Eldric
When he opened the door, he spotted a young lady and her mother hugging and weeping silently together. They stopped to stare at him when he entered, fear in their eyes.
"What is happening? Is what they are saying through? My husband…" the wife asked.
"They're lying, aren't they? Papa wouldn't do it to us," the young lady sobbed as she rushed towards him.
She looked pampered and her beautiful hands, clutching the sleeves of his uniform, showed how she never had worked her entire life. Lia's hand had dirt in them from the plants she was testing on.
He carefully took off the hands from his sleeves. "I'm sorry, but everything they said was true." He gestured to the room, "Just look around."
The daughter and mother pair sobbed as Eldric watched them quietly to the side. When they had calmed down, he ordered them to be ushered to their assigned rooms. Before they left, the young lady looked back at Eldric. "Thank you for finding and saving us."
Eldric smiled. "It is my honor and duty to do that."
The young lady blushed and turned away. She was beautiful, and on normal days, he might have tried to woo her. But other than it's creepy to move on someone under these circumstances, his mind wandered back to Lia. She could have asked for more things, anything, from him as others did, but she did not. She opted for the hard way.
Eldric felt a slap on his back. "If you're done flirting, let's go back to the meeting," Tim said and called on the rest of his men.
"Tell Jeremiah to test the sample to the victims and report immediately," Eldric ordered.
It was a series of planning and military tactics that ensued that it was way past midnight when he managed to get back to his room. Sometime past midnight, Jeremiah told him that there were improvements to the patients. The medical team was already doing more stocks of the medicine. Lia helped and would have continued working until Eldric personally escorted her back to her room.
At six in the morning, he woke up and got dressed. As he was eating breakfast and reviewing the reports, he asked how the guests were.
The mayor's family was still couped up in their room having refused to see anyone except Eldric that earned him a roll of the eyes from Tim and Jeremiah who looked as tired as he was.
"How about Lia?"
"And the other boy," Jeremiah supplied.
Eldric ignored him and found the servant quaking. "Speak."
"Sir, I found this in the young lady's room." He gave Eldric a letter.
'Since I've already given you the recipe for the medicine and everything seems to be going well, Frankie and I are leaving now. Thank you. May our paths never cross again.'
— Lia
Eldric laughed. Tim snatched the letter from his hands and stared incredulously at him.
"Are we not going to give chase?" Tim asked
"No need. If she doesn't want to be found, we'll have a hard time finding them."
Tim raised his eyebrows. "We?! Having a hard time finding a girl? If she is better than us, then we fail as soldiers."
Eldric snorted. "What she said was true though. The deal between us was over. We should respect what the lady wants."
"But it meant you'll never see each other again."
Eldric ate his toast. "We'll see about that."
-- End of Season 1 --