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Chapter 22
“….”
This was no ordinary warehouse one could casually pass by.
It was the rendezvous point that little spy brat had written down.
And that gaudily dressed employee standing near the door…
‘Another spy accomplice.’
Knox slipped the monocle he had been wearing into his jacket pocket and approached him.
“Have you seen a five-year-old girl? Blonde hair, twin pigtails.”
“Ah. You mean the little girl in the dress with blonde pigtails?”
Just as he thought—the staff clearly knew Aisha.
‘So they really are fellow spies.’
A bitter laugh nearly escaped Knox.
So she truly had come here to play spy after all. He had expected as much, and yet for some reason, the realization left a bitter taste in his mouth.
“Good. I’m that child’s guardian. Where is she now?”
Then—
“Five thousand gold.”
The employee, wearing an unsettling smile, abruptly demanded money.
“?”
As Knox raised one eyebrow in confusion—
“Pay five thousand gold, and we’ll hand over the girl. We’ve got her right now.”
The employee leaned closer, whispering with a chilling grin.
“…….”
Wait.
They weren’t Aisha’s comrades?
Knox bit down hard on his lower lip.
“…Are you saying you kidnapped her?”
“We simply kept a lost child safe. We’re asking for compensation, so why so stingy—”
BOOM—!
At that moment—
With a thunderous crash like an earthquake, the warehouse doors burst open, and a terrified man slammed into Knox’s shoulder as he fled outside.
“C-Crazy…! The ability suppressor came off! Emergency!”
Ability suppressor?
Knox frowned sharply.
“What? The suppressor came off? How the hell did that happen?!”
His question was drowned out by panicked shouting.
“Where are the rest of the staff?! Did you release the monster?!”
“If we release it, everyone here dies, idiot!”
“T-That brat—!”
As the workers frantically yelled over one another, Knox listened carefully to every word.
In this kingdom, there was only one family known for supernatural abilities—
The Crost Ducal House. The ice ability.
Though his expression remained businesslike, chills ran down his spine.
‘…No way.’
Then realization struck.
Knox’s eyes widened sharply.
Drawn by a familiar presence, he stepped inside the warehouse—
And saw it.
Ice crystals covered the walls from end to end.
BOOM—!
“S-Someone stop this monster!”
“Who the hell removed his suppressor?! Damn it!”
The moment I freed Lucas from his ability suppressor—
The desperate situation tipped absurdly in our favor.
“Dandelion, stay right behind me.”
Who would’ve thought the back of a little boy could look this dependable?
“Okay!”
I pressed close behind Lucas and rose onto my tiptoes to peek over his shoulder.
The battle already looked over.
The dark room where the workers had prowled was now filled with towering pillars of ice.
It looked like an entire frozen cave.
‘…Is he some kind of overpowered main character? Why is he this strong?’
In the original story, he’d basically been treated as dead, so there hadn’t been much detail.
‘So this is the Crost family’s ice ability… That’s insane.’
Tex’s power had been impressive too, despite being from a branch family—
But Lucas was on an entirely different level.
Then—
“Shoot him with the sleeping drug! Just knock him out!”
At someone’s command, a huge man suddenly leapt out from behind iron bars—
A dart loaded with sleeping potion aimed straight at us.
“Dandelion, move!”
Lucas, who hadn’t noticed the danger behind him until too late, quickly stepped in front of me—
Thwip—
“Kgh!”
Right before the man could release the dart, he collapsed.
A long needle was embedded in his neck.
After confirming the man had fallen, Lucas—who had shielded me as though ready to take the hit himself—slowly opened his tightly shut eyes.
“…Dandelion?”
He had instinctively tried to protect me, but the fear he hadn’t managed to hide still lingered in his gaze.
For someone with such a rotten personality, he sure was brave.
Like father, like son.
“Young Master. Were you protecting me?”
Tilting my head, genuinely touched—
“…Of course! Protecting people weaker than me is only natural—huh?”
His face turned bright red as he muttered proudly—
Then suddenly stopped.
He noticed the fallen man.
“But… why’d he collapse?”
His eyes landed on the needle stuck in the man’s neck.
“I used to be a spy. Carrying self-defense poison darts is basic.”
I grinned.
“Ta-da! Cool, right?”
Behold—
A perfect fit for tiny maple-leaf-sized baby hands.
Smooth black finish for maximum stealth!
A child-sized poison dart!
“…You.”
Instead of praise, Lucas frowned slightly.
Oops.
Maybe bragging about being a spy wasn’t the best move.
“Uh… I mean, I did say I wasn’t one, but it was an emergency! Survival comes first, right?!”
I panicked and hurriedly explained—
“Repay… it…”
“Huh?”
“I said—I’ll definitely repay this debt!”
Lucas suddenly shouted at the top of his lungs as he sprang to his feet.
“Eek!”
The force startled me so badly I toppled over.
“Are you okay?!”
“Y-Yeah, I’m fi—”
Before I could finish—
My ear, pressed against the cold floor, caught something.
The vibration of approaching footsteps.
And—
A faint, fragile whimper.
“…Uhn…”
I heard it again.
This time, clearly.
‘What is that?’
Like a spring snapping upright, I jerked my head up.
One of the men Lucas had knocked out lay nearby.
And beneath him—
“…….”
A pair of vividly glowing purple eyes stared back at me.
“Meow.”
A kitten.
“Meew…”
A tiny kitten was trapped beneath the man.
“Dandelion!”
I dashed toward it, and Lucas hurried after me in alarm.
But I couldn’t tear my eyes away.
“Can you move him?”
“What?”
“That man! There’s a baby kitten under him!”
“Huh?!”
Startled, Lucas looked down—
Then slowly raised an ice pillar beneath the man’s head.
Like a high pillow, it tilted him just enough.
“Thank you!”
Flattening myself against the floor, I reached out.
“Come on. It’s okay now.”
But the kitten only trembled.
Its fur was still trapped.
I crawled closer and carefully slipped both tiny hands underneath, gently pulling it free.
At last—
A tiny ball of fur fell into my arms.
And the moment I met those purple eyes in the darkness—
My whole body froze.
‘Aisha.’
Back when I had escaped into the garden drain—
The desperate voice of that man calling for me in the dark tunnel echoed through my mind.
Was this how he had felt when he found me?
“….”
The thought lasted only a second.
The kitten came first.
I shook my head sharply and thrust the kitten toward Lucas.
“Young Master. Save this baby.”
“What?”
“You said you’d repay me. When we get back to the duchy, save this kitten.”
Lucas stared at me with those mysterious eyes.
Then scratched the back of his neck.
“…Whether it’s animal or human, weak lives should be protected. That’s what it means to be a Crost.”
It sounded like agreement.
But his reaction was… oddly lukewarm.
Was he disappointed that this was what I wanted in return?
‘You said you’d repay me, so why are you acting weird?’
Still, I ignored him and inspected the kitten.
Its life was fading—
But there was still warmth in my palm.
This little thing had probably been brought here as monster bait too.
‘What could something this tiny even eat?’
It was skin and bones.
Its purple eyes were crusted over, wary, but too weak even to hiss.
“Instead of that wish… how about becoming my subordinate and living at the ducal estate—”
“Young Master! The baby looks freezing!”
“Hk!”
Lucas instinctively stopped reaching out and hid his hand behind his back.
Right.
His ice ability made him cold.
“I’m too cold. You hold it.”
“Okay.”
I tucked the tiny furball inside my clothes.
“Mew…”
It gave a weak protest—
But once it felt my warmth, it stopped resisting.
Its face relaxed, as though it had never known warmth before.
If I hadn’t found this kitten—
It would’ve died here, trembling alone on the cold floor.
Just like I had once trembled alone before Calypse found me.
“…….”
Looking at this tiny life made me think of my past self.
“For now, Dandelion.”
Lucas’s voice pulled me back.
“Let’s go back. You protect the kitten, and I’ll protect you.”
He nodded confidently.
Or rather—
He was about to.
Because behind his small shoulders—
A massive shadow suddenly rose.
And with it—
A sword.
“Just die already, you ability freak!”
Lucas’s eyes widened.
In that brief instant, countless thoughts stormed through my head.
Lucas dies, and I survive.
Then I lose trust… and I’ll be alone again.
Lucas lives, and I die instead.
Then I won’t lose trust.
And I won’t be alone.
“Young Master!”
If I had to choose—
‘He may have pitied me enough to take me in… but he’ll never truly trust me. You were the one who lied first, Miss.’
Mai’s voice pierced through my mind like an arrow.
And in that moment—
I decided.
Even if I died—
I would save him.
“AISHA!”
