“Ah, it’s okay. It doesn’t hurt. Oh no! Grandpa, there’s blood on your clothes…!”
Goodness. My tight grip had turned his white shirt into a bloodstained mess.
Startled, I frantically brushed at the stains, but Grandpa swiftly grabbed my hand.
“Please, child.”
“Lord Blaine. We should treat that wound in the carriage.”
At the coachman’s words, Grandpa nodded solemnly.
His Adam’s apple bobbed as if he were swallowing something bitter.
He’s not… about to cry, is he?
“……I’ll handle things here. But—”
His dark eyes shifted to Arjen, who stood motionless like a porcelain doll.
“Your Highness… Why are you here?”
“Hmm.”
Arjen scratched his cheek with a sunny smile.
“I snuck out without my servants and got lost. Would you mind giving me a ride home?”
‘Huh?’
As the coachman pressed a handkerchief to my bleeding hand, I tilted my head.
‘The imperial palace is right there. How does the prince not know the way?’
Even a country bumpkin like me from the south could navigate after checking the map a few times.
‘Wait… Is he playing clueless again?’
Grandpa sighed softly and nodded.
“……Very well. Please board the carriage.”
“Thank you, Lord Blaine!”
The cheerful prince immediately glued himself to my side as I climbed into the carriage with the coachman’s help.
“Thanks for earlier.”
“Don’t mention it. But your hand… Does it hurt?”
“Oww…”
I glanced at Arjen, who mumbled, “Even paper cuts make me tear up.”
Our eyes suddenly met.
The prince’s smile remained, but his lips moved in a whisper:
‘I’ve been looking everywhere for you.’
The commotion dissolved quickly.
After Count Florin’s group left to deliver their purchases, Blaine watched the carriage and murmured:
“Kayen.”
A shadowy figure materialized.
“Yes. My apologies.”
“Explain.”
His voice held none of its earlier warmth.
Kayen—former mercenary subordinate, now head of toy store accounting—scratched his neck.
“Ririn fell too suddenly to stop. I was about to act when His Highness appeared. The timing… was awkward.”
A honking noise interrupted him.
Flustered, Kayen pulled a clown nose from his face with a pop and bowed.
“I failed to protect her as ordered. Forgive me.”
Blaine’s silence felt heavier than any rebuke.
Kayen gulped. He knew this calm preceded storms.
The old man’s chest heaved—a volcano smothering its eruption.
‘One minute before the Mad Dog’s seal breaks…’
Memories surfaced of the man who’d once conquered every mercenary band and cleansed northern monster dens. A commoner achieving what only dukes could—still legendary decades later.
A killer who’d stain his hands for coin, leaving no survivors… until Elisa.
She’d tethered the whirlwind, making him Wintervalt’s guardian. Few remembered that tale now.
‘Years should’ve mellowed him, but…’
“GRANDPAAAA!”
A pink head popped from the carriage window. Kayen ducked into shadows.
“Look! All bandaged up!”
Instantly, Blaine’s aura softened. The fearsome lord became a doting grandfather.
“Don’t shake your injured hand, child!”
“Okayyy!”
The head vanished like a gopher.
Kayen sighed as Blaine’s waving arm lowered.
‘This obsession with kids borders on madness. Though given his past…’
“So.”
Blaine’s voice returned—cold steel.
“That mage’s story checks out?”
“Y-yes! The flowerpot broke, startling Ririn. The mage merely returned her things.”
“…….”
“I’d have intervened if there’d been real danger.”
Blaine exhaled slowly. That small hand bleeding… Unbearable.
‘I shouldn’t have let her wander.’
He’d indulged her flower-gazing, never expecting—
‘But her fear seemed… familiar.’
Had she met that mage before? No—she’d have mentioned it.
‘Unless…’
Ah. The memory loss.
“Am I imagining threats?” Blaine rubbed his face. Paranoia—a professional hazard.
“Investigate the mage anyway.”
“Understood.”
Nearby, clerks loaded seed bags onto a cart.
Kayen raised an eyebrow.
“You bought less than expected…”
“We’re leaving.”
“Already? Not even a shopping spree?”
Blaine jingled his near-empty purse.
“Elisa… didn’t approve this trip.”
With the window shut, I studied my companion.
Arjen Eterion. Meeting him so soon…
“Why was the toy store kid in danger?”
“That’s my line! You—” I caught myself.
“Your Highness, why are you here?”
“……You recognize me?”
“Duh.”
“How?”
His smile vanished, frost creeping into his gaze.
“G-grandpa said ‘Your Highness’! Plus—” I gestured at his jet-black hair. “Who else our age knows him?”
After a beat, Arjen burst out laughing.
“Your honorifics are terrible.”
“Tch. I’m learning!”
“Drop them. We’re alone anyway.”
“But—”
“I insist.”
“……Okay!”
His eye twitched at my instant compliance.
“Since we’re being frank—” I leaned forward.
“What did you mean by ‘I’ve been searching for you’ earlier?”
