Youngest 004
by Cristae4
Madam Yuris, the supervisor of the Imperial Rieta Shelter, opened her eyes wide.
“Your Grace?”
It was because Leviathan Zevert had suddenly appeared in such a disheveled state. He had also been her peer during their academy days.
“What on earth has happened?”
It was the first time she’d ever seen Leviathan look so frantic.
His once immaculate uniform was now terribly rumpled, and his black hair was soaked with rain.
He must have run here at full tilt, for even that great knight was out of breath.
“I heard there was a break-in?”
Striding into the shelter lobby, Leviathan looked around. His violet eyes were violently trembling.
“Oh, you heard already?”
“What exactly happened?”
“There was a break-in. They seemed to be after the donations, but perhaps they were amateurs—most of it was dropped in the backyard as they ran.”
“And the children? There are rumors some were hurt.”
“Some of the little ones were startled and cried after falling over, but they’re fine. No one was actually injured.”
It seemed the rumors had been somewhat exaggerated.
“…”
Leviathan let out a long breath.
It was only then he realized he hadn’t even been breathing properly. At last, his constricted vision cleared.
Yuris’s surprised face.
Children scurrying away once they spotted him.
“The child I brought yesterday…”
His voice cracked.
“The child I brought—where is she?”
“Oh, you mean Rubian.”
Leviathan blinked blankly.
Come to think of it, he realized, he hadn’t even asked the child’s name.
“Rubian…”
He quietly pronounced the name.
It suited her, and yet somehow it didn’t.
“So, where is Rubian now?”
“She suddenly said she had a stomachache and went to the restroom. Strange, she’s been gone quite a while. We still need to test her for mana.”
“…A mana assessment?”
“It’s an order from the imperial family. They’re trying to catch the fugitive mage or something along those lines.”
Leviathan’s brow tightened dramatically.
Damn that emperor. He’d been handling things on his own, but the emperor just had to fish for a reaction.
“Everyone who crossed the border is subject to it. When you brought her, you said you’d found her near the border, right?”
Leviathan clucked his tongue.
“In any case, go and bring the child.”
“Yes, understood.”
Because of the break-in, the city guards were prowling everywhere, swords drawn with a forbidding air. The atmosphere was tense enough to fray anyone’s nerves.
The environment… was rather lacking.
‘Looking closely, this shelter seems awfully shabby.’
It was strange.
This Imperial Shelter was supposedly fashioned by renovating an entire noble’s mansion.
And yet, upon scrutiny, everything from the floors to the ceilings appeared lacking.
“Madam Yuris.”
Just then, a boy approached.
Bright golden hair, teal eyes.
Leviathan’s chin inclined slightly.
“Ah, Your Highness. Have you had a good look around the facility?”
“Yes. Thanks to you, I believe I’ll be able to fulfill the assignment His Majesty gave me.”
The boy smiled politely in reply.
“Oh? Duke Zevert.”
“What brings Your Highness here?”
He was Babylon’s youngest prince.
Licht Babylon. Who could tell why one of such noble blood would be here.
No, more importantly… they hadn’t been able to prevent a robbery even with a prince present?
‘This place truly is worse than a shanty.’
What have I done?
Leviathan’s brow furrowed even more deeply.
“His Majesty asked me to offer opinions on the new orphanage to be established in the south.”
“Who did?”
“My father, of course.”
“Please report this.”
“…Excuse me?”
“This is child exploitation.”
Licht scratched his fair cheek and gave an awkward smile. The very air around him seemed to soften. His dazzlingly beautiful face was the spitting image of the emperor.
Only just twelve, the prince seemed a bit smaller for his age. Yet in his eyes flashed a fierceness common to all royalty…
Leviathan felt conflicted.
‘So Ditrian is throwing him into the succession battle already.’
Inwardly, he cursed the emperor, who ran blue blood to his bones.
“I assure you, I’m fine. I volunteered for this myself. But more than that, I heard there was some commotion… Madam.”
The prince turned back to Yuris.
“I haven’t seen the child with silver hair for some time now.”
“Hmm? Isn’t she in the restroom?”
“She’s not anywhere.”
The boy shook his head.
Leviathan’s hand tightened.
Gone?
Then where on earth—
“There’s been trouble, so perhaps we ought to conduct a proper search.”
“The grounds are so vast, it would be best to enlist the knights’ help.”
“Yes. …That child seemed uneasy to me, and I can’t help but worry.”
Leviathan froze mid-stride, about to rush out.
“She seemed uneasy?”
“Pardon? Yes.”
Why?
Leviathan felt something inside him crumble.
The face of the child who had smiled so brightly, even after all the hardship in the forest, flashed through his mind.
He’d believed a child so resilient would surely do well here.
‘Was I wrong…?’
A tremor ran through his hands. Suddenly, he remembered her voice, saying nothing would be fixed by crying.
Ah.
That was the face of someone used to holding things in.
“She sighed so heavily, even skipped her meal almost completely…”
The prince’s gentle face darkened.
“Your Grace?”
“Search the grounds!”
Leviathan leapt to his feet.
A foreboding sense of dread seized him.
The prince was a child with finely honed perception. If even he had searched and failed to find her—
‘It means she’s already gone from here.’
Leviathan sped to the stables. Grabbing the reins, he vaulted onto a horse.
By then, a downpour was lashing the city.
Thunder rolled. The howling sky made his anxiety greater still.
Startled, people scattered at the sudden appearance of a galloping horse. Raindrops stung his cheeks like blades.
Winter had not yet ended.
Where could she have gone on a day like this?
A child used to enduring. A child who hid trembling hands behind cheerful laughter.
I should have known.
“Thanks to you, things are peaceful now.”
That was it.
The place filled with peace was this capital.
Not the harsh, rugged north, where it was swords and training every day.
“Damn it.”
That’s how it is. A child used to holding everything in is like a flower curling up and blooming in the shade. Such things need to be tended with love and care to flourish.
They need to be cared for, not by someone tainted with blood like me, but by people gentler and kinder, with true affection. Only then would they finally dare to peek out from the shadows.
“Can’t you take me with you, Mister?”
But what if, after all, that was the only thing you couldn’t keep inside?
Leviathan regretted it, far too late.
‘If it was going to be like this…’
He should have taken her with him.
If he’d kept her by his side and protected her, none of this would have happened.
‘Damn it, why do I always make mistakes?’
Go to hell, Leviathan Zevert.
He cursed himself in earnest.
Clip-clop! Clip-clop!
His horse tore madly through the capital. He pushed his senses to the limit, searching for a trace of the child.
‘If anything’s happened to her…’
Suddenly, he remembered their first meeting.
The child rummaging through a corpse’s pockets.
He had to admit it: Leviathan had seen his own childhood reflected in that figure.
“Damn it all!”
Boom! Unable to contain his anxiety as he searched the dark alleys, Leviathan unleashed a burst of sword aura.
A wall collapsed with a crash, and a group of knights rushed over.
“What happened… Your Grace?”
It was the Zevert knights, who had been patrolling the area.
His lieutenant, Leon, hurried closer.
“What are you doing out here…?”
“Find the child.”
Leviathan’s voice was low and heavy.
“Excuse me? The child…?”
“A boy with silver hair and blue eyes.”
The knights looked puzzled.
After a moment’s thought, he added,
“Named Rubian.”
He roughly wiped the rain streaming down his face. At the very least, he should have asked her name himself.
“Find Rubian.”
“Y-yes, sir!”
The knights scattered.
Leviathan, without hesitation, seized the reins again. Just as he was about to ride off once more—
“…Mister?”
Through the roar of the rain, a thin voice pierced the air.
Creaking, he turned his head. In the alley right beside him, a familiar silhouette was approaching.
“You…”
Leviathan’s eyes widened in shock.