Carriage wheels rattled to the uneven rhythm of rocks, crushing the piled-up snow as it made its track. The sound of wind flew in and out of the small gaps of the carriage’s reinforced wooden structure, almost whistling.

As the carriage rolled to a halt, the knight who sat before me, Firson, descended from the carriage and then offered a hand to me.

I grabbed my small leather bag, then grabbed the knight’s hand as I slowly stepped onto the thin layer of snow.

“Here we are,” the knight said. “Your home village. I remember the day I picked you up here like yesterday.”

“Thanks for accompanying me.”

“No prob!” He slammed a hand on my shoulder. “Enjoy your New Year's, alright?”

I nodded with a smile. I shifted my head to look behind him and faced the coachmen. “Thank you for the ride!”

The coachman gave a thumbs-up and a grunt. Not the talkative type, I see.

Before long, the knight boarded the carriage once more. The coachman snapped his whip at the horses, and the carriage began to rattle alive. The knight peeked his body out from the still-open carriage door and waved at me.

I waved back, staring at the shrinking carriage.

After the knight went inside the carriage, I turned my heel and took a good whiff of the fresh, winter air of my home village.

“Huuuu… Haaa….”

My eyes opened to the familiar sight of the village’s open wooden gate.

“I’m home.”

I walked past the entrance gate with my bag slung over my shoulders. I took note of my surroundings, especially using my ears. The streets themselves looked empty, but there was still life in them. Some kids were playing in the snow while their parents watched over them, and some folks were just walking around. Like in the capital, even winter couldn’t stop activities here.

The sound of life, while still abundant, wasn’t as lively as it was before I left.

It had been months since I left the village to train with Mother and Father. I wondered how the others were doing. I knew Fray was doing just fine, since she visited me right after the incident, but would she be home? There was a chance she was still out for an errand, even in this season.

Mom and Dad, I haven’t seen them in ages. They wrote to me all the time, but I knew I wouldn’t be able to calm myself without seeing their faces and hearing their voices.

As I trekked my way through the snow, I finally arrived at my destination. A single-floor, modestly sized wooden house. A large field covered in a thin layer of white snow sat silently behind it. This was my home.

I carefully took steps forward, ascending the small steps leading to the patio. Standing before the door, I lifted my hands to knock. A small thought popped into my mind that they might be sleeping or were out of the house. But I heard several presences inside, walking and tapping about.

I took a deep breath and knocked.

“Hello?” I shouted.

All of a sudden, there was heavy thumping coming from inside. It was getting louder—No, it was approaching the door at a fast pace.

This foot rhythm—!

I reacted quickly and jumped to the side. A moment later, the door flew open with the force of a battering ram, and a figure leapt through.

“Heyyy!!!” the blur shouted. “Eh?” it said in surprise… before face-planting onto the snow-covered dirt.

The figure—Fray—lay where she'd landed before the patio, bundled in thick cloth, head buried in the dirt, body limp.

I held back a chuckle. “You okay there, Fray?”

She popped her head up, shaking snow and dirt from her wild blonde hair like a wet dog. Then she twisted around into a spread-legged sit as she glared at me. Her face was still smeared with dirt.

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“Tch, you’re fast,” she said. Then she lunged upright in one fluid motion. “Don’t tell me they actually taught you a thing or two there.”

“Maybe,” I said, holding back a smirk. I pointed at her face as I said, “By the way, you missed a spot.”

“I know, I know.” She quickly wiped her face off the dirt with her arm. “Next time, don’t dodge away when I’m trying to hug you.”

Like hell.

Day by day, she was becoming more of an animal. From a gorilla punch to a bear hug, and now a full-on cheetah lunge.

“Feyt? Is that you?!” a shout came from inside the house.

Another hurried tapping of feet echoed from inside. This time, it stopped just by the doorway instead of just lunging through like an animal. Standing by the doorway was none other than—

“—Mom!” I said brightly before I could realize.

—

I sat at the living room table, my bag sitting on the floor. I could deal with my stuff later; it was time to reunite for a moment.

Mother sat across from me with a bright smile on her face. Dad just popped in from his room and sat next to Mom, his arms crossed; apparently, he was hibernating, which explained his still groggy expression. Fray, meanwhile, was still washing her face on the back from dirt, Mom’s orders.

I breathed a sigh of relief seeing my parents again. I hadn’t seen them in months and, yeah, it felt like things hadn’t changed a bit since I left.

“It’s such a joy to see you back, Feyt!” Mom said with a wide smile. “We were so worried about you.”

Dad nodded, his arms still crossed. “Yeah, especially after that letter you sent being vague and all about the ‘incident’. If Fray hadn’t rushed there, we would’ve done so ourselves.”

Mom nodded at Dad’s words.

I had a feeling they weren’t just saying that for show.

I scratched the back of my head with a wary smile. “A—Ahaha, I was just… worried about making you guys worried.”

Dad sighed, his fingers pressed against his temples as he shook his head in disbelief. “Just… don’t be vague next time, you hear?”

“Y-Yes, of course! Sorry about that…”

An awkward silence lingered for a moment, but it didn’t last long.

"Well then." Father stood up abruptly, pushing his chair back with a creak. He approached me, grasped my shoulders, and pulled me to my feet. For a heartbeat, he just looked at me. Then he pulled me into a deep hug.

“Welcome home, son!”

He patted my back with some force. Air nearly got punched out of me, but… I handled far worse, so I could take it. I tapped his back in return.

“Glad to be home, Dad.”

Dad released me and started patting my body up and down with a focused eye.

“Now, let’s see here…”

“Dad? What are you doing?”

“Checking up on your muscles, duh! Wanted to see how far you went with the training there!”

“O-Oh…”

He stopped patting my body for a moment before looking at me with narrowed eyes.

“What’s this? You barely grew at all! Did they even train you there?”

It was a sword school, not a bodybuilding school. What did you expect?

Before I could defend myself, Mother jumped in. “What did you mean he didn’t grow? Just look at how much taller he is!”

Mother stood up and stood before me, shooing Father away. “Here, let me see…” She gauged my height by pressing her hand flat atop my head, and her eyes widened when she did.

“My, my! He’s even taller than Fray now!”

"Say what now?" Fray's voice cut through from the back door. She stood there, a towel draped over her damp hair, eyes narrowed.

She walked over to me, her eyes still narrowed. Then, when we were face-to-face… Mother was right, her eyes sat just a bit lower than my eye height.

Fray seemed to realize this as well, as I noticed her eyes twitch. I don’t know why, but this must be annoying her at some level. I jumped at the chance by putting on a small smirk.

“Hey, guess you're the little one no—”

She placed a hand on my shoulder gently. “Don’t… even try.”

My body went cold for a sec as I realized what I was doing.

Did I really just try to provoke a gorilla in her habitat? What was I thinking?

Did I really want to be bedridden that bad?

I gave a quick nod with a forced smile. “Yep, sorry about that. Won’t happen again.”

“Hmph,” she scoffed, still glaring at me. She pulled away, but then her eyes shifted downwards, down onto my neck and chest. I realized what she was looking at right away. An all too familiar, predatory grin spread across her face.

“Well, well… Looks like you’re wearing the necklace I gave you.”

This again…

I instinctively knew what question she had for me next. And just as expected…

“How’s Carine liking it, though?” she said, propping her chin. “You did give it to her like I asked, right?”

I scratched the back of my head again as I looked to the sides. “O-Of course I haven’t.” Once again, I lied as naturally as I breathed—at least I hoped so.

“Huh?”

I felt the irritation in her voice right away.

“Seriously? How long are you gonna hold those feelings off? If you wait that long, someone could’ve nabbed her right in front of you!”

Using the word ‘nabbed’ is a poor choice of words there…

It would seem everyone in the room thought the same thing, as an awkward silence enveloped the room, and it was directed solely at Fray.

“Fray… What did I tell you about choosing your words?” Mom said, her voice lower than usual.

“What? What did I say?” She paused, her eyes relaxing for a moment as she realized. “Oh… Right. Uhh, yeah…” she scratched her head as she tried to come up with a response, probably a way to apologize.

“It’s okay, Mom. Really, I’m not bothered by it too much.” The word was clumsy, sure, a reminder of me being kidnapped, but the memory itself felt distant now. It didn't sting as much as they thought it did.

Mom studied my face for a moment, and I put on my best, unbothered, in-my-own-lane, kind of smile. Before long, she shrugged, as if saying ‘Well, if you’re alright with it…’.

At least it changed the topic pretty fast. Neat.

image [https://i.imgur.com/ftefrrv.png]