“Thank you for coming today. I pray from the bottom of my heart that we meet again one day.”
With that, those who I had once known as my family left, and I, now Rozemyne, could not follow them. I was alone.
Epilogue
Lutz was in the Gilberta Company. He had just escaped there with the others after Myne and Tuuli were attacked by strange men on the way home, with Gunther, Damuel, and Otto managing to get them back following a tough fight.
“Otto, Lutz, what happened?! Tell me everything you can without breaking any secrets!” Benno yelled, rushing up the stairs. Someone must have told him that they had fled here.
Otto debated over what to say for a second, then narrowed his eyes at Benno in a glare. “Benno, keep your voice down. You’ll wake Renate.”
“Yeah, yeah. Whatever. Lutz, ignore Otto and tell me what you can.”
Otto and Benno’s usual back-and-forth helped Lutz relax just a little. He started to explain the situation, starting with Tuuli having come to walk home together. They then met Otto searching for another duchy’s noble on the way home, and while talking to him, they were attacked. The attackers were after Myne, but given how they argued about which girl to get, they couldn’t have known her very well.
Damuel stopped the attackers in their tracks, and then they ran to the Gilberta Company. From there, Myne and Gunther went to the temple to tell the High Priest what had happened, while Damuel called the Knight’s Order over.
“Oh yeah, Myne apparently called for help too,” Otto murmured.
All eyes fell on him. Lutz, having been racing to keep up with Gunther, hadn’t noticed Myne calling for help. There was so much that Lutz didn’t know, especially given that Gunther had stopped him from going to the temple, and that just made him even more frustrated with himself.
“She stamped some blood from her knee onto a charm hanging from her neck. Apparently someone would come help her if she was in trouble.”
Lutz had no idea what all that was about, but Benno seemed to have an idea. “This is much too soon! Damn it all!” he spat, then spun around to return to the store.
“Master Benno, what happ—”
“It’s absolutely top secret!” Benno yelled as he raced down the steps, cursing at who knows what.
Lutz bit his lip. Something was happening right now, and he had no idea what it was. Myne was in so much danger, but he couldn’t do anything for her. There was a wall he couldn’t climb over no matter how hard he tried. A wall keeping him from her. A wall no amount of guts or determination could overcome.
“Look, Benno’s yelling made Renate cry. What a scary uncle he is. There, there.” Otto picked up Renate and started gently rocking her, which was enough to bring Corinna back to her senses—her widened eyes had been fixed on Benno’s intense expression.
Tuuli also seemed to relax slightly, the stiff look on her face loosening as everyone moved toward Renate. She had been shaking and hadn’t said a word since coming here, but now she murmured something about how she was supposed to have brought the toy she made with Myne. That inspired Otto to start bragging about Renate, which Tuuli fought back against by bragging about Kamil.
...I’m tired of listening to you both, seriously.
Lutz, unwilling to join the conversation about babies, walked up to a window and looked down at the street. He thought he might be able to see soldiers or knights moving around, but all he saw was the usual flow of people, as if the ambush had never happened at all.
Myne’s okay... right...?
“Tuuli, we’re going to the temple. C’mere.” After some time, Gunther came to get Tuuli. His left arm was covered in what looked like severe burns.
Her face paled when she saw the black and red discoloration streaking down his forearm. “Dad, what happened to your arm?! Where’s Myne?!”
“She’s in the temple. Come on.” The cheerful smile Gunther would always have on his face when talking to his daughters was nowhere to be seen; a frown creased his forehead, and his voice came out uncharacteristically flat.
Effa was behind him, Kamil in her arms. Given that she had only just recently given birth, she wasn’t supposed to be moving around much yet; if she was being called to the temple with everyone else, something had definitely happened to Myne. Sensing that, Lutz looked up at Gunther.
“Mr. Gunther! I can—”
“I’ll explain later. Wait here.”
No matter how close he and Myne were, they weren’t family—that was why Lutz hadn’t been called as well. All he could do was wait at the Gilberta Company, unable to go to the temple by himself.
“...I’ll either be on the first floor, or at Benno’s place on the second floor.”
“The first or second floor? Alright.”
Up until now he had been at Corinna’s place, since Tuuli was scared and he wanted to stay by her side. On his own, however, there was no need for him to be there. As a leherl, he belonged at Benno’s place on the second floor, one floor down.
...I’m just gonna be anxious all day if I sit around doing nothing. Might make more sense for me to get some work done.
Lutz followed Gunther and the others down the stairs to the store on the first floor. As they reached the exit, Gunther suddenly turned around and glared at Otto, who was still holding Renate.
“Otto, you hurry on back to the gate. Tell the commander a knight ordered me to go to the temple.”
“Yes, sir!”
Lutz saw Myne’s family off, then went back to the store. Benno and Mark were discussing printing workshops with deadly serious expressions on their faces.
