All that remained after enduring and holding on was just this tattered piece of a drawing.

Holding Basil’s only trace close to her heart, she followed Ian.

Here too, people; there too, people.

The streets were bustling in broad daylight. Dion stopped right in the middle of it.

‘My lord?’

There were so many people that he couldn’t be sure, but he thought he saw Ian for a moment.

He pushed through the crowd, driven by urgency. Behind him, Ian’s knights followed with light footsteps, left behind by Ian in his haste.

“Did I see wrong?” Dion wondered.
Having stepped onto the main road, Dion realized Ian’s figure was nowhere to be seen, as if it had been a mere illusion. The more he followed these elusive traces, the more he felt the futility of his situation.

Slowing his pace, he walked wearily. The knights also stopped running. Dion’s gaze briefly turned to them.

Instead of the elite unit in shining silver armor, he saw bedraggled figures, hardly different from himself.

They must have been envied in the royal palace, but now they looked like dogs chasing chickens, pitiable for having chosen the wrong path.

On such a fine day, all they did was watch lovebirds in a dark alley.

‘So passionate in broad daylight. Good for them.’

Dion felt embarrassed for some reason and turned his head. Now was not the time to watch couples getting intimate.

He unfolded a map he had bought from a store, planning his next search route. It was no easy task to check the map in a crowded street.

“Oh, sorry.”

He bumped into a passerby, being distracted. While apologizing, one of the knights left the group.

Dion shouted in alarm.

“Sakin! I told you not to act alone! And that way is to the right! Do you want to go back the way we came?”

At Dion’s shout, a man with blue hair tied up quickly stopped in his tracks. He stood in front of a sign, tilting his head in confusion.

Then, as if realizing his mistake, he smacked his palm with his fist and turned left. It was indeed the wrong direction.

Dion closed his eyes, unable to bear it any longer.

How did someone who couldn’t tell left from right end up in the elite unit? Was it intuition? Exceptional swordsmanship? Unmatched stamina?

Dion stopped pondering. It only gave him a headache. He turned irritably to another blonde knight who was chuckling at the scene.

“What are you doing, Eli? Go catch him!”

Clearly, his lord was determined to shorten his lifespan.

Ian led Helena to the other side of the main road. The cries of a distraught man faded into the distance.

Having an assistant fussing around during the time he should be with Helena was… unnecessary. A twinge of guilt slowed his thoughts momentarily, but the conclusion remained the same.

‘Luckily, Sakin seems to be buying us some time unintentionally.’

He hoped Sakin would continue his wayward navigation, as his poor sense of direction wasn’t Ian’s fault.

Satisfied to have left the main road, Ian was scouting for a more secluded inn when he noticed the emptiness beside him.

“Helen?”

Turning around, he saw Helena standing still. Holding the drawing and staring at it, she looked troubled as she lifted her head.

“Is there a problem?”

As Ian approached and asked, Helena put the drawing into her bag.

“I have one question.”

“You can ask several.”

“Did you send Eugene?”

“…….”

Ian was momentarily speechless, not just for lack of a quick reply, but more so because it felt strange to hear that man’s name from Helena’s lips. Too strange that he didn’t want to hear it again.

Before Helena could speak again amidst the prolonged silence, Ian asked,

“Who is Eugene?”
“……It seems like you know.”

“I really don’t.”

“But why do you dislike it so much?”

“I never said I disliked it.”

“You frowned just at the mention of his name.”

“The sunlight was too bright, that’s why.”

Though he tried to make an excuse, he couldn’t avoid her doubtful gaze. The street behind the store where they were standing was in the shade.

“……Or maybe you were too dazzling. So stop staring at me like that.”