The Power of a White Lotus!

Chapter 18 - His Savior

But no matter how much he struggles, his powerlessness will succumb him to his fate.

When Alois had been told that he will be officially betrothed to the Marquis, he attempted to run away. It was in the middle of the night that he snuck out his bedroom, away from the eyes of the few numbers of servants that's placed near his chamber. Perhaps the royal family thought he is too timid to run, so they did not think to increase vigilance in his area. Anyhow, he managed to run out the door and out into the world beyond the castle doors. The night air was bitter cold. Alois took in a deep breath of the fresh air, his mind too agitated to be affected by the chilliness.

Because this was the first time he had stepped out the castle without watchful gazes.

No scornful looks and malicious words, Alois felt at peace for the first time.

He adjusted the little amount of belongings within a small backpack and covered his hair with a hat. Then, the child rushed for the teleportation formation just a distance away.

.

.

.

The teleportation formation is a giant magic circle drawn on the ground that's covered with a rare mineral. The teleportation formation is extremely detailed and takes extreme control and mental strength to complete. This is the reason why there are so few magic circles in the empire, with only one per kingdom. This trait is what allows Alois to mesh in with a random family amongst the large crowd of more than a hundred people and allowed him to successfully escape the capital city into the Kingdom of Spring.

It's just a pity that Alois is far too inexperienced to be on his own, and he did not think about other plans besides his escape. Now that he stood in the wide street, he felt a bit bewildered. There were large crowds of pedestrians out in the streets that overwhelmed him, and Alois felt frightened at each one of their gazes. Afraid that they will recognize him, afraid that they will report him to the knights....

So the boy wandered into the narrow alleyways.

Step by step, with no aim in sight.

After walking for who knows how long, Alois started to feel tired and he still has not thought of a plan. 

His stomach rumbled in complaint.

"What should I do......"

"Kid, you lost?" A sudden voice sounded behind Alois.

The frightened boy gasped and turned, facing an amiable looking young man who was wearing a bright grin on his face.

"Yea- Yeah..." mumbled Alois.

"Why don't you come with this big brother here? I'll take you to see the knights."

"Kni-knights? No, I'm alright, I think my family is waiting for me just up ahead."

After saying this, Alois turned to leave.

But his arm is grabbed by the man, stopping him in his steps.

The boy became alarmed.

"Let me go! What are you - "

"Yell and struggle all you want boy, who told you to come in to a secluded alley." The man took off his facade and sneered.

Alois ignored the man's words and screamed for help. His frail hands also clawed at the man's hands but the short nails barely made a mark.

Perhaps the boy's struggles annoyed the man, since he threw Alois to the ground.

The impact rendered Alois incapable of moving. His limbs can only twitch slightly as he gasped for air.

"Let's see, let's see..."

The man's rough hands reached out and grabbed Alois's chin. His face came up close as he studied the child's face.

"Whew- I've hit the jackpot!"He chuckled. "An impressive little light user aren't you, with a pretty little face too. I'm sure you're gonna fetch a good price."

As he said this, the man retrieved a pill from his back pocket and began to feed it to the boy.

Alois could not even muster a word, much less struggle. He could only watch with his eyes filled with frightened tears, as well as tears of sorrow.

'Why is this happening to me, what did I do wrong, why... is there no one out there who can help me?'

'please....'

'help.....'

Alois shut his eyes tightly.

What greeted him when he shut his eyes was not darkness, but a sudden, bright flash of violet!

Alois quickly looked up towards that light, and saw the man who had captured him wearing a painful look on his face.

The boy reacted instantly by mustering all his strength to get back and attempt to get on his feet. As he did so, he realized that there is another person standing behind the man.

It was a boy who appeared to be slightly older than he is.

And the violet light came from the sparks of lightning coating the silver sword he held in his hands. 

Blood dripped off of that magnificent sword, and that boy swung it off, as if afraid of tainting the pure white metal with the blood of a scum.

And that's when Alois realized that the man's hand which held the pill had been cut off.

Tears streamed out of Alois's eyes once more, but this time, it was in streams of gratitude, relief, and other feelings he cannot express in words.

Because for the first time, his voice had been heard...