WINTER'S SWEET EMBRACE

The hooves of the horse clattered softly against the damp cobblestones, stepping with slow caution as Gwen guided the steed along the narrow path.

Soon, they had arrived at the entrance of a massive waste canal on the edge of the city’s walls.

Vincent looked around at the moss-covered stone walls and the dark, murky water flowing through the central trench and asked, "How do you even know about a place like this?"

Gwen kept her hands steady on the reins as she scanned the shadowy path ahead. "It is my job to know, Vincent. When Her Highness first enrolled at the Academy, I spent weeks exploring nearly every square inch of the Imperial City in case she ever went missing..."

When she said that, her grip on the leather reins tightened and her shoulders slumped slightly.

"...A precaution that proved entirely worthless. When she actually vanished, I was completely blind. I could not find her. I failed her."

"Gwen–"

"It will never happen again," she cut him off with a whisper of unyielding resolve. "I will not fail Her Highness a second time. Starting with our stalker of a guest."

"Now that’s what I’m talking about." Vincent smiled.

She brought the horse to a quiet halt outside a desolate, massive sewer pipe jutting out from the stone embankment.

Dismounting, they left the steed secured to an iron ring on the wall and stepped inside the pitch-black tunnel. A short walk down the damp corridor brought them to a worn-down wooden shack built straight into the side of the stone cavern.

"What the hell? You sure no homeless person lives here?"

"No. Or rather, one did. I paid them a very generous amount of coin to abandon this place and relocate somewhere else weeks ago. Now... it is a secure location where we can safely take care of any ’problems.’"

"Yet another reminder of why not to get on your bad side."

Instead of going in, Gwen just opened the rickety wooden door and walked past it. She then pressed her back against the side wall and beckoned at Vincent with a quick gesture. "Over here. Quickly."

Vincent pressed himself against the wall beside her. Together, they waited in silence.

A minute passed when finally, faint, light footsteps echoed from down the waste canal.

A figure slowly came into view – the young man who had been following them on horseback ever since they left the inn and Academy. He paused outside the threshold of the giant sewer pipe and cautiously inspected the damp surroundings.

"Is this... the entrance to the Black Market?" he hesitantly muttered to himself.

As he walked further in, he saw the open door of the wooden shack. He drew a small dagger and held it nervously in front of him as he took cautious steps inside.

"Give it a second," Gwen whispered softly.

The young man stepped fully into the shack, his back turned to them as he began inspecting a dusty shelf near the far wall, searching for a hidden lever or secret passage.

"Now."

They rounded the corner in unison and sneaked in.

Before the young man could even turn around, Gwen moved like a viper. She closed the distance in a split second, wrapping her forearm firmly around the young man’s throat in a textbook chokehold, disarming his dagger with her free hand.

"AGH! W-WAIT! PLEASE! LET ME EXPLAIN–"

"You can explain when you wake up," Gwen said coldly.

She tightened her grip, cutting off the blood flow to his brain. Tears welled up in the young man’s eyes as he thrashed around, slowly becoming weak.

He took one last shuddering breath, and his eyes rolled back. His body went completely limp in her arms.

Gwen casually tossed his unconscious body onto the floor and walked over to a wooden crate in the corner, pulling out a wooden chair and a coil of thick rope.

Vincent leaned against the doorframe, watching her with a raised eyebrow. "Damn, Gwen. That was impressive. So cold. So merciless."

"I told you," she said while hoisting the young man up and binding his wrists and ankles tightly to the chair legs. She took a thick cloth strip and tied it securely around his mouth as a gag. "Never again."

"Uh-huh. Point proven."

Dusting off her blazer as she walked past him toward the door. "Come. It is time to retrieve Lucianne."

They mounted the horse once more and navigated back up to the surface streets.

........

As they rode across the city, the scenery around them transitioned rapidly. The rundown stone buildings of the lower waste district gave way to neat brick storefronts, which slowly morphed into breathtaking, high-class architecture.

Fancy buildings, cleaner streets, and manicured gardens lined the beautiful sunlit avenues.

Gwen pulled the horse to a halt down a quiet side alley, pointing her finger ahead.

"There."

At the end of the street stood an absurdly lavish, multi-story boutique titled Velour & Velvet.

It featured massive glass windows displaying sparkling crystal chandeliers inside, deep crimson curtains, and snooty tailors dressed in fine suits catering to wealthy noble patrons stepping out of gilded carriages.

"Like some restaurants, this place requires a reservation to go shopping inside. We cannot cause a public scene out front. Follow me and wait for my signal."

They left the horse secured in the alleyway and crept around the side of the building.

Spotting a quiet rear service entrance used by staff, Gwen waited until the coast was clear before picking the lock with a thin wire. The door clicked open, and they slipped inside undetected.

Moving stealthily through the back corridors, they navigated up a spiral staircase leading to past the main floor, to the upper VIP fitting suites.

Peeking through a set of drapes overlooking the main showroom, they spotted their target.

Standing atop a raised pedestal was Lucianne.

She was surrounded by three tailors and four suited up personal guards. She was currently draped in a jewel-encrusted crimson gown that shimmered under the chandelier light.

"Ugh! This silk is entirely too coarse!" Lucianne shrieked, striking a snobbish tailor across the cheek with her silk fan.

"Are you trying to ruin my skin?! This gown is meant for my appearance alongside the Crown Prince at the Gala! If it isn’t perfection, I’ll have my father shut this pathetic shop down!"

The tailors bowed frantically, apologizing over and over as they made adjustments to the hem.

Vincent squinted through the drapes, muttering under his breath, "Man... I really hate the fact that she’s a redhead."

"What does her hair color have to do with anything?"

"Nothing. Just a personal preference."

Lucianne huffed in extreme annoyance, snatching her heavy skirts up, and hopping off the pedestal.

"I need a different fabric! I’ll be in the fitting room until you find proper silk!"

She stormed into a suite nearby, with her guards posting up outside the door.

"We need to clear the staff and guards," Gwen whispered.

She raised her hand and conjured a magic circle which released a soft pulse of mana. The circle flashed and a tiny, reptilian creature materialised from it.

It was a small fire lizard with glittering ruby scales, a long tail, and a bright yellow tongue that slithered in and out.

"Whoa. It’s so small and cute. What’s its name?"

"Her name is Firetongue," Gwen introduced quietly as the little lizard climbed up and nuzzled against her neck. "She is a B-rank support-type Familiar."

Vincent reached out a finger, gently petting the lizard’s warm, smooth head. Firetongue let out a tiny, happy squeak. "Hey there, little buddy. So what can she do?"

"Watch. Firetongue... buff."

Firetongue slithered her tongue out and the tip ignited into a tiny flame. She gently licked Gwen’s neck, coating her skin in a shimmering red aura.

Gwen pointed her finger toward a large rack of expensive dresses resting near the main staircase, and snapped her fingers.

Fwump!

Suddenly, the clothes burst into bright flames, sending a thick column of smoke billowing up toward the ceiling crystal chandeliers.

’She can control and manipulate fire with the help of Firetongue? That’s pretty awesome.’

"FIRE! THERE’S A FIRE ON THE SECOND FLOOR!" a tailor shrieked in terror.

Panic erupted.

Tailors, nobles, and servants scattered in a chaotic frenzy, screaming as they sprinted down the main stairs toward the front exit.

The four armored guards outside Lucianne’s door looked at each other in confusion before drawing their swords and rushing down to help contain the chaos before it spread.

"Now," Gwen whispered.

They stepped out from behind their hiding spot. As the guards ran past their position, Vincent darted forward like a phantom, delivering a lightning-fast strike to two guards by bonking their heads together, knocking them out.

Gwen swept the legs of the third and fourth, making them fall face first. As they got up, she punted both their heads as if it were a soccer ball, knocking them out as well.

With the area cleared, they slipped inside the door and locked it behind them.

Inside the room, Lucianne was standing before a full-length golden mirror, fanning herself angrily. "It is about time you useless tailors returned–"

She froze when she looked through the mirror. Standing behind her was an unknown woman, flanked by a relaxed young man.

Initially, her face contorted into pure outrage. "What is the meaning of this?! How dare you two enter into my private–"

She stopped. Her eyes widened as her gaze locked onto Gwen’s face and then shifted over to Vincent’s. Shock washed over her features, rapidly hardening into a venomous sneer.

"You... You’re that Princess’s pathetic little hound... and her worthless Familiar."

Vincent leaned his arm around a display mannequin with a playfully knowing smirk.

"W-Worthless~? What happened to the sympathy you had for me when we first met? Hahaha. I’m kidding. You know... it’s funny. We know it was you, Lulu. Think about it. The fact that I’m here could only mean one thing."

Lucianne’s heart skipped a beat.

A flicker of genuine panic flashed across her face as she realised exactly what he was implying – Maelle survived and she knows that she was the one who orchestrated her abduction by the slave bandits.

"You know what was me? I have no idea what you are talking about!"

Gwen pulled a pair of handcuffs from her belt and took a threatening step forward. "Save your breath, Lucianne. You’re coming with us."

"Where’d you get those mana-suppression cuffs?! You are not permitted to use them! I... I am a high noble of the Imperial Capital! And I will not be taken by trash like you! SUMMON!"

A dark magic circle burst open on the floor beside her.

From the purple light emerged a horrific, heavy creature – a four-legged, horned-and-winged gargoyle made of solid grey stone. It let out a scraping, metallic roar that shook the glass windows.

BANG! BANG! BANG!

Pounding fists began slamming against the locked door outside. The boutique’s personal security guards had come.

"Ms. Lucianne! We heard a screech coming from inside!"

"Ms. Lucianne! Please open the door!"

"Gwen!" Vincent called out.

Gwen pulled a silk scarf from a nearby table, quickly wrapping it around her head to obscure her features. "I will handle the guards outside and prepare our exit! You deal with the Familiar and take Lucianne!"

With fluid precision, Gwen sprinted toward the far upper window near the door and vaulted straight through it, shattering the glass as she dropped down below to handle the unwanted company.

"Alright, Lulu. Looks like it’s just us."

"Don’t call me Lulu! Kill him, Garly! Shatter his bones!"

The stone beast let out a deafening roar, leaping across the fitting room with unbelievable speed, aiming its stone claws at Vincent’s head!

Still only using a faction of his power, Vincent ducked beneath the beast’s lunging claws, the stone wind barely brushing his hair.

As the gargoyle swiped sideways, he caught its jagged stone jaw with his bare hands.

BOOM!

The shockwave blew the curtains outward. Vincent lifted the Familiar off its feet straight, hoisted it up in the air and connected a devastating uppercut to its jaw, sending it flying straight into the wall.

*ROOAARR!!!*

The gargoyle burst out and started thrashing wildly in the confined space; tearing apart couches, mirrors, and racks as it tried to crush the agile human.

But Vincent was simply too fast. He lunged, ducked, and weaved through the tight room like a shadow, his bare fists clashing against stone with cracking blows each time the opportunity presented itself.

’How is he doing this with his bare hands?! Is he really human?! He has to be! He hasn’t even cast a single spell to prove otherwise!’

Seeing an opening, Vincent sprinted toward a tall decorative mirror, vaulted straight off the glass frame, and into the air above the beast.

Mid-flight, he grabbed the gargoyle by its thick stone horns, lifted it up and around, then drove the beast downward with catastrophic force, slamming its head straight through the wooden floorboards.

CRACK-BOOM!!!

"GARLY!!"

Far below the giant hole it created, the Familiar thrashed once before spider-webbing with bright cracks of purple light. It shattered into dust and dissolved back into raw mana particles.

Lucianne stumbled backward until her back hitting the far wall. Her face was completely drained of color and her breath came in ragged gasps.

Her B-rank defensive Familiar... flattened in under two minutes by a supposedly "worthless" human.

"N-No..."

Thud!

Gwen slammed the door open, entering back into the room. Before Lucianne could even scream, she brought the hilt of her dagger down sharply onto the back of Lucianne’s neck.

Overstimulated and in shock, Lucianne’s eyes rolled back, and she collapsed limp into Gwen’s arms.

"Ah, Lulu. Truly a drama queen."

Out in the main boutique, more and more footsteps were approaching.

"Vincent, we need to move. Now."

"Yeah." Vincent grabbed a wide strip of fabric from a fallen rack and quickly pulled a dark cloth mask over his face like Gwen.

While he wrapped Lucianne tightly in a broken off curtain, obscuring her face and body, Gwen tied her wrists with mana-suppression handcuffs.

SHATTER!

Hoisting the bound noble girl over his shoulder like a sack of grain, Vincent followed Gwen as she leaped out of the back window in the room and onto the sunlit rooftops.

They darted across the tiled roofs like thieves in the night – except it’s day – and dropped down into the quiet back alley where their horse was waiting.

Vincent loaded the unconscious, bound Lucianne securely across the front of the saddle. Gwen vaulted up onto the steed, pulling the reins tight as Vincent climbed up behind her.

"Hold on! We’re making a break for it! HYA!"

Snap!

They galloped down the narrow backways of the city, weaving through side streets and avoiding major guard patrols until the sparkling high-end district faded back into the dark, damp waste canals of the city.

Arriving back at the desolate sewer pipe, they carried Lucianne into the hidden wooden shack.

Vincent tossed her onto a spare wooden chair in the corner, tying her securely alongside the young man – who was now awake and squirming against his ropes.

"MMMF! MMMF!"

Lucianne’s eyes slowly fluttered open, only to realize she was bound tight next to a frantic stranger in a dark sewer hut.

"MMMMHHMM!! MMMMFF! *Sob* MMMNN!!"

"The target is secured. Vincent, take the horse and hurry back to the Imperial Academy. Inform Her Highness that Lucianne is captured and ready for questioning. As instructed, I will stay here and guard the captives."

"Gwen..."

"Hm?"

"I don’t know how to ride a horse."

"Ah–" Gwen stared at Vincent with her jaw practically hanging open. "So... what, you’ll walk all the way back to the Academy? On foot?"

"Hey, I told you twice already, I don’t know how to ride a horse!"

Gwen pinched the bridge of her nose and dragged him out the shack, away from listening ears.

"The princess told me last night: You are an EX-Rank Familiar. You can fight off Elves, Drakes, hell, pretty much any Familiar you come across, yet a domesticated horse is your natural enemy?"

"I could fly–"

"You can fly?!" Gwen hissed.

"–but Maelle said I should keep it on the downlow... Wait. You got coin, right? Give me enough to pay someone to give me a lift to the Academy."

With a look of astonishment, she gave him a silver coin and pointed toward the sewer entrance. "Go. Hurry. Her Highness is waiting."

"On it," Vincent took the coin and waved over his shoulder as he jogged out of the dark waste canal into the bright afternoon sun. "Sit tight, Gwen!"