By My Side

[4 years ago]

After having finished his morning training with Katherine, Din was free the rest of the day to do whatever he wished.

That freedom was something some kids could only dream of, but for Din, he only wanted to train with Katherine.

He moved about the streets with his shoulder dropped in front of him, flailing his arms around and about.

"Why does Kat have to be so busy today?" Din sighed.

It was a hot weather in Ravenwalt and even under the shades of all the buildings and trees, Din was still sweating immensely.

He sat down on a bench in the shade of a tree and began airing out his shirt.

Even with the hot weather, the city was still busy and even the streets with no shades were filled with crowds of people.

Din looked over at the crowd in disgust. How can they all just move around normally under the sun like that, he thought.

It was then that he noticed a frail girl, limping her way through the crowd. She was getting pushed left and right even though she already seemed injured.

"Lorelei!"

With no hesitation, Din got up from his seat and into the crowd to help her. He was able to grab hold of her hand and then helped her out of the crowd and back to the bench.

They were both trying to catch their breath as soon as they were out of the crowd.

"Are you okay?" Din asked.

Every time Lorelei's eyes met with Din's, she would always immediately avert them elsewhere. They had only met once after the time he had saved her. Din had visited her in the hospital and had met her aunt there as well, but after that, he hadn't seen her since.

Din didn't understand why she wasn't responding.

"Hey, are you alright?" He asked again.

She finally nodded and then faintly whispered, "Thank you."

Her voice was dry and quiet. Din couldn't make out what she had said at all.

Thinking she might've been thirsty, Din reached for his water bag from his side and then offered it to here, "Here!"

Lorelei was reluctant at first, but after noticing that Din had no intention of retracting his offer, she gladly accepted the water bag.

As she drank from the bag, Din asked, "What happened to your leg?"

She returned the bag once she was finished drinking. She kept her glance on the ground and remained silent.

Noticing that she wasn't planning on answering, Din asked, "Was it Milan?"

She jumped at the sound of his name. Din realized immediately that it had to have been Milan.

Din wanted to get revenge on Milan, but he knew that if he were to attack Milan, then he would be causing a lot of trouble for his father again. He decided the safest option was just to tell his father about it.

After letting her rest for a while, they went to Din's home to talk with Din's father. Din's father, Brian Morrison, was in his office, filing list of names into different categories. He worked for a post office and oversaw customer relations.

"Din, what is it?" Brian asked as he placed a file into a folder.

"Are you busy right now, dad?"

Brian shook his head, "Just finished what I had to do. What's troubling you, son?"

Din brought Lorelei into the office and then they both sat in front of Brian's desk. The chairs were quite large for them, but they managed to make themselves comfy.

"Milan Nicholson is picking on Lorelei again!" Din started. "I don't know why he did it, but he injured her leg!"

Moving from behind his desk, Brian inspected the injury on Lorelei's left foot, "That does look serious. We should have that checked immediately. Mary!"

A maid walked into the office.

"Tend to Ms. Lorelei's injuries, please."

The maid bowed her head low before reaching out her hand for Lorelei. She led Lorelei out of the office carefully.

After they had left the office, Brian asked, "You didn't make any rash decisions again, did you, Din?"

Din shook his head.

A sigh of relief left Brian as he sat back on his chair, "Good."

"What are we going to do about Milan?" Din asked.

Brian looked over at Din with a surprised expression, "Son, there isn't much we can do. Bully or not, that kid is the son of a baron."

"So we're just going to keep letting him hurt her like that?!" Din screamed.

Noticing how angry his son was, Brian suggested, "Look, I can send in a letter explaining the situation to his father, but whatever his father decides to do with that information is all up to him. And whatever that decision may be, that's what we have to settle with as well. Do you understand, Din?"

Din didn't want to get yelled at again so he nodded.

This time, his father didn't expect him to formally say that he understood. Brian nodded as well, "Good. Now go to her, she will feel a lot more welcomed with you next to her."

With a quick bow, Din left the office and went over to the nurse room, where Lorelei was being treated.

As Din entered the room, Lorelei's leg was almost wrapped up. The maid left the room as soon as she was finished.

"How is it?" Din asked.

"Feels good. Thank you."

Even now, she was avoiding Din's gaze.

Din sat down on the bed beside her, "I don't think we can do anything to Milan, Lorelei."

There was no response so Din continued, "I tried talking to my dad, but Milan's dad is a powerful man so we can't really do anything."

"Thank you, Din," Lorelei looked up to face Din.

Din was happy she was finally looking at him.

Suddenly, Din held her hand, "Don't worry, Lorelei. Even though I won't be able to fight Milan, he probably doesn't know that."

"Huh?" Lorelei tiled her head.

"Because of how I fought him last time, he probably thinks I won't be afraid of doing it all over again. He's probably afraid of me!"

Din stood up from the bed and then took a few steps forward.

"I can make him think that I'm not afraid and that, if he steps out of line, I will attack him at any moment!"

With a bright smile on his face, he turned to Lorelei.

"As long as you're by my side, I'll make sure he won't harm you ever again!"

A sense of relief left Din as he saw how happy Lorelei looked.