Chapter 39
Before either of them could react, the grand wooden doors of the suite were slammed open with terrifying force.
BOOM!
"ELYRA!" Damnern roared, striding into the room like an unleashed storm. His silver hair whipped around his sharp features, blown back by the draft of his sudden entry.
He froze, his azure eyes darting toward the open glass doors leading out to the balcony.
"What are you doing?" Damnern asked, his booming voice dropping into a tense, dangerous register as his eyes narrowed. "Alone on the balcony?"
"I—I mean, Eyya..." Elyra's tactical mind short-circuited. She began to panic, her tiny hands clenching in the folds of her nightgown as her eyes darted wildly around the room, desperately searching for a plausible excuse.
"Papa felt a faint, foreign aura around—" Damnern began, taking a step forward. He scanned the corners of the room with the lethal vigilance of a seasoned apex predator.
"STOP WITE THERE!" Elyra screamed at the top of her lungs, her squeaky toddler voice cutting through the heavy air with unbelievable sharpness.
"Eh?" Damnern blinked, completely taken aback by her sudden outburst. Yet, his instinctual momentum carried him forward another step.
"I SAID STOP WITE THERE!" Elyra yelled again, her tiny chest heaving.
This time, Damnern's feet froze firmly in place.
Directly beneath the balcony ledge, Nufer hung in complete, horrifying paralysis.
Clinging to the cold stone exterior, cold sweat poured down his neck, soaking into his dark tunic. He compressed his inner energy to absolute zero, suppressing his aura until it was smaller than a grain of dust.
Who is this monster?! Nufer's heart hammered against his ribs like a trapped bird. How can a mere Lord Count possess an aura this overwhelmingly terrifying?!
Deep, suffocating regret flooded his chest. I shouldn't have stepped foot into this estate... Oh God, please... just give me one chance to survive this.
Nufer held his breath, forcing his lungs into total stillness.
He dared not move even a fingernail. Every breath was painstakingly controlled; every micro-movement was meticulously calculated. The slightest creak of stone, the most subtle fluctuation in his energy—he knew with absolute certainty that the monster above would instantly pinpoint his location and butcher him where he hung.
So, he surrendered himself completely to the darkness, willing his very existence to erase itself from reality.
Suspended in the quiet night, every word exchanged between the father and daughter echoed above him with agonizing clarity.
"B-But Papa really felt a strange aura around this area," Damnern tried to explain gently, attempting to justify his heavy-handed entrance. The cool night breeze blew gently through his silver locks as he gestured toward the balcony.
"There's no-ting hewe! Eyya just wanted to look at de moon and de stars!" Elyra pleaded, her brain working at lightspeed to spin a believable cover.
Sometimes this idiot drives me completely insane, Elyra fumed internally. I severely underestimated his sensory capabilities now... I got too careless.
Suddenly, a vivid image flashed through her mind—a memory of Eldern bouncing around in front of her, singing and dancing without a care in the world to cheer her up.
Without realizing it, Elyra's small feet began to move, instinctively following the rhythm echoing from her memory.
Under the pale, ethereal moonlight, her tiny frame twirled softly on the hardwood floor. Her spun-gold hair danced around her shoulders as the night breeze gently lifted the hem of her dark purple dress.
Damnern's sharp blue eyes, which had been brimming with sharp suspicion and intense concern, suddenly widened in total shock.
In an instant, his lethal vigilance vanished into thin air.
The ominous, foreign threat that had set his entire body on edge mere seconds ago seemed to evaporate completely from his mind.
"Moon above, so bwight and wound ~" The sweet, high-pitched melody drifted from Elyra's lips as she twirled.
Damnern lifted both of his massive, calloused hands and began to clap slowly—one beat after another—creating a steady, perfectly synchronized rhythm for his daughter's small dance.
The rhythm was intimately familiar to him. He had heard Eldern sing and dance to it dozens of times before.
"Wittwe star, don't hide away ~" Elyra sang out softly, taking small, rhythmic steps that brought her closer and closer to her father, who stood rooted to the spot in awe.
Below the stone railing, Nufer's jaw practically hit the floor.
S-Singing?! In a situation like this?!
It's over! I am dead! Nufer thought, his soul practically leaving his body in pure exasperation. Trusting a toddler was truly the single greatest mistake of my entire life!
His sharp purple eyes welled up with unshed tears of pure despair as the toddler's sweet song echoed above his head.
Elyra continued her performance, her sapphire eyes locked onto her father, whose gaze was now entirely consumed by absolute adoration. Her golden hair and bright eyes were overwhelmingly cute under the moonlight, completely shattering his defenses.
"Pwomise you won't break dis bond ~" she sang gently.
Huh? I don't remember this line being in the original song? Damnern thought, his chest swelling with immense pride and joy. Could it be... she made up this specific lyric just for me?!
Directly beneath them, Nufer failed to grasp the hidden code at first, his brain scrambling to make sense of the absurdity.
"I wiww chase de monster away ~" Elyra continued her melody seamlessly.
Hearing that line, the realization struck Nufer like a lightning bolt.
Meanwhile, Damnern looked visibly moved to tears.
Elyra... is going to protect Papa from the monster?! Damnern thought, covering his mouth with both hands as his eyes overflowed with emotional gratitude.
"Make a cat sound twice ~" Elyra sang out, seamlessly weaving her tactical command into the song.
Tch! This little girl is utterly devious... Nufer thought, gritting his teeth in sheer disbelief.
"Meow~ meow~" Damnern sang back instinctively, completely caught up in the rhythm.
"Pwomise you won't break dis bond ~" Elyra repeated, spinning around in a grand circle.
"I wiww chase de monster away ~"
"Make a cat sound twice?" Elyra sang the line one final time, finishing her dance with a cute, perfectly synchronized pose.
"Meow... meow..." Nufer's strained, gravelly attempt at a cat noise drifted up from beneath the balcony railing.
"Me—" Damnern started to join in, but abruptly cut himself off, his ears twitching. "What was that?"
Before his instincts could re-engage and lead him toward the sound, Elyra immediately rushed forward, pressing her tiny hands against his thighs and shoving him backward toward the shattered doorway with all her toddler strength.
"It's just the sound of a cat!" Elyra insisted, huffing as she pushed against him.
Damnern allowed his body to yield to her harmless pushes, leaning backward with a puzzled expression. "But... that cat sound was really weird."
"The cat probably has a raspy voice!" Elyra huffed, successfully maneuvering her towering father out into the corridor.
As her eyes fell upon the broken latch dangling uselessly from the door frame, a surge of deep irritation flooded her mind.
She hung her head, letting out a long, heavy sigh.
"Pa...pa..." she murmured softly under her breath.
She looked up at Damnern, who was now standing fully out in the hallway, looking like a chastised giant.
"You broke the door lock..." Elyra puffed out her cheeks in genuine annoyance, her baby face twisting into a scowl. "Why is it so hard for Pa...pa to just listen to Eyya...?"
Slowly, she pulled the heavy wooden door closed, leaving only a tiny crack.
"Don't come into this room again!" she grumbled, her tiny voice barely audible through the wood.
Out on the balcony, the suffocating, heavy aura that had been crushing Nufer's chest suddenly vanished, shrinking down into nothingness as it retreated down the distant corridor.
Eh?! Nufer blinked in complete confusion.
"All clear!" Elyra whispered, leaning over the balcony stone and looking down.
"Are you sure, kid?" Nufer whispered back, his voice trembling with residual anxiety.
"Don't worry, he won't come back in," Elyra replied, a confident, knowing smile playing on her lips.
Nufer hauled his exhausted body back over the stone railing, collapsing limply onto the balcony floor right beside her. His messy black hair was completely soaked through with sweat.
When he looked up and saw the distinctly suspicious, triumphant smile on Elyra's toddler face, a flush of intense embarrassment washed over him. He had just been saved by a little girl.
This kid is terrifyingly powerful... Nufer thought, shuddering internally. She literally made a monster bow to her will.
In his mind's eye, a vivid mental image popped up of tiny Elyra triumphantly stomping on the formidable Count's head.
"Fine. I'll tell you what I know," Nufer gave in, sighing in utter defeat.
"Yeay!" Elyra chirped instantly, dropping her stoic facade.
"There's a group called 'Noxes' that has been gaining a lot of notoriety lately," Nufer stated plainly.
The moment the name left his lips, the fine hairs on Elyra's arms stood on end. Cold ice flooded her veins.
Noxes...
It was a name etched into her very soul. The name of the shadow organization that had raised and trained her for seven agonizing years in her past life as Ryudien.
"What are they doing?" Elyra asked, her voice dropping into a hushed, deadly calm tone.
"I don't know the details, but people are talking about them everywhere," Nufer replied, shaking his head.
"Who is their leader?" Elyra pressed, her sapphire eyes narrowing sharply.
"I have no idea," Nufer answered truthfully.
This makes no sense, Elyra's mind raced. This isn't how Noxes Organization operates... They were ghosts. They always moved in absolute silence. For them to be openly discussed like this... have they come out into the light? Who among the Seeds of Noxes is leading them...? What is Ferwel's plan?
A cascade of unsettling questions slammed into her intellect all at once.
"Also, there's a strange drug circulating—" Nufer continued, trying to move on.
"Can you please investigate who the leader of group called 'Noxes' is?" Elyra interrupted, her voice carrying a rare, desperate note of pleading.
Nufer stopped and squinted down at her in skepticism. "Do you actually want real outside intelligence? Or are you just ignoring everything else because you prefer paying attention to a bunch of low-level troublemakers?" he mocked, raising an eyebrow.
However, Elyra maintained a resolute, unyielding expression, her sapphire eyes burning with absolute determination.
Sigh. Nufer let out a defeated groan. Kids these days... always getting fascinated by shady, dramatic organizations. Whatever, I'll just play along.
"Fine. If it's just investigating that group, I suppose I can do it," Nufer muttered, crossing his arms.
"Thank you so much, Nufer!" Elyra exclaimed, her face instantly brightening with genuine relief.
"If there's nothing else, I'm getting out of here" Nufer began, before disappearing into the shadows of the night.
To be continued...