Lucius left the orphanage and headed to his lodging.

The sky was blue when he arrived.

He reached for the doorknob of his room and halted.

The door was ajar.

Lucius sighed softly and opened it to enter.

The room was dark, and no lights were lit.

However sunlight poured through the window and highlighted the silhouette of a man.

Lucius wasn’t surprised to see the intruder.

He nonchalantly went to the table, sat down on the chair, and lit the lamp.

“Why are you so late?”

The intruder’s voice was also relaxed and soft.

“I thought you had slept on the first bed of grass you found again.”

The man walked over and sat across from Lucius.

“…Looks like you couldn’t even afford that.”

Frowning slightly, the man rested his chin on his hand.

“Have you really not slept?”

“Why don’t you cut to the chase?”

The man with round eyebrows made an exaggeratedly sad face.

“It’s been a while since we last saw each other, and yet you’re so cold.”

“…”

“I only summoned you to the capital because I was worried, you know? In times like these, you need to eat and sleep better to preserve your strength.”

“Is that all?”

Lucius fished something from a pocket and placed it on the table.

“Did you pull this kind of trick just to ensure that I eat and sleep?”

The man looked at the table.

What Lucius had placed was an envelope with a letter that he had received from the Master of the antique store.

“If you really thought it was a trick, you would be furious with me by now.”

“…”

“I went to the capital and accidentally discovered a clue related to your missing brother.”

Smirking, the man tapped the envelope with his index finger.

“You’ve decided that the information I gave you wasn’t a trick.”

The man was Lucius’ old friend and the Master of the antique store, Ilya Luther.

“I never thought this method would really work. No, should I be more surprised by the impeccable timing?”

He found it as soon as he obtained the clue.

Ilya couldn’t hide his excitement and asked.

“Who did you find?”

“Jonathan Krollot.”

Ilya raised an eyebrow.

“The Krollot family? Moreover, that money-grubbing son of a bitch?”

Ilya laughed.

Everyone knew that although the Krollot family had a pristine external image, they were actually corrupt nobles.

That family was a mess.

“I had hoped for a more romantic story. As expected, reality isn’t as sweet as romance novels. It’s cold and cruel.”

Ilya patted Lucius’ shoulder as if comforting him.

“Cheer up. It may be shocking, but I guess you and he have a special bond. Isn’t he a cadet at the Naval Academy now? And yet you stumbled across him.”

Lucius furrowed his brow and brushed Ilya’s hand from his shoulder.

“Jonathan is the one who knows something about Calyx.”

The corners of Ilya’s mouth slowly lowered. It dawned on him that the person Lucius was talking about was different from the one in the clue he had uncovered.

If it was Jonathan who took Calyx, it was no longer a joking matter.

Jonathan was famous from an early age.

His angelic face was so pretty when he smiled, but he only ever smiled when he was beating up kids his age.

“I plan to find Calyx with his sister. I’ll leave the rest to the knights.”

“His sister? By that, do you mean Rayna Krollot?”

Ilya seemed taken aback.

“Do you know Ms. Rayna?”

“She’s one of my customers. Ms. Rayna has never seen me, but I have seen her.”

Ilya rubbed his chin and muttered as if he was talking to himself.

“In terms of her formidable personality, Ms. Rayna is as famous as Jonathan. Out of all people, why would that woman…”

Ilya trailed off.

His eyes widened slightly as if something had occurred to him.

While Ilya was lost in thought for a moment, Lucius reached for the envelope of the letter.

As he held it, he spoke.

“That woman…?”

“Lucius.”

Ilya snapped out of his internal dialogue and called Lucius.

“I’ll give you a hand.”

Ilya’s lips slowly formed a grin.

“Who would’ve guessed? I may be quite a help to you this time.”

* * *

After Lucius left, Rayna summoned Maya into her office and explained the whole situation.

“You’ll help him search the orphanages?”

Maya’s face went white.

“Milady, this is not good. Right now, that Monster Grand Duke is suspicious of the young lady.”

“He would’ve been much more suspicious if I had declined the offer. Perhaps searching this orphanage was a deliberate act on his part from the start.”

Rayna continued speaking calmly.

“Fortunately, it’s not necessarily a disadvantage for me, since I gave him two conditions.”

The first condition was that she would only accompany him to one orphanage.

“My excuse was that I wasn’t feeling well.”

Due to health reasons, Rayna was unable to engage in social activities and only stayed at the mansion.

“I added that was the reason why I offered to help contacting other orphanages to begin with.”

“Did he accept that condition?”

Rayna laughed bitterly.

“For now.”

Maya let out a deep sigh of her own.

“In the meantime, you must completely dispel the Monster Grand Duke’s suspicions.”

Rayna nodded.

“What about the second condition?”

“I said we should eat together at least once a day.”

“…I beg your pardon?”

Maya made an absurd face.

“But why?”

“I want to gain something.”

Rayna continued as she opened her desk drawer.

“Lucius probably has information about the curse afflicting Calyx.”

Rayna took the Bomar figurine from the drawer and stuffed it in her pocket.

“I’m just as determined to learn about Lucius as he is about me.”

Rayna smiled brightly as she looked at Maya so as to reassure her. However, Maya remained stern.

“Then I shall accompany you.”

“Maya, you will remain at the orphanage.”

“Are you going alone?”

“It’s only for a few days. All I have to do is find a temporary employee at the lodging establishment.”

Rayna walked to Maya and held her hand.

“Maya, there’s no one I can entrust Calyx to other than you.”

“…”

“Please, keep Calyx safe.”

Maya bit at her lip.

She couldn’t refuse Rayna’s earnest plea.

“If that’s your wish, I shall obey.”

“Thank you.”

Rayna patted the back of Maya’s hand and left her office.

She went to Calyx’s room and hesitated for a moment at the door.

She almost couldn’t bring herself to tell him that she was leaving the orphanage again.

Calyx will definitely be disappointed.

With mixed feelings, Rayna knocked on the door and twisted the doorknob.

Calyx had already prepared for sleeping and was sitting in bed reading a storybook.

“Rayna!”

Upon seeing Rayna, Calyx quickly closed his book.

Joy was evident in his eyes.

Since Rayna was busy from the morning, she had thought that by the time she visited he would be asleep.

Rayna dragged a chair next to the bed and sat down.

“Calyx, it’s about the Bomar figurine.”

She took out the Bomar statuette.

“Do you mind if I keep it a little longer?”

Rayna asked carefully, knowing that Calyx cherished the small figure.

However, Calyx eagerly nodded.

“Sure, Rayna can keep it.”

“Thank you.”

Rayna spoke again, clutching the Bomar statue in her hand.

She handed it to him.

“Also, I’m sorry.”

Calyx’s eyes opened wide.

“I’ll be leaving here again for the time being.”

“…”

“But I’ll be back soon, I promise.”

Without realizing it, Rayna had dropped her gaze.

She couldn’t bear to look at Calyx’ dejected face.

“Sure.”

However, an unexpected answer came.

Rayna looked at Calyx.

“Last time, you did say that it wasn’t finished yet.”

Calyx continued, fiddling with the corners of the book.

“Rayna always keeps her promises to me. You’ll be back soon, right?”

“…Yes.”

With Rayna’s affirmative reply, Calyx smiled.

“I’ll wait.”

Rayna couldn’t help but laugh along with Calyx.

She was grateful to Calyx for being understanding and remaining firm.

At the same time, it made Rayna sad.

She wanted to let Calyx run around and play like children his age.

As the adult, she didn’t want him to act like a grown-up.

I’ll definitely return safely so that you can be safe too, Calyx.

Rayna looked at the book he was holding while making an oath to herself.

“Do you want me to read it to you?”

Calyx didn’t answer. He merely blinked with a blank expression.

“I’ll read the book to you and remain by your side until you fall asleep.”

Calyx’ jaw dropped.

He looked into her face for a moment, mesmerized, then handed Rayna the book.

After Rayna took the book, he laid down in the bed.

He turned his body toward her, arching his back and pulling the covers closer to his face.

“You’re my first.”

“First?”

“Rayna is the first person to read a book to me.”

__