‘Adrian, I want to know your heart!’

Liria waited for a response with her eyes tightly closed.

‘If Noah is Adrian, he might be the last target to obtain the key.’

If a voice echoed in her mind and the mana heart responded, all formulas would be established.

The formula that Noah is Adrian.

At that moment, before the mana could even respond, someone approached with rough and heavy footsteps.

Startled, Noah grabbed Liria and quickly hid behind a nearby tree.

Belatedly, he turned off the glowing magic lantern and hid it.

What followed was the sound of someone kicking the nearby trees one by one.

Thud!

Crack!

Previously, Humbletine had done this to find Noah, who was up in a tree.

“This damned rat, where the hell did he go?”

Eventually, the large man wearing boots kicked the tree where the two were hiding.

On the opposite side, Noah, who was embracing Liria protectively against the tree, felt the rough vibration and resonance directly on his back.

But Noah remained still, holding his breath and not making a sound.

Her heart pounded fiercely, afraid of being discovered by him.

Thump thump.

His menacing face and imposing build loomed threateningly.

Liria froze completely at his wild boar-like rough breathing and loud shouts, unable to breathe, managing only to blink her wide eyes.

She knew immediately, without question.

This person called Noah’s uncle.

He embodied the essence of ‘a very dangerous human being.’

Shh.

Noah put his finger to his lips and firmly held Liria’s trembling hand.

After looking around, Humbletine, seeing no sign of anyone, snorted and bellowed.

“Noah, you brat, if I catch you, I’ll wring your neck! Such an unlucky bastard.”

Once he disappeared over the hill, Noah, finally sighing with relief, quietly said to Liria.

“You’d better go back quickly. Where do you need to go? I’ll take you there.”

Liria shook her head at Noah’s question.

She couldn’t leave Noah like this. That menacing man seemed like he wouldn’t spare Noah if he found him today.

Moreover, if Noah was Adrian, she needed to help him escape from that man’s clutches as soon as possible.

After thinking for a moment, Liria broke her silence and continued.

“…Noah, is that person your uncle? Don’t go home today. Come with me.”

“What…?”

“I can keep you at my palace first, then get permission from my grandfather and father.”

“…What nonsense are you talking about?”

Liria remained silent for a moment, then grabbed Noah’s arm.

When she rolled up his sleeve, a dark blue bruise was visible.

“You can’t live like this forever. You know that, too. Your uncle isn’t qualified to be a guardian. Come with me, Noah. Okay?”

Liria spoke sincerely.

But Noah shook off her arm.

“Who are you to say that?”

“……”

“Who do you think you are? Mind your own business if you can’t take responsibility!”

His agitated voice and blue eyes trembled endlessly.

She understood why he couldn’t easily trust her extended hand.

‘How many wounds has he received all this time? How hard has it been for him alone?’

“I’m your friend. I can’t just watch my friend living so painfully. Please consider coming with me.”

Liria said, firmly holding Noah’s hand. It looked like tears would fall from her large eyes at any moment.

“You, you’re just a maid. How do you think you can take care of me?”

“What? I’m not a maid. And I can take responsibility for someone like you. I am the von Roberg’s…!”

As Liria was about to reveal her identity while pounding her chest, someone suddenly appeared in front of the north gate without any warning.

Paaaa.

Emitting tremendous magical power.

It was teleportation magic.

The black-haired handsome man with furrowed brows, Classid, said.

“I wondered where you disappeared to at this late hour… So you were here.”

Liria opened her eyes wide and tilted her head.

‘Why did Father come here?’

His characteristic cold gaze looking down at Liria was still like thin ice.

“…F-Father?”

“What are you doing here?”

“Why are you here, Father?”

To Liria’s question, Classid cleared his throat before answering.

“I was passing by……”

“Pardon?”

The north gate area was in a corner, not a passage to anywhere.

Moreover, he had appeared using teleportation magic. That meant he had set this as his destination.

“You’re saying you stopped by here while passing through using teleportation?”

Really?

As Liria rolled her eyes and hit the mark, Classid hesitated before saying.

“Well… I stopped by your palace on my way and the room’s owner wasn’t there. Your nanny said you had gone to bed hours ago.”

“Eek… that’s.”

“…Was there a reason you had to lie to come out?”

She had perfectly deceived Marit to come out, but now she was caught.

She never dreamed that her father would come looking for her personally.

‘Could it be that he was worried about me and came looking?’

After being immersed in such expectations, Liria shook her head vigorously.

It was only a few days ago that he had pushed her away.

‘No. There’s no way his heart has opened already…’

“Father… perhaps.”

“I didn’t come because I was worried about you.”

Classid’s lips moved, cutting off Liria’s question before she could finish it.

Well, that figures.

“I just became curious after reading this, so don’t misunderstand.”

Classid rustled something out of his coat pocket.

“Ah… that’s.”

It was the colorful letters that Liria had been sending to Classid every day lately.

Embarrassed for Noah to see, Liria’s face turned red.

“W-why are you carrying those around?”

“That’s up to the recipient. Now it’s your turn to explain, Liria. Why are you here?”

Classid’s eyes narrowed as he asked back.

“Well… that’s.”

Liria quickly picked up Kiki and showed him while saying.

“Kiki said he was hungry. We just came out to hunt for food.”

“Beep!”

Conveniently, Kiki’s light pink belly was protruding roundly after devouring plenty of jerky.

However, Classid gestured toward the boy in front of them and asked.

“Who is that child?”

“A friend I met by chance who helped me. Right, Noah?”

“Huh? Y-yeah…”

At Liria’s answer, Noah bowed his head stiffly toward Classid, extremely tense.

Then he whispered to Liria.

“I, I should go now.”

“Huh?”

He shouldn’t leave like this. Noah, don’t forget our promise the day after tomorrow!

Liria moved only her lips to leave these final words to Noah.

Tap tap.

Classid approached Liria as she watched Noah’s retreating figure.

“Is he a child who lives in the forest?”

“…Yes, he says he lives in a cabin beyond the hill.”

He didn’t seem particularly displeased that she was associating with a commoner child.

Classid quietly offered different words.

“…It’s late, I’ll take you to your room.”

His large, firm arms lifted Liria up.

She could feel the mana instantly gathering into his mana heart.

Flash!

As blue lightning flashed, it broke down the boundaries of the surroundings.

As if a part of the world had been punctured, a blue transportation portal appeared.

When Classid entered it, the world seemed to stop for a moment.

After passing through the lightning transportation portal, they were instantly in front of the palace.

“Wow!”

The attributes Classid had manifested were ice, lightning, and metal.

It seemed that the lightning attribute also included teleportation magic.

“It’s a magic that can only move to short-range coordinates that have been stored.”

‘If I had magic like this, I wouldn’t even need the transportation key.’

Her eyes widened in amazement, but Liria remained silent due to awkwardness.

Classid glanced at Liria, who was frozen stiff.

“Th-thank you for bringing me back.”

“Sure.”

“……”

“……”