Capítulo 9: An Angel Arrives

His name was Valerio.

At least, that's what they named him when he arrived at the orphanage just over a decade before. Everything from his life prior had been stripped from him including his name and social status when the Castillian soldiers invaded his home country and killed everyone in their path.

Heinous acts of complete disregard for human life were hidden under the guise of orders from a tyrannical monarch. King Stefano II wanted the precious metals in the mines littered throughout the kingdom. He crossed borders and broke treaties just because of greed. He saw weakness in their military and took full advantage.

An entire country was wiped out in a couple of weeks and the monarch faced no repercussions for his actions. There were no checks and balances in a system he created himself.

While the Earth was on fire around him, being "kind of cute" saved Valerio from getting brutally executed by men supposedly taking orders. Yet they were delighted with violence despite always using the excuse that they couldn't go against the king's word.

One foot soldier pulled out a thin sword caked in blood and forced Valerio to look up at him with the blade under his chin. The soldier joked that he was far too pretty to kill. Before he could get another word out, heavy footfalls filled the air and the sword wielder was punched firmly in the cheek.

Valerio would only learn later that the man's name was Baron Braulio de Marro.

"You call yourselves fathers!?" the Baron screamed at the men and stepped in front of the child they were taunting. "He's a child! A God damned child!"

In the darkness of dusk, the soldiers didn't see the tear streaks down the Baron's face. He was just a man missing his children. Seeing them taunting a child, he decided to exercise his title that he hadn't taken seriously much before in his life.

In his generosity, the Baron took any child he could find and fought to have them placed in orphanages across Castille. Shortly after, he retired from his military career, deciding he had enough of what King Stephano II called battle but he called a massacre.

Truth be told, Valerio hardly remembered his life before Castille, much less the man who rescued him. Someone else in the orphanage told him that you lost memories from trauma, but he always felt like his mind was different than other people's. He still took the explanation at face value and continued living a meager life as an orphan, simply happy he still had a life to live.

Since he was one of the older orphans, Valerio started working odd jobs to pay his dues. He wasn't old enough to live on his own but he still had to contribute since there were so many mouths to feed.

When he found out Count von Burien was looking for people to do odd jobs, he begged the headmaster of the orphanage to vouch for his character and hard work. It was how he first tasted the wealth of nobles for the first time in a decade. The money that made him feel somewhat comfortable was addicting. When they said they were looking for stablehands, he jumped on the opportunity immediately.

That's when he met Leonor.

The first time he saw her, she was hiding in bushes with tears on her face. He wanted to ask what the matter was but he knew he couldn't go off task or he would surely get fired and lose the most promising income he ever had. He thought of the other orphans and didn't lose focus.

She should have a carefree life, but the longer he observed her the more he realized she was burdened by something. He came to realize the awkward daughter of the Count was quite beautiful and didn't seem to realize it. She was embarrassed easily and not smooth with her words. It made Valerio want to push her buttons but he practiced restraint knowing she was a noble above him.

Perhaps in a past life, he thought.

The day he was able to face her for more than a moment, he couldn't get her out of his head. Although it wasn't for the reasons most might think.

She was riding without an instructor and going off into bad weather. He didn't quite know who allowed her to do that but he noticed the guard who was supposed to be watching her lazing around on crates and not sparing her a glance even as she disappeared into the distance.

Valerio couldn't believe such a lazy guard was assigned to the heiress of the Burien legacy. She was the only one of the Count's children who could pass along the title. There was a lot to lose if something happened to her.

The stablehand thought of himself as much as he thought of her when considering her safety. In that life, he had to take care of himself. It seemed that if someone wasn't taking care of her, he would be the one to do that as well. Would there be a reward for him? Perhaps her sapphire eyes admiring him would be more than enough.

As he swept hay off of the walkway, he tapped the broom handle against his forehead. He needed to snap out of his thoughts. As diligently as he always was, he resumed his duties. The only thing that eventually stopped him was feeling a few raindrops before the heavens unleashed their full fury.

The rain came down thick like a bucket had been dumped on the Earth. Valerio sprang into action. He ran outside to see the guard who was supposed to be watching Lady Leonor hiding from the rain.

"Where is Lady Leonor?!" Valerio shouted at the worthless guard.

When he was met with a less-than-satisfactory answer, the teenager jumped on a different horse and rode out of the stables as quickly as he could with wind and water beating down on him relentlessly. He would ask for forgiveness later. The horse was Count Mikael's but he trusted the breed to be intelligent and well-trained enough to listen to even the most inexperienced rider.

He lost his hat somewhere along the way but it was the least of his worries. His blonde hair was soaked and stuck to his head and back. The visibility was terrible as he squinted through the harsh rain and low, thick clouds.

The further Valerio had to ride, the more his worries rose. The closer he made it to the cliff's edge and still having seen no sign of the lady, he was petrified at the thought of her going over the edge. Even though she had lived there her entire life, the thick, low clouds could fool anyone. Coupled with the rain, visibility was terrible.

He rode around a crop of leafless trees and lurched to a sudden stop when he saw the horse Leonor had brought out with her that day. His red eyes widened and began to tremble.

No, no, no, he repeated silently over and over.

The horse was without injury and the rain had washed off any sign of her falling to the ground after getting startled. The girl was nowhere to be found. He had to press on until he had more confirmation one way or another.

However, horses were intelligent creatures and Blanca sensed his unrest. She began to whinny and hop before taking off in a full-on gallop. She only made it down the hill a short distance before stopping and rearing back onto her back legs.

The stablehand reacted without thinking and followed the horse forward. At first, he was confused, but he quickly realized the horse was standing over a heap on the ground.

"Shoo!" he cried to the horse, not wanting her to trample what was there.

He didn't need to think about it for a moment longer and slipped off his horse before running forward. He found Leonor lying on her side with her knees to her chest. There was mud all around from where the horse had disturbed the ground. Her arm was covering her face and her hair which was once tied tightly into a braid was sprawled all over the ground.

"My lady!" Valerio shouted and ran to her side.

Without thinking whether or not it was appropriate to touch her, he brushed her hair away and pulled her arm away from her face so he could assess the situation further.

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