In the end, it was only after the patrol arrived that they were able to calm down the rampaging Limless.

Limless’s free-flowing punches were like a fish in water, or a moth drawn to a gas lamp.

The patrol was busy trying to catch those who had participated in the illegal auction. Limless had already subdued one of the slave trader’s henchmen.

They looked at Limless with exasperated expressions. That ruffian had made trouble again today.

“Isn’t it the young master… I mean, the young lord of Melpiram.”

“What did you just say, patrol officer?”

“It’s nothing. Must have been the passing wind.”

Having been involved in so many incidents, Limless had somehow become on speaking terms with the patrol officers. He released his grip on the collar of the slave trader’s henchman he had been holding. The surrounding patrol officers quickly dragged him away.

“I couldn’t catch the slave trader. Ah, I should have caught that bastard and skinned him alive.”

Though his appearance was handsome at first glance, he spewed harsh words as soon as he opened his mouth. The patrol officers had to make an effort to manage their expressions at the contrast.

In any case, thanks to Limless, they were able to catch the crime scene, so it was appreciated. The patrol officers gave him a formal salute before disappearing with those they had arrested.

The back alley where screams and fighting had broken out was now quiet.

Watching Limless take out a handkerchief and wipe the blood off his gloves, Ilarid and Lynette shook their heads simultaneously.

“You’ve caused trouble again today…”

“Sometimes I wonder if my brother is really a nobleman or not.”

“Suppressing yourself leads to illness, little sister.”

“Father will be angry again if he finds out.”

“Is it the first day he’s experienced my ruckus? He must have built up immunity by now. But how did you two end up here? You could have gotten hurt.”

“We got lost after being pushed by the crowd.”

“Next time, if you want to come out, tell me. I’ll sneak out with you even if it’s in secret. Young girls can easily get kidnapped if they wander around these back alleys carelessly.”

Kidnapping. Just hearing the word made Ilarid and Lynette’s faces turn pale. Looking around, a world unfolded that children shouldn’t know about yet, and shouldn’t have to know.

As Limless was stretching his stiff body, he noticed a slave boy in the corner. Come to think of it, he had been next to Ilarid, but what was the situation?

“By the way, who’s this? And what’s the situation you mentioned earlier?”

“I bought him.”

“What?”

Ilarid gripped her skirt, prepared to hear Limless’s scolding. She was ready to refute everything he might say.

She had heard countless times to treat people preciously, and today she had finally put those words into practice. She was going to insist that it was all because of what her brother had taught her, so he should take responsibility.

“Hahaha!”

Surprisingly, he burst into laughter, clutching his stomach. After laughing for a while, he finally straightened up.

“You truly surprise me every day, my sister…”

“What else could I do? I couldn’t just leave a child being beaten.”

“You did well.”

Limless took off his gloves and ruffled Ilarid’s hair with his bare hand. He ignored his sister’s grumbling about how she had just fixed her hair.

“I spent all my saved allowance. Even the birthday gift I received from Mother last time, all of it.”

“You spent a fortune. Hey, little one. You owe my sister a big debt, huh?”

Limless crouched down right in front of the boy. The boy glanced at Limless with trembling eyes. He was perplexed by Limless’s refreshing appearance, different from the nobles he had seen so far.

Limless’s expression suddenly crumpled as he examined the boy’s body for injuries. It was because of the iron chains still tightly wrapped around his body.

“But what’s this… Isn’t there a key? Don’t tell me those bastards ran away without unlocking this? Ah, I should have beaten them up as soon as I saw them.”

Grumbling and muttering incomprehensible curses, he reached out towards Ilarid and Lynette.

“Ladies. Do you happen to have a clothes pin or hairpin?”

“Here.”

Ilarid willingly handed over a hairpin. Limless started using the thin pin to unlock the shackles on the boy’s ankles and wrists.

“Where on earth do you learn these things?”

“Well. Practical skills?”

As soon as he finished speaking, the last shackle came undone.

The moment the boy’s shackles were removed was the beginning of a fight.

As soon as the iron chains that had been wrapped around his body fell to the ground, a weapon was thrust into his hand without a moment’s pause.

A life where you must kill others to avoid being killed yourself, where you must struggle desperately to survive. A daily life where only the familiar smell of blood and the sensation of a knife digging into flesh existed. The boy had lived thinking this was what life was all about.

But the people in front of the boy didn’t seem to have such intentions.

“Can you move? It looks like it might be hard to walk.”

Where the shackles had fallen off, iron poisoning and festering scars remained. If not treated soon, he would suffer for the rest of his life.

After examining the condition of the ankle for a while, Limless unhesitatingly turned his back to the boy.

“Get on my back. If you walk wrongly in that state, you’ll sprain your ankle.”

A young noble lord volunteering to carry a dirty, smelly, and wounded slave on his back? The boy turned pale and shook his head.

“I am a slave.”

“Not anymore.”

“But…”

As long as there was a slave certificate, the boy had to live as a slave forever. Limless seemed to realize this fact and stood up to speak to Ilarid.

“Ilarid. You have the document you received during the transaction, right?”

“Oh, right. The slave certificate.”

Ilarid hurriedly took out the document. Limless cleared his throat and checked the slave certificate. He read through some sentences with a bored expression, then performed an awkward breathing act.

“Ah… ah… achoo!”

It was a failed act. Anyone could see it was a forced sneeze with exaggerated gestures. Ilarid and Lynette stared coldly at Limless in front of them.

“Oops, my mistake. The slave certificate got torn? How unfortunate. You should keep certificates well preserved. Otherwise, a slave might no longer be a slave, you know?”

“…Brother. Never try acting. The moment you start messing around trying to become an actor, we’re no longer family.”

Regardless, Limless tore the slave certificate a few more times and scattered it in the air. The shattered life as a slave slowly fell over the boy’s head.

“Now no one can call you a slave anymore.”

The voice that had been mixed with playfulness just a moment ago was now calm again. Limless approached the boy again and bent his knees, offering his back.

“Hurry up. My legs hurt. Are you going to make me keep sitting like this?”

After hesitating, the boy finally climbed onto Limless’s back. The back of the person carrying him for the first time was broad, warm, and the girls walking alongside were kind and gentle.

The boy tried to say the words that the person who had saved him had said. Thank you. Thank you. His tongue, which had been stiff, began to move flexibly.

“Th-thank you.”

“Ilarid, he says thank you.”

Limless adjusted the boy on his back and glanced sidelong at Ilarid walking beside him, matching his pace. Ilarid patted the boy’s back with a gentle gaze.

The kind green eyes looking at him. The small warmth touching his back. The boy resolved to clearly engrave this moment in his memory.

“Do you want to see more?”

“What do you mean, see more? Let’s go back quickly. We should treat this child’s wounds too.”

The fireworks had long since disappeared from their minds. Lynette also looked tired, perhaps due to the series of events. The members of the Melpiram mansion walked out of the dark alley towards the bright square.

“Where… are we going?”

The boy asked cautiously. Ilarid smiled at him and answered.

“Home.”

And so, the young Lebel, who had yet to have a name, found a place to return to.

**

Ilarid’s hand, which had been listening to the story, was now touching Lebel’s cheek.

The faintly settled memories stirred and gradually rose to the surface.

She didn’t want to let the memories that had barely surfaced sink again. So she continued to recall the surrounding scenery of that day, the weather, the people who were with her.

Lebel took Ilarid’s hand that had come to his cheek. His large hand quickly covered her small and delicate hand.

The temperature of the words coming from his slightly upturned lips was as kind and warm as when Ilarid first met him.

“I knew everything. Even the fact that Her Majesty the Empress was trying to bring the mercenary group into the imperial palace and recruit them.”

“Since when…”

“I guessed it the moment I received the request, and was certain at the tavern where the commotion occurred.”

My lady wants me. If all that is needed is this ability and this body, I would gladly offer it. For Lebel, it was an unspeakably honored and grateful thing.

“If you had known that I was that slave, you would have surely hesitated.”

“Why on earth…”

“You were the first to teach me the word ‘home’, my lady.”

A place to return to. A place for us to stay. A place to lay your body even if you leave and come back someday.

Young Lebel, who had been wandering around being sold from one master to another, came to know the warmth that the word ‘home’ brought.

The slave boy who was being beaten at the auction had now grown up and came right in front of Ilarid. Ilarid couldn’t properly continue her words, mixed with both joy and surprise.

“Why couldn’t I recognize you…”

With a voice filled with self-reproach, Ilarid’s head drooped down. There was also the reason that it was difficult to recognize him at once due to his height and body that had grown several times larger than before.

Looking carefully, she could now see a bit of the young boy’s appearance. The faintly glimmering bluish light that had been hidden by his hair.

Although Limless had volunteered to take care of him, she should have looked in on him at least once. After that incident, Ilarid had hurriedly left for the imperial palace at the call of the Empress Dowager.

It was because of the Empress Dowager’s own poor health. The existence of the slave boy she had saved floated vaguely like a cloud.

And she had gone through too many things. Rather than recalling the past and reminiscing, the thought of getting revenge on Cledius came first. The things that had befallen Ilarid were too big and painful to remember the small boy.

“The young master suggested it first. He asked if I would like to enter the imperial palace too.”

If he could enter even the imperial guard, wouldn’t he be able to see Ilarid from a closer place? He resolved that if she ascended to a place he couldn’t reach, he would go directly towards that place.

“I always thought. If I could become like a ‘shadow’ to my lady…”

Shadow. At those words, Ilarid tried to remove her hand that had touched Lebel, but Lebel didn’t let go of her hand.

Come to think of it, hadn’t she planned to propose ‘shadow’ when Lebel returned? Ilarid continued to avoid his gaze, feeling as if her inner thoughts had been exposed. One corner felt hot, as if a hidden heart had been discovered.

“Why didn’t you say anything… If I had known that the slave I saved then was you, surely…”

“I wanted to live solely for you, my lady. That was enough.”

Lebel had thought from the moment he entered the imperial palace. It was okay if Ilarid didn’t remember.

Ilarid was strong but also kind. Naturally, she was clumsy at using people. Lebel knew that she couldn’t treat people carelessly.

A being that had disappeared from memory was just an outsider beyond the fence. A complete stranger was the easiest being to handle.

So he had resolved not to reveal their past connection. Even if Ilarid didn’t remember, he thought it would be better that way.

But relationships formed between people are not so easily severed or forgotten. Lebel placed a small piece of hope in Ilarid’s hand.

“Please allow me, Your Majesty the Empress.”

My beloved lady.

“Please use me as you wish.”

I would be happy to become anything for you.

Between the hidden words. Ilarid bit her lips tightly and swallowed her tears.

She had thought everyone had died after that day. It was a struggle just to survive each day, let alone hope.

But even in those ruins, one hope had survived and come to Ilarid’s side.

Ilarid met Lebel’s eyes. His whites had already turned red.

The salvation offered by the boy she had saved. She hugged Lebel tightly.

“Thank you for surviving and coming back to me, Lebel.”