#26
Despite Noah’s struggles to keep his departure secret, many people worked behind the scenes to ensure his safe exit from the castle.
The first person to discover Noah’s escape(?) was the butler. It was his job to wake up earlier than anyone else, draw back the thick curtains that had been closed to block the night chill, and check if anything unusual had happened overnight.
At first, he thought he might have seen wrong, but after confirming that the young master was heading somewhere with Aeongi while trying to hide, the butler informed Lucas, who was in the study. A letter placed on Noah’s bed briefly explained Noah’s actions.
After reading the letter, Lucas gave orders not to stop Noah’s escape(?) attempt, but rather to secretly escort him and let him believe he had successfully left the castle through his own stealth. During that time, everyone who was moving around quickly hid elsewhere whenever they sensed Noah’s presence.
Lucas watched with satisfaction as Noah safely passed through the castle gates.
“That’s right. That’s my son.”
“He’s just like you, Your Grace.”
In response to Lucas’s satisfied remark, the butler nodded in agreement as they watched Aeongi transform into his larger form as soon as they were outside the castle. Then Noah mounted Aeongi and headed straight for the forest without hesitation.
Before being an omega, Noah was the only blood relative in this harsh, remote, and cold region.
Perhaps Noah’s predetermined life was to learn how to manage a household while being protected at home. But Lucas was displeased with the idea that his son, who had the blood of the North flowing through him, should live such a static life.
Lucas felt regretful every time he watched Noah, who was always challenging and unhesitating in everything.
Around the time when thoughts of ‘if only he weren’t an omega’ dominated his mind, Lucas met Raymond and discussed the academy. In the end, he decided that even if Noah would eventually become the mistress of this Austen region, he should be given more diverse experiences than anyone else.
And in accordance with that, Noah had grown up to be this bold.
“Are you listening to me?”
Lucas, who had been lost in thought for a moment, smiled awkwardly when he came face to face with Loren’s fiery eyes of anger as she firmly held his face with both hands.
“He’s already gone, so we can start looking for him now. He didn’t go alone like before, and Aeongi is with him, so he’ll be fine…”
“Please have some warm tea…”
It was Elisa who saved Lucas by bringing refreshments.
“Elisa, nothing bad will happen to our Noah, right?”
Loren, who had just been expressing her anger while holding the Grand Duke’s face, collapsed onto the sofa and accepted the teacup Elisa offered.
“Of course not. I just confirmed that the knights left through the castle gates earlier.”
“Yes… so where is Noah now?”
Lucas, who had been trying to leave Noah’s room while Loren was talking with Elisa, found his steps halted by Loren’s words.
* * *
“We should be around here…”
Noah placed cookies and milk in front of Aeongi and unfolded a paper.
What made all this possible was a map he had found in Lucas’s study. The detailed map of the Heidel Mountains in northern Austen was enough to motivate Noah to move.
The Austen region Noah knew in the future and the present had many similarities but also many differences. In the future, the Schwein family had accumulated considerable wealth. But the current Schwein family was not like that. While they weren’t struggling in severe hardship, they weren’t particularly wealthy either.
It wasn’t difficult to know that the reason was related to mining. Every evening, Noah played in Lucas’s study. Through eavesdropping, he was able to hear about the state of the territory.
The main source of income for the Schwein family was ore. And Noah, noticing that the most expensive ore was missing, had set out to find the vein himself.
Now seven years old, in a few months he would have to enter the academy. Noah didn’t have much time, as he would have to live in the dormitory of the academy in the capital.
Although it was kept quiet, Noah, who had learned about the academy’s tuition fees, had to somehow find the mana stone mine. With the current income, they could manage the territory and save some extra funds, but if they considered the academy tuition fees, not only would there be no surplus funds, but expenses would exceed income.
Although he had said half a day in his letter, they probably started looking for him the moment they realized he was missing. Thanks to Aeongi, they had moved quickly, but the knights of Schwein Castle were the fastest on the snow-covered mountain paths.
“Aeongi?”
With the map spread out, Noah was looking around when Aeongi, who had finished his snack, nudged his head to the side. Noah made a little space to show the map to Aeongi as well.
“Look. I think we’re somewhere around here now. I looked it up in a book, and it says there are a lot of mana stones in the Heidel Mountains. We need to find a mana stone mine.”
Having spent over two years with Aeongi, Noah was convinced that Aeongi understood what he was saying. That’s why he was sharing his concerns.
“Meow?”
Seeing Aeongi tilt his head, Noah sat on the ground, took out his portion of milk from his bag, and drank it.
“I’m going to the academy soon. But they say the academy tuition is expensive. If we find a mana stone mine, Dad won’t have a hard time.”
Noah, drinking milk while looking into the distance, sighed deeply.
“I think the mana stone mine used to be around here somewhere…”
Noah, who had been muttering to himself, heard the roar of a beast from the distant forest and shrank, pressing close to Aeongi. It was his first time going this deep into the forest. Because of that, threatening sounds were constantly coming from all directions.
“…”
Noah, who had snuggled into Aeongi’s embrace as the snow leopard wrapped his front paws around him protectively, looked at the forest with a gloomy expression.
He knew it was a reckless challenge.
But simply thinking about something without trying wasn’t in Noah’s character.
“Dad will find us soon, right? They can track our location. Should we just go back down? It will be difficult for the knights to come all the way up here.”
They could go deeper on Aeongi’s back, but then he couldn’t guarantee their safety. And the promised half-day was almost up.
“Let’s go…”
Having finished his milk, Noah gathered the items he had spread out and put them in his bag. Unlike the spirited morning departure, Noah’s deflated voice was quieter than usual. His usually lively face was filled with gloom.
Being able to sneak out today was truly a stroke of good luck. Now that he had been caught going out like this once, his father and mother would watch him more carefully, and it would be impossible to sneak out alone again.
Today was his only chance, but with the distant sky darkening, there was no time to hesitate. There was no place with more unpredictable weather than here.
Noah patted Aeongi’s neck and slung his bag over his shoulder. And the moment he took a step, he fell forward with a thud.
“…Oww.”
It was his fault for not properly seeing the stone right in front of him. After dusting off his painful knee, Noah looked at his palm and his lips turned downward. His palm had been scraped roughly on the coarse ground, and blood was seeping through.
“Ugh.”
Bending down with the intention of kicking the stone that had tripped him, Noah couldn’t bring himself to do it. Instead of an ordinary dark-colored stone, he discovered a glowing, transparent ore the size of his two fists combined.
He didn’t know what a mana stone looked like. To be honest, he didn’t know what ore looked like either. He might have learned about minerals in science class, but anyway, by Noah’s current standards, they were all just rocks.
But…
“Why does this look like a diamond?”
Noah, crouching in front of the glowing mineral, carefully picked it up with both hands and held it up to the sunlight.
“…Were there diamonds in this area?”
He seemed to have seen colorful, brilliant gems in Loren’s accessories, but come to think of it, he couldn’t remember seeing a diamond.
“Wow… jackpot!”
Who cares if it’s not a mana stone? Diamonds are the best!
“Aeongi! Aeongi!”
Noah held the diamond right in front of Aeongi, who was sitting in front of him with a bored expression. Seeing that Aeongi was looking elsewhere, seemingly uninterested, Noah stomped his feet and jumped around like a primitive tribesman.
“This is really expensive!”
It happened in an instant—Noah, who had been shouting joyfully and jumping around, rolled down the mountainside. And at the same time, Aeongi, who hadn’t anticipated this at all, sprang to his feet.
Like an acorn falling from an oak tree, Noah tumbled down the mountainside and couldn’t stop himself. His last thought was just that the world was spinning round and round.
After briefly staring at the place where Noah had disappeared, Aeongi’s body vanished in an instant. The one who caught Noah in the blink of an eye was not Aeongi but a man with silvery-white hair.
“I can’t take my eyes off you.”
The man thought he had moved immediately upon recognizing the situation to catch Noah, but his eyes darkened infinitely as he looked at the boy cradled in his arms. There were small scratches on Noah’s fair, chubby face. As if he had fainted while falling, Noah showed no response even when touched, and the man’s hands examined various parts of Noah’s body while checking his face.
Fortunately, there were no broken or severely injured areas.
But the bump on his forehead and the wounds on his palms from the earlier fall were enough to make his expression stern.
Above all…
“How could you even enter this place?”
After confirming that Noah was okay, the man looked around and murmured softly.
Soon, a white light formed around his body, and this white light spread widely to the surroundings like waves in the wind.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
