Chapter 49
…Suddenly?
I had never seen a spirit look that anxious before.
I didn’t realize until now—maybe I was relying on them far more than I thought.
“Why?”
I tensed up immediately.
Before I could even ask, the wind spirit vanished right before my eyes.
My instincts turned toward Khan.
My friend—the one who had saved me over and over again.
“……”
The boy, who had been on edge and scanning the area sharply, narrowed his eyes for a moment, then relaxed ever so slightly.
It had all happened in the span of seconds—right after the spirit’s warning.
“…Khan?”
I asked softly, afraid to disturb the silence.
The noise of the crowd still filled the air, but between Khan and me, the atmosphere felt oddly cut off from everything else.
Usually, Khan would’ve responded kindly, but this time, he took a while before answering.
He spoke while his eyes were fixed somewhere distant.
“…We should get out of here first.”
“Okay.”
Was someone dangerous following us?
I didn’t sense any killing intent pricking at my skin—it didn’t seem like anyone wanted to hurt me.
Then who?
“Why did the spirit tell me not to go to the orphanage?”
Was it because the road there was dangerous?
Why was it so terrified?
Khan didn’t say anything as he led me onward.
It didn’t feel like a cotton-candy-eating kind of mood anymore, but out of habit, I took another bite.
Chew, chew.
“I should finish it quickly.”
The streets were still as lively and noisy as ever.
It was the kind of chaos where a few missing people wouldn’t even be noticed during a festival.
I munched quietly, following Khan’s lead. He said he already knew the way to the orphanage.
I just trusted him completely.
“Koni? Koni, Koni!”
That’s when I heard a woman’s voice from behind us.
It sounded vaguely familiar, though I couldn’t place where I’d heard it before.
She wasn’t calling for me, so I just kept walking with Khan—
until the woman came right up behind me.
“Koni?”
Instinctively, I turned around. The woman was crying.
Her hands trembled, her hair was a little messy, and her eyes were red and swollen from crying so much.
Startled, I answered her politely.
“…Hello. My name’s Adel.”
“Hic… I’m sorry. You have pink hair, so I thought you were my Koni. You haven’t seen her, have you? She’s about your age… she usually wears her hair in two pigtails… my sweet little girl…”
“Uh… I don’t think so.”
I replied softly, flustered.
The woman kept crying.
Wiping her tears with a trembling hand, she began stopping random passersby to ask if they’d seen Koni.
Khan glanced at me.
“Tsk, tsk. They say she’s been looking for her daughter for days now. Raised her all alone, too.”
“Ugh, and it’s not just Koni—they say Rashum’s missing too. He was a troublemaker, but a cute kid.”
“Rashum didn’t just run away? I heard Weden’s gone missing too. They sent him to another city to buy supplies, but he hasn’t come back. He should’ve returned yesterday morning.”
“Kids keep disappearing, huh.”
The people at a nearby stall were chatting as they ate.
Listening to them, a cold feeling crept up my spine.
“Children are disappearing?”
Missing?
Kidnapped?
It was an age of war—children made the easiest targets.
“Khan.”
“Yes, Adel.”
He seemed to sense something was off too.
He was the crown prince, after all—smarter and sharper than I’d ever be.
“No way…”
Could the people Khan had been wary of earlier be connected to child kidnappings?
No—there was something more urgent right now.
“Khan, can we get to Panaso faster?”
“Sure.”
The cotton candy was gone. I hadn’t even noticed dropping the stick.
When I came back to my senses, I was running as fast as I could alongside Khan.
At least children with parents had someone who’d look for them…
“What about my friends?”
The headmistress at the orphanage used to say, whenever a child went missing,
‘One less mouth to feed.’
I didn’t hate her—but that’s the kind of person she was.
By the time we reached the Panaso Orphanage, I was panting hard, breath burning up to my throat.
I let go of Khan’s hand and stepped inside.
The gate was rusty, and the fence that was supposed to protect the children was so low even a rabbit could hop over it.
“It’s been a while.”
I saw familiar faces.
A shabby two-story building, children clutching dustpans and brooms, a little six-year-old girl stomping on laundry to wash it.
Others played with crude stone toys in a corner.
They were all skinny, dirty, wearing patched, faded clothes—
exactly like I had been not so long ago.
“……”
Khan stayed silent.
He stood by me, but his expression was strangely cold.
Maybe because he was here to protect me—or maybe Khan’s gentleness was something he only showed me.
To the children staring at us, he looked like someone from another world entirely.
“Adel’s here!”
The kids looked at me from a distance, too timid to come closer.
“She became a noble.”
“She’s a lady now?”
“Do we have to call her ‘Lady Adel’?”
They whispered to each other, every word reaching my ears.
The air felt awkward. I glanced around but couldn’t find Madeline.
So I grabbed Saya as she passed by.
“Hey, Saya.”
She looked startled that I’d spoken to her.
“Can you tell Jenny I said thank you? I heard she wrote a letter for me on Madeline’s behalf.”
“Y-yeah! Of course!”
Saya was one of the kids I’d saved a few times when older boys bullied her in the alley.
“But um, have you seen Madeline?”
“Madeline…? Hmm. She went to fetch water from the stream today, but it’s about time she was back. Hold on. Hey, anyone seen Madeline?”
The other kids shook their heads from a distance.
Right. To them, nobles were scary.
I’d forgotten that. I thought I’d been friendly enough back when I lived here,
but maybe that was just what I wanted to believe.
I’d left all the guards behind so I wouldn’t make them uncomfortable—
I thought having just Khan with me would be fine since he was still a kid too.
“Oh dear, my lady! What brings you all the way here!”
The headmistress burst through the front gate, running toward me as soon as she saw me.
It was proper etiquette for her to speak formally, of course—but hearing her call me “my lady” felt painfully awkward.
I could feel the children’s eyes on me shift immediately.
Even Saya, who had just spoken to me casually, now looked nervous.
“You should have sent word ahead, my lady, haha.”
She bowed deeply, hands clasped together.
The way she kept glancing at Khan made me nervous—if she figured out who he was, things could get complicated.
I shook my head quickly and stepped back.
“I just came for a bit…”
I’d gotten used to speaking casually to knights and servants.
I’d been taught that was part of self-respect.
So by that rule, I should have spoken casually to the headmistress, too.
But with all the children watching, I just couldn’t.
I bit my lip, unsure what to say next—until Khan, sensing my discomfort, gently took my hand and led me outside.
“Adel, your face looks tense.”
“…It feels weird.”
My voice came out small and tired.
Khan spoke again.
“Tell me what your friend looks like.”
“She has reddish-orange hair and brown eyes. She’s really cute and soft—her cheeks feel like mochi when you poke them.”
“That’s… not quite the kind of detail I needed, but okay.”
Khan grimaced slightly at my overly affectionate description, but nodded anyway.
“Don’t be alarmed, but… I think these disappearances are connected to them.”
“What do you mean?”
“It’s not unusual. Their goal is the world’s destruction. That kind of ambition costs an enormous amount of money—and they’ve spread small, linked cells throughout the continent to fund it. Some of those groups have reached the capital.”
“……”
“In any era, children are the most profitable commodity. The child abductions are probably one of those cells. We shouldn’t get involved.”
I blinked, not fully understanding.
“What are you saying? Are you saying Madeline’s been taken?”
“No matter what happens, I’ll make sure she’s rescued.”
His vague answer made my stomach drop.
That did mean she might have been kidnapped—just for going to fetch water at the stream.
“No! We have to save her. Right now. What if she’s crying?”
“She might still be safe.”
“Did you see Koni’s mother’s face earlier? She looked heartbroken. What about all the other kids? If I ask the spirit, maybe it can tell us where they are! Khan, please—teach me the incantation to summon the wind spirit!”
“It’s too dangerous.”
Khan shook his head firmly.
But I wasn’t backing down.
“Those people earlier—they were part of them, weren’t they? They must still be nearby. If I ask the wind spirit, it’ll tell us everything.”
“I can’t let you risk it. Even if those children are on the verge of death—your life is worth more than thousands of others.”
“…That’s awful, Khan. You’re a crown prince—you shouldn’t say that.”
“It’s the truth.”
The kindness that always radiated from him felt like a wall now—solid, unyielding.
I realized that acting like a stubborn child wouldn’t change his mind.
If I wanted to save Madeline, I had to convince him logically, not emotionally.
“Only royalty can be protected by the divine beast’s barrier…”
So I understood why he was being overprotective.
There were no guards, no escorts—just the two of us.
Still, I forced my brain to work.
“Khan, you said I’m the Child of Prophecy, right? That I can save the world? That there’s nowhere in the Empire I can’t go? That you believe in me?”
“……”
“…Was that all a lie?”
My voice dropped to a whisper, laced with trembling hurt.
I’d never once thought of his hidden identity as a lie, but I needed to push him now.
And I knew my words would hurt him.
But I was desperate.
I looked up at him like a wounded child, taking a small step back.
Khan probably saw right through me—he always did.
He was smarter and stronger than I was.
“……”
He looked at me with unreadable eyes.
Madeline knew this side of me well—how once in a while, I’d dig in my heels and refuse to bend, no matter what.
Even though I usually acted gentle and compliant, when I made up my mind, I never gave up.
Khan stayed silent, as if seeing a side of me he hadn’t before.
“Will he say no?”
Because Khan could be just as stubborn as I was.
