* * *
Thirty minutes after Jurgen disappeared into the snow, the child appeared in a completely unexpected place.
“S-sorry…!”
He hadn’t gone outside at all.
Intending to pull a prank, he had quickly hidden in a storage room full of curious items, but when he saw how frantic the adults were, he got scared and didn’t come out.
“Why would you pull a stunt like that?! Do you want me to never show my face in public again!?”
The chaotic situation was finally resolved, and now all that was left was for the search party to return.
But with the blizzard worsening, even the servants, who had lived in Velon for decades, hesitated to enter the forest.
To make matters worse, the forest was a place where even compasses stopped working.
If they sent the servants out and they didn’t return, it would only add to the disaster.
“I’ll go check again.”
Anyone else might hesitate, but Hernan, protected by the Dragon, had no fear of freezing to death in the storm, so he plunged into the blizzard without a second thought.
“Do you sense anything?”
Hernan asked Ryuudene irritably, and the old dragon replied with a look of disdain.
[You know the forest is beyond my power.]
Ryuudene’s influence, bound by an ancient curse, extended only as far as the inner gardens of the Ryuudene estate.
Beyond the shrine, his power was cut off.
Hernan clicked his tongue in frustration and ran deeper into the forest.
He searched the woods until the hunting dogs collapsed from exhaustion, but there was no sign of Jurgen anywhere.
Could he have left the forest altogether?
But with his strength, that would be impossible today.
Unless… A dreadful premonition flashed through Hernan’s mind just as the hunting dogs began barking in the opposite direction.
Grrr… Grrrrr…
This wasn’t the barking of dogs finding their target; it was the warning growl that signaled an intruder.
‘Just my luck…’
Hernan calmly drew his sword from its sheath and called out.
“Who goes there? Identify yourself.”
A servant would give their name, and a soldier would state their unit.
But the figure approaching through the darkness remained silent.
Instinctively realizing it was the same group that had broken into his office before, Hernan raised his blade just in time to block a strike aimed at his head.
Clang!
The sound of metal clashing echoed briefly through the snowstorm.
There wouldn’t be just one.
Hernan swiftly countered, driving his sword into the intruder’s body, only to barely dodge another attack from a second assailant.
Two more figures emerged from the shadows—there were at least four.
But Hernan didn’t have time to waste.
He wasn’t fond of this method and would have to come back to clean up properly, but for now, he had no choice.
“…”
Like a predator announcing its presence with a howl, Hernan released a powerful burst of pheromones.
The intruders collapsed one by one, unconscious.
They would be out for hours—enough time to find Jurgen.
After what felt like an eternity of searching, Hernan finally came upon a pack of wolves.
They had gathered in a circle, and at the center of the pack was a dying fire and a curled-up figure.
“…!”
Hernan, too frantic to sheathe his sword, rushed toward them.
The wolves parted, as if welcoming a comrade, allowing him through.
The pack leader, who had been curled up beside Jurgen to keep him warm, rose to meet Hernan’s gaze.
“Thank you.”
Hernan scratched the blue-maned wolf gently, and it nuzzled him in response.
Then, almost as if scolding him, it whined softly before licking Jurgen.
“I get it. I’ll be careful.”
After petting the wolf one last time, Hernan carefully lifted Jurgen into his arms.
Thanks to the wolf’s warmth, Jurgen still had a faint trace of body heat left.
Hernan hurried back to the intruders, tied up the six of them, and returned to the estate with the hunting dogs in tow.
The sound of barking and the chaotic commotion that followed didn’t wake Jurgen, who only furrowed his brow in his sleep.
“Prepare hot water bottles and heat the room. His body’s almost frozen.”
Hernan sent Jurgen upstairs to rest and then returned to the captured intruders, preparing to interrogate them.
But his preparations were for nothing.
“…Hah.”
He couldn’t tell exactly who was behind this, but when he checked the prisoners, all of them had been killed using the same method.
Whoever it was treated human lives like paper, sending assassins as casually as one might send a letter.
Hernan had to figure it out quickly.
‘This time, I got to him first, but…’
If the intruders had found Jurgen before him?
If they had so much as touched a hair on his head?
Hernan shook his head, refusing to entertain the thought any longer.
When he returned to the lobby to formally apologize to the child and his aunt for the trouble caused, his expression was icy, a stark contrast to how he had been with Jurgen.
No amount of compensation mattered to Hernan, and the danger Jurgen had faced rendered any verbal apology meaningless.
He simply nodded without much interest.
Though he felt like tossing them both out into the forest, he knew that wouldn’t help.
The incident had already happened, and fighting over it would only make things worse.
Just as he was about to turn away, the child said something unexpected.
“What did you say?”
One of the servants had suggested to the boy that he should try surprising the adults.
But who could it have been?
Despite gathering all the servants in the lobby and having the child try to identify the person, none matched the description.
So who exactly had incited the boy?
The only clear fact was that there was an infiltrator among the household members.
“Now that I think of it… who was it that said they saw someone leaving through the window?”
No one remembered any names, only vague characteristics.
Someone had schemed to lure the adults and household members into the forest.
While the plot became evident, Jurgen remained unconscious long after.
Hernan reassured the boy and his aunt, sending them to a guest room, before heading to Jurgen’s bedroom, where he lay asleep.
Unlike the usual fever when someone is ill, Jurgen’s body was cold as ice.
Hernan dismissed the servant who had come to change the water bag, then carefully lifted the blanket.
Slowly, he lay down beside Jurgen.
After brushing back the sweat-soaked hair from his forehead and wiping his body with a warm cloth, Jurgen’s pallor began to improve.
“Ugh…”
Jurgen’s breathing grew slightly louder as he, still unconscious, gripped Hernan’s sleeve tightly.
“…Ma…”
The barely audible murmur startled Hernan, his eyes widening in surprise.
“Are you awake?”
Hernan’s arms tightened around Jurgen, fearing that if he regained consciousness, he might push him away.
But when Hernan realized the meaning of the words Jurgen managed to say, he buried his face into Jurgen’s neck.
“Don’t… go…”
His voice was filled with a sorrowful tone, as if heartbroken.
“I won’t go anywhere.”
Only after Hernan hugged him tightly did Jurgen’s tense expression soften, as if finally at ease.
What could have scared him so much?
Hernan intertwined their fingers, breathing in Jurgen’s scent.
The subtle, calming smell of the bath salts mixed with Jurgen’s natural scent caused Hernan’s body to tense up unconsciously.
“This is bad…”
Hernan couldn’t take advantage of someone who had lost consciousness due to illness.
He tried to calm his racing heart, preparing to leave, but Jurgen clung to him with a firm grip.
“…….”
Then, Jurgen rubbed his cheeks against Hernan’s chest, mumbling in his sleep.
“Mmm…”
In this mix of joy and discomfort, Hernan couldn’t cool down his heated emotions, his face turning bright red as he averted his gaze.
Watching Jurgen finally relax, his frown fading as he buried himself in Hernan’s scent, made Hernan’s heart race uncontrollably.
The guilt of not being able to protect Jurgen and the strange, unbearable fluttering in his chest intertwined.
Silently, Hernan studied Jurgen’s sleeping face.
Then, he quietly lay beside him, gently stroking his back.
Would he remember?
This wasn’t the first time this had happened.
As Hernan held Jurgen in his arms and closed his eyes, he felt as though he had returned to that very moment—back to the day when the helpless time of merely enduring and surviving had come to an end.
* * *
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