Chirp chirp chirp.
Morning had come.
The sound of winter birds chirping greeted Sion as he quietly opened his eyes.
“………”
The room was deathly silent.
It was the absence of a certain small and noisy presence that had, for the past few days, flown in the moment he woke up and chattered non-stop.
A rare, quiet morning—it felt strangely unfamiliar.
“…So she hasn’t come back.”
Sion checked the terrace door, which had been left open overnight. As always, it was open just a crack—barely a finger’s width—and only the cold winter wind howled through it.
Knock knock knock—
“Come in.”
“Did you sleep well, Young Lord?”
Garen stepped into the room, bringing the chill from outside with him. He must have been out and about since early morning—both of his cheeks were red from the cold.
As Sion got out of bed and began changing his clothes, he glanced sideways at Garen. Noticing the gaze a beat later, Garen opened his mouth with a small, ‘Ah.’
“Just in case, I checked all the places in the estate where Ms. Lin might be. On my way back just now.”
“…And?”
“I went everywhere I could think of, but she wasn’t in any of them.”
“……”
Sion finished dressing and fell silent for a moment. Then, he walked over to the terrace and shut the open door with a firm clack.
Garen continued, setting down the firewood he had brought into a corner of the room.
“I also asked the maids and knights on duty yesterday and today if anyone had seen ‘something small and flying,’ but no one had.”
“…I see.”
Sion answered indifferently, but his bluish-gray eyes were fixed past the terrace, in the direction Lin had vanished last night.
Then Garen, stroking his chin, said hesitantly.
“Young Lord, this might be just my own worry, but… could it be that Ms. Lin ran into some kind of trouble yesterday?”
At Garen’s concerned question, Sion paused. Then he slowly shook his head.
“No. That’s not possible. You saw it too that day in the underground prison, didn’t you, Garen? No one in this entire grand duchy has the power to harm a fairy like her. At least, not as far as I know.”
Sion recalled the day he first met the fairy Lin.
The underground prison that had stood for hundreds of years beneath the grand ducal estate—its thick stone walls were crushed like a sandcastle by that tiny fairy.
It wasn’t aura or divine power—whatever it was, it was an unknown force. But there was no question it was formidable.
‘So nothing bad could have happened. Most likely, she just chose not to return.’
From the very first moment they met, she had been unpredictable. Just as she had suddenly appeared one day, it was entirely within expectation that she might vanish just as suddenly.
“That’s not something we should be concerned about.”
Murmuring to himself, Sion finally pulled his gaze away from the terrace.
His cool response made Garen scratch the back of his head as he knelt to stoke the fire in the hearth.
As he stirred the kindling, he spoke again.
“Still, it’s a shame. I think she had some business at the main estate… and she clearly said she’d return before she left.”
“……”
Garen’s words reopened the thoughts Sion had just pushed aside, and Sion furrowed his brow slightly. But he didn’t stop Garen from continuing.
“Considering how Ms. Lin usually treated you, it’s even stranger. I mean, with me, sure, but with you? I thought at the very least she’d say goodbye before leaving…”
Garen trailed off, lost in thought.
“Come to think of it, there was always something… unusual about the way she treated you.”
“Unusual?”
Sion asked, puzzled. Garen chuckled quietly as he answered.
“Well… at first, her affection was so blunt I assumed it was romantic interest. But the more I watched, the more it felt less like she adored you as a lover and more like… a parent caring for their child. Or even a devout follower worshipping a deity. Honestly, it was kind of entertaining to watch.”
“……”
“She really was impossible to figure out.”
“…That’s true.”
Though it had only been a few days, both of them had come to share the same impression of Lin.
With his eyes lowered, Sion murmured.
“…She’d often say and do things that were completely incomprehensible.”
In all of his 18 years, Sion had never seen or met another fairy besides Lin. But even so, he was certain of one thing—Lin had to be an outlier, even among fairies.
“A human and a fairy, huh.”
Sion keenly felt the divide between them again.
In a world where even humans couldn’t understand each other and often ended up hurting or killing one another—how could a different species begin to comprehend?
He realized, belatedly, that maybe trying to define this relationship by human standards had been meaningless all along.
“Sion…!!!”
“My name’s Lin! I came to see you, Sion!”
“Don’t worry about a thing anymore, Sion! I’ll protect you!”
“Actually, I’m a fairy who came to help you find love and happiness.”
“So that means I’m living with you now, right? Yay! This is awesome! From now on, I’m your official fan fairy!”
“……”
“Wherever Ms. Lin went, I hope she’s safe and well, she cared for you so much, Young Lord. I think I grew fond of her without even realizing it.”
Garen said, smiling wistfully.
Sion said nothing, merely leaning against the window and staring out at the snowy landscape he’d grown tired of over the past ten years.
But today, the falling snow seemed more silent and heavy than ever.
Clatter, clatter, clatter!
“…….?”
Far off in the distance, something was racing away from the front gates of the grand ducal estate at an alarming speed.
It was suspiciously hurried, the way it fled the castle grounds.
It was the carriage belonging to Noel, the head of the merchant guild.
“…That’s…”
Sion’s bluish-gray eyes narrowed.
A strong instinct struck him.
***
At that same moment, Jack, a guard stationed in the corridor connecting the main and north buildings of the estate, heard his name being called.
“Jack.”
He turned around immediately.
It was an old acquaintance.
“Oh, isn’t that Garen? It’s been so lo—”
Jack had greeted him cheerfully at first but fell silent when he saw the person standing behind Garen.
Despite being cloaked in a black robe, the man’s striking features, elegant silver-gray hair, and eyes like piercing ice couldn’t be hidden.
There was no mistaking who he was.
‘The Lord of the North Wing!’
The infamous illegitimate child of the previous Grand Duke—
Sion Luxior.
Jack quickly placed his fist over his chest and bowed respectfully in the northern fashion.
“…It’s an honor to see you, Young Lord.”
Even if he was a disgraced illegitimate child—loathed like a thorn in the eye by the Grand Duchess who now ruled the North—he was still nobility.
What Jack couldn’t understand, though, was why someone who hadn’t left the annex in years was suddenly here.
Just then, Sion spoke, his voice like a blade of ice.
“A carriage left the estate just now. Was it the merchant guild head’s?”
A cold sweat ran down Jack’s back. The pressure Sion gave off was overwhelming.
“Y-yes, sir. From what I was told, the carriage departed early this morning, right after dawn.”
“So quickly? What about the trade negotiations for this year?”
Garen frowned at the odd timing.
“Isn’t it standard for them to stay at least five days to finalize negotiations?”
Jack lowered his voice, casting a glance at Sion.
“…Normally, yes, but this year, a lot of the procedures were skipped. Supposedly, some kind of incident occurred. I don’t know the details—it’s confidential.”
“An incident?”
Sion raised an eyebrow.
“While the merchant head was staying here, was there anything… unusual at the main estate?”
“Huh? Unusual, like what…?”
Garen jumped in with a sharp tone.
“Like… a strange bird or bug sighting? Or maybe part of the wall suddenly collapsed?”
“……”
Jack stared at Garen as if to say what the hell are you talking about?
Then, after a beat, his expression changed—he seemed to remember something.
“Oh! Right, now that you mention it! Some of the maids on duty for the visiting guests said something interesting.”
He scratched his head as he recalled it.
“I didn’t hear it firsthand, but… apparently, the merchant couple’s kid was bragging to the maids about capturing a fairy.”
“……!!”
“……!!”
“One of the sharper maids humored her and asked to see it. She showed her a birdcage, and—get this—there was supposedly an actual fairy inside. Crazy, right? I mean, fairies in this day and age? No way. Probably just the maids playing along with a rich kid to curry favor.”
“……”
“……”
Sion and Garen’s eyes met.
“Garen. Let’s go.”
“Yes, Young Lord.”
Without another word, the two of them turned and hurried off toward the annex.
Left standing there alone, Jack blinked and muttered to himself in confusion.
“…What the hell is going on?”
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