Reasons to Protect the Witch's Son

‘First of all, appearance.’

Edwin stood in front of the mirror, looking at his reflection. He had a fair face with big, clear eyes. Everything seemed to be well balanced, at least in his opinion. While he may not be a stunning beauty who would be the center of attention, there were many times that young girls would blush when they saw him.

‘Yeah, its not bad at all.’

At that moment, he saw Ash passing by outside the window. Edwin’s jaw dropped when he saw his face. His sharp eyes were cool, but elegant and everything from the bridge of his nose to his smooth jawline was perfect. His beauty was well known throughout the continent. His face was a masterpiece, down to the last eyelash. No matter how you looked at it, it didn’t seem possible that there would ever be anything more beautiful than this.

Edwin quickly picked up the pen and crossed out the line that read ‘appearance’.

‘Ability then!’

While he may not be able to beat Ash in appearance, he was confident in his abilities. Edwin had grown up being told from a young age that he was very intelligent. Even though he was not yet of age, he was even ruling his territory well. Recently he had shown talent in several business ventures that had made quite a bit of profit. On the other hand, Ash…

He was a genius, not only in business, but in all fields. He was a natural leader who had revived Killiard from ruin in just five short years with his outstanding abilities. He had also succeeded in several businesses and developed his territory. Even his swordsmanship skills were the best on the continent.

It was obvious, if Edwin were to compete with him, he wouldn’t stand a chance.

“Ugh…”

Edwin felt extremely frustrated. From his looks to his abilities, he wasn’t superior in anything. Moreover, all of Elaine’s attention was focused on Ash. There wasn’t any room for interference.

So, as if grasping at his last hope, Edwin went searching for Elaine and asked her bluntly.

“What do you think of Ash?”

Elaine blinked slowly, surprised by the sudden question, and then pondered for a moment.

“Hmm, well…”

She then smiled broadly.

“He’s very strong, handsome, smart and, to me, he’s the most amazing person in the world!”

“…”

Edwin silently put down the pen he was holding, then he folded the paper carefully and placed it in his pocket, as if burying the pain of his broken heart.

Just like that, the boys first love wilted before even being able to bloom.

***

“Count, is there something going on lately?”

Elaine tilted her head in curiosity as she looked at Edwin, who appeared somewhat gloomy. Come to think of it, not long ago he had seen her and Ash together and began muttering something along the lines of ‘be happy’. She couldn’t help but worry, wondering if maybe his health hadn’t fully recovered yet.

Anyways, after staying at the Counts residence for a few days and helping with the aftermath of the kidnapping incident, Ash and Elaine decided to return to Killiard.

It was decided that they would leave the mercenaries in the hands of Count Lister. It was only fair to leave the judgement of the criminals to those who had suffered the greatest.

“Please take care.”

“Of course.”

Hilaire, Edwin and the other members of the Counts residence came out to the front of the mansion to see the two off. Hilaire had decided to stay at the mansion for a few more days. Although the aftermath of the incident had already been handled, she decided to spend a little more time with her younger brother.

“Ash and Elaine left after saying their farewells. What was waiting for Elaine when she returned, was a letter with no sender.

 

[The requested investigation has been completed. The results of the investigation will be communicated directly after the transaction.]

 

***

The letter Elaine had received upon her return to Killiard was from Nathan. During the training session, she had encountered him along with the knights. Since the fact that Elaine had made a deal with him was a secret, the letter did not reveal who the sender was.

The letter also said that Nathan would come to Killiard in a week and proposed they completed their transaction at that time.

‘The letter arrived a few days ago, he will be here soon.’

Elaine thought as she folded the letter and placed it in her desk drawer. Then she pulled out another drawer to verify the item she was to give Nathan was still there.

The Saturan had been well kept inside a long glass bottle. A Saturan that was picked when the petals were in full bloom would not wilt, making it easy to store.

‘Good.’

She nodded, content, and began to close the drawer again. She then noticed another object lying inside the drawer and took it out. It was a box made of jet-black velvet material. She had received it from Ash upon their return.

 

‘What’s this?’

‘It’s nothing special.’

 

Ash had averted his gaze as he answered her question.

What was in the box was a pair of leather gloves. The neat design and smooth leather seemed to be very luxurious, even at a glance. They were black, like her uniform, as if they had been personally tailored to go well together.

 

‘In return for the gift you gave me last time.’

 

When she had opened the box, and stood there blankly with her eyes wide open, he looked slightly embarrassed as he rubbed the back of his neck and blurted out his excuse. Then he changed the subject, but still was unable to meet her gaze.

 

‘Do you remember hearing about my former bodyguard before?’

 

Of course she remembered. Ash’s former guard had been Lloyd’s close friend. He was also Hilaire and Edwin’s father, Walter Lister. There was no way she would be able to forget the story of him going missing 10 years ago.

Ash brought up the topic again, saying that Walter’s disappearance was probably because of him but, even if that wasn’t the case, he was still indebted to Walter’s family.

 

‘If we hadn’t been able to save Edwin, I might not have been able to forgive myself.’

 

However, Elaine felt she was the one who was truly indebted to them because it was Walter who had stayed by Ash’s side while she had spent 20 years foolishly asleep. Because he was the person who was with Ash for most of his childhood, Ash must feel even more lonely.

So, just as he had protested Ash, she would not let any harm come to his family. She made this vow while holding the gift Ash had given her.

“…”

Elain put aside her thoughts and carefully opened the lid of the box in her hand. The soft, shiny gloves were neatly laid inside. As she looked at them, she felt a warmth spread throughout her chest.

Ash said he had received a lot from her, but the opposite was true. Just the fact that he had shown up at that time was enough. Considering the time that she was unable to protect him and the value of the heart that was beating in her chest, she would never be able to give him enough because she had already received so much from him.

‘Anyways…’

It’s a gift from Ash. The gloves were so special it was a shame to even wear them.

‘What if I wear them for no reason and they get scratched? I should put them somewhere safe.’

She carefully closed the lid to avoid any dust getting on them and placed the box back into the drawer. She then put away her belongings from the mission and left her room.

When she went outside, she saw the yellow flowers that had fallen on the side of the road and felt the cool breeze blowing by. A butterfly flower floated over from a nearby flower garden.

‘Now that I think about it, the festival ended while we were on our mission.’

She had heard the last day of the festival was truly spectacular and had really wanted to see it with Ash at least once. As she walked away, feeling regretful, she heard a familiar voice.

“Ah, Elaine!”

Turning her head, she saw Sophia walking down the other side of the road. When she saw Elaine, she quickly ran over and asked.

“I heard you suddenly had to go on a mission. Has everything been resolved?”

“Yes, fortunately. Sophia, did you have a good time at the festival? I heard the parade on the last day was amazing.”

A special parade took place on the last day of the festival. The reason it was so special was because there was an event where the riders in the parade released real butterflies. The sight of a flock of butterflies flying like flowing waves along the procession seemed like it would be a sight to behold. Even without seeing it, she was able to imagine how beautiful it would be.

Sophia blushed and muttered in a quiet voice.

“Why would I even go? The person I really wanted to see it with wasn’t even here.”

“Huh?”

Elaine asked, unable to hear clearly.

“Well that’s true, but actually… I really wanted to spend the festival with you Elaine, however…”

Originally, she had planned to ask Elaine to go with her, but she felt too embarrassed and kept putting it off, then Elaine left on a sudden mission. If she had known this would happen, she would have said it sooner rather than later. She was filled with regret and cursed her past self.

This time, she decided to be courageous. Without any more hesitation, she asked Elaine, looking straight at her, without blinking.

“Elaine, are you free right now?”

“Now?”

“Yes, the festival is over, but there are still quite a few stalls and street vendors left. If it’s alright with you… Do you want to join me?”

Sophia spoke out confidently, but at the end, the tips of her ears began to turn slightly red. Elaine smiled without realizing it. The fact that she wanted to go to the festival with Elaine made her feel touched, and even though Sophia was shy, seeing her asking like this, looked cute.

“Sure.”

Coincidentally there was no work today. Ash had told her to take a brake after they returned from their mission. In fact, she had insisted that she would still work, but was rejected and sent away.

“Really?”

Sophia’s expression had brightened when she agreed. It would be her first time going out alone with Elaine, so she was very excited. They had gone downtown once before, but that was just to help her pick out some clothes. This would be the first time they would be going out without any particular agenda.

Sophia lead Elaine to the downtown area with excited steps, face filled with anticipation at the thought of spending some private time together.

“Why…”

Sophia frowned disapprovingly.

“Is that person sitting there?”