat. I was afraid I’d become addicted to it.

“You have questions for me, don’t you?” I asked Kallen, my voice wavering. “I went out at night without your permission, and—”

“That’s true. But first…” Kallen pulled out a flower from his chest pocket. It was the flower whose name was a mystery to me. A fresh, pleasant scent drifted towards my nose. “You’ve seen this flower before, haven’t you?”

“Yes, Your Grace.”

“Do you know nothing more about it?”

Why is he asking me this? I tilted my head.

“I really don’t. It’s a pretty flower, but that’s all I know. It’s the same kind I brought with me when I first arrived at the manor, right?”

A weak smile drifted across his face. “That’s all I needed to know. I’m sorry for asking.”

Huh? What’s going on?

“Lae, there are so many things I want to say to you. First, I want to thank you for saving me. But please, never do such a thing again,” he said as he stroked my hair.

My chest tightened. Ah, I see. Kallen is the kind of person who says thank you before the interrogation.

“I’m your guardian, and you’re my adopted daughter. It is a father’s duty to protect his children, and it is my responsibility as the head of the family to bear the brunt of anything that could decide our fate. So don’t ever sacrifice yourself for me, do you understand? In fact, don’t sacrifice yourself for anyone.”

“But…”

My voice trailed off. How could I not intervene, knowing he would get hurt?

“Promise me,” Kallen demanded.

“Yes, Your Grace.” I nodded quietly. It made sense that he was simply speaking out of concern, and the idea of that made me feel almost buoyant.