The night fell over Carter County Castle like a silent blanket.
Lusian walked toward his room, exhausted from the battle, the orders, and the decisions he had been forced to make throughout the day.
Adele followed a few steps behind him.
As always.
When Lusian closed the door, she stepped forward without saying a word.
She placed her spear against the wall.
Lit the essence lamp.
Prepared hot water.
Checked the temperature of the room.
Then laid his nightclothes on the bed.
Everything was done with precise movements.
Almost ritualistic.
Lusian watched her in silence.
Adele had always been like this whenever they were alone.
Serious.
Impeccable.
Attentive to anything he might need.
"Adele."
She turned.
"Yes, my lord?"
"You don't have to do all that."
Adele blinked.
"It's my duty."
"Your duty is to protect me."
"I must take care of you as well."
Lusian sighed.
"That doesn't mean you have to be my servant."
Adele lowered her gaze slightly.
"The Duchess taught me that taking care of my lord is also part of protecting him."
Lusian had no answer.
Arguing with Adele about it always ended the same way.
To her, it wasn't a burden.
It was simply the way she had learned to show that she was keeping her promise.
When Lusian sat on the bed, Adele knelt down to remove his boots.
"I can do that myself."
"I know."
"Then..."
Adele looked up.
"Please let me."
Lusian remained silent.
Eventually, he gave in.
When she finished, Adele set the boots aside and stood.
Lusian lay down.
The room fell silent.
The lamp was extinguished shortly afterward.
And, as had happened during the previous few nights, Adele lay down beside him.
She didn't try to move too close.
She simply took his hand.
Lusian felt her fingers close around his.
"Adele."
"Yes?"
"You don't have to sleep here."
She took several seconds to answer.
"If I sleep somewhere else..."
Her voice became barely audible.
"I won't be able to protect you in an emergency."
Lusian turned his head slightly.
He could tell she was embarrassed.
But she didn't let go of his hand.
"There are soldiers outside."
"It's not the same."
Lusian remained silent.
That was what concerned him the most.
Adele didn't seem to understand that she didn't need to be beside him every second.
She had turned her promise into a way of life.
And perhaps...
into something more.
Lusian stared at the ceiling for several seconds.
The original Lusian...
The thought suddenly occurred to him.
Did he really never realize how she felt?
Adele was beautiful.
Strong.
Loyal to an almost absurd degree.
And she had been by his side for years.
Maybe he really did love her.
Maybe he simply never said it.
Lusian closed his eyes.
There was no point trying to answer that question.
The past could no longer be changed.
Beside him, Adele shifted slightly.
"Good night, my lord."
"Good night, Adele."
She smiled in the darkness.
Lusian couldn't see it.
But he felt it.
And that was precisely what made it dangerous.
Because it was becoming harder and harder for him to tell where Adele's loyalty ended...
and where something far more personal began.
The next morning, during breakfast, Emily watched Adele for several minutes.
The young Douglas woman stood behind Lusian, as always.
Silent.
Attentive.
Watching every little detail.
Beside her, the white tiger rested peacefully. Its eyes were half-closed, but even while resting, it seemed to monitor every movement around Lusian.
Emily slowly placed her cup on the table.
"Lusian."
"Yes?"
She hesitated for a few seconds.
"What kind of relationship do you have with Adele?"
Lusian raised an eyebrow.
"Relationship?"
"I don't mean just the fact that she's your bodyguard."
Emily glanced discreetly toward the young woman.
"She's constantly watching over you."
Lusian followed her gaze.
Adele had just checked the temperature of his food before returning to her place.
As if that were the most important task in the world.
"We've known each other for many years."
"I know that already."
Emily looked at him again.
"I want to know why."
Lusian remained silent for several seconds.
"When Adele was eight years old, her village was destroyed by a magical beast."
Emily's expression changed.
"What kind of beast?"
"A high-level tigress."
Lusian's voice became more serious.
"It destroyed everything."
He paused briefly.
"Adele survived by hiding beneath the remains of her own house. She lost her entire family that night."
Emily felt a knot form in her chest.
She looked toward Adele.
The young woman remained completely calm, as if the story belonged to someone else.
"My mother found her during an expedition," Lusian continued. "She found Adele among the rubble and pulled her out."
He paused briefly.
"But that wasn't the only thing she found."
Emily frowned.
"The tiger?"
Lusian nodded.
He discreetly pointed toward the enormous white animal.
"It was barely a cub."
Emily looked at it more closely.
"Was he there too?"
"Yes."
Lusian lowered his voice slightly.
"He was the son of the same tigress that destroyed the village."
Emily's eyes widened.
For a moment, she looked at the animal again.
It was difficult to imagine that such a calm and majestic creature had descended from the monster that had destroyed Adele's family.
"And your mother gave him to her?"
"Not immediately."
Lusian shook his head.
"First, she had to determine whether Adele could handle him."
"And could she?"
"Not at first."
Lusian smiled slightly.
"Adele had a Gamma affinity for beast taming. The tiger, on the other hand, possessed an Epsilon affinity."
Emily immediately understood the difference.
Epsilon.
An extremely powerful affinity.
"Then she shouldn't have been able to bond with him."
"Not normally."
Lusian paused briefly.
"But my mother wasn't a normal beast tamer."
Emily gave a small smile.
"The greatest beast tamer in the world."
"Exactly."
Lusian nodded.
"Sophia used her knowledge to control his growth and develop the bond between them. For years, she made sure Adele could handle him without the tiger's power eventually destroying her."
Emily looked at the animal again.
"And it worked."
"Better than my mother expected."
Lusian let out a small laugh.
"They grew up together."
Adele gently stroked the tiger's head.
The animal opened one eye, looked at her for a moment, then closed it again.
The scene seemed so natural that it was difficult to imagine that the creature could one day become a living calamity.
"After losing her family," Lusian continued, "Adele was completely alone."
Emily turned back toward him.
"My mother brought her home with us."
Lusian paused briefly.
"She raised her alongside me. From then on, she became part of our family."
Emily remained silent.
"Sophia educated her. She taught her how to read, how to fight, how to control her affinity, and how to care for the tiger."
Lusian lowered his gaze toward his cup.
"And she taught her something else."
"What?"
"That one day, she would have to protect me."
Emily remained motionless.
"My mother raised her to protect me even above her own life."
Emily frowned slightly.
"That's too much for a child."
"I know."
Lusian sighed.
"And I've tried to change that."
Emily looked at him in surprise.
"You have?"
"Many times."
Lusian rested his arms on the table.
"I've told her she doesn't have to die for me. That protecting me doesn't mean sacrificing her life. That if the time ever comes when she has to choose between saving me and surviving, I want her to choose to live."
Emily looked toward Adele again.
"And does she listen to you?"
Lusian let out a small laugh.
"No."
For the first time, there was a hint of frustration in his voice.
"Those words don't seem to make sense to Adele."
"Why?"
Lusian fell silent.
Because he knew the answer.
Because he had seen it.
Because he had played through that story.
In the game, Adele wasn't simply a bodyguard.
She was a nightmare.
Before reaching the villain, the heroes had to cross her territory and defeat both her and her tiger.
Lusian still remembered that battle.
The white tiger tearing through entire formations.
Its speed.
Its strength.
The way it seemed to ignore every wound as long as it could still move.
And Adele...
Even when her body was covered in blood and she could barely remain standing, she kept fighting.
Not out of hatred.
Not for revenge.
Not even out of fear.
Only to prevent anyone from reaching her lord.
She had fought tooth and nail until her body finally stopped responding.
Lusian closed his eyes for a moment.
Now he understood what he hadn't been able to understand back then.
She wasn't protecting a position.
Nor was she simply following an order.
She was protecting her world.
He opened his eyes.
"She doesn't see it as a sacrifice," he finally said. "She sees it as something natural."
Emily remained silent.
"Like breathing."
Lusian looked at Adele.
The young woman was discreetly checking that he had finished his breakfast.
As always.
"And that's precisely what worries me."
Emily felt a pang of sadness.
Now she understood something she hadn't seen before.
Adele hadn't entered Lusian's life as a servant.
She had been a little girl who lost everything.
Sophia had saved her.
She had raised her alongside her son.
She had given her a family.
And Adele had made protecting Lusian the center of her existence.
Emily watched as the young woman absentmindedly stroked the tiger.
A sister to Lusian.
A daughter to Sophia.
A beast tamer and her beast.
And perhaps something much harder to define.
Emily looked back at Lusian.
"Have you never tried telling her that you want her to live for your sake?"
Lusian became thoughtful.
"Yes."
"And what did she say?"
A tired smile appeared on Lusian's face.
"That as long as I remain alive, she will too."
Emily didn't know how to respond.
Lusian picked up his cup again.
"That's why she's with me."
He paused briefly.
"She's like a tick."
Emily looked at him in surprise.
Lusian sighed.
"One that has no intention of letting go."
Emily let out a small laugh.
For the first time, the tension in the conversation eased.
But when she looked at Adele again, her smile slowly disappeared.
Now she understood.
Adele didn't protect Lusian simply because Sophia had asked her to.
Nor because it was her duty.
She protected him because, after losing her first family...
she had found a new one.
And at the center of that family was him.
Emily slowly lowered her gaze to her cup.
After losing her parents.
After losing her home.
After being left completely alone...
Lusian had become her home.