Chapter 39: Crimson Storm
"Looks like the Warden Mansion plopped itself right on human turf," Jett said after he and his maids finished assisting the commoners.
They were now on his private floor. Jett stood at the window, watching steam rise from the bonfire below, where Roberto and the others slept in the fire’s warm embrace. The children and women rested in the maids’ bunk beds. Mia had warned the women—never the children—that approaching her bunk was forbidden and that setting foot on Jett’s floor would be worse than death.
Jett rolled his eyes when she reported her precaution.
"So, first clue why it picked me: it wanted a human. That’s why it parked itself on Blue Empire turf, right in House Stormcloud’s backyard. If I chat up the duke, maybe I pop a side‑quest to wake Eleonora."
He turned to find Mia and Noctlisa sitting on his bed, heads bowed. Learning the current year had shocked them both; Mia’s parents were likely gone, her siblings four generations deep. Dullahan lifespans varied by blood purity, and Noctlisa shared little with the royal line, so her father’s survival was doubtful.
From excitement to disbelief... I can’t blame them, but I have no idea how to help. Eleonora’s father was human—he’s surely long dead. She’s practically an ancestor maid.
"Master Jett, I once believed it premature to seek my family, yet now I fear we arrive too late."
"Aye," Noctlisa muttered.
With nothing useful to say, Jett sat between them and drew them into his arms. He hoped the gesture mattered more than words. Their faces softened.
...
The carriage rolled on.