A fresh breeze caught Cale, causing him to bury his head in his shoulders and walk through the streets with a sullen look on his face. As usual, he helped out with the morning patrols, with the difference that today he was not out with his supervisor. Instead, the group of four had split into two groups from the start, so for the first time he was out alone with a female soldier named Velasquez Hernan. Together they walked down the trade route and talked to a few people, but as usual, it was relatively quiet. In general, there had been no reports of further kidnappings or arson in recent weeks, almost as if the city were taking a deep breath. But the tension among the soldiers had not eased at all. On the contrary, it seemed to have increased even further due to the calm.

  "You've been looking after Mamoru for the last few weeks, haven't you?", Velasquez finally spoke up after more than two hours of silence. Cale had become uncomfortable with her not talking to him at all, which is why he had already been thinking about how he could start a conversation with her. After all, he would probably be traveling with her several more times, and he didn't want her to be dismissive of him.

  "What exactly are you talking about?"

  "His burns. I noticed that they had gotten better, and since he seems to be with you every day, I thought it might have something to do with you."

  "So you knew how bad it was?", Cale asked, somewhat surprised.

  He had found it strange that none of Mamoru's colleagues had mentioned the subject. At first, he simply thought that Mamoru had been good at keeping his injuries a secret, but apparently that wasn't the case.

  "Of course we knew, how could we not notice? Did he ask you not to mention it?"

  "He did, yes."

  "I see. We were wondering how it happened."

  "Why did you never say anything?", Cale asked reproachfully, but the soldier ignored his snide comment. Instead, she unexpectedly turned into a street that Cale and Mamoru never walked down together. He quickly hurried after the woman, who had one hand on her weapon and finally turned to him.

  "You don't know him that well."

  "What's that spouse to mean?"

  "Do you know that his wife is dead?"

  Mentally, Cale was prepared to answer her immediately, which is why his mouth was already half open, but when he heard the question, he fell silent. Linnea, the woman Mamoru lived with, doesn't even exist?

  "What?"

  "Apparently not. Linnea died about seven years ago. You can visit her grave in the cemetery in the south of the city."

  "Then why... why does Mamoru talk about her as if she were still alive?"

  "For him, she still is", Velasquez replied matter-of-factly, which left Cale even more speechless. All the time Cale had been talking to Mamoru about his family, he hadn't once realized that his wife wasn't alive at all. Mamoru had even suggested that Cale and Fengari come visit him because Linnea would be happy about it. "Sir Adenia... Mamoru is sick. Since Linnea passed away, he has become a completely different person."

  "What... happened?"

  "No one knows for sure. All we could find out is that Linnea and Mamoru had an argument. Mamoru wanted to move back to the province of Caplens, but Linnea was against it. Mamoru's father had apparently also told him to stay in Bellator, although no one could really confirm that. According to his neighbors, there was a loud argument between Mamoru and Linnea that evening. It was so bad that Mamoru spent the night on the sofa", Velasquez explained, pausing. "When he came into the bedroom the next morning, Linnea was already dead. According to the doctors, she had had a heart attack and had tried to get to the door, but had died on the way."

  "By the beard of the Eldest", Cale blurted out unconsciously.

  "He was told that she might have survived if he had been by her side that night and noticed what was going on", Velasquez explained in a calm voice, as if it were the most normal thing in the world. But Cale suddenly understood something that would explain his supervisor's behavior.

  "So the reason he didn't say anything is..."

  "He doesn't want to burden people with his problems. The fact that his behavior cost his wife her life still haunts him to this day."

  "But doesn't that mean Mamoru should actually be aware of what happened?"

  "In my opinion, he is, at least subconsciously", the soldier replied. "He found her body and he was also present at her funeral. But about a month after her death, he started talking as if she were still at home. He literally barricaded himself in his house and neglected his work to be with Linnea. He constantly mentioned her, and everything he did was related to her in some way. Have you ever visited his house?"

  Stolen novel; please report.

  "No."

  "He planted hundreds of lavender plants around the house because Linnea loved these flowers and wanted to have a garden full of lavender. Now there are so many that you have to fight your way to the front door."

  Cale instinctively held his breath at this statement. A memory he had completely suppressed suddenly came to mind. It was a memory from his previous life that he had stored in his subconscious. He had seen the house in the northeast of the city, surrounded by a huge purple flower bed, back then. That would mean that even 17 years later, Mamoru still hadn't come to terms with Linnea's death.

  "Have you ever tried to get him to see a doctor?"

  "Of course, how stupid do you think we are? He was in therapy for a good year, and that was also when he started working again, but he never really dealt with the actual problem. Whenever we try to talk to him about seeing a doctor, he evades the subject or ignores what we say. He is at least partially aware that he has a problem, but he doesn't care. Mamoru lives his life and we had come to terms with that until you came along."

  "Me?"

  "You are probably the first person Mamoru has ever accepted help from. How you managed that is a mystery to us."

  "I yelled at him and he gave in", Cale quickly replied, shrugging his shoulders. "Maybe he realized he couldn't hide his burns, or maybe he just couldn't stand the pain anymore."

  "That's a possibility", Velasquez replied as they turned onto the main road and walked back toward the city center. "I've known Mamoru since our apprenticeship. I've witnessed every facet of his life, just as he has mine, but since Linnea's death, he hardly talks to me anymore. I'm worried about him..."

  "Understandable", Cale replied hesitantly. He had a bad feeling about the subject. "I wish I could help you... but I'm not a healer, and I certainly can't help with... mental problems."

  "I don't expect that from you... but with your arrival, I have regained some hope that his condition might improve."

  "What exactly do you want from me?", Cale summarized the statement briefly, so that the soldier looked at him and simply nodded.

  "Can you keep an eye on him?", she finally revealed. "Secretly. I'm not asking you to actively encourage him to accept her death."

  "I don't know if you're placing too much hope in me. When it comes to traumatic events, I'm anything but a shining example, and since I don't know Mamoru, I doubt I'll be of any help at all."

  "It would be enough if he had someone he could open up to. Someone he could talk to who doesn't know his past and won't judge him. He seems to be more open with you than with us, who witnessed everything", the soldier explained calmly, causing Cale to look thoughtfully at the floor.

  Mamoru was, to put it mildly, pretty irrelevant to Cale - even though he would never say so. His only use to Cale was as a cover and a source of information. If Mamoru ever gave up his position as a supervisor or soldier, Cale would have no interest in continuing a relationship with him. He was currently giving him more work than he was worth. On the other hand... he could still use him to keep an eye on the residents of Groka, and since Mamoru had often helped him in the beginning, Cale owed him in a way. Although he certainly wouldn't actively try to inquire about his state of mind.

  "I can keep an eye on him as long as I'm part of his group", Cale explained hesitantly, because he didn't want to sound inhuman either. "But I have to be honest that... I have other priorities in life."

  "Thank you."

  Cale looked up and looked ahead. The palace was relatively close, and he could see the lights inside the building. He was currently too far away from the building, but in all likelihood, it was the royal family's servants who were still awake at this late hour.

  

  Slightly annoyed by his unwanted work, he looked at the group of soldiers who had gathered in front of the main building and were talking to each other. Among them was his supervisor Mamoru, who was laughing with his colleagues. It was hard to believe that this man had endured one stroke of fate after another and still couldn't bring himself to seek help.

  

  As Cale and Velasquez were about to join the group and document the events of their patrol, another person came running toward them, shouting.

  "Zod!", Cedrik yelled at the top of his lungs, causing everyone present to turn in surprise to the young soldier, who was running toward them in light clothing. He looked like he had been torn from his bed, and judging by the panic on his face, something terrible had happened.

  "Don't yell like that", Cale admonished him and approached him, feeling Mamoru following behind him. He didn't look at his supervisor, instead watching Cedrik frantically approach him, almost tripping over his own feet. "What's going on?"

  "They took him!"

  "Who did they take? Who are they?", Cale asked irritably as his group member arrived in front of him, leaning forward and gasping for air. In that short time, Mamoru also arrived beside him, and so the three men stood slightly apart from the rest of the soldiers who were returning from their rounds or just about to set off.

  "Jarle. The royal soldiers took Jarle with them!", Cedrik explained, completely out of breath, staring up at Cale, who needed a moment to even comprehend the statement.

  "What? Why did they take Jarle away? Did he do something?"

  "They... they said Jarle is accused of being involved in the child abduction."

  "WHAT?", Mamoru and Cale replied in unison, and immediately there was loud murmuring behind them.

  Shocked, Cale took a step back and looked down at Cedrik in disbelief. It seemed as if it must have just happened, given how panicked Cedrik was when he ran over. But two things bothered him more than the fact that Jarle had been arrested by soldiers.

  How could Jarle be involved in this when he had obviously always been concerned about Fengari's safety, and how come Cale didn't know anything about it? After all, Sir Freigoud was in charge of the matter, and they had agreed that he would be informed about what was going on in the city. Why hadn't the advisor told him that Jarle was under suspicion?

  , Cale cursed silently, involuntarily releasing large amounts of mana.