𝐀𝐒𝐇𝐄𝐒 . nozel silva

( CHAPTER TWELVE )

     Juliette Solace. The first-born child of House Solace and soon to be Clover's fortress of defense. When he first met the young lady, he thought she was impossibly pretty. He could remember the time when he was still much younger and had been scolded multiple times after being absent-minded, with thoughts only of befriending her.

     Their age gap often concerned him which is why he never indulged or delve deeper into his feelings for her and viewed it only as an innocent curiosity for friendships. Though the biggest concern he should have was that she was already engaged to his cousin, rival, and closest friend; Nozel.

      Only a blind mage would not know how much Nozel cared for Juliette. Now that Juliette turned eleven, Nozel became more open about the extent of his attentiveness to her. In time, Fuegoleon knew, Nozel would eventually covet to his feelings and confess to Juliette proceeding to their happily ever after. 

      But what of his happily ever after? 

     Fuegoleon shook his head. Perhaps it was too early to think of all of this.

     Going back to the situation at hand, the carriage of House Solace did indeed pass by. What caught his attention, even more, was the fact that Lord and Lady Solace were publicly arguing about a topic he could not fathom, seeing as they had a protective chamber around them that seals the conversation to themselves.

     'Must be important.' 

     He shrugged it off and began walking back to the correct path.

     Then, he realized:'Oh, shit. I'm lost!'

     Yes. How stupid.

     He set out a campfire to keep himself warm and fished for his dinner. The next morning, he finally found a rough path that led... well, it led somewhere. Fuegoleon's never seen it in his life but at least he was getting a few steps back on track.

     "Move out of the way!" As if yesterday's activity hadn't ended there, a horse that carried its erratic master rode quickly as a bolt past him, and immediately, he recognized the crest.

    Fuegoleon creased his brows. 'House Silva?'

     The man, whoever it was, dropped an envelope. Fuegoleon picked it up and removed his hat to use it as a flag.

     "Sir! You dropped something! SIRRRRR??" no matter how much he called; the man never looked back. If anything, he saddled properly in his horse and went away faster.

     'Since you dropped it, I guess reading the contents won't hurt too much. Thank you for the food, kind sir.' by food, he meant gossip. Fuegoleon smiled mischievously to himself when he opened the letter.

     His mind ran over a million thoughts over the contents of the envelope; a proposal from a wealthy man being rejected, a mother revealing the gender of their baby, or maybe a mage getting accepted into one of the brigades of the Magic Knights.

      But its contents were nothing he ever expected.

     What was written on the piece of parchment made him shudder. Not of fear, but of disbelief. The news weighed on him heavier than a ship with thousands of anchors to hold it in place and he did not know how to process it.

     No. He already processed it. However, he was unsure how he could ever have the strength to recover from it— how his friends would react to it.

     The writing was messy but readable enough. The letter said precisely the following words;

Lord Silva,

It is with great honor that I deliver the news to you that Lady Acier gave birth healthily to a young girl she named Noelle, though too early of her expected due date. However, the Royal House was attacked by a group of devil hosts and has taken the child captive.

Lady Acier went after them. Please return immediately.

Your humble servant,
Dain.

     'That son of a bitch is back!' he thought. He hasn't seen the devil nor the devil user, but he's heard of it from both of his parents. And from what he's heard the host was crazily obsessed with his Aunt Acier's strength and resilience.

     "Fuegoleon, where are youuuuuuu?"

     "Come out of the den, coward!"

     "Shut up, Nozel!"

     Fuegoleon turned around and was greeted by the sight of Nozel bickering with Juliette, their wrists tied together by a piece of vine.

     'Oh, shit.' How was he going to tell them?

     Lady Acier gave birth too early.

     And the baby has been kidnapped by Vanica, the host of the devil Megicula.

CHAPTER TWELVE, END.

▅▅▅