Episode 5 – The Stranger in the Alley
“What’s wrong, Lotte?”
“My legs hurt… Can I sit here?”
Lotte pointed at the guest sofa near the watch shop’s entrance.
“Of course. We walked a lot today. Rest for a bit.”
“Okay.”
Once she was settled, Celeia turned back to the watch seller.
“Ah, so you’re looking for something men’s? Perhaps for the gentleman beside you?”
The shopkeeper glanced at Hayder.
Celeia blinked, startled, then quickly shook her head.
“No, it’s for Sir Devonshire—a retirement gift.”
“Ah, the captain of the guard! I see.”
The shopkeeper nodded, laying out several sturdy pocket watches.
But to Celeia’s eyes, they all looked more or less the same.
“Hm… hard to decide. Lotte, could you come here and help me choose?”
She turned toward the sofa—
But Lotte was gone.
The spot where she should have been sitting was empty.
Celeia’s eyes widened in alarm.
“Lotte?”
She rushed out of the shop, heart hammering.
“Maybe she went for a look around,” the shopkeeper offered casually.
“Everyone here knows the young lady—she wouldn’t get far.”
“True… She’s smart, she won’t wander too far…”
Even as she said it, her mother’s instinct twisted with panic.
Celeia excused herself quickly and hurried outside.
“Lotte!”
She ran down the street, grabbing passersby.
“Have you seen my daughter?”
“You mean Lady Lotte? No, I haven’t.”
She asked several people—everyone shook their heads.
Anxiety spiked higher and higher.
What if Teian has something to do with this?
Sometimes, Teian merchants did come to the market.
It was unlikely they knew Esperote existed—Hendrick’s closest secret was well-guarded. But still…
“Sir Hayder, split up. Help me find her,” Celeia ordered urgently.
“…Understood.”
He obeyed without question.
Celeia ran the opposite way, searching frantically.
“Lotte! Esperote!”
She darted through every corner of the market, vision narrowing with fear.
What if something happened? I should’ve watched her more carefully…
Her chest ached with guilt.
She remembered how Lotte had kept glancing at alleys all day.
“…Could it be?”
Her feet carried her toward a dim, narrow alley by instinct.
As she moved further from the crowds, the noise faded.
Her face went pale with dread.
“…Lotte?”
At the far end of the market, beside a shuttered fruit stand, a tiny figure was crouched in the shadows.
The white coat.
The pink scarf.
“Lotte!” Celeia rushed forward.
“Mom?” Lotte looked up, startled, before Celeia swept her into her arms.
The child’s small body was warm, her heartbeat rapid under Celeia’s hands.
Relief surged so strongly that her fingers trembled.
“Don’t ever run off without me!”
“Sorry…” Lotte mumbled. I was only going to be a minute.
Then Celeia’s eyes caught something behind her daughter—
“…!”
A man. A grown man collapsed on the ground.
Celeia instantly pushed Lotte behind her, her whole body tense.
Is he dead?
The man lay motionless.
“I found him a little while ago,” Lotte explained calmly, tugging at her mother’s skirt.
How can she be so calm about this? Celeia’s head spun.
“He’s not dead—he just looked hurt. He kept groaning. I think we should help him.”
If he groaned, then he was alive.
Celeia forced herself closer, eyes wary.
“Stay right here, Lotte. Don’t move.”
“Okay.”
She crept forward.
His clothes were dark, but up close she saw it—blood, soaking through slashed fabric across his chest.
A sword wound.
Celeia’s expression hardened.
And then she saw his face.
“…Oh?”
It was far too handsome.
Messy blond hair, blood streaks on his skin, but still—his sharp features stood out, impossible to ignore.
“He’s really handsome, right?” Lotte piped up, trying to lighten the mood.
Celeia ignored her, crouching at the man’s side.
She reached to check his breathing—
He groaned, coughing faintly. His lips trembled.
He’s alive!
Celeia jerked her hand back in shock.
Just then, Hayder appeared, hurrying toward them.
“Where have you been, Lady Celeia—” His navy eyes flicked from Lotte to Celeia, then to the man on the ground.
His gaze sharpened.
“…Surely you weren’t the one who—”
“No! Of course not!” Celeia cut him off, panicked.
“Lotte found him here like this.”
“Mom, let’s take him with us.”
“What?” Celeia stared at her daughter.
But Lotte’s face was utterly serious.
“He’s hurt. We need to take him back and treat him.”
“That’s not possible. We can’t bring an unknown man into the castle,” Hayder said coldly.
His eyes swept over the wounded figure and then away.
“We’ve found the young lady. Let’s return.”
“But Sir Elden, if we leave him here to die, what then?”
Hayder’s face twisted with irritation, but Celeia’s worried expression made him hesitate.
“You can entrust him to the villagers. I’ll call the headman.”
“They can barely feed themselves,” Celeia argued.
“I can’t dump a wounded stranger on them, too.”
And if he’s skilled enough to be cut down by a sword… then he’s also skilled enough to wield one.
It would be dangerous.
She turned to her daughter.
“Lotte. If this man dies here, it has nothing to do with you. You understand that, don’t you?”
But Lotte shook her head, fists clenched tight.
“No. I found him. That means it does have to do with me.”
Her little face was firm with determination.
“It’s still winter. If we leave him here, he’ll freeze and die.”
“Stop being stubborn! Do you even know who he is?” Hayder snapped, his voice sharp.
The grown man’s presence alone was intimidating, but Lotte didn’t flinch.
She stared straight back.
“Then do you know who he is? If we walk away, and he dies here, then we’re also guilty—because we left him.”
Her words hit with startling clarity.
Hayder fell silent.
Lotte’s shoulders rose and fell as she turned her eyes on Celeia.
