“Ah! Urie, dear! Where have you been!?”

—Mother’s embrace was suffocating, but I didn’t resist. I could tell how worried she must have been when I went missing.

“Urie, you really shouldn't be troubling our mother like this. It'll be bad for her heart.”

—Eldest brother placed a blanket around me and Mother. Though his words were scolding, his voice was soothing.

“Yeah, little brother! You should at least tell me where you're going before you run off.”

—Second brother flashed a grin, trying to lighten the mood, but it seemed to have the opposite effect on Mother. Her gaze shot a sharp, warning glare his way. Yet, despite that, I noticed her grip on me loosen slightly.

“Urie! I heard they found him!?”

—Father... His appearance was unkempt. It was the first time I had ever seen him so disheveled. His reaction to my disappearance was far more intense than when eldest brother was attacked by that stray dog.

“It’s okay, dear. He’s here. They found him by the fountain.”

Rivelle caressed Urie’s head as she spoke to Gideon, her voice softening the tension. Gideon’s panicked expression visibly calmed as he sighed with relief. He composed himself, meeting Urie’s eyes before approaching him.

“Urie, I’m glad you’re safe. Your mother would’ve been beside herself if something had happened to you,” he said.

Rivelle leaned closer to Urie, her voice playful as she whispered, “Your father was a wreck earlier when he heard you’d gone missing. He dropped everything and ran out to search for you.”

“Ah! I-I'm sorry, Father…” Urie stammered, his voice cracking as he struggled to hold back the tears that had welled up in his eyes.

“Hah... Urie, son,” Gideon said, his expression stern. “In the future, I’ll need Vigril and Kyron’s help at the northern wall. I want you to stay here and take care of your mother, understood?”

“B-but Father!” Urie protested, raising his voice before faltering. He knew better than to complain. After a brief exchange with Rivelle and his older brothers, Gideon left the next day for the northern wall.

As Urie waved goodbye, he thought he understood why his father hadn’t planned on having him join after graduating from the academy. He’d heard from his brothers that children born into the Loeth family were expected to be self-composed. He wasn’t entirely sure what that meant, but…

—That time when eldest brother was attacked by the dog, I couldn’t move. I wasn’t scared, but I didn’t know what to do.

Urie’s memories of that incident were scattered and disjointed. His eldest brother had acted swiftly, driving the dog away, but the wounds he’d received had been horrifying for the six-year-old Urie. Even second brother had a large gash that still made Urie pale when he thought about it.

—I wasn’t the one bitten or hurt, but I was the one who cried.

It was Urie’s own misunderstanding. It was natural to freeze in the face of danger, but in his young mind, the actions of his brothers seemed to set them apart from him. He had hastily concluded that he was different.

—Father doesn’t want me at the wall. I wasn’t born with a blue seed like him or my brothers. He doesn’t expect anything from me because…

Urie deemed himself unfit.

Coldness and composure were traits of those born with a blue mana seed—the kind that were fit to command the northern defenses of Erden’s Wall. To remain calm while magical beasts bore down on you, to make life-and-death decisions without hesitation—Urie shuddered at the thought.

Burdened with a mixture of anxiety and self-doubt, Urie slipped away from the house the day after Gideon’s departure. His older brothers had mentioned that they’d be joining their father in the coming years, further cementing Urie’s sense of inadequacy.

He went to Daerin’s fountain, seeking solace in the gentle trickle of water from the winged beast’s mouth.

Age Seven – Urie Loeth

Age Ten – Urie Loeth

Urie had a dream.

At seven, after hearing about the growing number of magical beast attacks, his father had been called to the northern wall. In a small act of protest, Urie had left the house without informing anyone and found himself at the city fountain. That was when the incident occurred—an event he still remembered vividly.

He woke up to the familiar ceiling of his room. The soft scent of golden hair brushed against his nose as he turned his head toward the side of the bed. His mother lay beside him, fast asleep, her eyelids swollen.

—Did Mother cry herself to sleep?

Urie’s heart ached with guilt. He knew he had worried her.

“Daylight?” The soft sway of the curtains revealed the morning sun. How had he ended up in his bed? His memory was blurry as he tried to recall the events of the previous day.

—Yesterday was the Harvest Festival, and I… I failed to form my mana roots.

Oddly, his heart, which should have dropped at the thought, remained calm.

Urie didn’t feel sad or angry, as though those emotions had simply washed away. Then, the memory hit him—he’d been at Daerin’s fountain last night. He should have gone home before dark, so why had he stayed? A faint tingle on the back of his neck nagged at him.

Before he could dig deeper into his thoughts, the warmth from beneath his blanket grew too much to bear, prompting him to get up. He walked over to the window, pulling the curtains aside to let in the sunlight.

“Ah… Can’t use magic, huh,” he whispered to himself.

A yawn sounded behind him. His mother had awoken.

“Good morning, Mother. Did I wake you?” Urie asked.

“Good morning, dear,” Rivelle replied, sitting up groggily, rubbing her eyes. “Go call Patty and Ersha, let’s prepare for breakfast.”

“Yes, Mother,” Urie said dutifully as he turned to leave the room.

Rivelle stayed seated on the bed, still half-asleep, ready to return to slumber. But just as Urie was about to close the door, her eyes shot open. Her gaze was sharp, filled with concern, though no words were spoken. Urie knew the question she was asking.

“I’m alright now, Mother, and—” He paused, suddenly remembering something.

—A red motif.

A strange sequence of events he couldn’t wait to share: where he cried with a crimson-haired girl, met a mysterious spirit, and was awakened to magic.

Urie smiled brightly at his mother and said, “I had a good dream.”