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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 6
Chapter Title: Calvados
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Her center of gravity suddenly shifted forward.
Lumina found herself bewildered, her face buried in the stranger's chest.
“I've been looking all over for you.”
“…Who?”
She lifted her head to see the person’s face.
But he was wearing a hood, so she couldn't see him properly.
Judging by his voice and overall build, he was a boy about a head taller than her.
And even without seeing his face, she was certain of one thing.
He wasn't someone twelve-year-old Lumina knew.
‘Then why is he acting like he knows me?’
Lumina stared intently at the hood, trying to see the boy's face.
But the boy placed a hand on the back of her head and gently pressed it forward.
Caught off guard, Lumina was flustered to find her nose buried in his chest once more.
“He's coming this way. Don't look up.”
The boy whispered in a low voice.
He didn’t say who was coming, but she knew instinctively.
Her maternal uncle, Joseph.
He had to be talking about him.
She even held her breath, afraid Joseph might recognize her voice.
Tap, tap.
The area was noisy with the chatter of people, but the sound of someone’s dress shoes was crystal clear.
She flinched.
As Lumina trembled involuntarily, the boy held her tighter.
Huffin in frustration, Joseph glanced at the pair as he passed by.
‘She looked so quiet and obedient, I never thought she'd cause any trouble. And now she suddenly runs away?’
They say still waters run deep. He’d been completely blindsided.
As soon as he heard Lumina had disappeared, Joseph had started wandering around aimlessly when he saw a head of wheat-blonde hair.
She was nestled in the arms of a taller boy, so he couldn't see her face, but her clothes looked similar.
‘Could it be?’
His gut screamed.
It was Lumina.
As he tried to get a better look, the hooded boy shot him a sharp glare.
He had only met the gaze of a child much younger than him.
Yet a shiver ran down his spine.
Instinctively feeling he shouldn't get any closer, Joseph ended up leaving without even seeing the face of the girl who might have been Lumina.
“…Is he gone?”
A good while after Joseph had left, Lumina asked cautiously.
She was still pressed against the chest of a complete stranger whose name and face she didn't know.
“He's out of sight now.”
As if on cue, Lumina pulled away from the boy's embrace.
She quickly scanned her surroundings.
Joseph was nowhere to be seen.
A sigh of relief escaped her lips.
“Don't look around so much. You'll draw suspicion.”
The boy casually draped an arm over Lumina's shoulder, pulling her close.
It was a rather familiar gesture.
Coming from a stranger, it was utterly bewildering.
“Stop looking so dazed and act like you know me. Aren't you on the run, too?”
“Ah.”
Lumina blinked slowly. It was as if a lightbulb had just gone off over her head.
“So, you're on the run, too, and you grabbed the first person you saw so you wouldn't get caught? I guess that makes us partners in crime, then?”
“…Right. I helped you because we seemed to be in a similar situation.”
“Thanks. Whatever your intention, you saved me.”
Shedding her earlier naivety, she quickly grasped the situation and summed it up neatly.
“How long do we have to keep this up?”
Lumina lowered her voice, acting as if she and the boy were the closest of friends.
“For now, just head where you need to go.”
His tone was as arrogant as a command.
For a moment, she wondered what kind of person he was. But her own situation wasn't exactly great, either.
It wasn't a bad deal, so Lumina obediently started walking toward her destination.
Having an ally made her feel quite secure.
‘So far, so good.’
Feeling that things would continue to go well, Lumina kept sneaking glances at the boy.
“If you want to look, don't sneak glances—look properly. If you have something to say, don't hold back.”
She must have stared too much.
She’d finally been called out.
“Where were you headed?”
They were only going to meet this once.
She was tactful enough not to ask for his name or to see his face.
She was just curious where he was running to that he could so freely tell her to go wherever she pleased.
“Anywhere.”
After just a few exchanges, she could easily tell the boy had an abrasive personality.
But she was thinking this particular answer was especially insincere.
“Because there's nowhere I can't go. As long as it's not near *him*.”
Him?
For a second, she almost asked who "him" was without thinking.
But since this was a one-time meeting, she had no intention of prying.
After walking for some time.
“I don't want to go that way. Let's part ways here.”
The moment the boy finished speaking, Lumina quickly put some distance between them, as if they'd never been close at all.
It seemed the boy let out a short laugh at Lumina's swift change in attitude.
“Thanks. I hope whatever you're doing works out well.”
Lumina turned her back without a second thought.
But the boy stopped her.
“Wait.”
“Hm?”
The boy took off the hood he had been wearing so securely and placed it over her head.
The problem was that he pulled the hood down so tightly it obscured her vision, and she couldn't see a thing.
‘I feel like a burrito neatly wrapped in a tortilla.’
Just before the hood came down, she’d managed to get a quick look at the boy’s face.
Even from that fleeting glimpse, his looks were memorable. The kind that would make many women swoon when he grew up.
But Lumina, not batting an eye, asked in a composed tone.
“You said you were on the run, too. Is it really okay to give me your cloak?”
“Walking around alone dressed like that, people will think you're a lost little noble lady. I didn't walk you all this way just to see you get caught the moment we part.”
He really was an abrasive boy.
“Wear it.”
“…”
“It's nothing. Consider it a reward for your excellent acting.”
She couldn't read the boy's expression.
But just from his voice, she could sense a hint of bashfulness.
‘He's not used to being kind to others.’
He might have sounded grumpy, but he was really telling her not to feel burdened.
Now a giant burrito in a cloak too big for her, Lumina grinned and replied, “Alright.”
***
Cling-.
The shop door opened with the clear ring of a bell.
“Welcome… What the. It's just a kid.”
The owner, who ran both a tavern and an inn, was visibly disappointed at the sight of his first customer of the day.
She was so small, he wondered if she could even afford anything. She definitely wasn't an adult.
When she pushed back the deep, black hood, long, wheat-blonde hair and sparkling pink eyes were revealed.
She was scrawny, as if she hadn't been well-fed, but she looked quite gentle.
Seeing how clean she was, it seemed she came from a wealthy family, even if she hadn't been raised with love.
But no matter how you looked at it, she was just a child, maybe ten years old at most.
“Child, are you looking for your parents? Unfortunately, this place is so dead, you won't find them here.”
He wondered how she'd even found this tiny shop, tucked away in a corner.
Quickly losing interest, the owner waved his hand dismissively, gesturing for her to leave.
But the girl coolly surveyed her surroundings before confidently taking a seat across from him.
…Though she seemed to struggle a bit because the stool was too high.
“I'm here to see Mr. Calvados.”
Calvados.
The name of a brandy distilled from apple cider.
And, to those in the know, the alias of Duke Heart.
“Calvados? If you want to drink brandy, come back with your parents' permission.”
“He must not train his staff very well. An ordinary person wouldn't refer to a brandy as if it were a person. Especially not in a place like this.”
It was a composure unbefitting a child.
The owner, who had let his guard down for a moment because of her appearance, became wary.
“I don't know where you picked up that name, but he's not someone a kid like you can meet.”
Lumina leaned in, continuing breezily.
“What if I'm a Legion?”
“Then you should follow the proper procedures and go register.”
He replied nonchalantly, even after hearing the word Legion.
It wasn't like Legions were as common as pebbles on the road.
If he believed everyone who claimed to be a Legion, then every Tom, Dick, and Harry would be one.
“I came to find Mr. Calvados precisely because I don't want to reveal to the Imperial Family that I'm a Legion.”
“Where on earth did you hear that name?”
“I can't reveal my source. Just know that I came here because I heard he's very interested in Legions like me.”
“It's true he's interested in Legions, but you've come to the wrong place. If you just tell me who sent you…”
“And besides, I'm the only Legion with healing abilities.”
The owner fell silent.
A Legion with healing abilities.
Hearing those words, he showed no reaction.
He simply looked at Lumina as if she were a con artist.
‘Isn't that a bit too obvious? Your thoughts are written all over your face!’
She'd expected he wouldn't believe her right away, but seeing it firsthand still stung a little.
“You're a Legion with that kind of power?”
“Yes.”
“Sigh.”
The owner let out an inscrutable sigh. Then he shook his head and bent down.
The owner disappeared below the bar.
“I don't like doing bad things to children. But I have no choice.”
‘Is he pulling out a knife or something?’
Gulp.
Lumina swallowed nervously.
A moment later, the owner pulled something out and slammed it down with a thud!
It was.
“A glass orb?”
It was a glass orb about the size of two fists.
“Place your hand on this.”
“What is this?”
“It's a simple measuring device. If you're a Legion, it'll react.”
This wasn't something you'd find in an ordinary tavern. She had definitely come to the right place.
“And if I'm not a Legion?”
“It won't react at all, and the little kid gets thrown out immediately. And your childish belief that you're a Legion will be shattered.”
“I didn't want to do something so cruel to a child full of dreams,” the owner muttered.
Lumina, on the other hand, was serious.
Because if she were thrown out, Duke Heart would have her followed.
‘He'll run a background check. Information on every last one of my relatives, even the ones I've never met, will be scraped up and handed over to Duke Heart.’
Having come this far and uttered the name 'Calvados,' there was only one thing for Lumina to do.
Without further delay, she grabbed the glass orb.
And the owner's expression twisted into something bizarre.
