~Chapter 29~
“What’s going on?”
Christan approached as soon as he noticed the child. The closer he got, the more nervous the boy became.
After seeing the boy’s face, Christan muttered,
“I’ve seen this face before.”
Suddenly, a theory hit Amelie like a slap to the back of the head.
‘Wait… don’t tell me he’s related to Baroness Britney?’
The child’s brown hair and green eyes gave her a bad feeling.
‘No, that can’t be. The Baroness is the same age as His Grace—she’s way too young to have a kid this age.’
As Amelie tried to calm her nerves, Christan leaned down and whispered,
“That knight who shot at you—didn’t he say he had a younger brother?”
“Oh, right!”
The pieces finally came together. Leon had brown hair, and he even had a similar mole near his mouth.
‘I knew my suspicion was too far-fetched.’
The boy still looked nervous as he shifted his gaze between them. Amelie gently asked,
“What’s your name?”
“M-my name…? I’m not supposed to say…”
“Hmm? Who told you that?”
“T-that’s a secret too…”
Definitely suspicious. Amelie gave a bright smile and changed the subject.
“That’s okay. You said your parents were taken by monsters, right? Can you show us where? I’ll help you.”
“Yes! Please follow me!”
The boy smiled awkwardly and began walking ahead. Amelie leaned toward Christan and spoke quietly so the boy wouldn’t hear.
“He knew I was a woman even without seeing my face.”
“Like someone told him exactly where to find me.”
Christan’s expression turned sharp.
“A little kid like that wouldn’t come up with this on his own.”
“Right. And he’s so scared, I think someone’s using his parents as hostages.”
Even if the boy was Leon’s brother, if someone had forced him into this, Amelie couldn’t just ignore it.
‘If someone’s using kids like this, who knows how far they’ll go? We need to stop it now.’
She glanced at Christan walking beside her.
‘But what if he’s only in this mess because of me…?’
Sure, a few assassins were no big deal for someone like Christan, but if Amelie hadn’t followed the kid, they would’ve been comfortably headed back to the castle by now.
Just then, their hands bumped.
“You protect the boy. I’ll handle the enemies.”
Christan nodded toward the child.
“…Okay.”
That was all Amelie needed to hear. She had been worrying for no reason—he never intended to let it go either.
“Got it! Leave it to me!”
She nodded confidently, and Christan’s serious face finally softened. Just as he was about to say something—
“So, first we should—”
“…?”
A cold, unsettling feeling made Amelie look around. Christan’s face also turned serious.
He whispered so only she could hear:
“I can sense assassins in the direction we’re heading.”
“Assassins?!”
So that’s who had sent the kid?
“One of them is at Master level. The others are probably three or four skilled underlings.”
They were likely disguised as regular people in the crowd.
Even if they could hide their appearance, they couldn’t hide their energy from another Sword Master. Christan could sense their intent clearly.
“Hey, kid.”
“Y-yes?”
The boy turned around nervously.
‘If they’re targeting someone like me, they’d either send multiple Sword Masters or a sneaky team of assassins.’
Christan waved the boy over.
“Don’t just stand there—come closer and lead the way.”
“O-okay…”
Just as the boy started moving again—
“Limited-time sale for the next 20 minutes! Everything is 90% off!”
“Ninety percent?!”
The crowd exploded with excitement.
In moments, people poured in from everywhere, shoving toward the store. Christan and Amelie were caught in the wave.
“W-wait! Don’t push!”
Amelie winced. She was more likely to be crushed by the crowd than stabbed by an assassin. And the boy—he was gone from view.
‘I could escape on my broom, but if people see me helping a witch, they might turn on Christan…’
Tears stung her eyes from the absurdity of the situation.
Then—
“Your Grace…?”
She looked up. Her arm, which had been flailing in the chaos, was no longer being swept around.
Christan had grabbed her hand tightly.
He didn’t hesitate when he saw the tears in her eyes. The reason didn’t matter.
‘I came here to protect her.’
With strong but gentle pressure, Christan pulled her through the crowd and said,
“Walk diagonally. Use your legs for balance. The boy was swept that way—let’s follow.”
“Okay…”
The crowd would’ve swallowed up the assassins too. If they reached the boy first, they could prepare to fight.
Suddenly, Amelie saw a small brown head.
“There! I see him!”
Christan saw him too. The small child was being tossed around like a rag doll by the crowd.
‘He’s going to get hurt at this rate.’
Christan lunged forward and grabbed the boy by the back of his collar.
“Ahhh!”
The kid screamed. But in this chaos, no one would notice. Christan didn’t bother hiding it.
“Tell me. Who sent you?”
“H-hiiik!”
The boy flinched in fear. Amelie sighed and stepped in.
“I’ll ask. Kid, we know someone told you to lure us.”
“W-what?”
His reaction said it all.
Amelie smiled gently to calm him.
“We’re not bad people. If someone threatened you, we can help. Just trust us.”
The boy stared at her, speechless. Her red eyes, which should’ve seemed cursed, looked powerful and reliable.
“…Okay.”
He nodded. She had convinced him.
‘Now that I think about it… this is the first time I’ve really talked to a kid like this.’
Usually, when witches appeared in town, parents would hide their children. Amelie had never gotten close to any before.
So gaining this little boy’s trust made her heart flutter a little.
Still smiling, she asked,
“Now… can you tell me your name?”
“My name is Gio.”
By now, they had almost reached a narrow alley where they could escape the crowd.
“L-let’s go this way!”
Gio led the way—but suddenly—
“No!”
“W-whoa!”
Christan pushed Gio hard toward Amelie. She caught him just in time to keep him from falling.
“Your Grace?!”
Amelie looked up in shock.
Before she could even understand what was happening—
CRASH!
Someone had attacked. Christan had blocked a sword strike with his sheathed blade, cracking the wood.
Amelie shouted instinctively:
“It’s an assassin!”
