"Witt! Witt!" Kaelxi sat on her bed, shouting his name.
Usually, no matter what she wanted, just calling Witt would bring him running to help.
No one answered.
Witt was really gone.
Barefoot and still in her nightgown, Kaelxi rushed out—but Witt had vanished.
He probably never wanted to see her again.
"Am I really... so detestable..."
Dressed in her nightgown and barefoot, Kaelxi stood helplessly at her cottage door.
"Stupid Witt! Idiot Witt! Rotten Witt!"
"Do you really think I can’t live without you... wuwuwu..."
She shouted loudly, ignoring passersby’s stares, but her voice faded into soft sobs and sniffles.
Leaning against the door, she hugged her knees and sat quietly on the doorstep.
The young man’s handsome face flashed in her mind.
"Miss Kaelxi, I am Witt."
"Miss Kaelxi, would you... be willing to date me?"
"It’s my duty. I promised to protect you."
"Just... I wish I could’ve seen you one last time, Kaelxi."
"Kaelxi, I’ve got a good idea."
"I’ve always seen you as family."
"You liar!"
"Is there anything else you want to tell me?"
"I never loved you."
Kaelxi remembered Witt’s gentleness, his anger, his cold rejection.
She recalled him fighting for her, covered in wounds, and his genuine, silly grin after her forced praise.
Witt must be heartbroken and disappointed now...
He’d valued her so much, yet she’d deceived him terribly.
"Witt..." Kaelxi whispered his name, forehead resting on her knees.
Come back.
I won’t lie to you anymore.
"Poor Kaelxi. That boy is Witt, right?"
An old woman’s voice sounded beside her.
After a long journey, Grandma Elisa had finally returned to Cesecity that morning.
Kaelxi looked up at Grandma Elisa’s kind face and nodded slightly.
"The neighbors told me. Witt’s a good child."
"I never expected you’d fall in love while I was away, Kaelxi."
"But if you want him, Grandma supports you."
"Grandma Elisa, I’m not—" Kaelxi’s voice trailed off.
She wasn’t sure about her feelings for Witt—maybe he was just a dear friend.
Even though she’d pretended to be his girlfriend.
Grandma Elisa gently stroked Kaelxi’s hair. "Did you two have a fight?"
"He’s a good person. It’s all my fault."
"Between people who truly love each other, no conflict is unsolvable."
"Did you apologize to him?"
Kaelxi shook her head. She hadn’t even spoken to Witt yet.
"Then go, silly child."
"But he’s gone. He’s leaving Cesecity. He’ll never come back."
"Where is that boy heading?"
"I don’t know exactly. He said he’d go west to the forest first, then to the kingdom’s far east."
Grandma Elisa had planned to calm Kaelxi, then send her to the Royal Capital. If Witt would protect her, all the better. If not, she’d have to take Kaelxi herself—but her old bones would only slow the girl down.
The Royal Capital lay on the path to the kingdom’s east. If Witt passed through it, Kaelxi could follow him for safety.
Grandma Elisa looked Kaelxi in the eye. "Apologize to him. Beg his forgiveness."
"Then, if he allows it, leave with him."
"Go with him. Wherever he ends up, settle in the Royal Capital."
"Grandma Elisa, are you... driving me away?" Kaelxi asked, hurt and confused.
Why were the two people who loved her most both leaving today?
If Witt left because of her lies, what had she done to Grandma Elisa?
Biting her lip, Kaelxi fought back tears as she gazed at her grandmother.
Grandma Elisa sighed. "Kaelxi, that’s not it at all."
She told Kaelxi about the Slave Catcher Squad she’d heard of in Redriver City.
"So run, my poor Kaelxi. Run with Witt."
Kaelxi sat silently. Would Witt even accept her apology?
...
Witt stood in the goblin camp, swords in both hands, cutting down monsters left and right.
As a Bronze mage, his conjured blades were solid now—shattering the goblins’ crude iron weapons instead of breaking.
He didn’t unleash Sunblast to burn the camp. One, it might spark a forest fire.
Two, the person who once made him want to banish darkness no longer existed in his heart.
Cesecity had always been pure darkness—no Sunblast to brighten it.
Only when the last green-skinned monster fell did his chest feel slightly lighter.
He sat on a rock to rest.
His task was done. No reason to stay in Cesecity.
Hunger gnawed at him. He’d need to stock up on rations in town before leaving.
For over a week, his breakfasts had been bread baked with Kaelxi—his favorite meal, so good he’d planned to eat it every morning for life.
Should he buy some from her one last time?
...Better not.
Even if he ate her bread now, it wouldn’t taste the same.
Resting over, Witt prepared to return to Cesecity briefly, then leave this painful place forever.
He looked up. Dark storm clouds rolled above the towering city walls—and a golden-haired Elf girl stumbled toward him.
Something that shouldn’t be there.
"Kaelxi?" Witt frowned. What was she doing here?
"Witt! Witt!" Kaelxi gasped his name between breaths as she ran closer.
"What do you want?" Witt stayed guarded, suspecting another trick.
"You left so suddenly. You haven’t eaten breakfast, have you? I brought bread."
Kaelxi pulled a fresh loaf from her bag—golden and soft, just like the ones he’d seen every day.
"No thanks," Witt said coldly.
"Don’t be like that. Try a piece." Kaelxi tore off a chunk and shoved it into his mouth before he could refuse.
Witt chewed instinctively, then remembered she might have poisoned it.
The bread didn’t taste like before.
But it was still delicious.
