The atmosphere around the park had completely frozen by that point, the earlier noise of children playing replaced by a suffocating silence as every gaze remained fixed on the blond-haired young man standing before Damon. His body trembled visibly under that calm golden stare, his breathing uneven as though even remaining upright required effort.

Beside him, however, the little girl still failed to understand the situation entirely.

She tugged harder at her brother’s sleeve, her face flushed with frustration as she pointed toward Cecelia again.

"Brother, why are you just standing there?! Say something! He’s helping that dumb bit—"

Slap!

The sound rang sharply across the field.

The girl stumbled sideways from the force, her eyes widening in disbelief as she clutched her cheek, completely stunned.

The young man’s hand remained raised for a moment longer, trembling violently before he lowered it and immediately bowed deeply toward Damon, almost folding in half from panic.

"I-I apologize, young master Damon...!" he stammered, his voice shaking uncontrollably. "P-please forgive my little sister... s-she did not know who you were...! I-I will personally discipline her once we return home...!"

The little girl stared at him as though unable to comprehend what had just happened.

"Y-you hit me?!" she screamed in outrage, tears instantly forming in her eyes. "Brother! You actually hit me?! For that dumb—"

"Shut up!" the young man barked back immediately, the fear in his voice turning into anger toward her instead. "Do you even understand what you’ve done?!"

The girl looked even more aggrieved after that, her crying growing louder as she shouted incoherently, but the young man had already turned toward one of the attendants nearby.

"Take her away!" he ordered hurriedly. "Right now!"

The attendant flinched before quickly stepping forward and dragging the protesting girl away despite her resistance, her cries gradually fading into the distance while the blond-haired young man remained bowed toward Damon, too afraid to straighten completely.

"I-I truly apologize once again, young master..."

Damon looked at him quietly for a moment before turning toward Cecelia instead.

"What color do you see in him now?"

Cecelia tilted her head slightly, her unfocused eyes lingering vaguely in the young man’s direction before she answered softly,

"...Dark blue... shaking black... and very pale grey... l-like... when people are about to faint..."

Pure fear.

No arrogance.

No hostility.

Only terror.

Damon’s brows furrowed slightly at that answer.

...Strange. 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝙬𝙚𝓫𝒏𝓸𝓿𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝙤𝓶

He looked back toward the trembling young noble and asked calmly,

"Do you know me personally?"

The young man finally forced himself to straighten slightly, though his posture remained stiff as he answered hurriedly,

"I-I am also a first-year student of Crownspire Academy..." he said, swallowing nervously before continuing. "Y-young master Damon... y-you were the one who eliminated me during the placement exam..."

Damon blinked once.

"...Ohh."

Recognition finally surfaced faintly within his expression.

Then he sighed quietly.

...What exactly am I supposed to do to someone already scared out of his mind...?

He stepped forward and placed a hand on the young man’s shoulder casually.

The reaction was immediate.

The boy nearly flinched out of his skin.

"You should teach your sister properly," Damon said calmly, his voice carrying a quiet weight despite its softness. "She needs to understand whom she can offend... and whom she cannot."

The young man nodded repeatedly, trembling even harder than before.

"Y-yes...! O-of course...!"

Damon removed his hand.

"Then get lost."

Damon turned away from the trembling young noble without another glance and began walking back toward Cecelia, who still stood quietly near the flower bed, her small hands held close to herself as though trying to take up as little space as possible.

The middle-aged man whose fingers had nearly been crushed remained on the ground nearby, clutching his swollen hands against his chest as tears and sweat mixed across his face. The moment Damon approached, the man looked up again desperately, opening his mouth as though wanting to beg once more.

But Damon did not even allow him the chance.

"I am not in the mood right now," he said calmly as he looked toward the guard. "Report him to whoever his superior is."

The guard bowed immediately.

"As you command, young master."

Without hesitation, he grabbed the middle-aged man and began dragging him away despite his frantic resistance.

"P-please forgive me...! Young master Damon...! P-please—AAHH—!"

His cries echoed uselessly through the field as he was pulled farther and farther away, while the attendants hurriedly began gathering the children under their care, eager to remove them from the area before they attracted any more attention.

Slowly—

The noisy playground emptied.

And eventually, only Damon and Cecelia remained there beside the newly planted flower.

Damon walked toward her once more before kneeling down to her eye level, his movements slower now, quieter than before. Cecelia kept her head lowered throughout, her small fingers nervously twisting against each other as though expecting something she could not predict.

Damon looked at her for a moment before asking softly,

"Has it always been like this?"

Cecelia paused.

Then slowly nodded.

Damon’s gaze lingered on her silently before he asked again,

"Doesn’t it hurt you... or make you angry when they treat you like that?"

This time Cecelia shook her head gently.

"I-I am u-used to it..." she whispered softly. "E-everyone hates Cece... e-even y-young master does..."

Damon stilled.

Something sharp flashed briefly across his eyes.

"...That bastard," he muttered quietly under his breath.

His thoughts darkened immediately.

Just how much did the previous Damon torment this little girl...?

For a brief moment, he simply looked at her small figure standing there so quietly, so naturally accepting something no child should ever grow accustomed to.

Then Damon slowly raised his hand again and placed it gently atop her head, patting it softly.

"I-I’m sorry..." he said, the words coming slower than usual, awkward in a way that almost sounded unfamiliar to him. "But remember this properly... being hurt and bullied is wrong... no matter who does it to you, okay?"

Cecelia did not respond immediately.

She simply stood there.

Still and silent.

Then suddenly—

She stepped forward and wrapped her small arms around Damon.

Damon froze instantly.

His eyes widened faintly, his breathing turning uneven as though his body itself no longer knew how to react to something so simple.

Yet—

He did not push her away.

Cecelia rested quietly against him as she spoke in her tiny voice.

"Y-young master... little yellow..."

Damon’s expression shifted slightly at those words, something complicated passing through his gaze before he carefully separated her from himself, his movements almost hesitant.

"J-just call me big brother..." he said awkwardly, avoiding her face slightly as he continued, "t-there’s no need to call me young master..."

Cecelia remained still after hearing those words, her small fingers tightening lightly against her dress as though she did not know how she was supposed to react. Her unfocused eyes lingered vaguely in Damon’s direction, uncertainty visible even within her quiet expression, and when her lips parted slightly, no words came out immediately.

"...B-big... brother...?"

The title sounded awkward on her tongue, hesitant and fragile, as though she was trying out something she had never been allowed to say before.

Damon simply looked at her quietly.

...The wounds carved into someone during childhood do not disappear in a single moment.

The thought surfaced calmly within him as he shook his head faintly before asking instead,

"Where is Saffron?"

Cecelia tilted her head slightly before shaking it gently, clearly not knowing the answer.

Damon exhaled softly.

"Let’s go see what that brat is doing then."

He stood up and began walking, expecting Cecelia to follow, but after only a few steps, his pace slowed slightly as he noticed the uneven sound behind him. Turning his head, he found Cecelia struggling to keep up, her movements careful and stiff from the earlier fall, her small legs slowing every few steps whenever pain shot through her scraped knees.

Damon stopped completely.

Cecelia immediately lowered her head again as though expecting to be scolded for slowing him down.

Instead—

Damon simply walked back toward her.

Before she could react, he bent down and lifted her into his arms with surprising ease.

"Ah—!"

A small sound of startled surprise escaped Cecelia instinctively as her tiny hands grabbed lightly onto his clothes for balance, her body tensing for a moment before slowly relaxing once she realized what had happened.

Damon adjusted his hold on her naturally and resumed walking without comment.

The two of them moved through various sections of the Noble Preparatory Hall after that, passing gardens, study halls, and open playgrounds where children continued their activities under the watchful eyes of attendants. Some children paused to stare openly at the sight of Damon carrying Cecelia, whispering quietly among themselves, while others quickly looked away the moment Damon’s gaze shifted in their direction.

Meanwhile, Cecelia remained unusually quiet in his arms, occasionally tilting her head slightly whenever distant sounds caught her attention, her fingers still lightly gripping onto his clothes as though unconsciously ensuring he was truly there.

Eventually, Damon arrived near a large open training field.

The moment he stepped closer, the scene before him became clear.

Various children lay scattered across the ground, their breaths heavy and uneven as wooden training weapons rested nearby, some still clutched weakly in exhausted hands. Bruises and dirt covered their clothes, sweat soaked through their hair, and the entire field carried the atmosphere of a harsh training session that had pushed them beyond comfort.

And amidst that exhausted silence—

A voice echoed firmly across the training grounds.

"You should heal your injuries."