Reasons to Protect the Witch's Son

“…!”

Lowell opened his eyes wide then blinked his light brown eyes several times as if he couldn’t believe he had heard correctly. The question ‘Why?’ was written all over his face. His reaction was understandable. It was just that, no matter how pressing the deadline was, was it really worth risking her life?

Before he could ask any more questions, she spoke in a quick but calm tone, pretending that nothing had happened.

“I heard that if you become a member of the Philres Knights, you can receive twice the salary that other knights receive? In particular, I heard the salary here is enormous.”

“You are correct. In addition, the Knights of Philres also receive additional allowances depending on the mission given.”

While answering her questions, Lowell’s hand dropped to his knee as if he had realized something.

“Ah! Then why do you want to apply for the entrance exam?”

“Because I’m really tight on money right now.”

Only then did Lowell look somewhat relieved. He was still questioning her mental state after crossing the mountains, but what she said was somewhat understandable. There were many people in the world who were desperate for money, and there were many who did crazy things, even as far as giving up their lives, for money.

Seeing Lowell now convinced, Elaine smiled, without a trace of guilt. She wasn’t lying. Even though the high salary may not be the main reason for her wanting to join the knights but, she still was tight on money and needed to earn some since she had lost everything she owned.

Still, even if she was short on money, her main reason was still the one person who was always on her mind. There was someone she had to meet. She ran for days straight, thinking only of that one person. She didn’t know what his face looked like or what his voice sounded like now but, she knew him.

She needed a way to stay with him. She needed to protect him. That is why she was here.

‘Ash.’

As she thought about him, Elaine became anxious again. She jumped up from her seat, ready to run out of the room at once.

“I want to submit an application. Where do I go?”

“Honestly, I think you should take a bath first. Surely you weren’t planning on walking down the street looking like that?”

“Oh.”

Elaine’s mind was so focused that she had forgotten for a moment that there was monster blood splattered all over her body. She quickly sat down again, embarrassed.

“We will prepare a separate room for you to stay in temporarily, so please, rest well tonight. I will then send someone to inform you of the application location tomorrow.”

“Thank you for the hospitality.”

“It’s nothing. You must be tired from your long journey. I’ll be going now.”

“Okay, see you later.”

Lowell said his farewell and stood. As he left the room and walked down the hallway, his mind returned back to the conversation he had just had with the woman.

Elaine said it was sheer luck that she had been able to escape from the nest safely. She said that along the way, she had only encountered a few monsters, but they were not very strong.

Many heroes and warriors had tried to traverse through the mountains as she had just done, but most of them had been swallowed whole, without even a single bone left behind. Very rarely was someone able to escape alive. Even though she had only very briefly stepped foot inside the nest, she was a very lucky person.

‘It would be nice if it was just luck.’

While thinking about this, he gave an order to one of his knights that were following near-by.

“Tell everyone who witnessed the incident to keep quiet about what they have seen. I don’t want this leaking out.”

“Yes, vice-captain.”

The knight who received his order saluted politely and left. Lowell was certain that the next time he saw Elaine, it would be at the knighting ceremony.

***

One quiet afternoon, four people were leisurely spending time in a spring garden filled with flowers in full bloom under the bright sun.

“How is our little Ash so handsome?”

Bella who was sitting on a bench, stretched out her long fingers and gently squeezed her child’s white plump cheeks. Seeing Bella mumbling with a serious face, Elaine couldn’t help bursting out laughing.

“Isn’t it too early to call the young boy handsome?”

“Not really, he is good looking, isn’t he? It must be because he resembles Loy. He’ll definitely only become more handsome in the future.”

“Yeah, sure.”

Elaine looked at Bella with an amused look on her face, then turned to the boy beside her who had been pulling her hair since a while ago. She crouched on the ground so she could easily make eye contact with the boy’s large purple eyes.

The person with the same colored eyes and hair as Bella, was like a miniature version of her.

“Ash, do you like my hair?”

“Yeah, it’s pretty!”

“Then, do you like your mom or your sister more?”

“Mama!”

Ash answered brightly without any hesitation. At those words, Bella let out a cry filled with emotion.

“Aww, my baby!”

Espel, who was sitting next to Bella, looked over at Elaine with pity in his eyes.

“Elaine, there are plenty of men in the world.”

“You’re being too noisy.”

Elaine ignored her injured pride and looked at Ash with a sullen face. When she saw that cute face, still smiling brightly, she suddenly felt slightly mischievous. She grabbed a handful of her long, silver hair and covered her mouth as if it was a handkerchief. Then she pretended to cry.

“Well, your sister’s hair is upset and now it doesn’t want to play with you anymore!”

“Huh? Why?!”

Ash, who was almost in tears, looked up at Elaine. His eyes were watering as if he would burst into tears at any moment. Still, Elaine found his plump face, with small lips tightly pursed to keep from crying, cute.

‘Aww, he’s so cute, I could die.’

Looking heartbroken, Elaine spoke the words for her hair, out of her own self-interest.

“Sister thinks her hair will no longer be angry if Ash gives his sister a kiss.”

“Really?”

“Really.”

The child completely believed Elaine’s selfish words. Ash, whose cheeks were blushing, rose onto his toes and kissed Elaine’s cheek.

“Did it work?”

“Yes, it’s all okay now!”

Elaine hastily answered, feeling slightly guilty. A fresh baby scent remained where his little lips had touched. Espel looked at Elaine, who was struggling to contain her joy, somewhat strangely.

“…Are you happy?”

“Ugh… Espel, I think I’m going to die… my heart…”

“Huh, sounds like a serious condition.”

Suddenly, a low, sweet voice could be heard above the sound of Bella’s light chuckle.

“What are you all doing here?”

When Elaine looked up, a handsome man with dazzling blond hair was standing there with a kind smile.

“Loy!”

“Dad!”

Bella and Ash ran to Lloyd and hugged him. Lloyd picked up Ash in one arm and greeted Espel, who was walking over to him.

Elaine stood up in joy and tried to approach them as well. She then paused and looked up at the sky, as if something was calling to her. There was now a full moon shining brightly in the deep blue sky.

The moment she laid eyes on it, the sun had melted. The day disappeared and darkness came in an instant. When Elaine hurriedly turned her head at the sudden change, she then saw the head of a large monster emerging from the ground behind the happily smiling family. As she faced the monster’s empty eyes, her whole body stopped, as if frozen.

She felt its pupils looking at her, which was impossible. Then its empty eyes turned toward the family on the ground. It smiled, opened its mouth, and slowly rose above the ground. Bella and her family then disappeared into the jaws of the monster.

“No!”

Elaine reached out her hand to try to stop what was happening in front of her.

But in an instant, they were gone. Before they had completely disappeared, the young Ash had looked back at her one last time, the moment the child’s purple eyes made contact, he was torn to pieces in the mouth of the beast. Elaine’s vision turned red.

“AHHH!”

She suddenly opened her eyes. Sitting up and panting roughly, she saw the inside of the room.

Ah, it was just a dream.

She wiped her sweat soaked bangs and sighed softly.

It was a dream from long ago. Memories of when Ash was young and Bella, Lloyd and Espel were alive. A time that, only to her, seems as vivid as if it was yesterday. To others, it was a long time ago. The nightmare that followed was so terrible though, she didn’t want to even remember it.

Elaine pulled back the blanket, rose from the bed and walked over to the window. Her legs were shaking but she still walked with some urgency. She hurriedly opened the window and allowed the cool breeze to blow into the room.

“Hah…”

She leaned on the window frame and took a deep breath. Her sweat slowly dried in the cool breeze. Her heart, which had been beating fast, also started to return to normal.

“Alright. There’s no need to become anxious yet.”

Elaine was muttering to herself, as if trying to shake off the scene at the end of the nightmare that had turned her vision red.

“Because I’m here, he’ll definitely be safe.”

Even though she could never go back to those happy times again, Ash was still here. She spent the remainder of the night repeating that to herself.

***

The next day, Elaine left the Knights’ building early in the morning and headed to the central square where the reception desk was located. As she walked along the main street leading to the square, she saw something amazing.

‘Killiard was not originally a place where people could live properly.’

Because of the monster nest and the continuous attacks that came with living nearby.

The monsters would destroy the crops they had worked hard to cultivate and attack the helpless residents of the territory. Nobles avoided becoming Lords of a place where they could die at the hands of a monster at any time. The royal family basically gave up on Killiard and neglected it. Naturally, Killiard was called the land of the dead and was then isolated, as if severed from the kingdom.

Elaine had seen Killiard in those days. In her memory, Killiard was a devastated land.

‘To a place like that… Ash has brought about many changes.’

Noisy streets and children running around. Various stalls set up in the marketplace and warm steam rising from the chimney of each house. Everyone in sight looked lively and happy.

She had known that Ash became the Duke of Killiard, but had no idea he was able to change things to this extent. It reminded her of when she had left the monsters nest and been caught by the guards. She was surprised by even the amount of security.

Before she knew it, she had reached the bustling central town square. Two large tents had been erected next to the fountain in the square. Perhaps because it was the last day to apply, there were many people in line.

Elaine went to the end and stood in one. When it was her turn to enter the tent, the secretary, who had been laying on the table, looking exhausted, suddenly stood up.

His face was colored with embarrassment when he saw the applicant. The long hair that hung down her back was as silver and bright as the moon. The small body had slender curves, and the light green eyed looked like fresh new sprouts that had just begun to grow. Elaine who had washed off the dirty blood and dressed neatly, was a beauty that would shock anyone.

“Is this the application reception for the Knights’ of Philres?”

“Yes! Are you sure you want to apply?”

The secretary who had ben dazzled by her appearance, suddenly came to his senses and asked her this question carefully. She was a rare female applicant, and it was hard to believe someone with such a beautiful face would try to join the sweaty knights.

Elaine smiled brightly and answered with clear pronunciation, as if emphasizing her answer.

“Yes, please make sure to give me the application papers for the Philres Knights’.”

As Elaine left the tent, she looked up at the clear sky.

‘Only one more day and you can see him.’

The moment she had been waiting so long for was almost here.