Chapter 120: Cedric Vance

"You see... He is a rather... anxious young man."

Seraphina’s dark eyes widened.

Her narrative-obsessed brain immediately began running complex, highly ridiculous mathematical equations.

’Okay, wait. Let’s process this,’ Seraphina calculated rapidly. ’The ten-year-old boy in the bed, Leo, had adorable, chubby cheeks and soft brown hair. The dad, Baron Vance, is a devastatingly handsome, green-flag aristocrat. Handsome Dad + Cute Little Brother = ...What does the older brother look like?!’

The burning curiosity of the unknown aesthetic variable completely overrode the last lingering shadows of her trauma.

She stopped sniffling entirely.

She sat up straight in Kaelus’s arms, her eyes wide, staring blankly at the door, an expression of intense, comically serious anticipation plastering itself across her small face.

Kaelus looked down at her.

He saw the blank, intense stare. He literary saw the gears turning in her head.

The Archduke let out a sharp bark of dark, amused laughter.

"Baron," Kaelus drawled, a wicked, teasing smirk touching his lips as he looked down at his daughter. "I believe you have made an error. You have engaged her curiosity. She has ceased her weeping entirely because she is currently calculating the genetic probability of your eldest son’s good looks."

Seraphina gasped, her face instantly flushing a violent, brilliant shade of crimson.

"Papa!" Seraphina squeaked indignantly, slapping her small hands over her hot cheeks, completely mortified that the terrifying warlord had read her mind with such flawless, humiliating accuracy. "I am not! I am a serious person! I am contemplating... politics! And... and healing potions!"

Elian Vance burst into a rich, booming laugh, clutching his stomach, the sound echoing cheerfully in the sterile infirmary room. "By the Light, she is delightful! Your Grace, you are a fortunate man to have such a vibrant joy in your life!"

"She is a menace," Kaelus corrected dryly, though he pulled her closer, his violet eyes dancing with fondness as she buried her flushed face into his neck to hide. "A calculating, aesthetically superficial menace."

"I hate you both," Seraphina mumbled into his collar, her voice muffled but fiercely embarrassed. "You are bullying a traumatized six-year-old. I am going to dock your allowance!"

As the two grown men chuckled, the heavy, oppressive gloom of the past twenty-four hours finally shattered, replaced by the warm, healing light of genuine human camaraderie.

And then, right on cue, the heavy oak doors of the infirmary creaked open.

The laughter died down. Kaelus turned slightly, and Seraphina immediately peeked out from behind her hands, her curiosity utterly unconquerable.

Standing in the doorway was a young man.

He looked to be around sixteen or seventeen years old. He was tall, lacking the massive, bulky musculature of the Vanguard knights, possessing the lean, wiry, athletic build of a fencer.

He wore riding leathers that were dusty and stained from a long, desperate gallop, and a dark green cloak slung haphazardly over one shoulder.

He was panting heavily, his chest heaving as if he had just sprinted up three flights of stairs.

Seraphina stared at him.

’Equation solved,’ her mind concluded instantly, a small, approving nod occurring in her subconscious. ’The Vance genetics are absolutely terrifying.’

Cedric Vance possessed the same soft, chestnut-brown hair as his father, though it was currently a wild, windblown mess, sticking up in chaotic angles. He lacked the rugged, angelic maturity of the Baron, but he possessed a striking, boyish, intensely handsome quality.

His jawline was sharp, his cheekbones high, and his eyes, the same brilliant, luminous emerald green as his father’s, were currently wide, frantic, and burning with a protective anxiety.

He looked like the impulsive, slightly reckless, fiercely loyal older brother archetype straight out of an academy-arc fantasy novel.

Cedric’s frantic green eyes swept the room. They bypassed Kaelus and his father, locking instantly onto the pale, bandaged form of Leo sleeping in the bed.

"Leo," Cedric breathed, the single word carrying a weight of such relief that it cracked his voice.

He didn’t walk; he stumbled forward, crossing the room in three long strides, dropping to his knees beside the bed directly opposite his father. He reached out with trembling hands, hovering over his little brother, terrified to touch the bandages, before gently, reverently resting his hand over Leo’s uninjured arm.

He lowered his head, pressing his face into the blankets, his shoulders shaking with silent, overwhelmed tears.

Baron Vance placed a comforting hand on his eldest son’s shoulder, his own eyes shining. "He is safe, Cedric. The healers have stabilized him. He will wake up soon."

Cedric took a long, shuddering breath, nodding against the blankets. He stayed there for a long moment, simply grounding himself in the reality of his brother’s steady breathing.

Finally, the teenager slowly lifted his head. He wiped his eyes roughly with the back of his dusty riding glove. He stood up, taking a deep breath to compose himself, turning to face the rest of the room.

He looked at Kaelus von Nacht, the only Archduke of the Empire.

The young man’s eyes widened slightly, recognizing the terrifying, legendary aura of the Archduke, but he did not cower. Instead, he bowed deeply, a gesture of profound respect.

"Your Grace," Cedric said, his voice slightly hoarse but remarkably steady. "My father has told me of your Vanguard’s actions. I... I owe you a blood debt. If the House of Vance can ever serve the North, you need only speak the word."

Kaelus offered a curt, acknowledging nod. "The debt is unnecessary, young Vance. The Bastion protects its own, and you were caught in the crossfire of our hunt."

Cedric straightened up.

His emerald eyes shifted from the Archduke, moving slightly downward.

They landed on Seraphina.

For the first time since the rescue, Seraphina felt a strange flutter of genuine, childish shyness.

She was used to Kaelus’s brooding protectiveness, the terrifying knights treating her like a fragile deity and older adults looking at her with pity or awe.

But Cedric was different.

He wasn’t a towering, scarred warlord, and he wasn’t an adult parent.