Light grey skies of the afternoon had begun to darken by the encroaching slate-grey clouds. A winter-tinged breeze swept in from the sea, carrying the scent of salt and impending rain.

As the red-and-golden carriage approached the final thoroughfare leading to the docks, Kurt tapped on the partition.

"Stop here, please. Near the entrance."

The carriage carried on until slowly coming to a halt. Sadie blinked at him, furrowing her brow.

"Why? We’re still a good five minutes’ walk from the pier. We can just roll right up to the ship."

"Attention is going to be unavoidable from here on out, Sadie. But I’d still rather not cause a scene wherever I can help it. Pulling up in Diana’s personal transport is like lighting a flare in a dark room."

Sadie snorted, hopping out after him. "Bossman, have you been watching your surroundings? We’ve been getting looks since entering the city and leaving. Look over there." She pointed toward the residential row where a group of dockworkers and laundry women were huddled.

"... Is that Ms. Valentine’s carriage? But she isn’t inside..."

"... Wait, look at the man. Doesn’t he look familiar?"

"... It’s him! The homeless man that was with her before! They’re calling him Ms. Valentine called him her ’Lover’ earlier this afternoon!"

Kurt heard a woman gasp loudly. "Goodness, look at him now. Without the rags and the blood... he’s actually quite handsome."

"And look at the girl with him," another whispered. "That uniform... she’s one of Ms. Valentine’s maids. It has to be true then!"

Sadie thrived under the scrutiny. She straightened her apron, puffed out her chest, and walked with an exaggerated, elegant gait, clearly reveling in the reflected spotlight. Kurt, meanwhile, simply maintained a cool, steady pace as he walked along.

When they reached the main pier, the scene was still hectic, but more organized. Temporary medical tents had been erected, and the local guard was busy cataloging the children. The first familiar person Kurt spotted was Emelie, who was currently levitating a crate of warm blankets toward a group of shivering kids.

Sadie’s eyes went wide. She grabbed Kurt’s sleeve, her voice dropping to a frantic, starstruck whisper. "Oh my gods, it’s her. THE Emelie Herst. She’s... she’s even cooler in person!"

Kurt glanced at her with a playful smirk. "You’re a fan of Emy too?"

"How can I not be?" Sadie hissed. "She’s a high-tier combat mage who destroys anyone who challenges her! She doesn’t answer to any snarky noble yet is still so humble to ordinary folk. Even bosslady say’s she’ll grow stronger than herself one day! She’s too cool for words! Also what!? Why’re you calling her Emy!"

"Hey, Emy!" Kurt called out, waving his hand.

"No, bossman!" Sadie squeaked, frantically trying to hide behind his back. "What are you doing? Can’t you see she’s busy with important stuff? Don’t bother her!"

"It’s fine, Sadie. Relax." 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝒆𝒘𝙚𝓫𝙣𝙤𝒗𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

"Well, look at you." Emelie softly landed in front of him. "Clean, dressed, and actually looking like a functional member of society. Much better than the ’beaten-to-pulp’ look you were rocking this morning."

"I’ve got a reputation to uphold now," Kurt joked. He felt a tug on his shirt and stepped to the side, exposing a trembling Sadie who was trying to merge with his shadow. "I brought a fan along."

Sadie stood frozen, her face a mask of panicked adoration.

Emelie looked at the maid, then narrowed her eyes slightly. "Sadie?"

"Y-You... You know my name?" Sadie’s mouth fell open.

Emelie blinked, looking a bit caught out. She flicked her gaze toward Kurt before looking back at Sadie.

"Uh, yeah. I might have heard Principal Valentine mention you once or twice in passing, hahaha..."

Sadie’s face lit up like a festival lantern. "She talks about me? Really?"

"Kurt," Emelie quickly shifted topics. "We’ve got a problem. It’s about Hope."

"Hm? What happened?"

"I’m sorry I didn’t mention this earlier, but Hope–"

Right as she spoke, Dominik approached from the medical tent, his face grim. Hope was walking beside him, her small hand clutching the hem of his robes. The moment she saw Kurt, she let go of Dominik and sprinted toward him, burying her face against his thigh.

"Whoa! Hey there. What are you still doing here, Hope? Didn’t your grandpa come to fetch you yet?"

Hope didn’t answer. She just shook her head against his leg, her small frame beginning to tremble.

Kurt looked up at Dominik and Emelie. "What is it?"

"Kurt," Dominik said, unusually quiet. "Her grandpa... is Peter."

The world seemed to go still in that moment. Peter. The man who he had approached in the park. The man who tried warning the people about the cult and missing children. The man who had his head blown off because of him.

It was indirectly Kurt’s fault. If he hadn’t been seen with the old priest, speaking about the cult, they might have ignored the old man. According to Emelie, Peter at least lived long enough to help her in rescuing the children.

"Kurt?" Hope looked up, her blue eyes swimming with tears. "Where is he? Why hasn’t he come?"

Kurt felt a lump form in his throat. How could he tell her? How could he look into those innocent eyes and admit that the man who loved her was dead because of him? Should he lie again? Just like what he did to Rupee?

"Hope," he started, his voice thick. "Do you... do you have any other family? An aunt? A cousin?"

Hope shook her head again, burying her face back into his thigh. "No. Just Grandpa. He’s all I have."

Kurt looked at Emelie and Dominik. They were both watching him, waiting. He saw the pity in their eyes, and it fueled a sudden, painful resolve. He couldn’t lie to her. She deserved the truth, no matter how much it cut.

He knelt so he was at eye level with the girl. "Hope, look at me."

She looked up, sniffing.

"How old are you now? Eight?"

"I’m ten... and a half," she whispered.

"The half is pretty important. You’re a big girl, huh?" Kurt said, his hand resting gently on her head. "So I’m going to tell you the truth. Your grandpa... he passed away, Hope. He’s gone."

"... Huh?" The color drained from her face "No... he was fine! He was okay when I left!"

The pain in her eyes was getting too much for Kurt to bear. He was once again about to lie. ’Natural Causes’. A merciful lie to soften the blow, but Emelie stepped forward, her voice firm.

"He was murdered, Hope."

"Emy! "Why would you–"

"Because she’s a survivor of a cult, Kurt." Emelie countered. "She knows what monsters look like. Man and creature. It’s best she knows the truth, so she’ll know he died because the world is cruel, and that it wasn’t her fault... I’m sorry, Hope."

Kurt was about to reprimand her again, but a small, broken sniffle stopped him.

"G-Grandpa is *sniff*... dead? U-Uaaaa uaaaa! Grandpa! Buaaa!"

Hope began to cry. It started as a quiet wheeze and escalated into a full, heartbroken sob. She collapsed into Kurt’s arms, wailing for the only person who had ever cared for her. Kurt held her tight, his own eye stinging. He rubbed her back, whispering words of comfort.

"He was a hero, Hope," Kurt whispered into her hair. "I met him once. He told me he knew you were in danger, and he did everything he could to find you. If it wasn’t for your grandpa, I never would have known where you were. He saved you."

"Grandpa! Waaah uaaaa!"

After several minutes, Hope’s sobs subsided into jagged, wet breaths. Kurt looked over her head at Dominik.

"What happens now? What’s the protocol?"

Dominik sighed, rubbing the back of his neck. "She’s an orphan now, Kurt. Legally, she has to go to the orphanage for processing."

Hope flinched in Kurt’s arms, her gripping tightly on to his clothes.

"It’s okay, Hope," Kurt said softly. "I know some of the people there. They’re kind. And you’ll make lots of friends–"

"Kurt, stop," Dominik interrupted. "The orphanage you’re thinking of is full. Beyond full. Between the cult’s victims and the many unfit parents from the rural skirmishes... There’s no room."

"So what? You’re going to ship her off to a work camp?"

"No," Dominik said. "She’ll have to go to a special institution that’s about a day’s travel away. It’s... isolated, but they can accommodate well over 2000 children."

"I don’t want to go!" Hope cried, her voice muffled by Kurt’s chest. "I want to stay with you! Please don’t send me away!"

Kurt looked at the little girl and felt his heart fracturing. He wanted to take her. He wanted to say the words. But he was really sure he should. He had no job, a mountain of trauma, and knew next to nothing about how this world functioned. Not to mention the cult is targeting him.

"I... I can’–"

"Actually," Sadie chimed in, stepping forward. The starstruck maid had vanished, replaced by a woman who had clearly been watching the situation with a sharp eye. "He can take her. Just not as a daughter."

Kurt looked at her, perplexed. "What are you talking about?"

"Hire her," Sadie said simply. "At the mansion. We’re short-staffed in the gardens and the light cleaning crew anyway. If you hire her as a junior maid, she stays at the mansion, she gets a wage, and she has a roof over her head. It bypasses the orphanage and adoption system entirely."

"She’s ten, Sadie!" Kurt hissed. "I’m not putting a ten-year-old to work!"

"You forgot the ’half’ part. Just think of it as an apprenticeship. It’s better than an institution miles away from nowhere. As for her schooling, we have many staff willing to teach her. Or we can escort her to her local school. It’s her choice."

Sadie looked at Hope. "Would you rather scrub a floor once a day at the mansion and stay with Bossman, or go to a big building far away with strangers?"

Hope looked up, her eyes red-rimmed and pleading. "I want to be with Kurt. I’ll scrub the whole house! I’ll be the best maid ever!"

Kurt looked at Emelie, who gave a slow, supportive nod. He looked at Dominik, who looked relieved that the paperwork might just disappear. Finally, he looked back down at Hope. Her face was full of sorrow, but there was a spark of desperate hope that he couldn’t extinguish.

"Fine. If Diana agrees... and I suspect she will... then you’re coming with us."

Dominik, Emelie, and Sadie all let out a simultaneous sigh of relief.

"Kurt!" Hope let out a tiny shriek of joy, crashing into him and hugging him so hard he nearly tipped over. She started crying again, but this time, the tears weren’t just for the man she had lost.

They were for the new family she had just found.