- A week earlier at the Erden Wall -

Light was shining through a window at the side of a small room, on a worn-out looking wooden desk. On its surface, you could see numerous scratches as evidence of its daily use. A letter with the Loeth family seal was placed on top of the desk and had remained unopened.

Moments later, the door to the room had opened and a stern-looking man wearing dark, leather armor walked in with an unconscious young girl in his arms. He laid her down gently on a couch next to the desk before looking at his stiff arms.

They were covered in frost. He repeatedly opened and clenched his fists to bring back the feeling in his extremities while walking towards his desk.

On his desk, he saw the letter addressed to him from his wife living in the City of Daerin with their youngest son. He opened the envelope and went through its contents as he sat down on his chair.

The man's eyes shifted from the paper to the young girl as he reached certain parts of the letter. He placed it down after reading its entirety and fell into thought. A few seconds later, a knocking sound came from the door and interrupted his deep thinking.

Three knocks in three precise intervals. He knew who it was on the other side of the door. It was a habit his eldest son had developed whenever he would enter his study.

“Come in.” He spoke loud enough for the person knocking to hear.

The door opened and an intelligent-looking young man wearing the same dark leather armor had walked in.

He placed his closed right hand on his chest and bowed in salute before speaking, “Reporting, Commander, I heard you came back from the forest inspection with a child in your arms?”

He was bowed but his eyes were glancing towards the unconscious young girl's long locks of red hair flowing down the couch.

“At ease.” The man gestured for the young man to dispense formalities.

“I want you to call for the head of Vinney House and your brother.” He instructed. ”We have something to discuss.”

“Does that discussion perhaps have something to do with the young miss sleeping on the couch?“

The young man asked. He raised his head and directed his gaze towards the stern-looking man in front of him. He brought his right hand up to his chin and had an expression of intrigue as he tried to discern the importance of the matter from the face of his father.

“It is as you heard, I found this little girl lying down in the outskirts of the forest just as we were on our way back this morning. It was the Water Spirit that guided me to where she was.”

“Oh!” The young man reacted. “Then I'll be right back with Sacha and Kyron. Excuse me.”

Anything that had to do with the Spirits was a serious matter. Accepting the request with another salute, the intelligent-looking young man left the room to call on his brother and grandfather.

After he left, the stern-looking man rested his arm on his desk and pondered on how to handle the matter of the sleeping young girl.

Meanwhile, on the couch beside the desk, the young girl in particular, with her eyes closed, was subtly wrinkling her nose.

“Where am I?” She thought. “Who are these people?”

She had awoken the moment the intelligent-looking young man opened the door.

“What's going on? I can't remember...“ She was furrowing her eyebrows as she wondered about her situation.

“Urgh...” She uttered and promptly tightened her lips. Her stomach aching with anxiety, she unintentionally let out a small voice.

“Did he notice?” She kept her eyes closed but had unconsciously brought her hands closer to her stomach. She peeked to see if the man had noticed that she was awake.

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“Are you hungry?” He asked.

The young girl flinched in surprise as the man suddenly spoke. She knew she couldn't keep closing her eyes as he had already noticed that she was feigning unconsciousness.

When she opened her eyes, her vision was hazy, but by the time they finished adjusting to the light, she opened her eyes wide and stared at the window past the desk.

The bright light shining through the glass had reminded her that she was not anywhere near her home. Her face turned into a sour expression and she placed her hands back on her stomach as she had felt it continue to ache.

“Are you not feeling well? Maybe I should bring you to the infirmary?”

Her attention earlier was directed at the window past the desk and didn't notice the man. She only noticed him sitting behind the desk when he spoke again. She shook her head sideways to answer the man's question.

“Then do you want to eat?”

The young girl stared at his face for a few seconds in silence before lightly nodding her head.

“Let's head to the mess hall for some food.” He suggested.

The stern-looking man was about to stand up when he saw the young girl shaking her head sideways in protest. His bottom, which was halfway up from his chair, sat back down.

An awkward silence began to fill the room as the two just locked eyes and failed to have a conversation.

The man who had no idea of what the young girl was thinking and the young girl whose stomach was feeling uncomfortable, were both startled when a sudden noise appeared to break the quiet atmosphere.

Sounds rapidly alternating between knocking and tapping were heard from the door. And before the permission to enter was given, an unruly looking young man had already opened the door and walked into the room with a swagger.

“Father! Older brother said you were calling for us?” He asked.

He spoke in a loud voice, causing the young girl sitting on the couch to blink her eyes in surprise.

“Oh? Who is this cute little miss?” He teased.

The young girl turned her head to the side as the unruly young man leaned in closer with a grin on his face, only for her to meet with the gaze of the stern-looking man sitting at the desk.

“Enough Kyron, you're making her uncomfortable.” The stern-looking man scolded.

He let out a sigh as he thought about this second son of his. The boy was competent when handling serious matters, but would be rather unrestrained when dealing with others casually. He was just like his mother.

“Father, what is a child doing here this close to the wall? Moreover...“ The young man spoke with a curious tone while his eyes were fixed on the top of the young girl's head.

“We'll speak of this later when your brother arrives with the Vinney Head.” The man interrupted.

“What!? He called grandfather as well!?” The unruly-looking young man grimaced.

“I called for him.” The man said. ”There's an important matter we have to discuss. Since you got here early, I want you to go to the mess hall and bring some food over for the little girl to eat.”

The unruly-looking young man's sour expression disappeared as he nodded his head and turned to face the young girl.

“Hey there little miss! What would you like to eat?” He began chattering, “Why don't you come with big brother here to the mess hall? It's too stuffy in this room. Let's go outside! “

The young girl showed a troubled expression as the young man spoke too fast for her to understand.

“It's fine, she will stay here.” The stern-looking man at the desk spoke with a slightly annoyed tone. ”Now hurry so she can eat before your brother and the Vinney Head arrive.”

The unruly-looking young man rolled his eyes and turned to the young girl once more.

“What's your name, little miss? You do have one, don't you? Or would you like me to call you Little Re—“

“Celes—My name is Celeste!” The young girl blurted out. She didn't want to be called any weird nicknames.

When she turned to face the unruly young man, she saw a long scar stretching down from his left cheek down to his neck. That must have been painful, she thought.

“Celeste, I'll come back with some food then! “

The unruly-looking young man had a smile on his face as he was about to leave the room. His one foot was outside the door when he seemed to remember something,

“Be careful of the old man with a receding hairline!” He teased and left just as loudly as he had arrived.

The young girl had a dumbfounded look on her face as she mulled over the last words he said.

“Be careful of the old man?” She wondered.

Another sigh coming from the desk beside the couch reminded her of another person that was in the room. She placed her hands on her stomach as the awkward silence had once again returned to the room.