Take Me Away, Dark Lord!

”Better now?” Seraphina asked, smiling brightly.

”Mhm, very much,” Kaelus admitted, resting his chin on the top of her head.

The failure in the catacombs still burned, the mystery of the monster still gnawed at him, but sitting here, anchoring himself to the warmth of his daughter, the crushing despair of his failure receded.

The monster had escaped, but Seraphina was safe.

That was the only victory that truly mattered.

Ten minutes later, the heavy oak doors opened.

Seraphina strutted out of the study, carrying the empty porcelain plate.

She held her head high, a look of smugness plastered across her small face.

She looked like a victorious general returning from a successful conquest.

Sir Lucas, Sir Boris, and Sir Gallahan were waiting in the corridor.

”The hedgehog is tamed,” Seraphina announced, handing the empty plate to Gallahan with the air of a queen bestowing a favor upon a peasant. ”He is reading a book now. You may enter safely!”

The knights stared at her in absolute awe.

”By the Light,” Boris whispered reverently, dropping to one knee. ”She is a miracle worker. She is the Sovereign of the Storm!”

”We are unworthy,” Lucas agreed, placing a hand over his heart.

From that moment on, the Vanguard’s treatment of Seraphina crossed the line from ’doting uncles’ entirely into ’fanatical religious worship.’

If Seraphina expressed a mild interest in a particular color of ribbon, a strike team was dispatched to the market to purchase the entire weaver’s stock.

If she looked slightly tired, two knights would immediately form a human palanquin to carry her up the stairs.

She was showered with carved wooden toys, rare sweets, and enough plush velvet pillows to build a fortress.

Marquess Julian Myer, observing this descent into absolute madness, was thoroughly stupefied.

Julian, a man of profound refinement and disciplined estate management, found the sight of the terrifying Black Bastion groveling before a six-year-old to be a complete subversion of the natural order.

He stood in the sunlit parlor of the guest annex, watching Sir Boris delicately balance a teacup on his scarred knee while Seraphina, wearing a slightly lopsided paper crown, poured imaginary tea from a wooden pot.

”This is irregular, Kaelus,” Julian noted, standing beside the Archduke, who was casually leaning against the doorframe, watching the tea party with unabashed fondness. ”You are spoiling her beyond measure. Children require structure and strict discipline. If you indulge her every whim, you will ruin her future! She will become arrogant, spoiled, entitled, and entirely unmanageable!”

Kaelus glanced at Julian, an arrogant smirk touching his lips. ”She is the heir to the North, Julian. It is her birthright to be arrogant. And if she becomes unmanageable, that is a problem for the rest of the Empire, not for me.”

Julian sighed, massaging his temples. ”It is a matter of character, Kaelus. You must establish boundaries. You must learn to say no.”

Kaelus gestured toward the parlor. ”By all means, Marquess. Demonstrate this legendary southern discipline.”

Julian straightened his exquisite coat. ”Very well. You should carefully observe and learn. Even if she is a child, I’ll not be soft!”

Julian confidently strode into the parlor.

Seraphina looked up from her tea party.

She had a plate of fresh, warm sugar cookies next to her, baked specifically by the Bastion’s quartermaster.

”Lady Seraphina,” Julian began, his voice taking on the gentle but firm tone of an educator. ”It is approaching the hour of your afternoon studies. I believe it would be best if you put the toys away and—”

Seraphina did not say a word.

She simply picked up two big sugar cookies and stuffed them simultaneously into her mouth.

Her cheeks bulged out instantly, stretching to accommodate the volume of baked goods.\

She looked exactly like a startled, aggressive hamster hoarding seeds for the winter.

She blinked her large, dark eyes up at Julian, chewing rapidly, a tiny crumb falling onto her chin.

Julian stopped mid-sentence.

He stared at the hamster-child.

He stared at the chubby, bulging cheeks.

The flawless, disciplined Marquess of Oakhaven felt a sudden failure in his own logical circuits.

The devastating cuteness of the act bypassed his aristocratic upbringing entirely.

”Oh, by the heavens,” Julian breathed, his golden eyes wide. He turned around, completely abandoning his lecture, and yelled toward the hallway. ”Steward! Have the kitchens bake fifty more of these cookies immediately! And bring a glass of warm milk! She looks parched!”

Kaelus let out a loud, triumphant snort from the doorway.

”Excellent display of boundaries, Julian,” Kaelus mocked dryly. ”Truly, a masterclass in discipline.”

Julian flushed a faint pink, entirely embarrassed but unable to look away from the child who was now happily munching on the cookies. ”Shut up, Kaelus. It is an evolutionary defense mechanism. How am I supposed to tell her off when she weaponizes her cheeks like that!”

Despite his sudden capitulation to the cuteness, Julian still maintained a physical distance from Seraphina.

He would offer her toys, he would order her snacks, but he never sat on the floor together with her.

He never handed things to her directly, always placing them on a table first.

He stood at least five feet away at all times, a look of lingering, deep-seated guilt shadowing his golden eyes whenever he looked at her.

He blamed himself.

He believed that his mere presence had somehow triggered the agonizing three days of long coma that had nearly killed her.

But Seraphina, watching the handsome Marquess keep his distance with a melancholy smile, knew the truth.

During her three days of forced rest, her mind had painstakingly analyzed the events at the restaurant in her dreamy state.

She had sifted through the lore Gallahan and Lucas had provided, cross-referencing it with the sensations of her own Supreme Dark Core.

And she had finally solved the mystery of the ’Void’.

Julian Myer was not an anomaly.

He was not a monster.

He was, in fact, the exact opposite.

He was a former Holy Knight.