Several weeks prior, back in Haderfield. In the evening the day that Lucien left.

Captain Wesley was continuing to oversee the construction of the new defences when his wife, Kaitlyn, ran over to him in a panic.

Realising that something was off, he took her aside and distanced himself from everyone nearby so that they couldn’t hear what was going on.

“She did what!?” he asked worriedly, which only made Kaitlyn feel worse.

“She ran away!” She took out the note that Lynn had left behind and passed it to him.

He snatched the note from her and started reading:

‘Dear parents,

I didn’t know how to tell you this, so I decided to leave a note. I overheard the conversation that happened in the Mayor’s office and decided that I wanted to help. I’ll be going with Mr Lucien to Whitmore castle, should he allow me to join him. Don’t worry about my safety, I brought my sword, and I’ve been trained by the best.

Love, Lynn.’

“What are we going to do? What are we going to do? It’s not safe out there.” Kaitlyn was pacing back and forth with her hands on her head as if she was going to rip her hair out.

Thoughts of protecting the village were now the furthest thing from Wesley’s mind. All he cared about was making sure his daughter was safe and sound.

“Calm down, I’m sure we can figure something ou-”

“Don’t you tell me to calm down! My daughter ran off with a stranger!” She grabbed Wesley by the collar and pulled him closer as she snarled.

Although she was shorter than him by a head, she was easily able to lift him off the ground so that his feet were dangling helplessly.

She tossed him away and stormed off back home.

“Wait! Where are you going.” He ran off after her, ignoring the crowd of people watching and whispering to themselves. “She’s my daughter too,” he sighed.

“Captain! Captain!” One of the nearby guards yelled out after him, but Wesley was already out of sight before he could stop him. “Guess we’ll take care of this ourselves. What got into them?”

Wesley chased after Kaitlyn but couldn’t catch up to her at all until they reached their house. She was just too fast for him. He was panting for breath as he reached the door, where he saw her tearing apart the house as if she was a tornado.

“What are you trying to do?”

“What does it look like I’m doing? I’m going after her.” She pulled open every cabinet and drawer as she stuffed things into a backpack. Dried food, water, and various assorted adventuring tools.

Somehow, in the short time between her getting home and Wesley coming in after her, she had already changed out of her apron and into a full set of leather armour.

She sheathed several daggers and throwing knives onto her body in easy to reach and hidden places, like on her belt, or in the hidden compartments in her boots.

She grabbed her bow and quiver, and in a matter of minutes she had transformed into a cunning and adventurous ranger.

Wesley was stunned by the nostalgic and familiar sight for a moment.

Prior to meeting him, Kaitlyn was an adventurer with nowhere to call home. She would travel from town to town, taking up residence in taverns and completing whatever requests she could find to pay for her next meal.

She was an adventurous spirit, and had set off for this life from the moment she turned 18. She had actually been quite successful in the near decade she had spent as an adventurer, although her body had quite a few scars that would suggest otherwise.

While the cost of living that kind of life was somewhat high, she had managed to save up enough money that her family would be able to survive for decades even if none of them worked.

The only reason she finally decided to settle down in one place was because she had met Wesley. They fell in love, and shortly after had a daughter.

Although she was now a mother, it didn’t stop her from hunting and seeking excitement any chance she could get.

Wesley snapped out of his daze when she approached him. “Where are you going?”

“To drag that idiot back so I can lock her in her room for the rest of the year,” she muttered as she shoved him aside to get to the door.

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“Wait a second.” He reached out and grabbed her arm before she could leave.

“Let me go.” She looked at Wesley as if she was going to break his arm in half should he not let go.

He flinched back slightly, but steadied himself. Although he was the captain of the guard, it didn’t help him at all when he was facing his wife.

Mostly because he knew damn well what she was capable of. And that she would go through with her threats should she need to. But he knew he had to stop her from just running off on her own right now. It wouldn’t be good for anyone.

“Just give me a second. We don’t even know where she is at the moment. Let’s take a couple minutes to figure out a plan. Then we can go after her. Okay?”

She struggled for a moment, biting her lip as she listened to him. Her instincts were yelling at her to quickly leave and chase after Lynn, but she knew he was right about this. She needed a proper plan if she wanted to ensure her daughter’s safety. “Damn it. You’re right. Do you have any ideas?”

Wesley grabbed a map from nearby and spread it out on the table.

“We need to figure out how far she’s gotten first. Do you have any idea when she might have left?” he asked.

“I saw her this morning when Paul showed up with that man.”

“She was helping me out for a little while after that. If we assume that she left as soon as she was done, then that’s a good ten hours that she’s been gone already.”

“It’ll be difficult to catch up to her unless something slows them down. Do you know where they’re headed?”

“He said he was going to Whitmore Castle. That means they would have left from this gate and should be right around here..."

He pointed out several places on the map as they talked and tried to come up with a reasonable plan to catch up with them.

“I don’t think we can catch up unless we’re lucky,” Kaitlyn sighed.

“Then we’ll have to bet on our luck. Let’s go right now.” Wesley rolled the map back up and stuffed it into the bag Kaitlyn had pulled out as he walked to the door.

“Wait! You need to stay here to keep everyone else safe. Let me do this.” It was now Kaitlyn’s turn to stop him from leaving.

“But I can’t just let you go on your own. Like you said, it’s dangerous out there.”

“I can defend myself just fine.”

“I know that. You’re far more capable than I am. I’m just saying that it would be dangerous for anyone to go alone. At least if I'm with you, then you’ll have someone to watch your back.”

Kaitlyn lowered her head and sighed. “You’re right.” She seemed to be struggling with something as she looked back at their bedroom. “Do you trust that man to get her to Whitmore Castle safely?”

“I don’t know him well enough,” Wesley hesitated. “But I feel like he will. I don’t think he’s the type to let her die on his watch. If it’ll make you feel better, then we can go and talk to Paul. He’ll know more about him.”

“We’ll speak to him later. I know a way to ensure her safety once she makes it there.” Kaitlyn entered their bedroom, opened the wardrobe, and pulled out an old box.

The box was made of wood, with small intricate carvings running along all sides, and a strange metal lock was embedded into the top that didn’t have a hole for a key. It was covered in dust from years of being forgotten.

She traced her index finger along the carving in a specific pattern, imbuing it with mana. The flow of mana was steady, neither increasing nor decreasing, and her finger never ran over the same place twice.

A soft click was heard as she stopped her finger above the metal lock and stopped releasing mana.

The piece of metal popped out of the box, as the rest of it unfurled into a beautiful, ornate flower.

A clear blue crystal sat in the box, about the size of a human eye. There were zero imperfections in the crystal, as it glimmered under the light.

It was a flawless gemstone that was clearly worth a fortune.

Kaitlyn held the gem in her hand, her hesitance fading into a look of determination.

“What is that?” Wesley asked.

“Something that I’ve tried to bury all this time. But we need it right now.”

“Does it... Have to do with your family?” he asked gently, his hand on her shoulder in a show of support.

“Mm.”

Wesley had never met Kaitlyn’s parents since they first met all that time ago. He hadn’t met anyone from her life before she became an adventurer for that matter.

He didn’t know anything about them, as Kaitlyn never really talked about her family. All he knew was that they had had a falling out about her becoming an adventurer, and that they hadn’t spoken in all this time.

He wanted to learn more about them, but he respected her wishes and chose not to bring it up.

Kaitlyn gave him a half-smile, then turned back to the gemstone. She steadied herself, and pushed her mana into it.

The gem glowed brightly as the man was poured into it. The mana could be seen coiling around inside it, before coming out of the top as a strange, transparent mist that sat in the air above the gem.

But even stranger, was the fact that beyond the mist was a wall different to the one’s in their house.

Wesley tilted his head to the side to stare at the familiar wall, then looked back at the foreign wall through the mist.

“What’s going on?” Wesley jumped back as a face suddenly appeared in the mist.

The face belonged to an old man. Despite the numerous wrinkles, the man’s appearance was well maintained and he had an air of dignity. His grey hair was combed back, and his thick moustache was neatly trimmed.

The man squinted as he peered through the mist, before his eyes locked onto Kaitlyn and widened in recognition. “Young Mistress Kaitlyn... Is that you?”

“Hello Mr Hargreaves. It’s been a long time.” Kaitlyn didn’t know how to look at him. She felt somewhat guilty.

His face trembled slightly as he failed to hide his smile. “It really is you. Wait here. I need to tell Sir.”

“Wait. Hargreaves. This is important.”

“But your parents...” he stopped. He could see the serious look in her eyes. “Of course. How can I be of assistance?”

“My daughter will be visiting Whitmore castle sometime in the next couple of months. I... want her to stay with my parents for a while.” She chose not to tell them that Lynn was only visiting there because she had ran away.

Light practically burst from Hargreaves eyes upon hearing her request, but he stayed calm. “It would be our honour.” He bowed.

She described both Lynn and Lucien’s appearance to him, then ended the conversation politely.

The mist faded and the gemstone stopped glowing as she stopped imbuing it with mana.

Kaitlyn slumped back on the bed as she looked at the ceiling. “At least she’ll be safe.”