“Help!”

Aiden burst into the flower shop with a deeply troubled face.

“Hey, kid. I told you not to barge in like this……”

Heistine, who had been speaking, closed his mouth.

Aiden’s expression was too grim to scold him.

“What’s wrong?”

Noticing something was amiss, Selena and Heistine led Aiden into the room.

They sat Aiden down in a chair and served him warm tea to help him calm down.

“Explain calmly.”

“I think my siblings followed some people from Lambert.”

Aiden spilled everything that had happened so far.

He didn’t leave out any details he had heard while searching for his siblings.

“A green carriage and a black carriage. They split up the children to deceive us.”

Heistine frowned.

“Judging by the fact that the children in the black carriage didn’t return, it seems all the children we’ve seen so far were the ones who rode in the green carriage.”

“They even prepared children to testify separately to avoid arousing suspicion from outsiders. What on earth are they doing to be this thorough?”

Heistine made a disgusted expression.

“Please save my siblings.”

Aiden pleaded desperately.

“Alright. We’ll find out where your siblings were taken. You should go back home and try not to worry for now.”

Selena tried to soothe Aiden and send him back, but Aiden shook his head vigorously.

“I can’t do that!”

His face showed he absolutely couldn’t just sit quietly and wait while his siblings were missing.

“Dino and Philip will be waiting for me.”

Seeing his stubborn expression, it didn’t seem like he would listen if told no.

Selena sighed.

“We need to contact the Duchess immediately.”

[This is the timeline separator]

“Lord Revals. A letter has arrived from ‘that place’.”

“Give it to me quickly.”

Revals quickly unfolded the letter handed to him by his aide and read it.

“Hmm. Yes…?”

Revals’ expression, which was bright at first, gradually twisted from a certain point on.

“What’s wrong?”

The aide asked, noticing Revals’ expression.

“Fortunately, it seems that person was pleased with the magic stones.”

“Isn’t that good news?”

“They want to personally inspect the mine to see if future magic stones will be of the same quality. They say they’ll be sending someone soon.”

“Ah……”

A look of dismay came over the aide’s face.

Currently, the magic stone mining was barely meeting the delivery deadlines.

This time they had managed to meet the quota and send it as if there were no problems, but the next deadline was the issue.

Even that wouldn’t be easy, and now with someone coming from that place, the situation became even more difficult.

“This has become troublesome.”

Revals clicked his tongue.

If they found out about using children to mine the magic stones, they might be ridiculed for having to rely on children’s hands to such an extent.

Even if not, he might be branded as incompetent and fall out of favor with that person.

Revals fell into deep contemplation.

“We must prepare thoroughly to avoid being held accountable.”

“I’ll keep that in mind.”

“How is the current mining situation?”

“During the noticeable daytime hours, we have miners pretend to be mining copper. Accordingly, we have the children sleep during the day and wake them at night to mine the magic stones.”

“Good. On the day someone comes from that place, gather all the children and stash them away in a remote location so they don’t find out we’re using children.”

“Yes.”

“Make sure they absolutely cannot get out.”

“Understood.”

[This is the timeline separator]

Mikhail, upon receiving Selena’s message about the children being kidnapped, secretly came to the flower shop with Karina.

In the room, five people gathered: Selena, Heistine, Aiden, Mikhail, and Karina.

Karina’s face turned serious after hearing the whole story.

“So they specifically selected children who wouldn’t cause trouble and took them somewhere.”

“That’s right.”

Aiden’s eyes were red.

“It’s my fault. I should have taken better care of my siblings.”

His eyes glistened with tears.

But it was clear he was trying his hardest not to cry.

“Aiden, don’t blame yourself. It’s not your fault.”

Karina consoled Aiden.

“But……”

“You’re still a child too.”

“That’s right, kiddo. There are things in this world that children can’t do. This is one of those things. No, in the end, even adults couldn’t prevent it.”

Heistine chimed in.

“We’ll solve this, so don’t worry. Your siblings will all be safe.”

Mikhail patted Aiden’s head.

Aiden nodded with a trusting expression, swallowing his sobs.

Though they said that, everyone felt anxious inside.

The children had been kidnapped without knowing the other party’s purpose.

Time was of the essence.

“Let’s go to the villa on the outskirts where they’re supposedly taking the children right away. We need to see for ourselves what they’re up to.”

When Karina spoke, Selena agreed.

“I agree. We don’t know where the black carriage’s destination is, but we can’t just waste time.”

As everyone stood up, Aiden jumped up and shouted.

“Please take me with you!”

“No.”

Karina expressed her refusal with a firm expression.

Aiden pleaded desperately.

“Please! I can be helpful if I go!”

“……He’s not wrong.”

Selena, who was standing nearby, spoke up.

“If the children were taken to a strange place, they might be more wary and scared of unfamiliar adults. Unless we go in directly and boldly take them back, having Aiden might be helpful.”

Even so, Karina was reluctant.

Then Heistine added:

“We don’t have time for this. Right now, the most important thing is to get the children back as quickly as possible. If they end up being sold at some auction for human trafficking, it’ll be even harder to find them afterward.”

“He’s a smart kid, so he won’t do anything reckless.”

Even Mikhail took Aiden’s side.

After pondering, Karina reluctantly agreed.

“If everyone thinks so, I guess we have no choice.”

Aiden’s expression brightened.

“And just in case, it might be good to have one person stay behind. We might need outside help while tracking them down.”

Heistine suggested.

It made sense.

“Duchess, please stay here.”

In Heistine’s view, Karina was the most appropriate person to leave behind.

Someone who didn’t have the defensive or offensive capabilities to protect herself, but was in the position of Duchess who could most easily obtain outside help.

But Mikhail immediately objected.

“That won’t do. If Karina stays here, I have to stay too.”

“What?”

Heistine asked back with an expression that said ‘what are you talking about?’

“I’m Karina’s escort. It’s only natural that I move as one with Karina.”

Mikhail returned the same expression Heistine had made earlier.

“……”

Heistine made a disgruntled face.

“Then I’ll stay behind.”

Selena raised her hand and volunteered.

“Between Heistine and me, if one of us has to stay, it’s better if I do. Heistine has experience as a mercenary, so he’ll be more useful than me going. Contact me if you need anything.”

Selena nodded towards the magic communication device placed on the shelf under the window.

It was a magic communication device that Mikhail had installed in the flower shop early on to report mission results or as a means of contact.

“If that’s decided, let’s depart right away.”

At Mikhail’s words, everyone moved quickly.

In the dead of night when darkness had fallen.

Black shadows crept into a villa owned by Lambert.

As expected, the security around the mansion was tight.

“I’ve confirmed that there’s a black-curtained cargo wagon parked behind the mansion.”

Heistine reported after quickly scouting around the mansion.

“Any traces of children?”

Mikhail cast a wide-range detection spell to thoroughly search the interior of the mansion.

“There are no children inside the mansion right now.”

“They said they send the children who played and ate at the mansion back in the evening, so I guess they’ve already been sent back.”

What they were looking for was the whereabouts of the children who had ridden in the black carriage.

Karina pondered what to do.

That’s when Aiden stepped forward.

“I’ll go. If a child who obviously looks like an orphan wanders around nearby, they’ll surely take me to where those children are.”

He was saying he would act as bait.

“It’s not that simple. What if they think you’ve escaped and try to harm you right away?”

Heistine objected.

“That’s right. It’s too dangerous, so no.”

Karina agreed and cut him off, but Aiden persisted tenaciously.

“But we don’t have time. It’s not like we have any other options.”

Indeed, searching aimlessly would take too much time.

Mikhail offered a compromise.

“Let’s do as Aiden says. If Aiden is in danger, I’ll step in immediately.”

Mikhail spoke reassuringly, as if telling them to trust him.

“This is our best option right now.”

“……”

“The longer we delay, the more danger the other children are in.”

Karina let out a groan and earnestly pleaded with Aiden.

“Alright. But promise me you’ll prioritize your own safety above all else. If it seems dangerous, run away immediately. Understood?”

“Yes!”

Aiden answered bravely, as if telling them not to worry.

[This is the timeline separator]

A few torches dimly lit the passageways of the mine shaft.

“Move faster! Don’t stop working!”

A man with a face full of scars barked at the children.

“There’s still a long way to go before meeting the quota! You need to hurry if you want to finish in time!”

“Huff, huff.”

Dino diligently moved the rocks as they told him to.

Crouched in one spot in the cramped passageway, he had to continuously pass the rocks handed to him from the front to the back.

His legs and arms felt like they were about to cramp from the repetitive movements.

“Cough! Cough!”

His eyes stung from the dust and he kept coughing.

His ice-cold hands were scratched and wounded by the rough surface of the rocks.

Blood seeped from the injured areas.

It stung, smarted, and hurt, but there was no time to rest.

The other children also did as they were told with tearful faces.

This was because the man with the scarred face kept a hawk-like watch on the children working, scrutinizing the narrow passages at all times.

Then.

“Hack! Cough! Cough! Cough!”

Philip, who was next to Dino, inhaled the dust-filled air and started coughing severely.

The coughing sound was not ordinary.

“Philip! Are you okay?”

Dino, startled, tried to take care of Philip.

As a result, the rocks being passed from the front started piling up at Dino’s turn.

“Hurry and take them!”

“J-Just a moment! My brother…!”

“They keep coming from the front! I said hurry and take them!”

When Dino didn’t take them, the child in front finally started putting the rocks down at Dino’s feet.

The rocks being moved kept piling up around Dino and Philip.

From behind, they urged to pass the rocks quickly.

“Cough! Cough! Hack! Hack!”

Now Philip started choking as if he couldn’t breathe.

“Philip!”

It was a total mess.

“What’s going on! Why aren’t you moving the rocks quickly!”

A roar erupted from the man monitoring the children from outside.

“I won’t let you off easy if you’re slacking! Move it now!”

Frightened by the shouts from outside, the children urged again.

“Hey! Hurry up and pass them! Or we’ll get hit!”

But once Philip’s coughing fit started, it wouldn’t stop.

“Ugh……”

As Dino was floundering, not knowing what to do, the scarred man came to check on the situation inside the mine shaft.

“You there!”

The man pointed the end of the club in his hand at Philip, who was still coughing.

“Come out right now!”

“…!”

Dino hugged Philip and said in a trembling voice:

“My brother didn’t do anything wrong! He’s still too young for this kind of work… and there’s too much dust here…!”

But the man didn’t listen to all of Dino’s words.

“As if there are any kids here who aren’t young! How dare you make such ridiculous excuses! Come out now!”

The man, wearing a fierce expression, reached into the passage and grabbed Dino, who was holding Philip, by the scruff of his neck and dragged him out.

“Urgh!”

Dino tried his best to resist being dragged, but he couldn’t match the strength of an adult male.

Dino and Philip were dragged outside.

The scarred-faced man threw Dino and Philip onto the hard, cold ground.

“Ugh!”

Even then, Dino didn’t let go of his arms holding Philip.

Philip was still coughing and unable to regain his senses.

Dino trembled, hugging Philip tightly.

“I need to make an example so you’ll listen!”

The man raised his club high, as if about to swing it at Dino and Philip at any moment.

“Hey! Over here!”

Just then. A soldier entered the mine entrance, bringing a child with him.