Meanwhile, at that very moment…
“This is definitely strange. Let’s investigate further,” Knox instructed those following behind him. These were none other than the knights of the Kreutz family.
Knox hadn’t come here with Aisha alone on a whim. If Aisha was truly a spy and met with another spy at the designated location, a confrontation would be inevitable. That’s why he had knights on standby.
“What’s going on?”
“Ahh, hide!”
When the armed knights entered the illegally run circus in two lines, the audience scattered in fear of being arrested, running in all directions.
And then, in the distance…
“……”
Knox saw it.
The ringmaster, who had been ready to protest about his ruined show, turned pale. His gaze was fixed on the blue wolf emblem, the symbol of the Kreutz family.
‘Could it really be…?’
Knox had only caught a glimpse, but what he had seen in the storage room was undoubtedly the power of ice. Not just any ordinary frost, but beautiful ice crystals that could only be conjured by an ability.
With Calypse away at the edge of the world on a monster hunt, the only ones capable of wielding such pure power were his direct descendants.
‘The pieces are finally coming together.’
Knox let out a bitter chuckle. Had the Poz family colluded with the Ahilly Circus to kidnap the Kreutz heirs?
“Let’s go.”
Knox’s already cold expression hardened even more, devoid of any warmth. As much as he wanted to grab someone and demand answers, confirming their safety took priority.
As he approached the door marked “Authorized Personnel Only” leading to the staff storage room—
“…Sorry, but this area is off-limits to unauthorized persons. You seem like someone important, so what brings you to such a humble place?”
The ringmaster, who had rushed over, forced a smile.
“You’ve seen the emblem, now open the door.”
“It seems the owner of that emblem isn’t here, though.”
Even as he bowed his head, the ringmaster was adamant about not opening the door.
“I said, open it.”
“There are rare items behind this door that even high-ranking nobles can’t easily acquire. If you wish to see them, you’ll need to pay—”
Boom!
At that moment, a thunderous crash shook the entrance of the circus. As startled onlookers turned their attention to the source of the noise—
A massive figure, easily over 190 cm tall, emerged from the cloud of dust.
It was Duke Calypse.
“…Your Grace? How did you…?”
There was no time to ask how he had arrived.
Calypse, clad in armor stained with blood, which hinted at a recent monster hunt, brushed past Knox and stood before the ringmaster.
“If you don’t want to die, open the door. My mood’s foul enough as it is.”
Despite the stench of blood that could make anyone wince, the ringmaster found himself frozen, unable to control his expression under Calypse’s terrifying red gaze.
Duke Calypse of Kreutz was known for his outwardly upright image, a hero who hid his sharpness behind a mask. But…
“……”
Having just returned from the battlefield, the rawness of the Duke’s demeanor was unmistakable.
“Th-The…”
The ringmaster’s face was not just pale—it was as white as a corpse.
Even so, he stubbornly refused to move aside. It was suspicious that he was resisting even now.
Calypse must have thought so too, as he raised his leg as if to kick the door down, completely ignoring the ringmaster.
“Aaaah!”
Finally, survival instincts kicked in, and the ringmaster fled, though he was quickly apprehended by the knights waiting nearby.
“Your Grace. How did the monster hunt go?”
“I can sense the power of ice.”
Calypse cut Knox off mid-sentence, murmuring under his breath.
“I didn’t create this… So what is it?”
As he stepped into the room, Calypse’s brows furrowed.
Knox swallowed nervously.
“…That’s why I was about to check it out. Something didn’t feel right.”
While Knox was angry, he still harbored doubts. Could that little spy really have kidnapped a Kreutz heir and was planning to meet with members of the Poz family here?
If that were true…
Crunch—
At that moment, something crunched under Calypse’s foot.
When Knox looked up, he saw the Duke’s face twisted in anger, a fury unmatched by anything Knox had ever seen.
“I’ll determine for myself whether that child deceived me or not.”
“……”
“And if that’s the case…”
Calypse continued as he pushed open the innermost door.
“I’ll carry out the execution…”
“Hic… Hic…”
Right then, the sound of a young boy sobbing reached their ears through the partially opened door.
‘Something’s there.’
Calypse and Knox exchanged a silent glance.
Then Calypse pushed the door open and rushed in, only to find—
“Hic… Hic… Aisha!”
A boy was kneeling on the floor, crying his heart out, with a girl collapsed across his lap.
Knox took in the scene before him. Sharp icicles protruded from every corner of the room, and ice crystals floated around the boy, appearing and disappearing with the intensity of his sobs, almost as if they were reacting to his emotions.
But Calypse’s focus was solely on the unconscious child.
Aisha.
“……”
He could hear someone saying, “Your Grace, it’s the power of ice. That boy must be…” but Calypse didn’t listen. He was already moving toward the children as if in a trance.
He knelt down, not even glancing at the boy, and asked in a strained voice.
“What’s going on here?”
He hadn’t realized his voice had cracked.
The small figure lying across the boy’s lap, with a peaceful expression as if dreaming a sweet dream, might have been mistaken for simply sleeping.
But her hair was a mess, her clothes were dirty and bloodstained, and one shoe was missing, revealing a bare sock.
He didn’t know what had happened, but he could tell how much the child had suffered.
How much she must have desperately needed help.
The thought of execution, which had flashed through his mind earlier, now seemed cruel.
No, the very idea of it was painfully harsh…
A flood of thoughts raced through his mind, and as Calypse let out a dry laugh, biting down on his lower lip, he heard a voice.
“…You.”
The boy, who had been staring at him with wide eyes, finally spoke.
“How did you… Are you here to rescue me… finally?”
Calypse slowly shifted his gaze, lowering the hand that had been covering his eyes. He finally saw the boy, still clutching Aisha as he sobbed.
The boy was around eight years old, with a messier appearance than Aisha, but those familiar eyes peered through the tangled hair.
Eyes of a mysterious color, like golden amber with a drop of red.
It was the same gaze he remembered from when this boy had last cried in his arms as a baby.
Calypse’s eyes widened—
“Why did it take you so long to come! She ended up like this trying to save me! Save her! You have doctors, you have money!”
The sharp accusation brought Calypse back to reality.
She got hurt trying to save the boy?
Aisha?
Why?
“May I ask your name?”
At that moment, Knox, who had approached hurriedly, knelt on one knee and respectfully addressed the boy.
But Calypse still couldn’t grasp the situation. The only thing filling his mind was the guilt over the fact that he had even momentarily considered killing this child.
But then…
“Lucas. Lucas Kreutz.”
The boy’s voice, filled with bitterness, drained the color from Calypse’s face.
Knox felt the same shock.
Boom!
As the knights of Kreutz finally stormed in, rushing past them, neither Calypse nor Knox could utter a word.
The boy looked like a commoner—or worse, a slave—but the sense of familiarity Calypse felt in his gaze finally made sense.
Those eyes…
They were unmistakably the same as Lucas’s when he had last seen him as a baby.
“All this time… Where have you been?”
For five years, he had wondered how they would reunite if they ever met again.
What kind of life would they have lived, how would they have grown?
But this… This wasn’t what he had imagined.
“Why here, of all places…”
But—
“Don’t ask questions you don’t care about. If you need me now, then take me. But save Aisha.”
The boy cut off Calypse’s words, holding Aisha tightly, as if she was the only one he could trust in this place.
Calypse’s lips twisted.
He was afraid.
He didn’t care if the boy hurled accusations at him. But thinking about what Lucas must have endured made Calypse’s fists clench with rage.
“…First, get the children out of here. Take them to the carriage.”
Unable to say anything else, Calypse gave orders to Knox.
Aisha, unconscious, was carried by Lucas to the waiting carriage.
