Morning dawned, cold and pale.
In his room, Leo slowly opened his eyes.His pupils had returned to blue, a deep blue, calm… but dull.
He whispered,
"…I killed a man."
His fists were still red, trembling.Dried blood clung to his knuckles, embedded in the lines of his skin.His clothes, torn and dirty, lay on the floor, silent witnesses to what he had been through.
He stood up slowly, every movement heavy.
He staggered to the bathroom.
He turned on the sink, turned on the cold water, and plunged his hands under the spout.
The water turned pink.
Then red.
The blood flowed, slowly disappearing down the drain.
But the image wouldn't go away.
The nobleman.His throat slit.The shocked look.The slow agony.
Leo didn't regret it.
He didn't regret it.
But he had... killed.
He slowly turned his hands, observing the newfound pallor of his skin.
— "Mother mustn't know."He looked at himself in the mirror.— "She must never find out."
---
He went downstairs. Slowly. Carefully.
Aurona was there, in the kitchen, dressed simply, a plate already set on the table.
— "You look well this morning..." she said softly.
— "I... I'm fine."
— "Are you sure? You look pale."She stared at him. For a long time. Then looked away.
— "There's... been some news." Lord Alfonso is dead."
Leo raised his eyebrows, feigning surprise.
"Huh? What? Seriously? What do you mean?"
"They found him... in his room. Beaten. Drenched in blood. His throat slit."
He said nothing. He just wanted to leave. Escape from this kitchen. Escape from his mother's gaze.
"I... I'm not hungry."
He took a step back.But his hand was grabbed.
Aurona had seized his wrist.
She wasn't holding tight. But she wasn't letting go.
Her gaze fell on the reddened skin of his knuckles.
A shiver ran through her.
"Leo... why are your hands...?"
"Nothing. It's nothing. I... I had a fight with a friend yesterday. On my way home. Nothing serious."
He wasn't looking at her. He spoke too quickly.
But Aurona remembered.
At the manor this morning, the servants were talking.
> "Before his throat was cut… he was beaten. Savagely.""The attacker's strength… it was superhuman "
And she remembered the shattered windows.That exact moment.When Alfonso… was going to force her again.
And she understood.
She understood that her son had heard.That he had seen.And that he had acted.
Because he didn't want her to suffer.
Aurona said nothing.
She gently let go of his wrist.
And she said:
"Eat a little. You need to regain your strength."
Leo looked at her.Surprised.But he obeyed.
They didn't discuss the subject.Not that day.
But a new bond had been created.Silent. Unshakeable.That of two wounded souls, ready to protect each other... even at the cost of blood.The morning meal passed unusually calmly.
No jokes.No complaints about the vegetables.No "it's overcooked" or "it's orange, so it's suspicious."
Just silence. And the weight of a night spent relearning who they were.
Leo ate in small bites. His mother too. Neither was really hungry. But they shared this moment... like a fragile balance, ready to shatter at the slightest word.
And it was Aurona who spoke first.
Her voice was soft. Tired. And trembling.
— "...I'm sorry."
Leo looked up, surprised.
— "If I hadn't gone... found that job... if I had resisted harder..."She put down her spoon.
— "You shouldn't have carried... murder on your conscience. Not now. Not at your age." »
Her hands clenched. Tears silently slipped down her cheeks.
— "I wanted to protect you. But... you did it."
Leo remained frozen. Then he calmly put down his cutlery, stood up... and walked around the table.
He crouched down in front of her, gently. And he took her hands in his.
— "No. It's me."
She looked up, her eyes clouded with pain.
— "It was me... who lost myself. I wanted so much to become strong, so much to find Dad, that I forgot what mattered most."He looked into her eyes.
— "Protect you, Mom."
She started to speak, but he placed a finger against her lips.
— "Then don't cry. What's done is done. I don't regret anything. That guy... he deserved it." You don't touch my mother... without consequences."
He smiled. A sad smile. But sincere.
— "And then... it allowed me to awaken my aura. It wasn't magic. It was me. It was my heart."
He took a step back.Straightened up.And stood straight. Very straight.
He placed one arm folded against his chest, the other arm behind his back, foot slightly forward, adopting the pose Rowan had taught him.
A swearing pose.That of a knight.
— "Lady Aurona..."He took a breath.
— "Would you do me the honor... of choosing me as your knight? Your protector?"
Aurona stared at him, her mouth half-open, trembling.
Then, without saying a word, she stood up too.
She stepped forward.And hugged him.
Strong.
Stronger than she had ever been.
— "Yes."Her voice was drowned in tears.— "Yes, I choose you, my knight. My son. My miracle."
And in that suspended moment, where pain mingled with love, a new promise was born.Silent. Unshakeable.
> From today on, Leo would no longer be a child dreaming.He would be a shield. A right arm. A blade ready to defend.
The morning was heavy, laden with a gray sky and the smell of the market.
Leo had put on his cleanest clothes—even if they were worn—and had carefully fastened his watch to his wrist. His gaze was determined. He had made a decision the day before, and nothing would make him back down.
In the kitchen, he spoke to his mother bluntly:
"I've decided to stop attending the elders' classes."
Aurona froze, spoon in hand.
"Are you sure? You learned valuable things there..."
"We pay to attend. And what we pay for, we can't afford anymore."He calmly placed his hand on the table.
"I'm going to look for a job. A real one. Even if I'm young."
She wanted to protest, but the words stuck in her throat. She could see his expression clearly; he was becoming too mature for his age, and sensed in him the same stubbornness as her father.
She nodded.
"Then I'll look for it too. Even if it doesn't pay much... it doesn't matter. What matters is that we can eat."
Leo smiled, and that smile, however small, lit up the room.
"We'll get through this, Mom. I promise."
---
In the East Quarter, on the corner of an old building made of dark stone and thick beams, stood the tavern "The Fang of the Moa."
An old-fashioned sign, worn by the weather, but still standing.
The smell of alcohol, meat, and wood fire wafted out.And behind the counter, a massive half-orc was methodically drying tankards.
Kragg (Boaz)Former mercenary, turned tavern owner. He didn't say much, but his eyes saw everything.
When Leo pushed open the door, the smell hit him like a slap in the face.
"Hello, sir. I'm looking for work."
Kragg looked up.He looked Leo up and down. Too young. Too clean. Not very sturdy. But his eyes... not those of a simple kid.
"Waiter or dishwasher?"
"I can do both. I can carry, sweep, clean, run, remember orders... And I'm a fast learner."
Kragg looked at him again.
"You've never worked in a tavern, have you?"
"No."
"And you look like one of those schoolboys."
"I quit. To help my mother."
Kragg was silent for a moment. Then he pointed to the bucket and mop in the corner.
"Wipe the floor. Good. If it's not done in ten minutes, you can leave."
Leo nodded, unflinching.
He got to work. Quickly. Methodically. He mopped the floor with precision, reaching into corners, cleaning between chair legs.
Kragg watched him out of the corner of his eye. An old waiter approached, an elf with a golden mustache.
"He does it like his life depends on it."
Kragg growled.
"Maybe it does."
When Leo finished, he stood up, slightly out of breath, but upright.
"Done."
Kragg nodded slowly.
"You start tomorrow. You'll carry the dishes, and you'll learn. First month paid half price." »
— "Sounds good. Thank you, sir."
Kragg turned on his heel.
— "Don't call me sir. I'm not a noble. Call me Kragg. And if you break something, you replace it. Got it?"
— "Got it, Kragg."
---
Meanwhile, at the local Cattleya Guild headquarters, in a vaulted room lined with maps and files, Maria was rereading a report.
The guild leader, always immaculate, tapped the parchment with her fingernail.
— "Murder of Lord Alfonso. Clean execution. No use of elemental magic detected. No forced entry. But evidence of a crude impact. An awakened aura."
She turned her eyes to the man leaning against the bookcase, his arms crossed, his shirt half-open.
Ruggero.
Southwest Number Two. Detached, unclassifiable.And even stranger: a fanatic of Attira, the goddess of compassion and destiny."I'm listening, Maria. But I'm warning you, if this interrupts my contemplative meeting with the effigy of Attira, the Mother Goddess, I'm going to be angry with you."
Maria sighed.
"You're the only man capable of saying that without shame.""Love is pure. Even when the divinity doesn't respond," he said with a dreamy smile.He played with a coin bearing his image, spinning it on his finger.
"You think he's a mercenary? A discreet hitman?"
"Maybe. Maybe not," Maria replied.
She held out a sketch: a map of the East End, a few scribbled notes.
— "What's certain is that we have an awakened aura with no known training, no information on a guild or order."He stood up slowly.
His eyes changed tone slightly—steel gray, focused. Behind the laziness, the cold intelligence of the Southwest Guild's number two.
— "Do you want me to wander around there?"
— "Discreetly. Talk to the shopkeepers. Watch the movements, a dead man doesn't suit anyone except... maybe them."
Ruggero smiled.
— "I like this kind of ghost hunting."— "I'm your shadow. Unless Attira calls me in my dreams, in which case I'll withdraw for three days."
— "You're hopeless."
— "But effective," he said.
Maria sighed.
— "Just try not to talk about Attira to anyone."
— "I'll do my best. But she's still in my heart."
He slipped away.And in the streets of Atokanayah, the shadow of the Guild began to move closer to the Fang of the Moa... without Leo knowing.
To be continued
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