— What do you mean, her arm is broken?
— Well... I didn't see it myself, but the other cadets are saying there was a fight, and...
— Where is she? — Raphael asked coldly.
The chill in his voice sent a shiver down Krado's spine. The boy before him was no longer just a five-year-old; he was something far more dangerous, like a beast suppressing its fury.
Krado swallowed hard, trying to control his rising fear, and answered:
— In the orphan dormitory's infirmary...
Before he could finish, Raphael shot up, grabbed his training rapier, and dashed out, leaving the stunned cadets behind.
— Hey, young lord!
— You can't just leave practice like that!
But Raphael wasn't listening. Only one thought echoed in his mind:
"Erin."
His heart pounded wildly in his chest as the world blurred around him, every step bringing him closer to the infirmary.
***
Bursting into the orphan dormitory, Raphael immediately found the infirmary. His heart clenched painfully as he saw Erin lying on a bed in the dimly lit room, her right arm wrapped in bandages and fixed in place at the wrist. A single lamp cast a weak light over her motionless figure.
Her empty gaze was fixed on the ceiling. On the small bedside table next to her lay several potions meant to accelerate bone healing.
Raphael approached. Hearing footsteps, Erin turned her head, her eyes meeting his, but she said nothing. Raphael stared at her broken arm, feeling anger surge through him. He didn't yet know who had done this, but he was certain it wasn't an accident.
— My lord? Why aren't you at practice? — Erin asked in surprise.
Raphael remained silent, his eyes locked on her injured arm.
— My lord? — her voice trembled with tension.
— Who did this to you? — Raphael asked sharply, ignoring her question.
— I... I fell, — she whispered, her voice unsteady as she avoided his gaze.
Raphael knew she was lying. She was trying to protect herself, but such a feeble excuse was hardly believable. She felt guilty, but not because she missed practice. The guilt ran deeper. However, Raphael wasn't about to accept any excuses.
He continued to look at her silently, studying her face. Erin reminded him of a stray kitten abandoned and left in the cold.
Her lips trembled, and her fingers gripped the bed sheets tightly as if battling a flood of emotions. Despite her best efforts to remain calm, her resolve was crumbling. Tears began to stream down her cheeks as she sniffled, struggling to keep herself from breaking down.
— I'm sorry, — she rasped, her voice cracking as she tried to hold herself together. — I'm sorry for failing you... I couldn't make it to practice...
— Erin...
— I'm so sorry... — she sobbed uncontrollably, wiping away her tears as if that would hide her vulnerability.
— Erin!
She didn't hear him. She was lost in her spiral of self-reproach. The strong, determined girl Raphael knew was crumbling before his eyes. Fear of becoming a burden was tearing her apart.
— Cadet Erin!
Raphael raised his voice, and she froze, looking up at him with wide, tearful eyes.
— My lord?..
— If you won't tell me as your friend, — his voice became cold and stern, — then I'll ask as the youngest son of the Earhart family. Who broke your arm?
"Friend..."
That word echoed in her heart. Upon hearing it, the emotional barriers she had built up collapsed, and Erin burst into tears, unable to hold herself together any longer.
Until now, everyone around her had treated her like damaged goods, an object to be bullied or used for their own gain. No one had ever addressed her as a friend. The weight of her emotions was accumulating, and Erin's tears finally broke.
Raphael's eyes widened. In all his nineteen years from his past life, he had never seen Erin cry. She had always been strong, composed, and even when she was sad, she would sit quietly, staring out of a window in silence. When Kazimir had died, she hadn't shed a single tear, merely gazing into the distance as though searching for something.
But now, as he watched her, Raphael realized she was just as much a child as anyone else. She could cry, feel sadness, and suffer.
— My lord... — Erin's voice trembled through her sobs.
— Yes? — Raphael leaned in closer.
— I'll tell you, but you have to promise not to leave me alone afterward... as your friend. You can't be that cruel after calling me your friend!
Her voice was choked with tears, and she could barely speak without sobbing. Her eyes, swollen and full of emotion, looked at him with trust and faith. For the first time, Erin was asking for something for herself. Something selfish. Something she desperately needed.
Raphael felt an overwhelming sense of relief wash over him, glad that she was finally doing something for herself rather than for him.
— Alright, — he said softly. — I promise.
— Then… when I came back yesterday...
***
The day before. The Cadet Dormitory.
Erin walked through the stone hallway of the dormitory, heading toward her room. The dim lamps lining the corridor barely illuminated the vast, empty space. Her mind was in turmoil, and she struggled to focus on anything. The past few days had been especially rough.
Her roommates — three older cadets — had constantly found reasons to torment her. The reasons were absurd: she hadn't cleaned up properly, she breathed too loudly, or whatever else they could invent.
These complaints were just an excuse for bullying. The real reason was envy — envy of her growing closeness to the youngest son of the Earhart family. At least, that's what Erin believed.
Though she had expected this reaction, and Raphael had even warned her, the bullying had escalated beyond words. What started as insults and shoves had become full-blown physical attacks. Sometimes, they used magic. Other times, they beat her with whatever they could find. Erin had to hide the bruises and cuts with ointments so Raphael wouldn't notice. The last thing she wanted was to trouble him.
Collapsing onto her bed, Erin braced herself for what was to come.
Ten minutes passed in silence before she heard the familiar footsteps. After six months in the dormitory, Erin had learned to recognize people by the sound of their steps — it was a defense mechanism. And now, she clearly recognized the footsteps of her tormentors approaching. She could identify these three girls with her eyes closed.
The door swung open, and in walked the three six-year-olds. There was nothing remarkable about them: plain, unremarkable, average. They were like gray shadows, while Erin's natural beauty stood out. Perhaps it was this that fueled their hatred and jealousy.
— Hey, brat, why does it stink in here? — one of the girls sneered, glancing around.
— Excuse me? — Erin froze, unsure of what they meant.
— I asked, why does it stink? Are you deaf?! — the girl shouted angrily, grabbing Erin by the hair and yanking her off the bed.
— Ah! — Erin yelped as she was thrown to the floor.
— When someone asks you something, answer! — the bully hissed with malice.
Erin remained silent, her head hanging low. Her mind raced, trying to figure out a way out of this situation. She had already asked the overseers several times to move her to another room, but they always refused. Fights and bullying went completely ignored as if they weren't happening.
But in recent days, it felt like her suffering was being deliberately overlooked.
In truth, Erin was stronger than these girls. She could have beaten them to the point where they'd never pick up a sword again. But she feared the consequences — not just for herself, but for Raphael.
What would happen to him if it came out that the girl he obviously cared about had crippled future knights of the family?
So she endured.
These girls knew she wouldn't fight back and took full advantage, increasing their cruelty with each passing day.
— You little bitch... Don't want to play nice? Fine, we'll do this the hard way! — one of the girls spat, her voice filled with venom.
With all her strength, she kneed Erin in the jaw. The force of the blow sent Erin crashing to the ground, knocking her out briefly.
The others didn't waste a second and began kicking her. Erin barely managed to shield her head with her arms and reinforce her body with mana, just as Raphael had taught her. Without that, the outcome would've been far worse.
Each blow landed squarely on Erin, sending waves of pain through her body. Even with mana reinforcement, it was barely tolerable.
— Heh, this little bitch is tougher than she looks, — sneered one of the girls, though there was clear frustration in her voice.
Seeing that Erin was still conscious, one of them pulled out brass knuckles, likely stolen during the last training session.
— Let's see how you handle this, — she smirked, slipping the weapon onto her right hand and methodically striking Erin's ribs.
— Aaaah!
Erin screamed in agony. Even with mana, she couldn't withstand the blows from a weapon. She had only just started learning how to control her mana, and her skills were far from adequate.
Seeing her suffer only fueled the other girls' amusement, and all three continued their assault with renewed excitement.
After half an hour, they finally stopped.
Erin lay on the floor, barely conscious of her surroundings. Her entire body was wracked with so much pain that even breathing was difficult. Every breath came with stabbing aches. There wasn't a single part of her body left unbruised. The only thing the girls spared was her face — they knew it would be noticed during training. The castle instructors didn't ignore such things, and even they were afraid of Raphael after his encounter with Krado.
— Know your place, you filthy brat, — the lead girl spat, glaring down at her.
Erin raised her head, her eyes burning with defiance.
She spat the blood that had gathered in her mouth directly onto the girl's shirt.
— You...!
The girl's eyes blazed with fury.
— Grab her! Hold out her right arm! — she ordered the other two.
At first, they hadn't planned on crippling her, but Erin's insolence and refusal to submit had enraged them. At that moment, the leader wasn't thinking of anything but revenge.
They forced Erin to her knees and stretched her right arm out, placing it on a small stool. Two of the girls held her down while the third picked up a practice sword, raising it high above her head with a twisted smile.
Erin closed her eyes.
— Aaaaah!
Her scream echoed throughout the dormitory.
***
— That's how it happened, — Erin finished her story, still sniffling.
— I… I see, — Raphael replied slowly, his fists clenched tightly. — Don't worry. I won't leave you behind, like I promised.
Erin forced a weak smile through her tears.
Raphael tried to stay calm, but halfway through her story, he had emotionally shut down. The tale was too brutal, too raw for him to process with a clear mind. But he had to hear it. It was his fault — his guilt for not stepping in sooner.
He tormented himself over the fact that he hadn't protected Erin once again. If he had intervened just one day earlier, things might have been different. But now...
Rage flared in his eyes. His normally bright blue irises turned a cold, steely gray as dark waves of mana swirled around him. The spark inside him ignited with renewed force, scorching his insides.
In that moment, Raphael reached the second stage of the Smoldering Spark.