"A wyvern was spotted flying around the area," Reynald admitted.
Claire frowned. "Only one? If our knights work together, surely you can handle a single wyvern, right?"
Reynald shook his head grimly.
"What is it, Reynald?" Claire demanded.
"The scout team investigated where these monsters were coming from, and they found the source," Reynald explained.
"Which is?"
"There is a sleeping dungeon about ten kilometers away from the path," Reynald said, his voice tight. "No one paid attention to it because it was declared a dead dungeon centuries ago. But it seems... no, it is definitely a dungeon break."
"A dungeon break?" Claire repeated, unfamiliar with the term.
"It's a catastrophic crisis where monsters overwhelm a dungeon and pour out to the surface," Reynald clarified. "A monster stampede."
It was the first time Claire had ever heard of such a terrifying event.
Reynald continued, "My Lady, nobody noticed it until now. We have to inform your uncle, the King, immediately. This is a national emergency."
He took a breath before continuing. "By the time of our scheduled departure to the Kingdom of Caelthrynd, if we hadn't known about this..."
"The convoy would have been ambushed," Claire realized, her voice dropping. "What would have happened to me?"
"My Lady, you would have been..." Reynald couldn't bring himself to finish the sentence.
"Answer me, Reynald. If we had discovered this dungeon break too late, what would have happened to our country?"
"Thousands of our citizens would have perished," Reynald whispered.
Claire fell silent, her mind racing.
"How could that boy have known about the dungeon break? I never told him which road I was taking. I'm certain I didn't even mention I was going to Caelthrynd."
"I... I don't know, My Lady," Reynald stammered. "It's hard to believe a child predicted this. It's impossible to call it a mere coincidence."
That boy saved me and our country from impending disaster, Claire thought. Who is he?
Claire stood up abruptly, her posture commanding. "Reynald, go fetch the sage. We need to ask him for advice."
She waved her hand, and a maid stepped forward to hand Reynald a heavy bag full of gold coins. "Give these to him."
Turning to her maid, Claire instructed, "Prepare the carriage. I'm canceling my departure to Caelthrynd. I'm going straight to the palace."
"Understood, My Lady," the maid replied.
Claire Valthryndor didn't just cancel her trip to Caelthrynd that day. Eventually, she would cancel the engagement altogether.
As she walked toward her waiting carriage, a sudden thought crossed Claire's mind.
He's the one who broke off my engagement to the pretty prince of Caelthrynd. My love life is officially ruined.
She pictured the face of the mysterious young sage—so remarkably calm in front of her angry, intimidating knights.
Claire muttered to herself, "I'll have to make him take responsibility for that."
A sly smile escaped her lips.
---
It was already afternoon when Kian finished his fraudulent fortune-telling. He stood up, but froze when he suddenly spotted familiar figures in the distance.
"Knights?!" Kian muttered. "Did they come back to arrest me for real?"
Across the busy street, Reynald walked with his subordinate knights, carrying a bag full of gold coins. Reynald spotted the dark hood of the young sage through the bustling crowd. He picked up his pace, but a large group of pedestrians crossed the street right in front of him.
The heavy foot traffic completely blocked his visual contact with the boy for a single second. When the walking people finally finished passing, the sage was gone. Reynald blinked in confusion. He only saw the scratched crystal ball sitting on a small table next to two empty stools. Nobody stood there anymore.
Meanwhile, Kian was already running for his life.
I can't get caught, he panicked.
Suddenly, a little girl stepped directly into his path. Crashing into her was inevitable.
No! Kian screamed internally.
THUD-BAM!
A heavy thud echoed as their bodies tangled and hit the dirt.
Kian bumped into the little girl hard, sending them both tumbling to the ground. Kian watched the girl fall, but the girl's focus was on something else entirely: a massive flower pot plummeting toward the exact spot she had just been standing.
Simultaneously, as Kian and the girl hit the ground, the heavy pot smashed against the cobblestones.
CRASH! SCRAAATTCH-shatter!
Thick terracotta exploded into sharp fragments across the street.
Ouch! Kian groaned internally.
He was about to complain to the little girl for blocking his path, but out of the corner of his eye, he saw multiple knights charging in their direction.
CLANG-CLUNK. CLANG-CLUNK.
The heavy, rhythmic thudding of steel-plated boots against stone grew rapidly louder.
Without a second thought, Kian scrambled to his feet and sprinted away. The little girl remained on the ground and stared in shock at the broken flower pot. She was certain she should have died in that moment.
She turned around to say thank you, but her mysterious savior was already gone. Even the pedestrians who witnessed the incident gasped in pure shock.
He saved my life, the little girl thought.
Kian had no idea what had just happened because he was too busy running away.
"Damn! They are still following me."
He spotted a narrow alleyway and took a sharp left, but another accident awaited him. He crashed into a girl about two years older than him.
They stumbled, but they both managed to stay standing. Kian looked down and saw something fall to the ground. Four long pieces of bread lay scattered across the ground, and he was currently stepping directly on two of them. The food was completely dirty and crushed. A wicker basket rested a meter away.
A moment later, the girl burst into loud sobs.
"Pshhh," Kian hissed frantically. "Keep quiet."
But the girl kept crying.
"You... you wasted the only bread I had for my family." Her hands trembled as she pointed at the crumbs. "It's for my brothers and sisters. Do you even know how hungry they are?"
She continued crying while she grabbed her tattered skirt.
"Just buy another batch of bread," Kian urged as he looked over his shoulder.
"I already spent my last coins on these!" she sobbed.
Kian heard the unmistakable footsteps of armored men closing in. Panicking, he immediately clamped his hand over the girl's mouth.
"Don't cry," Kian whispered.
He took his heavy leather pouch from his pocket and shoved it directly into the girl's hand. The girl felt the heavy weight drop onto her palm. While Kian covered her mouth, he leaned close.
"It's yours. Just keep quiet."
The girl nodded instinctively. Kian released her and bolted down the narrow path. Once he was gone, the girl wiped her eyes and opened the pouch. Her eyes widened in absolute shock and joy.
Born into poverty, she had never seen a bag full of silver and gold coins in her entire life. She pressed the pouch to her lips and whispered, "Whoever you are... thank you so much."
She cried again, but this time, they were tears of joy.
Kian eventually stopped running when he noticed nobody was following him anymore. He caught his breath while leaning against a brick wall. But a few moments later, multiple heavy footsteps echoed down the adjacent street. Out of sheer panic, Kian started running again. He saw an ice cream shop that was open, though it had zero customers inside. Without any hesitation, Kian rushed straight inside the store.
"Welcome, customer! Do you want some ice cream?" A man wearing an apron smiled warmly at him.
Kian completely ignored the greeting. He saw a solid metal door at the back with a painted warning sign: Do not enter. Authorized Personnel Only.
Kian heard the multiple footsteps marching right outside the shop windows. Desperate to escape, Kian ran straight toward the restricted door.
"Hey kid, stop!" the store manager shouted.
But Kian ignored him and threw the door open.
CLICK-CLACK. Squeeeaaak... SLAM!
The store manager was stunned, but there was no time to process it. Heavily armed knights suddenly flooded his shop.
"The sage entered here," a subordinate knight stated.
Reynald stepped forward and glared at the store manager. "Did you see a little boy wearing a dark cloak enter here?"
Panic seized the manager.
What do I do? he thought in terror. Why are knights here? Did they figure us out?
Forcing his voice to remain steady, he replied, "No, sir. I haven't seen a little boy wearing a dark cloak."
Reynald looked at him intently. The heavy pressure made the store manager jerk slightly.
"It's so bizarre," Reynald mused aloud. "Why is there an ice cream shop in this deserted and isolated place? Shops like this should be in busy areas."
Reynald looked around the quiet room, and his eyes narrowed with suspicion.
The manager fought to keep his hands from trembling. "There are people who come to this area, sir. Actually, quite a lot."
But Reynald was not convinced at all. He looked around the store, skeptical of the empty tables and the nervous man.