The plan had been simple.
Three days apart.
Three days to explore the city individually.
Then they would meet again once Jorin finished his week of "protecting" Lady Elara Valenwood.
Naturally, the boys had teased him relentlessly before leaving.
Daren had grinned wickedly.
"Take your time, Jorin."
Tomas nodded solemnly.
"Protection takes dedication."
Jorin had simply sighed and walked away.
So for the first time in a long while—
Con walked the city alone.
The capital of Eldoria Kingdom was busy even by midday.
Footsteps layered endlessly across the stone roads.
Merchants called to customers.
Carriages rolled past.
But something about the city felt… strange.
Not because of the crowds.
Because of something missing.
Con noticed it while passing a jewelry stall.
A woman was arguing loudly with the shopkeeper.
"But how am I supposed to try it without a mirror?!"
The shopkeeper shook his head stubbornly.
"Mirrors are banned, madam. You know the law."
Another man nearby muttered quietly,
"Ever since the Divine Mirror incident."
The woman clicked her tongue and left.
Con paused slightly.
Mirrors… banned?
That was odd.
He had never thought about it before, but now that he listened carefully—
No shopkeepers advertised polished glass.
No merchants sold reflective metal plates.
Even water basins seemed deliberately placed out of sight.
The city had erased mirrors completely.
A silent scar left by the destruction of the Divine Mirror fifteen years ago.
Con eventually continued walking.
The streets twisted and turned as he wandered without destination.
Soon enough, he found himself helping people without even realizing it.
An old merchant dropped a crate of apples.
Before anyone reacted—
Con had already crouched and gathered them, placing them back neatly.
"Thank you, young man," the merchant said gratefully.
A child cried near a food stall after losing a coin.
Con tilted his head, listened briefly, then reached beneath a wooden plank beside the stall.
The coin rolled out.
The boy gasped.
"How did you find it?!"
Con only smiled faintly.
"Lucky guess."
Later he helped a wagon driver free a wheel stuck between two stones.
Then guided a lost traveler toward the northern gate.
It was simply what he did.
He liked being useful.
But then—
His body stilled.
A sound cut through the crowded street like a thread through cloth.
Footsteps.
Light.
Quick.
And painfully familiar.
Con's heart skipped.
That sound…
He knew it.
The hooded girl.
The one who had bumped into them during the festival months ago.
The one whose footsteps had haunted his memory since.
Without thinking—
He turned.
The steps moved swiftly through the crowd.
Con followed.
"Excuse me—"
He slipped through people carefully, listening.
The rhythm of her steps quickened.
She had noticed him.
His chest tightened.
Wait—
The footsteps turned sharply into another street.
Con hurried after them.
But the city was crowded.
Carriages crossed the road.
Merchants shouted.
The footsteps slipped between people like a ghost.
Con ran.
"Wait!"
But suddenly—
They vanished.
The crowd swallowed the sound completely.
Con stood still, breathing slightly harder.
He turned his head slowly.
Listening.
Nothing.
Again.
He had lost her again.
A strange pain pressed against his chest.
"…why?"
He didn't even know her.
Yet something in him desperately wanted to catch up to that sound.
Eventually, he sighed softly and walked away.
Unaware—
That someone nearby had been watching him the entire time.
From the shadow of a balcony above the street—
Princess Isabelle of Dermouth Kingdom lowered her hood.
Her sharp eyes followed the silver-haired boy walking away below.
"…him again."
She felt irritation rising in her chest.
Ever since the festival months ago—
He kept appearing.
Always chasing her.
Always following her.
Without reason.
Her cheeks warmed slightly.
Ridiculous.
She crossed her arms.
"Why does that nuisance keep chasing me?"
One of her attendants coughed quietly.
"…Your Highness?"
Isabelle straightened.
"Yes?"
"…you are blushing."
She froze.
Then immediately turned away.
"I am not."
But unfortunately—
The color in her cheeks only deepened.
Her attendants exchanged knowing looks.
Isabelle sat down at the desk and grabbed a sheet of parchment.
"Prepare a background investigation."
Her voice sounded sharp.
Professional.
Completely serious.
"I want everything about that man."
"Yes, Your Highness."
The report arrived later that evening.
Isabelle read through it slowly.
Name: Constantine.
Age: Fifteen.
Occupation: Knight trainee.
Origin: Small forest village.
Her eyes paused at one line.
Parents deceased fifteen years ago during the Divine Mirror explosion.
Her expression softened slightly.
"…I see."
That explosion had taken many lives.
One of them—
Her father.
The former king of Dermouth.
He had personally traveled to Eldoria to obtain the legendary mirror.
He never returned.
And that same day—
She had been born.
Isabelle leaned back in her chair.
"So we're the same age…"
She muttered softly.
The boy had lost his parents that day.
And she had lost her father.
A strange coincidence.
Still—
She slammed the report shut suddenly.
"…irrelevant."
Her face grew warm again.
And she did not understand why.
That boy's appearance kept flashing through her mind.
Silver hair.
Calm expression.
That blindfold.
She pressed her hands to her cheeks.
"…annoying."
That had to be it.
He was annoying.
A nuisance who chased her through crowds for no reason.
She stood up suddenly and began pacing.
"Yes."
"That's it."
"I'll interrogate him."
Her cheeks grew red again as she imagined it.
Yes.
She would question him directly.
Find out why he kept following her.
And once she confirmed he had some suspicious motive—
She would throw him in prison.
Her attendants watched quietly from the side.
One of them whispered to another.
"…she's smiling."
Isabelle immediately stopped pacing.
"I am not smiling."
But unfortunately—
She was.