Found you

Adelia had tried the spell again, several times over to no avail and she began to sob silently at some point as she cleaned Edward's wound and reapplied salves to it.

After wrapping a fresh set of bandages around him, she covered him with a blanket on the bed and then took a seat at her own bed in a angle facing the window.

Even though it was still so late, the trade city was bustling with activity. Merchants and their wagons passed by, and people found their way through the streets... the world moved, completely unaware of her situation...

Her frustration...

Adelia had never been away from her father and the castle for this long, ever. Even if it was only for half a day.

When she was in the castle, he would usually go on business trips to the Capital. But at least during those times, she was home and she knew... she knew he would come back; she was always certain of it.

But today... today was different. She was the one who had left him and not the other way round, and she wasn't even sure he would be able to locate her in this run-down inn.

How much of Lavim would he have to search before he found her?

And if Edward didn't wake up, they wouldn't be able to go back to the Count's manor anytime soon to make her father's job easier.

Adelia's breaths were beginning to come out in short pants now as she tried to stop herself from crying.

She hated that she was crying like a little girl, she despised her weakness. But what could she do?

She had never once in her life felt as helpless as she did today.

The thought of seeking Az's help had crossed her mind, but he had already done so much for her already…

Adelia let out a trembling breath and bit her lip. This was by far the most miserable day of her life—No... something far worse had happened once before, but she would rather dwell on how terrible today was than think about it.

After a few moments of silent tears, she took a deep, shaky breath, wiped her eyes and lay down on the bed.

The scent of sandalwood was thick on the sheets, Az's scent… a man's scent…

Adelia blushed despite her tear streaked face.

Oh… heaven help her because she loved his fragrance, she had loved it ever since that day in the forest... maybe a little more than she was supposed to.

But she would rather walk over hot coals barefeet than admit it to him. He would tease her to no end, and in response, she would end up blushing.

She didn't want to give him that satisfaction.

Adelia let out a small laugh at the thought. She realized that she had probably blushed more times today than she had in her entire life, whether it was out of anger, embarrassment, or a mixture of both—all of it because of him.

Yet, she didn't see anything wrong with it. It didn't seem like a bad thing... it wasn't a bad thing at all.

With that final thought, Adelia drifted off to sleep.

*~*~*~*~*~*

What woke her up the next day was the bright rays of the sun on her closed eyelids coming from the window.

She blinked her eyes open, intending to simply take a small peek outside before closing the blinds and going back to sleep.

But what she saw through her hand open eyes brought her thoroughly awake, she gasped and immediately sat up in bed.

Adelia rubbed her eyes, almost unable to believe what she was seeing—her heart pounding faster in her chest.

"Guards...?" She whispered unknowingly.

She gulped. Was this... was this what she thought it meant?

But that wasn't the only surprise; it was already high noon! How had she slept for so long without anyone waking her?!

"Oh... right." She wasn't in the castle at the moment, no one would come to wake her.

She swallowed the lump forming in her throat, when she heard a hoarse voice call from beside her.

"My lady?"

Turning quickly toward the sound, Adelia's eyes widened as she spotted the source from the opposite bed.

"Edward...?" She said his name in a daze, hoping that she wasn't hearing things; she couldn't afford to run mad just yet.

The knight on the bed blinked once, his gaze shifting toward her, his head moving slightly. "Are you..." He cleared his throat, his voice slightly raspy. "Are you all right, my lady?"

Adelia took in a sharp breath, feeling a sting behind her eyes but she did all she could to hold back her tears.

"Edward!" She exclaimed, hurriedly leaving her bed and rushing to kneel at his bedside. "You're awake!"

"How long was I... was I out?" The Knight managed to ask, his eyes sweeping the surroundings before he fell into a dry coughing fit.

"Water!" Adelia quickly realized the urgency and attempted to stand, but Edward's hand came down on one of her shoulders, preventing her.

She shot him a scolding look. "You need water!"

"I'll be fine, my lady. You don't need to do anything for me." he reassured her. "I can manage."

"No, you cannot," Adelia insisted firmly, as she removed his hand from her shoulder, standing up to approach the lone table in the room where a pitcher of water occupied the space.

She began filling a nearby mug, making it halfway through the task when the inn room's door swung open violently, crashing against the wall with a loud bang.

Adelia jerked, causing most of the water to spill on the table, the floor and the skirt of her dress.

She stared at the mess in shock before she angrily turned to give the ill-mannered intruder a piece of her mind.

"Have you—!"

But she stopped halfway at the sight of the person and her mouth hung slightly open as the pitcher slipped from her grasp, shattering as it fell to the ground, her eyes widened.

"Father…?"

Duke Aldous stood in the doorway, momentarily stunned, before stepping into the room. His fatigued eyes moved around, scanning every corner.

One look at him was enough to tell that he had barely gotten any sleep the previous night, and rest had been completely abandoned from the moment he discovered his daughter was missing.

His gaze shifted to the bed where Edward lay, only to find the Knight struggling to sit up in an attempt to offer a proper greeting.

But their eyes met, and the Duke shook his head subtly but firmly, silently instructing him to remain still.

Edward obeyed, showing a hint of gratitude as he settled back against his pillows.

The Duke finally turned to face his daughter, the sole reason for his exhaustion, the girl he had searched the entire Lavim to find.

"Delia…" he called hoarsely, opening his arms, and the lump that Adelia had swallowed earlier surged back up with force.

It was with great self-restraint that she resisted the urge to run into her father's arms, sniveling and crying like a child.

Instead, she walked into them, hardly gracefully, but she walked, reached him and hugged him with all the strength she could muster.

Then she began to sob, her entire body quivering

The Duke held her close, his arms surrounding her as he tenderly stroked her hair. "It's alright, I'm here now," he assured her gently. "We can go home."

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