As I was relaxing in the living room, Adel came to me with a piece of news about Sofia had arrived.

I came to the front of the house, to greet her. Once we greeted each other, at the front of the house, Sofia said, "There is someone in front of your house gate, my lady…Acting suspiciously…"

Could it be him? I wondered. I asked her about his description, and she answered what I hoped for. Without wasting any time, I immediately asked Adel to bring this person to the front of the house gate to come in. Sofia's face was so confused that she asked, "Is this person your acquaintance?"

"Sort off…You may be tired because of the journey. You should take a rest, Sofia…"

Sofia went into the house and headed to her room with the help of some servants. As for me, I waited in the living room for Adel to bring this man to me. While I was waiting in the living room, I saw Lady Octavi come in. Without any word, I knew Lady Octavi wanted to know about this thing in the book.

We were waiting, until Adel brought the person, it was the man in the tavern yesterday we had been met. The man's eyes kept glaring around in the living room. I said to him, "You may take a seat with me…"

After he took a seat, I said, "So, have you considered my offer?"

"Your offer is actually quite generous” He replied, “however, as before, I came here not for wealth nor fame. However, I found something odd about you, young lady. How did you know my name???"

I couldn't say that I knew his name from my dream, so I found another reason, "We are Aurelius, surely we can find any information we desire."

The man's face suddenly changed to a serious gaze with a hint of suspicion, and said, "So, your family is the one who took what belongs to mine."

I could feel the tension in the air, especially from him as I chose my next words, "My family didn't do anything towards you; however, another family is keeping under our sleeves to do in our territory…"

The man asked me, "If you already know my name, I want to know how much do you know about me…"

I began, "Your name is Bo, which means 'to live'. You are a former retinue of the royal guard; however, the name isn't royal guard in your kingdom. As time passed, you found peace in your mind and left your position as a retinue, living in a coastal area, to become a fisherman. You created your crew and sailed towards the North Sea. The sail always took time for a year, so you left your family and met them once or twice a year. However, seven years ago, you found your village and your settlement had been raided. In your home, you found only your wife laying—"

Immediately, he shouted, "Enough!!!" and he continued, "I think I have found your information is actually correct, which must be right about what I am searching around…"

Lady Octavi who had been listening quietly, asked, "So what is he searching for seven years?"

"His precious daughter.” I answered, “He believes she’s still alive because she wasn’t found among the dead…”

"You mean she was kidnapped by the raiders?" Lady Octavi asked, her voice filled with concern.

"Yes…and he has been tirelessly searching for her ever since that tragic day."

Lady Octavi nodded in understanding, realising the depth of the man's grief and determination to find his daughter.

Bo interjected, "I said enough about my past, now, I want to know where she is now…"

I kept my composure and said, "I believe your daughter is in my family territory, the city of Florence…My father has a vision about kids in the street, so he built an orphanage, that should be taking care of these street kids. However, seven years ago, I found some kids in the street, as I had told you in the tavern. There is a high chance that the orphanage is not doing what was supposed to be planned by my father…"

Lady Octavi immediately refuted my words, she immediately stood up and said against me, "My Lady!!! Are you accusing the orphanage of hiding this man's daughter?" her expression stern.

"I am not accusing the orphanage of hiding this man's daughter, but a lot of some father's daughters too…"

Lady Octavi's face became stern as she interrupted me, "I refuse to believe it. The orphanage has always been dedicated to the welfare of all the children under its care."

You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

"Then, why were Alicia, Alecia, Aelia, and Felix on the street? The orphanage had been involved with another family."

Suddenly, I saw Bo was trying to get up from his seat, I said to him, "Where are you going?"

"I want to see my daughter…" he replied angrily.

"You can't go right now…"

"Why?"

"Because you need my family's approval first to go there…"

"I don't need any of that, If I want to save my precious daughter, I could just break in the orphanage…"

"I know you are a former retinue of the royal guard; however, if you can beat her…" I pointed at Adel, "Then you can see your daughter in the orphanage."

Immediately, Bo looked at Adel. Suddenly, his desire to leave was dropped. Maybe he knew what was behind Adel because he was a former Retinue of The Royal Guard, surely his experience and gut would tell Adel wasn't just an ordinary servant.

Still, I reasoned him, "The thing is, I want to help you as soon as my parents arrive. I want to tell them about this situation. So can you wait for them until they arrive? I promise I will send someone as soon as possible after I resolve this situation with them."

"What are you thinking? How do I possibly wait any longer after learning that my daughter is in the ring of traffickers?"

"I know that, however, I can't just let you go there alone, or send someone there." I asked Lady Octavi, "When will my parents arrive?"

She answered, "Around in 2-3 days…"

I tried to make a reason again to Bo, "In just 2-3 days, can you just wait for them to arrive before taking any drastic action? I understand your urgency, but it's important to consider all possible outcomes before making a decision that could potentially put your daughter and all the people in this ring at risk."

Bo hesitated momentarily, yet his heart couldn't change, "What will happen if we are too late? Because we are waiting 2-3 days."

I couldn't say that her daughter would mostly be safe if the story from the book was correct. However, the daughter would get rescued in a few months, not now. So this time would be the same with the four children; Alicia, Alecia, Aelia, and Felix, that I altered their fate in the book. But, Nona and her paragons must play by the rules not to alter any fate, that meant, Bo's daughter would mostly be fine this week until we could rescue her.

I said to him, "I assure you, your daughter will be fine…"

"Why? Why? How? You can say that?" Bo looked at me with desperation in his eyes, but I could sense fear and anger simultaneously.

I calmly replied, "I couldn't say it right now…" Suddenly I got up from my seat, standing up and meeting his gaze with determination, "However, this matter will be resolved, and your daughter will be safe. I promise you that."

Bo's expression softened slightly, "Your eyes show me that you truly believe what you're saying. You are truly different, young lady, I could see it from your eyes…" A glimmer of hope appeared in his eyes as he took a seat and nodded in understanding, "For now, I will hold your words close to my heart and trust that you will do everything in your power to help my daughter."

I nodded in return, and said, "As of now, you will live under this roof, and under me. You should take a rest…" I told Adel to guide Bo to his new room.

Before Bo and Adel left the room, I said to Bo, "There are two people from outside of my household that I hired, you may have seen it at the tavern, you should get close to them. I think their room is beside your room, that will be convenient for all of you. This way, you can have some company and support during your stay here." Bo nodded in understanding and followed Adel out of the room.

As they left the room, Lady Octavi came to me and said, "To confront your parents will be hard, my lady…Saying, the orphanage is a ring of traffickers will be hard to believe for his grace and madam. How do you plan to approach them about this?" Lady Octavi's concern was evident in her voice, "And with your situation, like the problem between you and the third prince, the confession of the Crown Prince, and now you hired three people from outside, you are in a bad position to confront them, my lady."

I took a deep breath, knowing that Lady Octavi was right.

~~~

As time passed, waiting for the arrival of my parents, I kept practising sword with Cassius after breakfast, which was just the basic footwork. Bo just kept waiting in his room except for breakfast and dinner, meanwhile, Valerie and Cassius tried to make him more relaxed, but it didn't work. His patience for just two days would be like a year for him. The surprising thing was the thing that Gennaia planted on me, it felt nothing, it meant I didn't have any hallucinations any more, since the meeting between me and Nona, and of course, the demise of Delios would make me remember it every day.

~~~

On the day while I was practising sword with Cassius, Adel informed me that my parents had arrived at the entrance gate of the capital. I immediately stopped the practice, and informed Cassius, to bring Valerie and Bo to stay in the courtyard until I ordered them to come in. I didn't want my parents to see them immediately, however, they would already know because they had their eyes inside the house.

Adel immediately guided me to my room, to change my attire to a normal dress. As Adel and I walked towards the stairs, somehow Lady Octavi was standing in front of the stairs with a concerned look on her face. She whispered to me that my parents had arrived, and they were waiting for me in the living room immediately. Lady Octavi quickly ushered me towards the living room, reminding me to compose myself before facing my parents. I took a deep breath and entered the room, ready to greet them with a smile despite my nerves.

As soon as I put my foot in the living room, I could feel the tenseness of the room. I could see my parents sitting on the couch, their expressions unreadable, while the little two hadn't been seen around. However, I could see Alicia, Alecia, Aelia, and Felix standing around the living room with a flat expression.

My mother was the one who said first, "Stop standing in there! You may take a seat, Aurelia…"

I quickly obeyed, taking a seat opposite my parents. It was so weird and different, that I was still wearing my training attire with my parents, who wore their best dress. The tension in the room was palpable as my parents finally broke the silence. "We need to talk," my mother began, her voice stern. I could sense that this conversation was going to be about everything that I had done.