As V vanished into the darkness, Rosita turned to her husband, her face tense and worried. "Honey, please—go to the palace right now. You have to tell King Arindor that his daughter's safe and already heading for the border."
"But the palace is almost a full day away. If I go there, Mister Wood's limit might not reach the border."
Rosita had already prepared Harold's travel bag. She handed it to him. "If you come back in two days, everything will be fine."
Harold glanced between his wife and daughter, clearly unsure. Something felt off, and he didn't like the idea of leaving them alone.
But after a long breath, he finally nodded.
He kissed them softly on the forehead. "Don't go outside for the next two days. Please, be careful." His voice carried deep worry.
"Don't worry, Dad! I'll take care of Mom," Maya said with a bright, reassuring smile.
"Safe trip!" Rosita added.
After Harold left, Rosita and Maya started gathering the light crystals.
The house wasn't big, so they had already decided to hide them in their old storage room.
They had to hide the crystals as fast as they could—there was always a chance a knight might show up to inspect the place.
If a knight realized they'd hidden the crystals before inspection, they'd instantly become the main suspects of harboring a Nameless.
They both held as many crystals as they could and went toward the storage room under the stairs.
The small wooden space was dusty, old, and damp in some corners.
They were trying to squeeze all the crystals inside when suddenly—someone knocked on the door.
"Dad forgot something?" Maya confused, ran to open it.
But as soon as the door opened, she froze. Her eyes widened in shock.
A Shadow Knight stood in the doorway—Captain Lu.
His cold gaze drifted from Maya's terrified face to the crystals behind her.
A slight frown formed on his expressionless face. He subtly glanced over his shoulder, saw Zaskar approaching.
So he quickly grabbed Maya by the collar, throwing her out of the house.
"I'll check the inside," Lu said and stepped in, closing the door behind.
Zaskar walked lazily toward Maya, who was lying on the ground. He grabbed her by the hair, forcing her head back.
"A Shadow Elf? Thought there was only a Light Elf family here." He muttered, examining her grayish skin tone.
The door opened again. Lu came out, dragging Rosita by the arm. He threw her down beside Maya and stood next to Zaskar.
"No one else inside, Commander," he said flatly. "No sign of the Nameless or anything... suspicious."
Zaskar glanced at Rosita's fair skin — clearly a Light Elf — and chuckled mockingly. "Ah, so not a real family. A Light Elf couple raising a Shadow Elf kid, huh? That explains why they don't have a single damn light crystal. But where's your husband?"
"He… he's dead," Rosita said, trying to keep her voice steady.
"Hmm. I see. Any information about a Nameless?"
Both Rosita and Maya shook their heads quickly.
Zaskar sighed in annoyance. "Whatever." He lazily waved his hand toward Lu. "Kill them."
Maya's breath caught in her throat.
But Rosita quietly squeezed her daughter's hand, giving her a comforting look. "Don't move," she whispered softly.
Lu unsheathed his sword.
Rosita still held Maya's hand tightly to stop her from doing anything reckless.
But Maya suddenly pulled her hand free, reaching for the knife hidden at her ankle.
Before she could move, Lu kicked her hard in the face, slamming her to the ground.
Her vision spun and blurred. She struggled to lift her head, her sight hazy.
Through the blur, she saw Lu strike Rosita in the chest with his sword.
Rosita fell, blood spreading fast as her breaths became shallow and weak.
Maya's eyes widened as tears streamed down her cheeks. "Mom—"
This time... Lu grabbed Maya by the throat.
Maya's terror quickly turned into rage. She clawed at his huge hand, kicking and thrashing to break free. Her tears were burning with fury, but it was no use.
He squeezed harder—until she went limp.
Zaskar noticed Lu hadn't killed the defiant girl and crossed his arms.
"Why aren't you killing her?" Zaskar asked with a frown.
Lu looked at the unconscious girl in his arms. "I like this one," he said coldly. "I'll keep her—if you allow it, Commander."
"Well, that's a first." Zaskar raised a brow, a smirk forming. "Fine. Do whatever you want. Our job here's done anyway... "
-
The cart was still moving through the twisting forest paths. The shadows of the trees blocked the sharp sunlight.
Mister Wood had made sure to take all the shortcuts he knew—safer, faster. He hadn't stopped once in hours.
"Princess, huh?" he muttered to himself. "So the Queen really did have a daughter after all? What a joke,"
He didn't actually care about Eri or whether she made it to the border.
But he was Harold's Guardian—and that meant he had no choice but to obey his boss's orders.
That's how Guardians were. Once someone gave them life, their bond forced them to stay loyal to that person. It was their nature.
A Guardian could be made of anything—stone, metal, bone—but the wooden kind was the most common. Basically, any lifeless form brought to life by someone.
The most important rule in the contract between a Guardian and their boss was distance. They couldn't stray too far apart. And a Guardian could always sense where their boss was.
That was exactly what was causing Mister Wood a problem.
For some strange reason, he couldn't feel Harold's presence back at the house—and he was already reaching the edge of his range way sooner than expected.
At this rate, he wasn't even sure he'd be able to personally drop Eri off at the border.
-
"I swear something weird showed up on Human's and my neck last night!" Eri groaned helplessly, her voice echoing inside the cart.
The thick cloth wrapped around the cart blocked most of the sunlight, leaving the inside dim and shadowy.
V sat cross-legged, facing the two restless kids who were desperately trying to explain that a mark—something like a Nexus, but different from any known type—had appeared on their necks last night.
Though right now, there was nothing there. The marks had vanished.
"Hmm… well, I don't see a damn thing," V shrugged.
"It was right here! I saw it myself!" Eri insisted, poking Noah's neck to show where it had been.
The familiar painful sparks instantly shot again, and Noah winced, jerking back.
"Can you not poke me every two seconds?!" he snapped.
Noah was already on edge—confused, frustrated, and tired.
He knew those marks had been there last night. He'd touched Eri and felt no pain for the first time, his deep cut had even healed instantly after that.
So what the hell was happening now?
The marks were gone—and the damn sparks were back.
"Look, kid…" V rested his cheek on his hand lazily. "From where I'm sitting, you two are just a pair of Unseen. How am I supposed to tell what kind of mark you had when there's nothing to see?"
Eri blinked, clearly not understanding what 'Unseen' meant.
Noah sighed. "Unseen means poor losers like us who got rejected by your lovely 'Master of Nature', and never got a Nexus."
Eri tilted her head at V, still confused. "Master? Why'd you reject us then?"
Noah's smirk spread slowly across his face—oh, he'd been waiting for this moment.
Finally, Eri would see what a lying fraud this fake 'Master' really was.
V paused for a second, pretending to think deeply. "Hmm… well, you see… I recently became the Master of Nature. Back when you two were born, I wasn't in charge yet, so yeah—not really my fault you ended up Unseen."
Noah blinked several times at that ridiculous answer.
Wait. Recently became Master of Nature? Like it's some kind of job position that just opened up?!
"What kind of stupid lie is that?! Who the hell would believe—" Noah stopped mid-sentence when he caught Eri's innocent expression. "…ugh. Never mind. I see who."
Right then, Noah felt a small tug at the side of his shirt.
He looked down and saw Little Noah—that tiny weird mini-monster—chewing on the hem of his clothes.
"Get lost!" Noah grumbled, yanking the fabric out of Little Noah's mouth.
"N-na?… Naaa…!" Tears welled up in Little Noah's eyes as his tiny hands trembled, reaching out for him again.
Hearing his sniffles, Eri carefully picked him up in her palm, offering him one of her hair strands to chew on.
"Human, you broke Little Noah's heart!" Eri scolded, gently patting the Little Noah's head.
-
By the time Harold reached the palace, the sun was already setting.
He was exhausted, but he knew he had to deliver the message to the King as fast as possible—and then return home to his family.
He crossed the vast garden in front of the palace and approached the main gate.
But the moment he took another step forward, he suddenly found himself surrounded by guards.
"I'm here to deliver an urgent message to the King—"
But before he could finish, the soldiers drew their swords.
"Wait, hold on! I—"
Too late. They tackled him to the ground.
"Harold Waldor! You're under arrest for treason against the royal family!" one of the guards barked, yanking him up roughly.
"W-What?! Treason?! I just came to deliver a message for the King! I need to get back to my family—"
"Shut up!" another guard shouted, shoving him toward the dungeon.
They threw him inside a dark, cold cell and locked the door.
"The King already ordered your arrest—and your family's too. They'll be joining you soon enough."
Harold froze, unable to process what he'd just heard.
The King ordered… that? Then the soldiers were already on their way to his home—to his wife and daughter.
Why? What was going on?
"P-Please! Let me speak to the King! There's been a mistake!"
The guards burst out laughing.
"A mistake, huh?" one sneered. "You can forget it, old man. When the King returns tomorrow… you'll be executed."