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Jaxson Emmett was scheduled to return to the Royal Capital the same day Hanna would.

Amber, his wife, arrived yesterday but she was summoned by her family. Unfortunately, he couldn’t fetch Hanna from the port town where the Quinzel Ship was moored to the pier. The ship was owned by his family, so it came with a private squad to keep his daughter safe.

Still, he wanted Hanna to be escorted by someone he trusted.

Thus, he asked the vice-captain to escort Hanna to the Royal Capital.

He was actually on his way to the Royal Capital to fetch Hanna. They were supposed to meet at the capital’s entrance when he received the news about his daughter’s sudden disappearance.

Jaxson Emmett said in a worried and apologetic voice.

.....

“Are there signs of an attack?”

Then that must mean his daughter left on her own accord.

[When we were at Gonora, Hanna would often sneak out at night to stroll the town. I hope this is the same case.]

“Continue your search for Hanna in that area,” he said. “I just arrived at the capital. I will look for Hanna here.”

As soon as he finished the call, he noticed that his young companion, who was sitting on the sofa in the carriage across from him, moved to cover his head with his robe’s hood.

He smiled at the boy. “Are you going to look for Hanna, Lewis?”

Yes, he was with Lewis.

Princess Neoma was supposed to accompany him today to surprise Hanna. But the princess had to leave for the Spirit World in order to tend to Prince Nero who just woke up. Thus, Her Royal Highness sent Lewis in her stead.

“Yes, Your Grace. I will look for Lady Hanna,” Lewis said in his usual monotonous voice. “I have a feeling she just sneaked out because she’s bored. After all, going to the Royal Capital using her Shadow Manipulation Technique is faster than riding a carriage.”

He smiled, amused. “How did you know that?”

“Letters,” the boy said. “Lady Hanna would tell me stories about her life at Gonora through letters.”

Oh, right.

Aside from Princess Neoma, his daughter would also send letters to Lewis. Which reminded him...

“Hanna often complained about how you almost never replied to her letters, though.”

The fox boy scrunched his nose. “It’s because the few times I wrote to Lady Hanna, she just sent my letters back with some correction.”

“Correction?”

Lewis let out a sigh. “Lady Hanna corrected my grammar.”

Hanna... corrected Lewis’s grammar?

[Aww... that’s adorable.]

It was so adorable that he couldn’t help but chuckle.

“I’m not laughing at you, Lewis,” he said gently, just in case the boy was offended. “I just find it cute.”

“I’m not offended, if that’s what Your Grace is worried about.”

Rufus smiled warmly at the boy. “Please help me find my daughter.”

Lewis nodded firmly. “I will, Your Grace.”

***

[AH, it’s now a restaurant.]

Hanna was now leisurely strolling the plaza in the Royal Capital after she discreetly left the carriage earlier.

She blended into the crowd by using her Shadow Manipulation Technique to make a black hooded robe for her. So, yes, the robe she was wearing today was made of shadows. Thus, it also served as her protection.

Even if she was ambushed, her robe would deflect any attack directed at her.

[I’ll be fine on my own, so I hope Father wouldn’t scold Sir Emmett and the other knights too much. But I will apologize to them later.]

For now, she just wanted to stroll the plaza on her own.

And her first stop was the place where she almost died a few years ago.

[Should I get lunch here?]

Her dark humor found it funny to have a meal in the place where she almost died. It was now a new establishment, but it was still the same place.

But to be honest, she wasn’t completely okay.

The memories that she had of that place weren’t pleasant. Aside from the fear of dying alone, she was so scared back then to leave her parents broken-hearted. After all, she was an only daughter.

Still, she decided to come there and face her fears.

[I’m not completely okay yet. This is probably what trauma is. But I’m glad I got the courage to face it.]

Her training for the past few years also strengthened her mentality.

She was about to enter the restaurant when something caught her attention from her peripheral vision.

[What a tall boy.]

Well, the average height of males in the empire was slightly higher than the rest of the continent. Still, the boy’s height was taller for his age. The amazing thing was the fact that he could blend into the crowd without standing out too much by moving faster.

Moreover, his face was also obscured by his hooded robe.

But she was able to tell who he was based on his aura. After all, he was the last of his clan. Thus, she couldn’t mistake it for anyone else.

If she was still the same girl from a few years back, she probably wouldn’t notice him.

But thanks to her rigorous training, she honed her senses. Now she could pick up the presence of outstanding individuals from the crowd while hiding hers.

[Let’s follow him.]

She smiled when she realized that he hadn’t noticed her presence yet, although she had been following him for a few minutes now.

She felt proud of herself for concealing her presence from a person of his caliber.

[My training paid off.]

She happily followed him when he took a turn in a dark alley.

Of course, at that moment, she already realized that he had already noticed her following him.

But she was still surprised when he came at her all of a sudden.

The next thing she knew, she was already pushed to the wall while a dagger was pressed against her neck threateningly.

Hanna couldn’t help but laugh. “Hey, it’s me. It’s been a long time, huh?” she said, while slowly removing the hood of her robe. At that point, he already recognized her voice, so he didn’t move when she took off her hood. “How are you, Lewis?”

Lewis, who looked shocked at first, smiled a rare smile at her. “Welcome home, Lady Hanna.”

She smiled, happy that she heard those words from Lewis. “Thank you, Lewis.”

He turned poker-faced again as he removed the hood of his robe.

Oh.

[Ohh.]

She was a little shocked to see Lewis’s face clearly.

Of course, she had always known that the fox boy was handsome. But the sixteen-year-old Lewis standing in front of her now was simply immaculate. His silver hair was shiny, and his golden eyes were full of life despite his poker face.

Her neck also hurt from looking up at him because he was so tall.

[He’s tall... and lean.]

Lewis wore casual clothes under his robe. But she could tell that he had a good built. She supposed it was natural because, although he was young, he was still a knight.

“Sorry,” Lewis said, while looking at her neck. “Did it hurt?”

“No, I’m fine. You don’t have to apologize since I was the one who sneaked behind you,” she said, then she changed the topic. “Your growth spurt was amazing, Lewis- you’re so tall now.”

Lewis tilted his head to one side while running his fingers through his hair. It seemed like he was fixing his hair that got messed up when he removed his hood earlier. “And you’re still tiny, Lady Hanna.”

“I’m not tiny,” she said, slightly offended. Her growth spurt was amazing too, after all. “My height is above average for my age.”

He put a hand over her head, but his palm didn’t touch her hair. “Tiny.”

She just laughed softly while shaking her head. “Fine, I’m tiny. I like being tiny anyway because...”

Because being small and petite was more feminine.

.....

But she couldn’t say it because after spending time with Neoma in the past, she learned that people and things shouldn’t be labelled as ‘feminine’ or ‘masculine.’ Everyone was free to do whatever they wanted to do regardless the social norms as long as it didn’t hurt anyone.

Still, her upbringing as a high-ranking noblewoman was still etched in her heart.

“Lady Hanna?”

She smiled and shook her head. “It’s nothing.”

“Then shall we go?” he asked. “You should have sent your father a message after you ran away from your guards. Everyone is worried about you.”

“Ah, it slipped out of my mind since I was having fun.”

Like she told herself earlier, she would just apologize to her father and the others later.

“You’ve become quite rebellious.”

“Have I?” she asked while laughing softly. “While I was at Gonora, I felt stuffy from time to time. Then I remembered how Miss Ramsay would often sneak out before, so I said, ‘why not do the same?\'”

‘Miss Ramsay’ would be Neoma, of course.

It wasn’t safe to mention the princess’s name outside, so she and Lewis decided to call her by her “code name” when they were in a crowd.

“Miss Ramsay is such a bad influence on you,” Lewis said, his face softening up as they talked about the princess he treasured dearly. “But you’re not a bad kid, Lady Hanna. When you were still here, you were too hard on yourself. It was like you had a textbook you needed to follow.”

She kind of flinched after hearing that because it was true.

“So it’s nice to see you living a little more freely now.”

Aww... she was touched.

She smiled at Lewis. “You’ve become quite talkative, Lewis. Why didn’t you respond to my letters more often?”

He avoided her gaze.

“What is it?” she urged him, curious as to why he couldn’t look at her in the eye. “Hey, Lewis.”

“They’re two different matters,” he said while scratching his cheek. “Talking to you and writing letters.”

She knitted her eyebrows. “How?”

“You can’t correct my grammar when I talk.”

She blinked in surprise, then she laughed softly when she finally understood what Lewis meant. “Were you offended when I sent back your letters before where I corrected your grammar?”

“I wasn’t offended,” he said, still avoiding her gaze. “I was just... embarrassed.”

“It wasn’t embarrassing,” she said seriously. “And I didn’t correct your grammar to make fun of you. I did it-”

“You did it because you wanted to help me get better in my studies,” he said, cutting her off gently. Then he turned to her with a warm look in his golden eyes. “I know you were only looking out for me, Lady Hanna. You know that my goal is to be someone who can stand proudly beside Miss Ramsay- and you’re just helping me become that kind of person.”

She smiled, relieved that Lewis understood her intentions. “I am and will always be rooting for you, Lewis.”

“I am and will always be rooting for you too, Lady Hanna,” he said sincerely. “That’s why I’m glad that I get the chance to break the good news to you.”

She beamed. “What’s the good news?”

He gave her a half-smile, then he leaned down to whisper in her ear. “Prince Nero is already awake.”

Hanna smiled and clasped her hands together, her heart beating hard and loud against her chest from excitement. “Let’s go and see him now.”

“No,” Lewis said sternly. “Go to your father first, Lady Hanna.”

How strict!

***

NIKOLAI was excited to see Nero again after a long time.

He was anxiously waiting in his room since William decided to teleport with his children in there. After all, his chamber was the safest place in the Royal Palace.

“Calm down, Master.”

He turned to South, the flaming Vermillion Bird in his human form, who was sitting on the sofa while hugging the red dragon egg. Since South’s attribute was fire, he wasn’t affected by the egg’s burning heat.

“I know you’re excited to see Prince Nero again, but calm down,” South said playfully. “I can’t wait to see Delwyn again, but look at me. I’m calm.”

He was wondering why South volunteered to look after the dragon egg.

[I should have known it was because he wanted to see the Ice Spirit and not because he has the same attribute as the dragon...]

“I’m calm,” Nikolai said, then he glared at his Soul Beast. “And stop seducing Delwyn in front of my daughter. You’re giving Neoma ideas about romance and other things she shouldn’t be thinking at her age yet.”

“Master, it’s not my fault that Princess Neoma is infatuated with-”

“Shut up.”

South really did shut up, but it wasn’t only because of his threat.

The air in his room changed, but the protective barrier didn’t activate. It meant that the individual trying to enter his chamber wasn’t a threat.

In just a few seconds, William and Neoma already materialized in front of him.

He was about to ask where Nero was when he realized William was carrying his son in his arms.

That was when his heart sunk.

[Nero...]

His son was skin and bones.

[I heard the Spirit World supplied nutrients to keep Nero’s physical body alive. But obviously, those nutrients weren’t enough to keep him healthy.]

“I’m fine, Father,” Nero said bluntly while looking at him with the usual fierceness in his eyes. “I look like this for now, but I can easily regain my strength if I consume some health potions.”

“No, you won’t do that,” William said firmly. “Consuming health potions won’t be enough, Nero. You have to regain your health in the natural way. Start by eating healthy food in small amounts. You’ll also be needing physical therapy. Health potions will only serve as supplements, not your main source of energy.” The Grand Spirit turned to Neoma with judging eyes. “You should listen to me if you don’t want to end up like a certain idiot who fainted after consuming energy potions.”

Neoma just rolled her eyes at William, but she couldn’t refute him.

“We’ll do as William said,” Nikolai said, then he opened his arms. “Hand my son over, William.”

Nero looked taken aback. “Excuse me?”

He didn’t wait for William to move.

Nikolai walked towards the Grand Spirit, then he gently snatched Nero from William. His son looked shocked when he found himself in his arms. It must have been awkward for Nero.

It was also awkward for him to carry his son in his arms when he was already grown.

But he still savored the moment.

“Congratulations on your recovery, Nero,” Nikolai said gently, then he hugged his son tight. “Welcome home.”

Nero’s whole face turned red from embarrassment.

“This calls for a family hug!” Neoma declared, then she hugged him by the waist while gently patting Nero’s head. “Welcome home, dongsaeng.”

***

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