As the first light of dawn gently crept into the shelter, Celia could see that Seth was frowning in his sleep. She hesitated for a long time before she woke him up.

Downstairs, the dining area was already bustling with activity. The scent of freshly heated corn soup, bread, and cookies wafted through the air. Berko and Orion had already settled at the table, the soft morning light casting a warm glow over the surroundings.

"Seth, you didn’t have a comfortable sleep last night?" Celia asked with concern.

"The place was uncomfortable, so it’s hard for me to sleep," Seth said, showing a tired smile. For the past several days, he has had trouble sleeping due to the unfamiliar environment and the fear of getting attacked while he was asleep.

Orion raised his head from the bowl of milk and licked his nose. "I slept like a log."

Celia couldn't help but smile. "You certainly seem well-rested, Orion."

Berko, on the other hand, seemed to avoid the topic entirely, focusing on the coffee instead. “The hot coffee tastes excellent.”

Seth added sugar to his hot coffee and sipped it.

Celia thought that since Seth was a noble, naturally he would always sleep in a luxurious bedroom and be protected by the servants. He would get uncomfortable sleeping outside. "Are we leaving today?"

Berko finished his drink before he unhurriedly said, "I'll check the horse first."

“I’ll go with Dad!”

"Alright." Celia ate one of the cookies as she watched Berko and Orion get themselves ready and leave the house through the front door. "What about you, Seth? Do you have any plans?"

Before he could reply, they both noticed movement out of the corner of their eyes. They turned their heads to look, and there, from outside the cracked window, were two faces peeking in.

Celia asked in surprise, "Aren’t they the twins from yesterday?"

“Yeah.”

Celia said in a warm voice to the twins, "It's good to see you again. Come inside; you must be hungry."

The twins didn't need a second invitation. With eager steps, they entered the house, their eyes fixated on the leftover breakfast on the table.

"Have breakfast with us."

Their hunger was apparent, as they wasted no time sitting and indulging in the food. Seth was planning to meet them again, but they had delivered themselves to the doorsteps.

Amid bites of breakfast, Celia decided to strike up a conversation. “I haven't had the chance to ask your names.”

Noel looked at Seth for a moment before she spoke up first. "I'm Noel, and this is my twin brother Leon."

Seth sipped the coffee again before he paused. As he stared at their dusty faces and dirty clothes, he suddenly remembered the characters that appeared in The Summoned Hero.

Their fiery red hair and striking golden eyes were too distinctive to belong to mere commoners.

‘Oh, aren't they the children of the royal family? The ones who would do a coup d’etat towards the King and other royal family in the future?’

Leon narrowed his eyes in suspicion toward the adults in the house. “Do you really not know us?”

‘I just remember…’ Seth sighed. “Which nobles don’t know the two of you, your highness? However, since you rarely appeared in public, I haven't seen you in person.”

They rarely made an appearance during a formal event; however, every noble should at least know their names. It would be an insult to the royal family if the nobles didn't recognize them.

“Seth, you know them?” asked Celia.

“They are the children of King Gerard and his concubine Adelia.” Seth caught their displeasure with the way he introduced them to Celia.

"What? Really?! Isn't that the king of this kingdom?"

Seth nodded. Celia looked at the children with astonishment. "What are you two doing here? Where are your parents? Shouldn’t you guys be in the capital? We are far from there."

After Celia stopped bombarding them with questions, Noel replied with hesitation. "Maline brought us here."

"Maline?"

"Maline is their servant," Seth decided to answer for them. He figured out the reason they were hesitating people about their situation because it was a big offense for them to run away from the palace. If the King knew, then they would get punished accordingly.

Celia asked in confusion, "Why did Maline bring you here?"

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The twins hesitated to reply again.

"If you don't tell us your situation, we won't be able to help you."

"Will you help us?" Noel was looking at Celia and Seth with hopeful eyes.

But Leon was still skeptical. "What if you bring us to the Queen? If the Queen finds out, she will kill us."

Celia asked, "Why would the queen do that?"

"She hates Mom, Noel, and me. Mom passed away three months ago. The queen and other concubines tried to kick us out of the palace, but Maline protected us."

Seth looked at the children who stopped eating, and he sighed. "You two continue eating."

He gestured for Celia to talk outside, away from the twins.

"What is it?"

Seth explained, "King Gerard Edinburgh had many concubines and favored concubine Adelia, so the Queen felt threatened by her. The other concubines took the opportunity to encourage the Queen to kill concubine Adelia. Maline probably didn't tell the twins the real reason their mother died."

Celia didn’t doubt him, as she knew that he was a noble. He would know about the situation with the royal family.

"Where is Maline right now?"

"She's dead."

"Eh?" Celia was visibly shocked.

Seth leaned against the wall and passed his hand through his blonde hair. "That's the reason they're stranded here right now. I'm telling you this because I thought you may want to help them."

‘Knowing her character, naturally, she would help them after knowing their situation.’ Seth wasn’t someone so completely heartless that he would ignore the twins just for the sake of sticking to the plot of The Summoned Hero.

"Yes, of course! I want to help Noel and Leon." From the opened door, Celia turned to look at the twins eating at the dining table.

‘But their status is of royal blood, so it’ll be hard to bring them back to the capital with us.’ As Seth was lost in thought, a commotion broke out three houses away.

He could see figures clad in dark robes, yelling and kicking the villagers.

"Useless trash, we let you live here! Do you think we won't kill you?! Tell us who went near the cave last night!"

"Wah! I don't know! Stop hitting me!"

Celia's voice, filled with concern and confusion, echoed Seth’s own thoughts. "What's happening out there?"

The twins had stopped eating and came towards them to see the commotion.

"We can't let this continue. We have to stop them." Celia didn't hesitate, springing into action with a shout.

"Wait, Celia!" Seth turned to look at Noel and Leon. "Did you guys bury the bodies last night?"

Noel replied timidly, "We burnt them."

"Yeah, what's wrong with that?" Leon replied with furrowed eyebrows.

Seth forgot to tell them to bury the bodies. Burning them would only leave traces that they were killed.

"Stop! What do you think you're doing?" Celia yelled in anger as she approached the two cultists.

One of the aggressors turned on her, spewing vile words. "Where did this bitch come from?"

"Such a beauty. There's no way I wouldn't notice a beautiful woman like you."

"You aren't from this place. Who let you in?"

Celia was uncomfortable with the way they lecherously looked at her, but she braved herself and retorted back. "I'll only tell you if you promise you'll stop attacking them."

The malnourished middle-aged man who had been beaten just now limped away after Celia interrupted them. The cultists didn't stop him and instead turned their attention to her.

"Bitch, why should we listen to you?"

"It doesn't matter. Just grab her."

As he raised his hand to strike her, Seth intervened swiftly, grabbing his wrist and delivering a firm punch in response. The scrawny man fell to his knees, clutching his jaw in pain. “Damn it! Who are you?!”

The cultist beside him rushed at Seth. Seth moved quickly, dodging his attack and countering with a swift kick that sent him sprawling.

"You outsiders!" the scrawny man shouted again, his voice filled with anger. “Kill him! Kill them all!”

The scrawny man was a mage and sent a magic attack towards Seth’s leg. The Amulet of Warding that he got from Berko activated and shielded him.

He didn't want to resort to violence, but their aggression had left them with little choice. But it was clear that the two cultists were no match for them. Seth managed to injure them with light magic bullets that hit their legs and abdomen.

"Seth, stop! You are going to kill them." Celia grabbed Seth’s shoulder before he could shoot one of the cultists in the head.

Reluctantly, Seth loosened his grip on the cultist he had pinned to the ground. The cultist groaned, pain etched across his bruised face, but he was still breathing.

"Are you okay?" Celia approached Seth and checked his hands. The skin was torn slightly from punching the members of the Demon King Worshipper, but it was still fine.

"I'm fine. I could have beat them more if you healed them." Seth said it jokingly.

Celia frowned as she healed her hands, which took several minutes. "What are you talking about? My power isn't used for that kind of thing."

The commotion was loud, so there were other villagers who looked at the two of them warily from the distance.

‘By fighting the cultists, the other members of the Demon King Worshipper will know our existence.’

"Let's go back."

As they walked away, the villagers were more courageous and approached the cultists on the ground, who were groaning in pain. They began kicking and hitting the defenseless cultists with rocks, like the cultists did earlier to one of them.

"Aaaah!!"

"Go away!"

The sight was still difficult to see. He could see that Celia looked terrified to the point where she couldn't speak.

They returned to the house and saw Noel and Leon, who were looking at them from the door, and their words filled him with a strange mix of pride and discomfort.

"You are incredible, mister," Noel praised him, her eyes wide with admiration.

Seth coughed in embarrassment. “Just call me Seth.”

Leon, however, seemed less impressed. "I don't think he's that good. I can also fight them."

Celia finally voiced out her confusion, "Who are those people? Why were they attacking the villagers?"

The twins exchanged a glance, and before anyone could speak, Seth replied with a lie, "It seems like they aren't from here. They look like bandits."

"Bandits? No wonder the villagers were so angry."

The twins stared at him, wondering why he did not tell her the truth. Seth looked at them without saying anything.

Time passed by quickly. As he had expected, Berko and Orion returned and said the horse was still sick, so they spent another day in the village.

The second night arrived, and it was notably noisier than the first.