"Father, even if you had taken me with you, I wouldn’t have stopped working hard!"
Leo curled up in pain, holding back his sobs. His hands dug into the ground.
For the first time in a long while, he felt the sting of loneliness.
---
Mealtime passed. Leo kept dragging himself across the ground.
He was truly a stubborn boy. But today, his feelings had gripped his whole heart.
Father and Mama had left suddenly, without a word. It was so hard for his heart to accept.
He got up and looked around restlessly.
Every memory from the last two years began to spin in his mind. Father’s strictness. Mama’s gentleness.
"Why are happy days so short?"
Tears fell again. And just then, his eyes landed on two letters lying on the table nearby.
He walked a few steps and picked up both letters.
---
Names were written on the envelopes. One said Leo. The other said Rowan Voss.
It was clear. One letter was for him. The other was to be delivered to Hall Master Rowan Voss of Moonhaven Hall.
Leo calmed himself. Then he slowly opened the envelope with his name.
*—————————————————*
*Leo,*
*By the time you see this letter, I will already have left with your mother.*
*We didn’t want to suffer the pain of goodbye. This is only a farewell for a little while.*
*You’ve grown up now. You must become strong, because from here on, you must rely only on your own strength.*
*After reading this letter, go straight to Moonhaven City.*
*At Moonhaven Hall, there is a place where you can learn every kind of Guardian Knight skill. There is also an instructor there who is especially excellent.*
*Remember one thing. Unless it is absolutely necessary, don’t tell anyone easily that you are both a Retribution Knight and a Guardian Knight. I will warn Rowan Voss about this too.*
*Rowan Voss is a man you can trust. You can ask him for advice.*
*Also, before going to the Knights’ Sacred Mountain to find your mount, you must learn all the Guardian Knight skills from the first stage to the fourth. And you must be able to use them well.*
*At the Sacred Mountain, during spiritual communication, if you cannot withstand the aura of powerful beasts, you will not find any mount worthy of being your partner.*
*And learning Guardian Knight abilities will help you grow even further. Remember. Remember.*
*Keep training with your Spiritual Stove.*
*Once you own a Spiritual Stove, it becomes a way to practice your Spiritual Energy. It improves your training ability.*
*You are now connected to the Lodestar Stove. Because of this bond, your Spiritual Energy may drop.*
*But don’t panic. It’s a process between your Spiritual Energy and your stove. Within half a month, or a month at most, everything will return to normal.*
*The Lodestar Stove was made especially for Guardian Knights. You’ll understand this through your own experience later.*
*Leo, your father and mother hate being apart from you too. But your father hopes that next time we meet, you’ll show us your amazing strength.*
*If your mother and I don’t come to see you, know that we are caught up in very important matters.*
*When you reach the seventh stage as a Temple Warden, pass the test, and earn the Argent Vanguard Armor, only then set out to find us.*
*—————————————————*
By the end of the letter, pain showed on Leo’s face.
But a new fire had woken up in his heart. His goal now was to reach the highest peak of all.
Suddenly he turned around and ran out through the door of the wooden cabin.
He shouted with all his strength.
"Fa—ther—! Ma—ma—!"
---
Leo didn’t leave Eldrin Mountain right away.
He stayed there for three days. Until the scent of his parents had faded from the wooden cabin.
Then he gathered up his sadness at the parting, picked up his things, and walked down the mountain.
On the way to Eldrin Town, he saw that rebuilding work was underway.
At least two thousand private units of the Temple Alliance were stationed there.
---
By the time he reached Moonhaven City, it was already afternoon.
Nothing seemed very different there.
As he crossed the city border, Leo quietly made a vow. He would do everything he could to become a seventh-stage knight as soon as possible.
Even the sudden attack by the Ashmaw Horde had caused no chaos in Moonhaven City.
Using his memory, Leo made his way to the Knight Hall, Moonhaven Hall.
"Please, I need to see Hall Master Rowan Voss."
He held out his Standard Knight badge.
---
The two guards at the gate had changed. They didn’t recognize him.
But it was clear that a boy of ten or twelve stood before them. And he already carried the badge of a Standard Knight.
They didn’t dare speak rudely to him. They hurried off to announce his arrival.
A little while later, with a soft fragrance, a figure came out from inside Moonhaven Hall.
"Little brother Leo! You finally came."
It was Mira.
Light armor, ponytail, the same heroic outfit. Just like last time.
In a year and a half, not much had changed about her. But the dignity on her face had grown.
It was clear that training had done this. Just like Leo, she had improved a lot since their last meeting.
---
"Big sister Mimi!"
The moment he saw her, Leo felt a sense of home.
The sadness of the past few days almost vanished.
The two guards watched in surprise. And Leo threw himself straight into Mira’s arms.
Mira hugged him tight. She was startled by how emotional he was.
"Leo, what happened? Did something bad happen?"
Leo sobbed.
"Father and Mama are gone. They left me alone."
Mira froze.
"Are you saying that in that sudden attack by the Ashmaw Horde...?"
Leo quickly realized her mistake. He hurried to explain.
"No! Father and Mama went somewhere else. They sent me here to Moonhaven Hall, so I can keep training."
---
Mira bent down slightly and let out a relieved breath.
"I was really scared. You jumped on me out of nowhere!"
"Hey, there’s nothing wrong with being away from your parents. From today, Moonhaven Hall is your home."
"Whoever dares to bother you will have to deal with me."
"Come on, let’s go inside. Then you can tell me everything slowly."
With that, Mira took Leo’s hand. And she strode right through the middle of Moonhaven Hall.
The two guards at the gate looked at each other. Both of them had the same shocked face.
"Who is that boy? How is he so close to our Hell Rose?"
"Quiet! How dare you ask about Miss Mira’s private life?"
"Even if you became as handsome and talented as him, it’s not certain she’d ever look back at you."
---
Mira led Leo into Moonhaven Hall.
The place was just as before. Only one thing was different. The six Divine Thrones standing in the middle of the hall now shone in Leo’s eyes with a whole new light.
Seeing them gave him a completely different feeling.
Pride, mixed with a little ache.
He recognized, at one glance, the second throne from the left. The one that matched the Throne of Ruin and Reckoning.
*That’s Father’s honor!*
One day, one of these six Divine Thrones would be his too.
A special kind of fire lit up in Leo’s eyes.
---
As he walked beside Mira, his steps slowed. And then the two of them stopped.
"Little brother, in just one year, you’ve grown so much!"
"In two more years, I’m afraid you’ll even surpass your big sister."
"Hmm, you’re going to look even better. What a tragedy! When you grow up, who knows how many girls will be confused."
Mira stood up straight.
Leo had grown quite tall. Still, she stood a head above him.
But when she looked at him, she couldn’t help praising him in her heart. She felt so proud of her little brother.
She even felt her heart soften with how far he had come.
Leo, still holding the second envelope tight, looked up at her.
"Big sister," he said quietly. "I have a letter for Uncle Rowan. And I think... I think it’s going to change everything."