There was a time during the height of the war when he had managed to conquer a fortress belonging to the heretics.
His wife, Lucy, had stayed behind at the fortress to manage the occupied territory, while Leopord went off to pursue the remnants of the fleeing enemy.
That turned out to be the last time he ever saw his wife alive.
When everything was over and he returned to the fortress, the only one to greet him was Steve, whose cheek had been torn open by an enemy’s spear, bleeding profusely.
‘If only His Grace the Duke had sent reinforcements in time… Dame Lucy would still be alive!’
Steve’s outcry still rang vividly in his ears.
‘If only… the Duke had sent reinforcements!’
‘If only… the Duke…!’
Leopord was plagued by echoes of the past—hallucinations of those regrets—when the urgent voice of the nanny, who cared for his two children, snapped him back to reality.
“Please, Master, you must hurry back home!”
Leopord’s young daughter, who resembled Lucy, had just turned four years old.
And now, because of the son of a friend whom he had brought into his home, that four-year-old daughter was in grave danger.
As a knight, his duty dictated that he should stay behind and finish dealing with the remaining magical beasts in the area.
The number of dead, after the heretics fled, had already exceeded ninety.
And whose life is worth more—Mariela’s? Florian’s? All lives are singular and precious.
However…
“I’ll entrust the extermination of the remaining magical beasts to Walter.”
Nevertheless…
As he mounted his familiar black steed and issued his command, Walter nodded firmly.
“Understood, Captain! Please, go quickly!”
Some might say that Leopord was acting unworthy of a knight.
They might mock him for abandoning the duties and responsibilities expected of a soldier.
Even so…
Leopord could not bear to lose Lucy’s daughter as well.
***
He spurred his horse so hard that foam frothed at its mouth, racing home as fast as possible—but by then, it was already deep into the night.
His mansion, engulfed in flames, shone brightly in the endless darkness.
And surrounding the blazing house was a massive magical beast, writhing and slowly dying.
As it died, the magical beast continuously released a poisonous green miasma into the fire.
Because of the magic poison fumes billowing from the burning magical beast, no one could get close to the mansion.
In Leopord’s view, one of the maids was struggling to break through, clearly desperate to run toward the mansion.
She was the same woman who always gently held little Mariela’s hand.
“Where is Mariela?”
“Master!”
Leopord jumped down from his horse and pushed his way through the crowd. Betty turned her tear-streaked face toward him.
“We can’t get near because of the magical beast. The young miss is inside, in that fire…!”
The woman pointed toward the second floor, where a wall had partially collapsed.
Mariela’s room.
Beneath it was the flower garden Lucy had so lovingly designed, wishing her children would always live somewhere with a beautiful view. From their room, they could see it directly.
Now, those very flowers and trees—so carefully chosen for their pleasant appearance—were completely engulfed in flames.
Above the inferno, barely holding on to a half-collapsed wooden floor, the silhouette of a small child could be seen.
So small, barely a speck compared to the massive body of the creature known as Gigantia.
It was Mariela.
The moment he saw her, Leopord ran straight toward the stone steps that cut through the garden, without hesitation.
Even the servants trying to stop Betty couldn’t bring themselves to stop him.
A bluish light flashed from his body.
KWAHHHH—!
The protective blessing that safeguarded the North and the Empire engulfed the burning mansion, and water began to pour down.
Twelve colossal torrents of water crashed down like waterfalls, quelling the flames almost instantly.
But even such overwhelming power didn’t feel like enough—so Leopord summoned the blessing once more.
As he entered the corrupted aura of magic that filled the area, he could taste iron in his mouth—but he had to do it.
Razor-sharp ice blades rained down, piercing through Gigantia’s thick hide.
“It’s collapsing!”
The beast’s body, now pierced and still like a taxidermy mount, thrashed one last time. Under the weight of the falling water and its own failing strength, the wooden floor—already hanging on by a thread—finally gave way.
The blackened, charred flooring gave way, and Florian and Mariela fell together.
Leopord summoned the protective blessing again.
He had already used it all night fighting heretics and magical beasts, and then again to summon the water over the entire mansion.
A sharp pain throbbed in his chest—but he had to endure.
SPLASH!
The two children plunged into the deep pool of water that now filled the lowest level of the house like a lake.
Guided by the protective blessing power, their bodies gently floated up to the surface.
Mariela, who must have gotten water in her nose when she fell, sneezed a few times, coughing and sputtering.
She looked like a mess.
Her soft, fluffy pink hair—like cotton candy—was soaked, hanging limp like strands of seaweed.
Ash still clung to her face, leaving dark smudges that wouldn’t quite come off.
The Mariela Leopord saw when he returned—was messier, dirtier, and more pitiful than he had ever seen her before.
Even in that state, she didn’t let go of Florian’s hand until the very end.
Before she even finished coughing, Mariela hastily asked,
“Cough, Fairy… Is Fairy okay?”
Only after Florian gave a small nod did the two children finally release their tightly held hands.
Her small body began to tremble.
Like someone doing everything they could to hold back tears, Mariela’s face twisted into a wreck as she darted her eyes around—
And her gaze met Leopord’s.
A wave of emotions surged—relief, anger, guilt—all tangled together.
If he had been just a little later…
And in that moment, the very second their eyes met—
Mariela couldn’t hold back anymore. Her lips began to tremble, and she stretched her arms out toward him.
“Uwaaaah! Daaaaaddy!”
Without hesitation, Leopord rushed over and pulled her small, dirty, soaked body into his arms.
She must have been utterly terrified. Even though she had been in the burning house right up to the point she fell into the water, her body was as cold as ice.
Leopord held her close, unmoving, until her sobs had completely subsided.
He hadn’t been able to save Lucy, but he had saved Lucy’s daughter—their daughter.
She was alive.
He had saved her with his own hands.
Leopord carved those words into his heart like a sacred prayer.
***
The prince and I, rescued from the flames, were immediately handed over to a physician.
It wasn’t the personal doctor sent from the main estate, but rather the local village physician who had taken care of Dietrich and me since we were young.
Despite being in her nightclothes, she had rushed to our side without hesitation.
My injuries were relatively minor—some light burns, and damage to my shoulder and wrist—but the boy’s condition seemed more serious.
“To think he survived this… It must have been divine intervention. Truly, the gods must have helped him.”
The physician repeated this line several times.
Then she said she’d need more medicine to properly treat the prince and hurried off to get it from her home.
But really—
It wasn’t the gods. It was Dad who saved us.
If it weren’t for Dad’s protective blessing, I would have either burned to death or died from the fall.
Following the doctor’s advice to avoid using my arms for a while, I had bandages wrapped around them and sat there, staring at the boy lying in bed beside me.
He too had both arms heavily bandaged.
“Does it hurt? Are you okay?”
“There’s no need to make a fuss. I’ll get through this in a few days, even if the poison is still in me…”
“How would you know? Do you have any idea how dangerous poison is? What if you die?”
“Well… I’ve never died before.”
Hmm.
As I expected—he’s clearly had poison before.
“Still, not being in pain is always better, isn’t it…?”
Even if you don’t die from it, poison hurts. The only kind of pain I’m willing to accept is muscle soreness—and that’s it.
His condition was far worse than mine.
Not only had he consumed nearly a lethal dose of magical poison, but in that wrecked state, he had continued to call upon protective blessings to fight the magical beast.
Even so, Florian barely furrowed his brows now and then. He didn’t let out so much as a groan.
His sheer will was honestly overwhelming.
“…Thanks for catching me earlier.”
But still, it was thanks to him that I was alive.
His crimson eyes stared at me.
He didn’t particularly like me, nor did he trust my family—yet despite that, he never let go of my hand until the very end.
The palms of his hands were raw, the outermost layer of skin completely peeled away.
“What’s your name? I won’t forget what you did. I’ll repay this favor someday.”
“And how’s a baby supposed to do that?”
“I—I may be a baby now, but give me a little time, I’ll grow up, okay?!”
As I huffed in protest, for the first time—
Florian gave me a faint smile.
I already thought he was handsome, but when he smiled like that… it was like a jewel—clear, radiant, almost magical.
I stared at his face as if enchanted.
“Florian Hildebrandt.”
That was his name—Florian.
…Even his name was beautiful.
~~~
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