"So, you blew up the Elysium." Fredhardt stood with his arms crossed in front of his chest, giving Lory and Fargo an accusing look.
"It wasn’t my fault!" Lory waved her hands, defending herself.
"It’s their fault!" Fargo pointed at Clift and Jay, who were standing beside him.
"How else were we supposed to get you out before the Paladins and the entire Dolza military showed up to arrest you?" Clift scoffed.
"You should’ve planned better if you were going to sneak into the Elysium, old man," Jay added with a hint of criticism.
"I’m not old!" Fargo snapped. "And besides, it’s his fault!" He jabbed a finger toward Stephan, who was lounging comfortably in a chair, sipping espresso without care.
Fredhardt rubbed his forehead in frustration. It was already done, and arguing about it wouldn’t change anything.
"Whatever," he muttered. "We have a eting with Mr. Albretch and the others to discuss..." he let out a long sigh, "...a lot of things."
Then he walked over to the sofa, slumped down, and muttered, "This is way too much for an early morning." He poured himself a cup of tea, flopped back into the cushions, and took a slow, deliberate sip.
Stephan remained completely unbothered by the trouble around him as he casually opened a cake box and beckoned to Lory with a big smile. "Co here, sweetie. I got strawberry cheesecake for you."
Lory’s face lit up instantly. She skipped toward him with bouncing steps.
"Yay!"
Fred’s brows knitted tightly, clearly unimpressed. He folded his arms.
"She already had a slice an hour ago. Can you stop spoiling her? She needs to control her habits."
"There’s nothing wrong with a little indulgence," Stephan replied, defending her without missing a beat.
Lory, her mouth already full, nodded in agreent. "Yeah! There’s nothing wrong!"
Suddenly, Jay chid in with a smirk, "Yeah—until soone gets crushed under her fatty ass."
"Hey!" Lory protested, cheeks puffed and red with embarrassnt.
Stephan gently patted her head in a doting manner. "Don’t listen to him. It’s not because you’re getting heavier—it’s because they’re getting weaker." He shot Jay a dagger-like glare. "That just shows that you need more exercise."
"...." Jay was rendered speechless, completely at a loss for what he’d done wrong. He opened his mouth as if to argue, then closed it again, his brows furrowed in confusion.
The others just sighed and rolled their eyes, choosing not to get involved. This kind of exchange wasn’t new, and when it ca to Stephan and his selective defense tactics, it was often a losing battle.
Lory stuck her tongue out at Jay triumphantly before taking another bite of cheesecake, clearly savoring both the dessert and her small victory.
Stephan just sipped his tea with an air of smug calm, completely indifferent.
____________________________________________
Once they escaped from Elysium, they wasted no ti. The group imdiately left Dolza, following an escape route ticulously prepared by Fredhardt. He was the mastermind behind the entire extraction, not only securing their way out but also coordinating the safe transfer of Garrof, Lloyd, Samuel, and the others to Harland.
It had been an incredibly risky and delicate operation—moving so many people under the nose of Dolza’s regi in a single day was no small feat. Yet sohow, Fredhardt had pulled it off with remarkable precision, executing the plan swiftly and silently, like a ghost moving through the cracks of a crumbling wall.
Now, everyone had been safely relocated and settled into temporary apartnts in Herriond. In one of the high-end apartnts, Maddeline stood alone on the balcony, leaning lightly against the ornate railing.
A warm cup of coffee rested in her hand, the steam curling gently into the morning air as she gazed out over the cityscape of Harland. The skyline stretched before her in breathtaking beauty—towering buildings wrapped in greenery, glistening rooftops touched by sunlight, and the faint glimr of the great lake in the distance. The air here felt different, softer, safer.
Her face held a rare serenity.
She never thought it would end like this. After years of running, hiding, and fighting to survive, she had braced herself for a tragic end in so forgotten corner of the world. Yet here she was—in Herriond of all places, the very heart of the kingdom. A place she once believed was forever out of reach.
The irony was almost laughable. What began as a desperate escape had led her to the one city she never dared dream she would live to see, and now, for the first ti in a long ti, Maddeline allowed herself a mont of peace.
"It’s more beautiful than we expected, right?" Jack leaned on the railing beside her, his voice calm but cautious.
Maddy glanced at him briefly, her expression stiffening before she turned her eyes back to the city.
"Yeah... you’re right," she murmured.
An awkward silence settled between them, heavy and unspoken. Ever since she had walked away from Jack that day, sothing had shifted between them—a quiet barrier neither seed brave enough to break.
In the past, they used to bicker playfully, teasing and challenging each other without hesitation. But now... now there was a hollow space where familiarity used to be.
Maddy cast a sideways glance at him.
His hair had grown a bit longer, curling slightly over his ears, and his thick beard—once wild and unkempt—had been neatly shaved, revealing the strong lines of his jaw. A long, pale scar now stood out more clearly, trailing from his jaw up to his right cheek. He looked different. Better. Sharper. Composed.
Very different from that day that he finally found her in Wellington City of Dolza. Jack and Gavin, followed by Clifford the Lucient’s Archknights.
When they t again, she was startled by how unkept Jack looked. His hair had been a tangled ss, his face hidden beneath a rugged beard, and his clothes stained with dirt and battle gri.
He looked like a man who had been living on the edge, a rcenary with no place to belong. And yet, she had recognized him instantly—because that was exactly how he looked the very first ti they t, back during the Dark Age War.
"You cleaned yourself up," Maddy said, breaking the silence.
Jack ran a hand through his hair with a half-smile. "Yeah. Figured I should look presentable if I’m going to et the Harland royal family, right?"
"...Hm. Right," she replied softly, avoiding his gaze.
And once again, an awkward silence settled between them, thin and fragile, stretched tight by the weight of unspoken mories and unresolved emotions. Jack had imagined this mont a hundred tis.
He thought he’d have a million things to say, countless questions to ask Maddy. But now, standing beside her, all those questions tangled in his throat. Maybe he wasn’t ready. Maybe he was afraid of the answers.
But he couldn’t avoid it any longer.
"Why didn’t you ever tell about your past?" Jack’s voice was low, but his expression betrayed the hurt he was trying so hard to restrain.
Maddy’s lips parted slightly, caught off guard. But then she pressed them together and gave a faint shrug.
"I thought... it didn’t matter. Everything was crushed and burned during the war. I just wanted to bury my past with it," she said, her voice thickening with emotion. "When we survived the Dark Age War, all I wanted was a fresh start—with you. A clean slate. I didn’t think any of it was important anymore."
"It was important to ," Jack cut in, sharper than he intended. "We’ve been through everything together. I thought... I thought you’d opened your heart to ."
"I did. It’s just—" Maddy wanted to explain, but the door suddenly swung open and her words caught in her throat.
Samuel stepped inside, pausing as he instantly sensed the tension in the room. Jack and Maddy had both gone quiet, their eyes avoiding each other, the closeness they once had now replaced by distance.
"Sorry to interrupt," Samuel said cautiously, glancing between them. "But Princess Lorient wants to see all of us. She’s expecting us at Cestine Palace."
"Oh, right..." Jack muttered, rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly. "I’ll call Gavin and the others." Without another word, he turned and walked toward the door.
Maddy watched him go, her chest tightening with helplessness. The conversation had slipped through her fingers—and with it, a chance to fix their situation.
Samuel, still standing nearby, studied her somber expression. "Sothing wrong?" he asked gently.
Maddy shook her head, forcing a small, hollow smile. "Nothing. Where’s Mary?"
Samuel didn’t push. He understood her deflection all too well.
"She’s strolling through the city with Jeremy," Samuel said, his voice softening. "It’s her first ti walking freely in the capital... without having to worry that soone might recognize her or try to catch her."
He paused, his gaze drifting downward, a conflicted shadow crossing his expression.
"Then again, considering who I used to be... isn’t this all a bit ironic?" he added with a faint, bitter chuckle.
A Dragxtarn, trained from birth to kill mbers of the Lucient royal family, raised to see the Archknights as enemies, now walking freely, feeling safe for the first ti for...who knows for how long, in the very heart of his enemy territory at the capital that belonged to the people he was once sworn to destroy. If that wasn’t the universe’s twisted sense of humor, then he didn’t know what was.
Maddy let out a dry, knowing smile. She couldn’t even begin to imagine the storm Samuel must be feeling inside. To stand on the soil of the very place that once represented everything he was taught to hate—and yet feel more at peace than ever before. The irony was undeniable, almost poetic in its cruelty.
Samuel turned his head toward her, his gaze steady—quietly wise, tinged with a trace of regret. "I don’t know what happened between you and that guy," he said softly. "But if it’s a misunderstanding... clear it up, rightaway. Don’t wait."
Maddy blinked, caught off guard by his unexpected shift in tone.
"Say everything you need to say. While you still can," Samuel continued. "Trust —don’t leave things unsaid. Take it from ... that’s a lesson I learned the hard way."
Samuel had lost his wife during the accident. Only afterward did he realize there were so many things he wanted to tell her, so many things he wanted to do for her, with her. But it was all too late.
Samuel gave her shoulder a light, reassuring pat before stepping past her, leaving the words to settle in her chest like a slow-burning ember. Maddy remained still, eyes lingering on the city beyond the balcony, Samuel’s words echoing in her mind.
Reviews
All reviews (0)