Like an Angel

 

“Bwaa… ooh…”

That was Enoch Rubinstein’s first thought as he gazed at the tiny baby smiling up at him in his arms:

She looks like an angel.

Two months old.

The child had only seen the light of the world for sixty days, and yet… it was as if she already knew the man holding her was her father.

“Byaaa.”

Silver-threaded hair and clear, sky-blue eyes.

Enoch, staring down at a baby that resembled him so perfectly, found himself flustered by a strange, unfamiliar feeling in his chest.

It was an irresistible pull.

A bond—perhaps even affection—toward his own flesh and blood.

Why?

He didn’t understand why he felt this way.

Like most of the gifted in the Empire, the child had been conceived solely for the sake of continuing the bloodline—bred like a stallion to produce an heir.

He thought he wouldn’t feel anything.

She was just a small creature that shared his blood. One day, she’d grow up to be a gifted warrior, a noble, a soldier—another hound for the Empire.

No…

A fierce instinct surged within him.

I won’t let her live like me.

The moment he made the decision, his heart began to pound. Clutching the child tightly, Enoch quietly stepped out of the barracks.

Outside was a battlefield, momentarily calm.

Scattered flames still belched smoke into the sky.

The sight only strengthened his resolve.

Not you. Never you.

Both parents were top-ranked among the gifted. The child’s talent didn’t even need testing.

She would be forged into a sword, a shield, or a staff for the Empire. More than half her life would be spent on the battlefield.

“Running away?”

A teasing voice tugged at the back of his neck. Enoch turned slowly, holding his breath.

The woman who appeared in the shadows was the baby’s mother.

“With the baby, no less?”

She had fought while pregnant, given birth in the chaos of war, and returned to the front lines just a month later.

Some might question why a pregnant woman was sent to battle. But for gifted warriors, such was the burden of duty.

“What’s going through your head?”

“I don’t want her to end up like me.”

“She’s my child too, you know.”

The woman sneered.

Enoch looked back down at the baby in his arms. His hesitation didn’t last long.

“…Then come with me.”

“Pfft. You’re more impulsive than I thought.”

She laughed and stepped closer.

“We were born as gifted. Raised as nobles. Lived as weapons… and that’s how we’ll die. This child is no different.”

“…”

“I get it though. Because she’s a daughter, right? I’ve been having thoughts too.”

She brushed past him.

“Go.”

Enoch was startled.

And then, he understood.

She had felt it too.

That she didn’t want this child to live the same life.

“I’ll head to Xenos. Don’t know if I’ll stay there forever, but…”

It was a deserter’s confession.

But she was the mother. She deserved to know.

“Alright. Good luck.”

And with those final words, Enoch vanished into the night.

That was the day the Empire’s only Swordmaster, Enoch Rubinstein, disappeared.

Seven years ago.