The short training session came to an end.
Among the knights, especially the senior ones, some seemed to be heading towards my dad’s study.
As I watched them, I quietly reached out to one of them.
A particularly large knight, as if mesmerized, reached out and lifted me up. This action drew disapproving glances from those around him.
“Hey.”
“Don’t scold me… Mariela really wanted to see Dad. I begged you… I wanted to go with you too.”
If something serious had happened, I needed to know so I could respond accordingly.
As I made up a reasonable excuse and put on a sulky expression, the knights looked troubled.
However, none of them told me to be put down.
Who could stop a three-year-old child from wanting to see the dad she had never met before?
“For now, let’s take her with us. If the Captain says to send her back, we can do so then.”
“Alright. First, we have to answer the summons, so let’s hurry. The Captain will decide.”
Yes!
And just like that, I remained in the knight’s arms as we arrived at my dad’s study.
When my dad saw me being carried in, he slightly raised an eyebrow.
“The young miss said she wanted to see the Captain.”
I must do my best to avoid being sent away.
I wiggled out of the knight’s grasp and slowly approached my dad’s desk.
“I’ll just stay here.”
The place I pointed to was a narrow space next to the desk.
If I stood there, I wouldn’t be too visible during the meeting.
I had pestered the knights to bring me here, but I had no intention of causing trouble or being a nuisance.
I just felt uneasy when things were happening in this house that I didn’t know about…
My dad looked at me in silence for a moment.
Was he thinking I was being troublesome?
Feeling a bit intimidated, I looked up at him.
“Come here, Ella.”
Without knowing why, I obediently walked over to him.
He suddenly lifted me up and placed me on his lap.
I stiffened like a wooden puppet.
… I thought I was going to be sent away.
As my dad turned his head towards the knights—who had their mouths gaping open in shock—they quickly closed their mouths, making startled noises.
“Gilla, explain again.”
The person my dad called Gilla was a female knight, looking like she had rolled through a mud pit.
I had heard that name before.
As I pondered, I suddenly recalled—she was one of the knights who had participated in escorting prisoners with Walter.
Although she wasn’t as high-ranking as Walter, my dad’s adjutant, she was still a knight my dad trusted enough to consider as his representative.
So why was she here in such a state? What happened to the mission?
“The heretics we were transporting to Calena escaped.”
“What?”
One of the knights who had been summoned urgently let out a shocked exclamation.
“The carriage slipped on the mountain path. At that moment, the heretics escaped. In the struggle, Sir Walter and several others were captured. And…”
I recalled the relentless rain that had been pouring down.
It had been raining ever since Walter set out.
If they took a mountain path, the ground must have been incredibly slippery.
‘Walter, taken by the heretics…’
The grotesque eyes and the stench of magic poison instantly came to mind.
Along with them, I also recalled Walter’s face—the same Walter who always smiled warmly whenever he saw me.
To think that he was taken by such terrifying people…
The war prisoners who had been locked up in the interrogation chamber all looked miserable.
Their resentment must have run deep.
“While urgently tracking them, we discovered that two villages at the foot of the nearby mountains had been attacked.”
My dad, who had remained silent all this time, finally spoke up.
“What is the scale of the damage to the villages?”
“At least sixty-three people were confirmed dead, and we haven’t been able to fully assess the number of injured. There are simply too many wounded, so we had to halt the pursuit.”
Sixty-three innocent people who had been living their lives without knowing anything… now dead.
It was a disaster.
Just moments ago, the knights who had been laughing and playing with me now had faces so rigid they looked terrifying.
They seemed ready to dash out at any moment, their necks flushed red with anger.
Among them, the only one who remained calm was my dad.
His voice was chillingly cold.
“Have you identified the heretics’ escape route?”
“The nearby Takiten Barony has been struggling with persistent magical beast infestations. They are likely heading there to acquire more magical beasts.”
“A barony wouldn’t have the military strength to handle the heretics alone.”
“No, they wouldn’t. It seems the Captain will have to intervene personally. Apologies, but we are not capable of dealing with them on our own.”
My dad… would have to go into battle again?
“Among the captured prisoners, there was one they referred to as their priest, correct?”
“Yes. He is far more dangerous than the others. In the past, he has wiped out an entire battalion using magical beasts.”
“We need to act quickly to prevent further civilian casualties. Gilla, map out their likely routes. Max, check our supply stock. And…”
Tactical discussions moved rapidly.
As expected of seasoned warriors, the knights understood my dad’s commands instantly.
They swiftly dispersed to carry out their orders.
Before I knew it, only my dad and I were left in his study.
Aside from the few who had managed to escape, every uninjured knight had fallen into the hands of the heretics.
The only ones available to accompany my dad were those recovering from injuries.
‘Facing an enemy that once wiped out an entire battalion…’
Even someone as ignorant about war as I was could tell that we were at a severe disadvantage.
Would my dad be alright?
I knew he was strong—I had seen him fight before.
But just because I understood didn’t mean I wasn’t worried.
Seeing the anxiety overflowing from my eyes, my dad gently brushed a hand over them.
“You’re an open book, aren’t you?”
Well, we…
Hmm.
Before I could find the right words, my dad continued speaking in his usual calm tone.
It seemed like he was trying to reassure me—his voice was even softer than usual.
“It looks like I won’t be able to be with you for your birthday this year either.”
“It’s okay.”
“No, it’s not okay. I’m sorry.”
My birthday was tomorrow.
The first birthday I would have had the chance to spend with my dad.
But there was no helping it.
I understood his situation. My dad was a knight, and he had a duty to protect people.
Even though my dad had no reason to apologize to me, he kept saying ‘sorry’ over and over again.
“Be careful. The heretics are scary.”
“I know.”
“Last time, my head hurt a lot. The knights said it was because of magic poison.”
“Magic poison is painful.”
“Is it really painful?”
My dad didn’t answer right away. Instead, he smiled and gently patted my head a few times before speaking in a calm tone.
“I’m strong, so I’ll be fine.”
…Liar.
Both my dad and Dietrich were exactly the same in this way.
Never showing weakness in front of me.
They really were family.
***
Mariela left the room soon after.
Perhaps because she grew up without knowing her parents’ warmth, she was an almost painfully perceptive and quick-witted child.
Gilla, who had returned with the compiled tactical briefing materials, held the door open and only came in after making sure the child had completely left the room.
“I feel bad for the young miss. Her fourth birthday is right around the corner.”
“It can’t be helped.”
“You say that, but we all know the truth. You even went to a jewelry shop to buy her a birthday present…”
Gilla trailed off as she recalled what had happened at that jewelry store.
The voice of the coachman who had insulted Lucy still echoed in Leopord’s ears.
His gaze landed on a small picture-letter on his desk.
A crude drawing sent to him by a daughter he had never even met before, received on his way back from the battlefield.
A drawing of his wife—who had slipped through his fingers and was now beyond his reach—and the children he had never had the chance to watch grow.
In the picture, his family was smiling as if everything had been perfect.
It was a symbol of his longing.
If only everything could return to the way it was in this drawing, he would have been willing to die right then and there.
But knowing that could never happen made him want to die all the more.
‘P-please, spare me!’
But there was a reason he couldn’t follow his late wife into death.
A living hell that bound him to the mortal world, keeping him from dying—a child who looked just like the woman he had loved more than anything.
This year, too, his small, young, and dearly beloved hell would have to spend her birthday without him.
That thought, strangely, gripped his heart.
