Chapter 11 – The Child of God (Part 9)

Meanwhile, the space where only Kahin and Letban remained was filled with tense energy. Letban glanced at Kahin, who was covering his eyes with one hand and gripping his sword tightly with the other, his body ready to spring into action.

Beneath the covered eyes, the clenched jaw betrayed his anxious heart.

Letban sighed inwardly as he turned his gaze back to the mirror. Though he had whispered, it wasn’t quiet enough for Kahin, who was right next to him, not to hear Ria’s promise of ten minutes. And soon, those ten minutes would pass.

Judging by Kahin’s current state, it was clear that as soon as the ten minutes were up, he would cause a commotion trying to find her. The problem was, how to find her when she had disappeared into the mirror. There was practically nothing they could do.

That was why he was more worried. About the missing Lady, about Sir Fernon who would run amok.

Fortunately, and surprisingly, Kahin’s reaction after the ten minutes passed was different from Letban’s concerns.

He was restless, pacing back and forth, unable to keep still, and his eyes were glued to the mirror, but compared to the expectation that he would go wild, he was surprisingly calm.

In reality, he was barely holding on because he knew that Ria had intentionally told him to wait to reassure him. If she had disappeared into the mirror without saying anything, he would have lost his mind. He would have already turned everything upside down, thinking he had lost her again right before his eyes.

‘Miss…’

Even now, indescribable anxiety and impatience pressed down on his entire body.

It was quite a long time with him pacing and enduring like that. Kahin suddenly stopped and pulled out a pocket watch from his coat.

“…Damn it.”

As soon as he checked the time, a curse slipped out. He thought at least thirty minutes had passed, but only three minutes had gone by. Letban, not understanding, widened his eyes at the sudden curse and looked at him.

“Sir?”

“…”

“Why are you…”

“I can’t do this anymore.”

“What?”

“I can’t wait any longer. I have to find the Lady somehow…”

Kahin roughly stuffed the pocket watch back into his coat and strode toward the mirror. At that moment, with a sharp cracking sound, the mirror shattered into pieces.

“…!”

Kahin’s rough steps froze in place. Letban, who was about to calm him down, also stopped abruptly. He was so bewildered that he couldn’t even begin to comprehend the situation.

If the mirror broke, then what happens? What about Ria, what about her?

His breath caught in his throat. He wondered of his use. Always losing her right before his eyes, only to blame himself and regret it later… What good was it for others to praise his swordsmanship if he couldn’t use it when it mattered?

His hands clenched into tight fists. The metallic taste from biting his lip, and the sensation of something flowing from his palm where his nails dug in, only made him grip harder.

Then, suddenly, he turned his head sharply toward the cave-like path they had walked earlier. His expression furrowed as if concentrating hard.

Soon, Letban, who followed his gaze and focused in the same direction, wore a puzzled expression, hearing and feeling nothing.

Kahin, who had taken a deep breath, suddenly widened his eyes and, with a leaping stride, left the room, retracing the path they had come.

“Sir Fernon!”

Letban called after him and hurried to follow, but Kahin, who had already started running, was far ahead.

Eventually, a bright light appeared at the end of the path. Kahin quickened his pace, rushing toward the light, and finally.

“Kahin!”

He embraced the familiar scent that rushed into his arms without any gaps. Only then did a sigh of relief escape him. He held the small body even tighter and began to speak.

“The mirror… the mirror shattered, and I felt so helpless about how to find you…”

Ria, blinking at his uncharacteristically unsteady demeanor, gently patted his back. At her soft touch, Kahin stopped talking and buried his face in her neck. Ria felt the large hands holding her trembling slightly and explained slowly.

“I met the previous child of the god inside. I think the mirror was an object her grudge had clung to for a long time, and it shattered as it fulfilled its purpose when she left. She used her last bit of power to send me outside, and that’s how I ended up in the High Priest’s room.”

“…”

“I didn’t know the mirror had shattered, so I thought I could just go back inside and come to you, Kahin, but you came out just in time. How did you know?”

“…I heard a voice… I heard you calling my name.”

Ria recalled how she had looked around and called for him as soon as she was transported to the High Priest’s room. It was amazing that he could come out from deep within, even though she hadn’t called out loudly. But now, calming him, whose hands were still trembling, was more important than satisfying her curiosity.

Ria tried to pull back slightly and bring her hands to his face. Or at least, she intended to.

“Ah.”

If Kahin hadn’t tightened his arms and pulled her back to him the moment she slightly moved away.

Even when they met again at the Marquis’s house, he hadn’t been this agitated. It seemed like this incident had triggered an accumulation of self-blame within him. Ria hoped that neither the hunting festival incident nor this one would leave a trauma on him, and she patted him again.

Letban, who had emerged from the passage, saw the thin arms wrapped around the broad back. Seeing her face, which didn’t seem to be in distress, he sighed in relief. Though less than Kahin, he too had been worried about her safety.

After a long while, Ria suggested they return. Even as they left the shrine, mounted their horses, arrived at the Marquis’s house, and even after arriving, Kahin did not leave her side.

He was always close by, but this time he was so near that it seemed he would embrace Ria if he just placed his arm around her. So much so that Knox, who came out to greet them, slightly furrowed his brow.

Letban, who dismounted behind them, scratched his cheek awkwardly under Knox’s questioning gaze.

＊ ＊ ＊

After changing from the layered clothing to indoor wear, Ria went to Knox’s study, carrying the cloak and small pouch Knox had given her in one hand and holding Kahin’s hand in the other.

Letban, who had just finished reporting on the incident at the abandoned shrine, was also present, so the four of them moved to the table set up in a corner of the study. Ria and Kahin sat facing each other next to Knox, who sat at the head of the table, with Letban opposite them.

When Knox rang the bell, a servant quickly brought warm tea and placed it in front of each person. Knox subtly pushed the refreshments toward Ria and glanced at her hand, which was tightly held by Kahin—or so it seemed to him.

‘Tsk.’

Knox’s eyebrow twitched momentarily. Perhaps because he had heard from Letban that a similar incident to what happened when the Lady came to the North nearly occurred at the abandoned shrine, Knox was not pleased with Kahin. He was not fond of him. That judgment extended to the other three men who had gone to the shrine as well.

Although he had no right to judge them, and he himself had failed to protect and lost his only precious daughter and son-in-law, leaving him with no words to criticize their mistakes…

‘Still, what I don’t like, I don’t like.’

Perhaps that’s why he scrutinized them more harshly. He had come to regard Ria almost like his granddaughter—considering her as a daughter was difficult since her age was similar to Letban’s.