It took Aldwin 2.5 days using shadow travel to reach the town.
When he was given the command to watch over Hyreona, he was completely baffled. He was already swamped with training and missions, but now he has to watch over a little girl?
Due to the constant work he had to do, until now, his eyes would always look noticeably tired. That actually became his trademark within the Legion.
Ranking in the Shade Legion was determined by the strength of one's magic. Since he was shown to have the highest power and talent, Aldwin was selected as the commander.
He made it to the town at sunset. Immediately, he began to do a sweep of the town in order to locate Hyreona. He found her talking with Damien in the field.
Aldwin hid on top of a roof as there was no where to hide in the field unless he wanted to have them notice him. He waited until they parted ways before following Hyreona into the forest.
As soon as he stepped into the snow, Hyreona felt his presence right away.
Hyreona subtly looked behind her and saw no one.
'Where did that person go? Why would they walk into the forest?'
Aldwin noticed that Hyreona was about to turn her head around, so he quickly sunk into the shadow of a tree. 'Shit. That was close. Does she know that I'm here?'
Hyreona walked deeper into the forest, going towards her home with Aldwin tailing her.
Due to having an insulation rune, he did not know that the temperature of the forest dropped drastically when they reached the deep area of the forest.
She had noticed that he kept following behind her, so Hyreona quietly asked some of the frost beasts if he had any bad intentions.
They gave her a "no".
She really could not care less that someone was harmlessly following her. The deep forest was riddled with strong frost beasts that could easily rip apart a high ranking magician.
Once Hyreona entered her house, Aldwin chose one of the trees closest to it to stake out in. He tailed her wherever she went, observing and writing down what she had done in a notebook the Prince gave him.
Hyreona became aware of the fact that the person who followed her would leave for about five days every two weeks exactly.
Upon hearing the first report from Aldwin, Edmond nearly burst into a rage. There was several pages of just Hyreona and Damien and their actions together.
It was written that the two often held hands whenever they had gone around town and that Damien was also very touchy with her. Patting her head, holding her hands, laying or leaning on her lap or shoulder, and playing with her hair.
Edmond was also told that she didn't seem to mind Damien doing those things in the slightest.
'Could it be that she already loves that Baron's boy?'
Edmond began to panic about the possibilities of him being with Hyreona.
'No, no. We're still kids so I still have a chance. Even if they are together, I'll just slowly make her fall for me.'
He nodded to himself.
'Yes, that's what I'll do if I have to.'
Witnessing that the Crown Prince was troubled for the first time, Aldwin was confused.
'Is he really so worked up over that girl...?'
After finishing the report, Aldwin was sent back to the town with a newly recharged insulation rune.
Edmond gave additional instructions to keep an eye on Hyreona's interaction with the boy, Damien. He was also informed to tell Edmond when Hyreona finally planned to visit the capital.
It wasn't until half a year later that Hyreona was able to come to the capital.
By then winter had already set in. There was a very little amount of snow and mostly just frost that had glazed over the kingdom.
Everyone had already became one year older including herself.
She was able to tag along with Damien since the Baron had to submit his yearly account to the officials.
The Baron and his wife were in the carriage in front of them and the two kids had a carriage to themselves.
While on the way, Hyreona told Damien about the friend she had made while the king was in the town.
Damien, who became jealous of the fact that another boy was able to make moves on her while he was gone, insisted that he would come with them to make sure nothing suspicious happened.
Of course, Hyreona who was oblivious to what Edmond and Damien's actions meant, thought that Damien was only worried for her safety. So she told him that he can tag along with them.
Both boys were similar in her eyes so she thought that there wouldn't be any problems with them getting along.
"Hey Hyreona." Damien said.
"Yes?" She turned her head and looked at him in the eyes.
Damien coughed to hide his reddish ears.
"I think you should wear a mask while we're in the capital. And some different clothes too."
Hyreona tilted her head, confused. "Okay, but I didn't really bring anything else other than my usual clothes."
"Don't worry about the clothes, and I'll buy you a veil or something to cover your face once we're inside."
He began to play with her hair. Damien developed a habit of either running his fingers through her white hair or twirling it around just one finger. Not only did the hair belong to Hyreona, it was also soft, smooth, and shiny, like silk.
She grinned at him. "Sure, get me a white one."
"Of course milady" He did a mock bow. They stared at each other for a few seconds before they bursted out laughing.
Aldwin was hiding in the shadow of the carriage. After hearing this conversion, he left to go back to the Crown Prince.
"Aldwin, you're back early." Edmond said.
Aldwin kneeled in front of the Prince. "Your highness, Ms. Hyreona is on her way towards the capital. She will be wearing a white veil and commoner clothes. She will also be accompanied by Mr. Damien."
Edmond's mood soared at the news. He called in a maid. "Quickly, prepare me some common clothes. I will be going out in a few days."
The maid bowed and left after she received her orders. Aldwin stayed kneeling as he was not dismissed yet.
"Aldwin, you can go back to the legion for now. I'll reassign you once she leaves." Edmond waved his hand.
"Yes your highness." He then took his leave.
Four days later, Hyreona entered the capital.
Since the Baron just arrived, he was given the day off to rest and get ready for the conference tomorrow.
Damien bought Hyreona the veil when they passed through the capital gates. Damien and Hyreona changed into commoner clothes that were brought by the maids in the estate they were staying at.
Putting on the veil made Hyreona seem mysterious yet alluring even though she was only 9 years in age. Both her and Damien weren't able to hide their attractiveness when they changed.
Looking at himself and Hyreona he smiled in a resigned way.
'Our faces might cause a problem...'
He took her hand and led her out of the estate and in to the streets of the capital. It was much more lively than the town.
The streets were bustling with all sorts of activities and markets, people of different classes out and about (given the nobles had carriages and guards), and there were many colors passing by.
Damien would be considered to be very handsome but not enough to make people forget their actions.
At most, young girls would linger their eyes on him for a few seconds before going back to what they were doing originally. Hyreona on the other hand, was a magnet for everyone's eyes.
It did not matter if she was wearing common clothes or a veil. Her ethereal beauty was highlighted by her plain attire.
The common clothes did not distract but instead gave way to her mysteriously enchanting veil covered face.
Wherever they went, all eyes could not leave her.
Though not all of the attention they received was positive. Due to Hyreona's white hair color and eyes, some of the noble mages who happened to be out, sought to take her.
She resembled a myth about nature elementals. They typically had striking appearances, hair and eye color matching their elements, and were either born from the extreme climates of the respective element or absorbed the essences of it.
Damien and Hyreona came to a less populated area to wait for Edmond to arrive.
Earlier when they had just made it to the estate where they were staying at temporarily, Hyreona received a letter from Edmond asking if she wanted to meet up with him.
She had completely glossed over the fact that she had not told him she was at the capital that day. While waiting for Edmond, several large cloaked men with suspicious looks surrounded them.
Damien placed Hyreona behind him in attempt to protect her and glared at the men. "Who are you people!?"
One of the men with a deep scar across his left eye smirked. "Come with us."
—————————————————————
Edmond shortly arrived at the designated meeting spot.
The sight that greeted him was the earth torn up as if there was a futile effort to defend and scorch marks left all over the built up earth walls and ground.
There seemed to be a sign of a one sided battle as there was also small amounts of red blood mixed with some silvery white liquid splattered all over the area.
"WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED HERE?!?!"
Edmond immediately called for his knights that were secretly hiding in the shadows not far away.
While seething with anger and worry, he ordered them to track down Hyreona's location. Edmond also went along to try and find them also.
His eyes were burning with fury.
'Hyreona... my love. Please be alright. I will find you.'