“Ah, we have arrived.”

Arriving at the mansion, Werazel woke up and caressed her sore head.

Why is my head so throbbing and painful? Could it be that Chester squeezed my head while I am sleeping? 

It is quite possible. 

Lizelle opened her eyes and glared at him.

“Get off.”

Chester, who was not aware that he was cursed even after helping, first got out of the carriage and held the door.

Werazel snorted at him and got out of the carriage.

When the two got off the carriage and were about to walk into the mansion, the door opened wide and Lapel cried and ran out.

“Lizelle!”

“Young master please be careful!”

The butler and other servants hurried after Lapel.

Werazel, seeing the sight in front of her, walked towards Lapel who was running to her.

“Lapel, if you run, you might fall.”

“Lizelle!! Waaah!”

Lapel cried out with a tear-filled face, and then hugged Lizelle’s legs tightly.

“Waaah!”

She held the boy crying sadly and patted his little back and swept her.

“Lapel, what’s wrong huh? Please don’t cry. “

The end of Lizelle’s voice trembled as if her heart hurt.

“Please…don’t.. Lapel…. don’t leave Lapel..Waah.”

Lapel poured a bucket of tears on her shoulder. He hugged Lizelle’s neck tightly. She hugged him tighter because she now understood what he is feeling.

“No way. I will never leave Lapel, don’t cry, huh?”

Waaah… I don’t want…. to go back there.. waahh”

Something concerning has happened.

I wanted to arrive before you woke up, but it seemed that I was too late. 

“As soon as he woke up, the young master saw that Werazel wasn’t there, and he cried, even though we said that you’ll be back soon, he didn’t stop crying.”

The servants bowed their heads with apologies written on their faces.

“No it’s okay. Duke, I’ll go in first.”

Lizelle bid goodbye to Chester, saying it was alright.

As Chester nodded, Werazel hurried into the mansion with a crying Lapel.

“Sorry for the disturbance, Duke.”

“Has the child been crying for a long time?”

“I think it’s been 5 minutes since he woke up and cried since then.”

“If something like this happens, report it right away.”

“Yes. “

She was running to her crying child like an image of a caregiver, but I couldn’t believe it easily. 

Chester ordered his servants to move their feet that had been attached to the ground.

***

“Lapel, look at this,” Lizelle sat down on her bed and took out a snow ball from the market, after returning to the room.

“Huh, huh huh…”

“Look at this. Guess what I bought for you?”

The boy stopped crying gradually and saw the wrapping package on Lizelle’s hand.

“I’m sorry Lapel. I was a little late because I wanted to give you this. I didn’t leave Lapel on purpose.”

Lizelle wiped Lapel’s cheeks filled with tear marks and put the wrapped box in his little hand.

“Shall you open it?”

“Hick..hick”

Lapel responded with a crying voice and began to open the wrapper with Lizelle.

When he opened the thin wrapper, there was a star in front of Lapel that he wanted so much.

Lapel completely stopped crying and looked at the stars in the snow ball with a twinkle on his  eyes.

Werazel smiled proudly at Lapel’s response.

“Tadah! Look, there’s a light?”

When she pressed the switch under the snowglobe, a yellow light was lit inside the star.

The star that covered the night sky was in Lapel’s hand.

Lizelle gave me a star!

“A star! Lizelle caught a star!”

Lapel, who held the star dearly in his arms, skipped on his feet. There was excitement buried in his footwork indicating that he was really happy.

“Now this is the star of Lapel from today.”

Lizelle patted the excited Lapel’s head. She laughed heavily along Lapel, but there was anxiety in her.

I am already worried about how to say good-bye to him in a month.

After the cold days of being alone in the dumpster, he met her and was covered with warmth. Now, Lapel firmly misunderstood.

If Lizelle leaves, I might go back to that terrible place. 

“Lapel. You don’t have to go to the dumpyard anymore. Your home is here.”

Lapel who was staring at his snowglobe slowly looked up.

Lizelle’s expression was resolute as if it wasn’t a lie.

***

A few minutes ago. 

When Lapel woke up from the bed, he couldn’t feel the familiar warmth and began to look around the room, crying for Lizelle’s name, but there was no answer anywhere.

Lapel was very scared at the moment.

I’m alone again, and I’m afraid I’ll go back to that scary, narrow, and nasty place. 

After a major accident, Lapel had no problems with communication, but lost all his memories before that.

So he had to recognize and remember everything anew, and the first thing he encountered was the scenery of a stinky garbage dump. He wanted to get out of there, but he couldn’t.

Because that was everything in his world.

Then one day, he met Werazel, and he was given the name ‘Raphelion’.

Lapel found stability with the help of Werazel, but that didn’t mean that his unstable condition had completely improved.

There were only two memories of Lapel.

The loneliness of being alone in the garbage dump and the warmth of being together is the arms of Werazel.

So, when Lapel was alone, he naturally thought of a garbage dump. There were many people in the spacious and magnificent mansion, but Lapel didn’t have Lizelle, so he was deeply afraid to go back to the trash at any time.

“In the future, you will never be alone like before. I promise you.” 

To him, Lizelle’s promise was like a blessing from God.

“I swear I will never leave you alone.” 

A vow to never leave him alone.

It meant that there was no longer a terrifying night where there was only a sharp wind and cries of a ferocious beast.

Hm! Lapel laughed happily, only Werazel in his eyes.

A warm light, like the glowing star in his arms, was passing through his body. Werazel hugged Lapel silently.

She certainly realized by today. That she has to prepare for their parting little by little.

Otherwise, Lapel would not be parted from her.

***

“It seems that the Duke is living with a woman who brought a child to him.”

“The child is?”

“I heard them saying he had black hair and red eyes.”

The man who knew his fault quietly took a hint. He failed to do what he was told to deal with.

In the wagon accident, the Duke and Duchess were killed but he missed that loach.

I should have gotten rid of that child completely.

He even confirmed that the child fell into the water, but he couldn’t find any drowning bodies. He searched all over the place and searched the riverside when his employer asked him to retrieve the dead body.

In the end, he couldn’t find it, but it seems that the baron’s daughter suddenly found the child and took him to the Duke.

Tuk, Tuk, Tuk.

Long fingers hit the table.

Tuk, Tuk, Tuk. 

It was a constant and slow movement, as if counting seconds in his mind.

“Sorry, I’m sorry.”

Rather, it was more scary.

If he got angry ferociously like fire, he had to lie down and beg for forgiveness, but now he was nervous as if he was walking on thin ice that he didn’t know when it would break.

Even if he didn’t say a word, he felt breathless because of the pressure from his employer.

“The woman.”

“Oh, yes! She is Werazel Prosier, Baron’s Lady Prosier.”

Wasn’t she a woman full of vanity in that luxury?

As if thinking deeply about something, the employer raised his chin with the tip of his hand and looked at the man under his feet.

“What should I do?”

Flinch. 

At that sound, the man trembled like a bamboo tree.

“Don’t be so mean. Am I a bad person?”

The employer laughed as if this situation was funny.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean that.”

The man reflected on his actions and raised his head even further.

The employer took off the mask that was covering half of his face. The mask with sapphire fell to the floor.

The man was surprised and opened his eyes wide.

Because the employer has never revealed his face.

He was always under a veil of secrecy, but now, there was a sense of threat and fear when he could not understand why he suddenly revealed his appearance.

“You’re making things worse by not being able to do it right in the first place.”

As the employer got up, the old chair made an unpleasant sound. The employer took a step and walked past the man.

“Hazen.”

“Yes, by your order.”

A black man who suddenly appeared at the employer’s call was on one knee.

“Get rid of it,” words of mercy came from his mouth.

He spoke in an indifferent way, without feeling any emotion or pity.

“Yes,” the black man pulled out the sword he was wearing in his waist and approached the man.

“Have mercy on me please! Please!”

Even the voice of the man was close to screaming, the man walked out without blinking an eye.

“Yes, you should have succeeded.”

The employer climbed the stairs, yawning slightly as if bored.

It didn’t matter to him if he revealed his existence now, so he threw off the stuffy mask.

He, too, knew that the Duke was investigating the incident. The reason he didn’t use his hand so far was because he thought he had done the job perfectly.

One cannot find the culprit without a physical proof.

The child I thought was dead is alive. If I couldn’t handle it neatly this time, I could get caught at any time.

“Haah.”

I used a new guild that can be destroyed at any time on purpose, but that was the wrong choice. 

I can’t work like this. 

The sharp eyes of the man flashed. The employer, coming from underground and up to the ground, looked at the most spectacular mansion in this empire after the Imperial Palace.

The place where he could only watch from a distance looked so distant and hazy. He couldn’t hold it with both hands.

Not mine.

“Master. I took care of it.”

Hazen, who followed after the treatment, stood next to the man.

“I need a magic sphere.”

I just could not let it go of this. Some measures are needed.

“Yes, I will prepare.”

The employer frowned and bit his lip. The eyes that looked at the distance were stained with anger and jealousy.