“Here it is.”

Leon furrowed his brow as he looked at the object Kasha took out of her handbag.

“This is…?”

“It’s a magical tool I made.”

“A magical tool?”

The item resting on Kasha’s palm was round and flat, resembling the powder cases women commonly use for makeup. Plated in silver with embossed rose patterns, it looked like something a young lady like Eve would greatly desire.

Kasha wordlessly opened it to show him. Just like a real powder case, there was a round mirror attached to the top, but underneath were a glowing blue mana stone and even a small activation device.

“This originally came as a pair. When the pair of magical tools are separated, they are designed to track the location of the other half even from a distance.”

“Track the location, you say?”

Leon’s eyes sparkled with intrigue.

“Could it be… the other half of this…”

“Yes. Eve likely has the other half with her right now.”

“But how…?”

“After that incident in Elor, I thought we needed to be prepared in case the same thing ever happened again. That’s when I came up with the idea for this magical tool and steadily conducted research. But with many things happening, it took longer than I expected. The principle is simple, but the implementation wasn’t easy…”

Leon gazed at Kasha’s calm face as she explained, as if witnessing something tremendously amazing.

“…But during the return trip from the expedition to Gillistin Castle, I finally finished developing it. So… as soon as I returned, I gifted one to Eve.”

On the day Kasha came to see Eve after the expedition, she handed this magical tool to Eve along with the camel doll.

‘One day, you may find yourself in desperate need of this item. So you must always carry it with you, Eve. Can you do that?’

At Kasha’s request, Eve widened her violet eyes and nodded vigorously.

‘Yes. I will, elder sister!’

“Then… we can know where Eve is right now?”

To Leon’s urgent question, Kasha first cautiously shook her head.

“I wasn’t able to implement such a sophisticated function. But the closer we get to where Eve is, the stronger the light and vibration emitted by the magical tool will become.”

And above all, there was one more important variable. Whether Eve actually took this magical tool with her on this outing.

If not, then this entire plan would be in vain. But Kasha decided to place her hope in Eve’s clear, trusting eyes.

With a tense expression, Kasha brought her hand over the activation device. Leon also focused all his attention on Kasha’s movement.

Click.

As she turned on the device, the magical tool slowly began to emit light with a low hum.

‘Eve. Please be safe. Where are you right now?’

Gazing at the faint light from the mana stone, Kasha fervently prayed in her heart.

Whirr, whirrr.

Eve awoke feeling a faint vibration and coldness at the same time. Curling up from the chill, she felt pain in her back and waist.

Her body must have stiffened from the uncomfortable sleeping arrangement. That also meant she had woken up somewhere unfamiliar, not her usual bedroom.

Eve blinked for a moment in the strange darkness.

‘That’s right. On the way back from Juliana’s mansion, scary people ambushed our carriage…!’

She suddenly recalled it all – the urgent neighing of the horses as they abruptly halted, the shouting and clashing of weapons outside, and finally the moment the carriage door was flung open and the masked attackers leaped inside.

Eve’s last memory was the piercing fragrance emanating from the handkerchief the intruder brought to her face after invading the carriage. Eve’s body began to tremble as she recalled everything at once.

As a pure yet clever girl, Eve quickly realized she was in great danger. And the fact that she was now trapped alone in an unfamiliar place.

‘Is this what Leon oppa and Kasha unni were always worried about?’

She felt like crying out of fear, but Eve held it in.

‘If I cry now, the bad guys will know I’m awake and who knows what they’ll do.’

Eve listened attentively to any sounds without making a peep to indicate she was awake. After waiting for a while without hearing anything, she carefully raised her head and looked around.

It was pitch black all around, and the single window was not only very high up but also narrow. The moonlight filtering through was small and faint.

Deep darkness tends to instinctively terrify young children. The urge to cry welled up again, but Eve barely managed to hold back, her cheeks quivering.

‘Leon oppa, Anthony oppa, Kasha unni…!’

That’s when it happened.

Whirr. Whirrr.

The vibration from earlier was suddenly felt again in her dress pocket.

Hesitating slightly, Eve reached into her pocket. She soon felt a round, flat object.

‘This is the magical tool Kasha unni gave me!’

Eve quickly took it out. Placing it on her palm, she carefully opened the lid, and a cool blue light leaked out, dimly illuminating the darkness.

Eve recalled what Kasha had said when giving her this item.

‘If you keep this with you, I’ll be able to find you wherever you are.’

She didn’t know how that was possible, but she really liked hearing that Kasha unni would find her no matter where.

So since that day, Eve had never let this item out of her possession for even a moment. Not even during baths.

Eve clasped the faintly vibrating magical tool in her hands.

‘Is Kasha unni looking for me?’

Just thinking that filled her heart with hope and made her feel warm inside.

‘Unni will definitely come for me. For sure.’

Eve tried to put on a brave face, wiping the tears that kept welling up with the back of her hand. Then she carefully closed the magical tool. She couldn’t risk anyone seeing the blue light and realizing it was a magical item.

The blue glow that had chased away the darkness for a brief moment disappeared, but Eve was no longer afraid.

‘It’s okay. I just need to wait bravely and courageously. Kasha unni and Leon oppa must be searching for me.’

She firmly believed those two would find her for sure.

‘Anthony oppa would rush to find me too if he were home…’

Although he could be ill-tempered and sensitive, Eve knew her elder brother Anthony cared for her too. He hadn’t replied to her letters since going to recuperate at the temple, but there must be a reason.

‘Well, Father probably doesn’t even care that I’m gone.’

Eve stuck out her lower lip. The memory of her last encounter with her father came to mind.

He had suddenly appeared disheveled in front of Eve’s door, grabbed her hair, then disappeared again.

‘Hmph, even if Father came looking, I wouldn’t be happy to see him at all.’

Muttering gloomily to herself, Eve began to look around again. Her eyes, now accustomed to the dark, gradually discerned the surrounding objects.

‘Is this a prison of some sort?’

Carefully reaching out to the sides, she felt cold stone walls and long metal bars.

‘To think I’d end up in prison…’

Flabbergasted, she almost started crying again, but Eve held it in.

‘Kasha unni would never cry at a time like this.’

She may not be as smart or cool as her elder sister, but she could at least hold back her tears.

‘I’ll stay perfectly still and quiet until unni and oppa come find me, without causing any trouble.’

She had just made that resolution when it happened.

Clank. Creeak-

The rusted iron door opened and the darkness in the cell lightened.

Eve quickly covered her mouth so not even a breath would escape. Then, being as silent as possible, she carefully slipped the magical tool into her dress pocket.

‘I absolutely can’t let them find out about this!’

Step. Step.

The sound of someone approaching could be heard.

Step. Step. Step.

‘It’s not just one person. Two…?’

Eve’s body began trembling like a leaf, her ears perked up.

Creak-

The sound of the small door on the cell bars opening came from very close by.

Thump thump thump.

Her heart pounded so hard she thought it might jump out of her throat.

Step.

The light that had drawn near now tinted the cell walls orange. Eve squeezed her eyes shut so they wouldn’t know she was awake. She couldn’t do anything about her trembling fingers though.

‘What do I do now? What should I do, unni, oppa?’

Eve cried out in her heart. That’s when it happened.

Someone’s gentle hand rested on Eve’s forehead. That hand stroked her reassuringly, as if to comfort her.

“Oh my. Poor thing.”

Eve was curious about what was happening but was still too scared to open her eyes.

‘But this voice… it’s familiar.’

Her mind wasn’t working well due to fear, but she definitely knew this person’s voice.

“Eve. You can open your eyes now.”

Finally, as that voice softly whispered in her ear, Eve couldn’t stand it anymore and cracked open her eyes.

“You’re okay… Thank goodness. I’m so relieved, Eve.”

The orange light pierced her eyes that had grown used to the darkness. Eve slowly blinked.

“You must have been so scared… Poor thing. But Eve. I’m sorry, but we don’t have time for this. We need to get out of here quickly.”

Her eyes finally adjusted to the light. Only then did Eve realize who was standing before her, her eyes brightening with surprise and joy.

Letting out an exclamation, Eve threw herself into the arms of the person in front of her.

“Margaret unni…!”

She didn’t know what was going on, but it was undoubtedly Margaret. Without a second thought, Eve burrowed into her embrace, and Margaret gently comforted her.

“It’s alright. Everything will be fine.”

‘Why is Margaret unni here? Did Kasha unni send her?’

She had no idea what was happening, but as soon as she saw Margaret’s face, she felt so relieved that tears began to fall. Margaret kindly soothed the sniffling Eve.

“Shh. It’s okay. Everything will be alright now.”

That’s when another voice spoke from behind Margaret.

“I’m sorry, but we really need to hurry now.”

It wasn’t a familiar voice, but she had definitely heard it before. Eve peeked out from over Margaret’s shoulder to look at the other person.