Just then, the man who knew of her previous life appeared and saved her.
Elsewhere, the Duke of Pedia learned that his daughter had fallen off a cliff and immediately ordered his subordinates, "No matter what it takes, find any trace and report back at once."
Elodie had thought she was doomed this time. Yet the man successfully rescued her.
She could not tell whether he was friend or foe. She only wanted to go back right now. But the moment she pushed the door open, their eyes met.
The man spoke. "You're hurt. Can you treat me first?"
Elodie had no choice but to put treating his wounds as the top priority. She cautiously asked him, "Are you a mage, or a part of the royal family or the four great houses?"
The man denied it. "None of the above."
Elodie thought, How can someone not be any of those and still be this handsome? Blushing awkwardly, she asked, "Then what's your name?"
The man told her to call him Ryan.
She pressed further. "When you saved me, why did you call me Ichio?"
Ryan explained that he kept having the same dream, dreaming of a world completely different from this one, in which the name Ichio kept appearing. He insisted, "I recognized you at a glance. You're the Ichio from my dreams."
Elodie thought, This man doesn't even know how to lie properly. But since Ryan had never appeared in the original novel at all, she suspected he was hiding his real name.
In any case, she judged that for now he posed no threat to her. The most important thing at the moment was to get a clear grasp of the situation.
Ryan told her that the Duke of Pedia had already dispatched large numbers of people to search.
Elodie instead froze. I thought they'd be happy if that nuisance got into trouble. I didn't expect them to care about me this much.
So she asked Ryan to take her back to the ducal estate.
As soon as she returned home, she was surrounded so tightly there was no room to move. She could hardly believe how many people were crammed into her room.
The Duchess nervously asked, "If you feel uncomfortable anywhere, speak up immediately."
Elodie guiltily admitted, "I used up all those gifts you gave me."
The Duchess only said she had made a wise choice, and that she would make more for her later.
The Duke told her to rest well for a few days and preferably not go out, then left. But one person remained in the room. Carl.
Carl could not understand. "Why did you let go? Were you trying to die?"
Elodie fired back. "What? Are you disappointed I didn't?"
Carl hastily denied it. "That's not what I meant."
Elodie snapped. "I don't have the energy to argue with you today."
The next second, Carl suddenly hugged her. Elodie had never seen this kind of Carl before. Carl leaned against her, muttering softly, "I was really worried about you."
Only then did she realize that Carl was crying. She could not understand why he was like this.
Carl apologized to her. "All this time, I've been talking nonsense, ignoring you, calling you an illegitimate child, always picking on you. It was all my fault. Please don't hate me."
Elodie was stunned. "Have I ever said anything like that to you?"
Carl looked at her, utterly aggrieved. Instead, Elodie brought up an old score. "Didn't you used to say I was dirty and shouldn't touch you?"
Carl hugged her even tighter, his voice muffled. "You're not dirty at all." He even swore, "I'll protect you. I'll be my little sister's dog."
Elodie's entire worldview was crushed on the spot.
After learning that Ryan was in her father's office, she happily ran over. Her father glared darkly at his daughter. "You've only met for a day and you're already this familiar?"
Elodie hurried to explain. "Ryan is my savior."
Her father said he already knew what had happened, so he was in the middle of paying him.
But Ryan said, "I'm the one who saved her. So I want to receive my reward from Miss Elodie."
Elodie asked in confusion, "What do you want?"
Ryan formally introduced himself. "I am Ryan, leader of the Sky Eagles. Please hire me, my lady."
In other words, he was Ryan, the mercenary king who had rendered great service in the war against the kingdom of Nelt two years ago, gained the emperor's recognition, and was not someone even nobles dared treat lightly. Though he was a commoner, he was quite famous among the nobility as well.
Elodie could not understand. "Why choose me of all people?"
Ryan explained, "The second prince wants to make contact with me."
Her heart tightened. Has the second prince already begun maneuvering for the throne? That only made it more necessary for her to hire Ryan. Doing so would both block the second prince's approach and keep Carl from having to be her escort anymore, killing two birds with one stone. She regarded Ryan as a variable, which only made her more eager to keep him close and watch him.
Just as she was about to agree readily, her father stepped in to stop it, fixing his gaze on his daughter as he asked, "Can that man really be trusted?"
Elodie calmly analyzed. "If the Sky Eagles become more tightly bound to House Pedia, the first prince's influence outside will also grow."
In the end, her father agreed to her choice and had them sign a contract.
After that, her two brothers came to find her and asked whom she planned to attend the upcoming royal banquet with this time.
Elodie answered straightforwardly, "I'm not choosing either of you. I'm choosing Ryan."
Both brothers' faces went dark on the spot, and they practically wanted to get rid of Ryan right away.
Ashen stared at her and asked, "Mercenary King Ryan — you knew him from before?"
Elodie replied crisply, "I ran into him on the road. That's all."
Ashen's tone grew more serious. "Then how much do you know about him? It's not good to get too close to that guy."
Elodie's heart sank. So he really does know something. Ashen was the most deep-minded person in the family. He must have information on Ryan in his hands. There's no way he'd tell me not to approach him for no reason.
She was about to hear him continue, but Ashen only said, "There's no particular reason." At the same time, however, his hand kept touching her hand.
Elodie snapped, annoyed, "What on earth are you doing?"
Ashen replied dead serious. "My little sister just survived a great ordeal. An older brother can only feel at ease by holding on to her."
Not to be outdone, Carl reached out and tried to grab his sister's hand as well.
Elodie found this so absurd she could not even comprehend it.