Vivian, who had finished the preparations, called out to Leo.

“St-starfall. Here, hold both corners with your hands, infuse magic into the magic circle drawn on the cloth, and ride the wind down.”

¹Has she ever called him that before? It’s been too long for me to remember, and I usually write down the nicknames I use, but unfortunately, I haven’t done so in this case. So, if any of you remember, please let me know. 😊)
Only after drawing a weight reduction magic circle on the back of Leo’s hand did Vivian’s hand stop.

What she had hastily created was a kind of parachute and paraglider.

“You will act as both the weight and the headwind.”

Although he didn’t understand the principle, he seemed to get the general idea.

‘It’s like jumping off while holding a huge umbrella.’

He had reached the age where he realized that no matter how big an umbrella is, you can’t fly in the sky, but this wasn’t just an umbrella; it was a magical umbrella meticulously inscribed with magic circles by Vivian.

Leo bravely stood on the windowsill.

However, his legs trembled slightly as he looked down at the dizzying height below.

Noticing this, Vivian rushed to hug Leo from behind.

“Wa-wait a minute! This isn’t going to work. We can’t just try something untested like this… No. Let’s just hold out here together until Lady Belinda arrives. Maybe those people won’t find this place…”

Bang!

“Kyaaah!”

At that moment, the attic floor shook violently, causing Vivian to scream in surprise.

The intruders had finally realized the existence of the attic.

“What should we do? They must have heard it. Because of me… because of me…!”

“Lady Belinda said that Vivian’s alchemy is the best. I believe in you too, Vivian.”

“Lady Belinda…”

“I’ll fly away and come back like a shooting star.”

Leaving those words, Leo jumped out the window without hesitation.

“…!”

For a moment, he felt his body sinking, but it was very brief.

The cloth, which had quickly inflated, firmly supported Leo, whose weight had been lightened by the weight reduction magic.

“I’ll, ugh, I’ll definitely bring help!”

Relying on the tightly inflated cloth, Leo shouted at the top of his lungs as he floated through the air, following the wind.

The sky was dark with thick clouds, but not enough to conceal the large white cloth.

Moreover, because Leo had raised his voice, the intruders quickly noticed the child’s escape.

“Isn’t that… someone escaping?”

“What are you standing around for? Catch him!”

In no time, Leo reached the shade of the trees in the vast mansion grounds.

‘A little… just a little more…!’

“Ugh!”

It was a sudden landing, but thanks to the falling technique learned from Cedric and the pile of fallen leaves on the ground, he wasn’t seriously injured.

Leo, who rolled on the ground like an acorn falling from a tree, quickly got up and looked around.

The lights of the annex beyond the wall could be seen from a distance.

Thanks to catching the wind well, he was able to cover a long distance in a short time.

Vivian’s design was indeed perfect, but there was no time to savor the joy.

‘I have to get to the butler.’

Since he had succeeded in luring the intruders away, Vivian would probably be safe.

No, she had to be safe.

That’s why he had deliberately caused a commotion.

Leo started running immediately.

Although he had said he would bring help, the people in the main building were not allies.

The child had picked up on the main building’s hostile atmosphere.

Leo sprang into action, picturing the dressing room’s location in his mind.

He needed to get there and retrieve Terry.

Leo ran desperately, like someone tumbling down a steep hill.

It wasn’t far by carriage.

The darkness transformed the unfamiliar road into something even stranger, feeding his growing fear.

A misty drizzle obscured his vision, and the post-festival streets lay empty and silent.

His legs had gone numb from running so long.

When Leo’s legs finally stopped, he had barely reached the city.

Go to the Bluebird Dress Shop, meet Terry, and save Vivian.

Leo panted as he looked around the disorderly streets.

Such hope slowly melted away like a snowman in the rain.

Just as he was about to enter a barely familiar alley.

“You seem to be lost. Where are you trying to go?”

Someone spoke softly to Leo.

It was a man with a scar on his cheek and a rough appearance, but his tone was gentle, and Leo hesitated and got caught by the man.

“Are you on your way home?”

“Uh, it’s not home… Do you know the Bluebird Dress Shop?”

“Of course, I do. I happen to have some business nearby. Want a ride?”

Could good clothes invite people’s kindness?

“It’s okay. Just tell me the way…”

“I don’t feel good about a kid wandering around alone this late at night. Don’t refuse.”

The man subtly pressured Leo.

After a moment of hesitation, Leo nodded.

It wasn’t that he was drawn to his kindness, but rather that he thought he could get to Vivian back faster by taking a carriage to Bluebird.

The man walked ahead and asked softly.

“By the way, what is our young master’s name?”

Young master. Leo blushed and answered.

“Ratchet.”

“That’s a splendid name.”

Leo’s steps, which had been following the man, slowly slowed down.

Though it was a precious and proud name to him, he knew that, objectively, it sounded like a bad joke.

However, this adult didn’t laugh, look troubled, or take it as a joke. Instead, he praised his name as if he had been waiting for it.

Leo found it very awkward.

It was as if the man already knew his name.

Soon, Leo’s steps came to a complete halt.

Once he started to doubt, the voice sounded like one of the people who had broken into the mansion.

‘Maybe, maybe I’m mistaken. But still…’

Once he made up his mind, Leo ran without looking back.

“On the way for a moment… Hey!”

The surprised man called out to Leo from behind.

Was he really an adult who had saved him out of kindness, and was he doubting him clumsily?

As such thoughts momentarily slowed his steps, the man’s next shout completely crushed Leo’s guilt.

“Catch him! Someone catch that kid! He’s a thief!”

Leo gritted his teeth and ran.

There was no time to look around or ask for help.

“Huff, huff.”

Even though he was out of breath, Leo didn’t stop for a moment.

The sudden drizzle of misty rain made his vision a mess.

He put his hands on his thighs to catch his breath for a moment.

He couldn’t feel the man chasing him anymore.

When he finally straightened up again, Leo realized he was in the middle of a completely unfamiliar alley.

“…..”

His legs gave out, and Leo weakly squatted under the awning of a closed shop.

His whole body was trembling.

He didn’t know if it was because of the cold, fear, or guilt.

If he couldn’t get to Bluebird, he had to go back to Blanche.

‘But is it okay to go back there?’

The intruders had called him someone’s weakness.

Even if he didn’t want to think about who they were referring to, it quickly came to mind.

‘I am Belinda’s weakness.’

Leo held back tears and carefully wrapped his only friend, Cheti, in his hands.

Then he sat with his knees together and cautiously placed Cheti on top of his feet.

“I can’t go back to Blanche like this.”

As he spoke to Cheti, a shadow fell over the crouching Leo, who was unable to move.

“Who…”

At the moment he forced his frozen body to look up.

“You little worm…”

The harsh voice was so chilling that Leo fell backward.

The man who had offered to give Leo a ride in his carriage was looking down at the child with a menacing gaze.

The breath that escaped through his teeth was anything but normal.

“You’re being a nuisance!”

“…!”

Leo instinctively covered his face with his hands. And then.

“Aaaah!”

The man’s piercing scream echoed through the alley.

“…?”

Leo slowly lowered his arms and looked around.

The man had been thrown back and was swinging a dagger wildly at the air.

At first, all Leo could see was the glint of the blade in the darkness, making it unclear what the man was defending himself against.

“Get away! Has this beast gone mad!”

But then, hearing the terrifying cry of a bird, Leo realized it was a crow with pitch-black feathers attacking him.

So black that it was indistinguishable from the darkness.

Every time the bird opened and closed its beak, blood splattered.

But it wasn’t the blood of the crow, which had been slashed at randomly by the blade.

“Ugh, ugh! Spare me!”

No matter how much he slashed, the bird didn’t fall.

It only seemed to increase in number.

At that moment, above the man’s agonized screams, the sound of dry footsteps echoed.

Step.

Leo’s head turned as if in a trance toward the entrance of the alley.

“Ratchet.”

The person who called his name.

From afar, Leo saw Belinda’s figure.