LPSB 35

chapter 52

Izael and Rahael had walked completely different paths in life.

Rahael had been born as the one and only precious heir of the Grand Duchy of Iscarot. The sole son of the aging Grand Duke and Grand Duchess, he was a boy destined to inherit the duchy one day.

Though his life before reincarnation had met a painful end, this time he was a boy fated to walk a brightly illuminated road.

“Could you perhaps tell me your name? I really want to repay you somehow.”

At that moment, someone grabbed my sleeve and whispered urgently.

“Miss Shuen! I’ve been looking for you everywhere…!”

It was Jenna, who had gotten separated from me when I pushed my way through the crowd.

Apparently, she had thought something terrible had happened, because her face had gone completely pale.

I was about to answer simply, but instead I decided to take a gamble.

“Sorry, Jenna.”

Jenna’s eyes widened in surprise. It was the first time I had ever called her by name.

At the same moment, a familiar notification bell rang.

Ding!

<<Warning! This action does not match your designated behavior.>>

<<Accumulated Warnings: 1>>

What? It worked just fine.

Then why earlier…?

Puzzled, I looked back at the boy.

After glancing between Jenna and me, he politely lowered his head and greeted me again.

“You were a young lady of a noble family. I have been rude.”

The easygoing attitude he had shown moments ago vanished, replaced by impeccable manners befitting the future Grand Duke of a duchy.

This conversation couldn’t continue any longer.

No matter what, I couldn’t reveal all my personal information to the protagonist while living alongside Izael.

I hardened my expression and spoke coldly.

“I returned your handkerchief, so that’s enough, isn’t it? I’m busy, so I’ll be leaving now.”

“Y-Young Lady?”

I heard the boy call after me in confusion, but I quickly grabbed Jenna and left the alley.

The obvious gaze fixed on my back was so burdensome it almost made it hard to breathe.

Only after walking briskly for quite some time and putting plenty of distance between us did I finally release the breath I’d been holding.

Leaning against a wall, I steadied my breathing.

“Miss, are you alright? What happened?”

Jenna gently patted my trembling shoulders with concern.

“Nothing happened.”

Even as I said that, something unbelievable had happened.

To begin with, the fact that Rahael—the protagonist—was in the middle of the capital made no sense.

Rahael was fifteen, the same age as me.

At this point in the story, he was supposed to be staying in the Grand Duchy of Iscarot, searching for the companions who would later become his allies.

Yet somehow, he had suddenly appeared in the Arfedic Empire.

Why? Where did things start going wrong?

One thing was certain: this was no time to stand around.

I turned to Jenna.

“Call for a carriage. We need to return to the estate.”

I had to tell Hiser and Aka about this.

After returning to the estate, I locked my bedroom door and rubbed the back of my hand.

The mark of the contract glowed brightly, making its presence known.

Expecting Akaterian and Hiser to appear shortly, I waited.

But no matter how long I waited, neither of them showed up.

I rubbed the mark again, yet only the symbol shone. Akaterian still didn’t appear.

What’s going on…?

This had never happened before.

The contract mark engraved on my hand was magic that connected a dragon and its contractor.

Hiser had explained that rubbing the mark allowed them to summon each other.

During the daytime, when the estate servants were moving about, Aka usually spent time at the bakery with Hiser.

That way he could relax without constantly worrying about being discovered.

Akaterian’s daily routine was incredibly simple.

He either ate as much of the bread I baked as he wanted, or curled up on a white blanket and took peaceful naps.

The soft blanket that used to belong to me had become Aka’s most treasured possession.

“It smells like Shushu, so I love it!”

Every time, he would bury his nose into it and sniff repeatedly before hugging it tightly with all four paws and falling asleep.

But regardless of what he was doing, if I summoned him through the contract mark, he would come to me immediately.

Even while eating bread, he would appear with his mouth stuffed full of it.

If he had been napping, he would still toddle over and throw himself into my arms with sleepy, half-open eyes.

The more I thought about it, the stranger it felt.

Anxiety began creeping over me.

Hurriedly, I headed toward the table in the center of my room.

On the wooden floor was a magic circle visible only to me.

It connected directly to the bakery and had been personally created by Hiser.

After confirming once more that the door was locked, I stepped onto the circle.

A blinding light enveloped me.

For an instant, I felt the chilling sensation of my feet leaving the ground.

Then solid flooring met my feet once again.

Slowly opening my eyes, I found myself inside the familiar bakery.

The moment I confirmed I had arrived safely, I began searching for Akaterian.

“Aka! Where are you?”

No answer came.

I searched every corner of the first floor but couldn’t find even a single scale.

I headed toward the stairs connecting the kitchen and the attic.

Maybe he was taking a deep nap under the sunlight pouring through the attic window.

Clinging to that hopeful thought, I hurried upstairs.

But the moment I reached the attic, I froze.

The room was a disaster.

It looked as though a storm had torn through it.

Tables and chairs lay overturned.

Broken teacup fragments and half-eaten bread littered the floor.

And everywhere were long claw marks gouged into the wooden boards.

My heart crashed into the pit of my stomach.

With trembling hands, I brushed aside the broken porcelain.

The dense, shallow claw marks were unmistakably those of a young dragon.

As if he had struggled desperately while being dragged away…

The realization made the world spin before my eyes.

The claw marks stretched onward, leading all the way to a shredded white blanket.

My vision seemed to turn blue.

Barely managing to speak, I called out in a terrified voice.

“Aka… Aka…”

I didn’t care if this was just some horrible game of hide-and-seek.

I only wanted Aka to come running out laughing and squealing.

At that moment—

Flash!

Something suddenly emitted a brilliant light.

I whipped my head around.

But it wasn’t the baby dragon I’d been waiting for.

On a wall that had been completely blank moments ago, glowing crimson letters appeared as though someone had scrawled them there.

[I will wait for you to come find me.]

I knew immediately.

This was a message left behind by the one who had kidnapped Aka.

I walked toward the glowing words.

My legs felt weak enough to collapse beneath me, but I forced myself onward until I reached the wall.

Directly beneath the message was a rotating magic circle.

If I stepped onto it, it would probably lead to wherever Aka had been taken.

I wasn’t foolish enough not to realize this was a trap meant to lure me in.

But I couldn’t just sit still.

The claw marks and torn white blanket remained scattered across the floor.

Placing a hand over my anxious heart, I closed my eyes.

This was exactly when I needed to think rationally.

I couldn’t step into that magic circle alone without a plan.

I needed help.

The first person who came to mind was Hiser.

Akaterian was his precious successor.

But for some reason, I couldn’t contact him.

In the first place, if Hiser had been nearby, this never would have happened.

Whoever orchestrated this had waited until Hiser was absent before kidnapping Akaterian.

It was a dragon stronger than Akaterian and one that knew Hiser’s whereabouts in detail.

Should I ask Izael for help?

The thought crossed my mind briefly before I discarded it.

Right now, I didn’t have a quest that would exempt me from warnings.

If I tried asking him for help, the system would almost certainly activate Auto Mode.

What should I do…?

I wish someone would just fall from the sky and help me.

It was a ridiculous fantasy.

In the end, I only had one option left.

100 Coins.

The 100 coins I had been saving for the future, just in case.

At this point, gambling was the only thing I could do.

The moment I decided to spend them, golden text shimmered into view as if it had been waiting for me.

<<Wait for Free Chapter 1 or Draw Lottery>>

The instant I saw the message, I frowned.

Last time, the Lottery option had bounced around in giant letters as if desperately begging to be selected.

This time, however, it had shrunk down and hidden itself in a corner.

I stared suspiciously at the tiny word.

The moment our gazes met, it visibly flinched.

As if trying to retreat, it slowly edged away from me.

What the…?

When I reached out a finger, it even dodged from side to side trying to escape.

Originally, I had intended to choose the paid chapter option.

But suddenly, an impulse struck me.

Like I was playing whack-a-mole, I chased the fleeing text around.

After a lengthy struggle, I finally managed to poke it.

Ding!

<<A Golden Opportunity!>>

<<You have selected Lottery (Winning Rate: 100%)!>>

My eyes widened.

So there had been a reason it kept running away and making itself difficult to choose.

A message appeared informing me that coins had been consumed, followed by the rapid spinning sound of a slot machine.

Ding!

<<Congratulations on your win.>>

<<Prize Result: “Help! Help! Someone Help Me!”>>

<<Someone who can help you will fall from the sky!>>