**Sun's Disappearance: A Kingdom in Silent Panic**
The palace was eerily quiet in the days following Sun’s disappearance.
Queen Lana, Duchess Sina, and Sixhonia had made the decision to keep his absence a secret. The last thing Waltonia needed was panic—or worse, opportunistic enemies sensing weakness.
**"We tell no one,"** Duchess Sina had ordered, her voice iron. **"Not the nobles, not the generals. Only the Red Lion Guard and the Lion’s Mane children are to know."**
Sixhonia had protested. **"But what if he’s in danger?"**
**"He’s the King of Lions,"** Sina replied coldly. **"If he wanted to be found, he would be."**
---
**The Search in Shadows**
The Red Lion Guard conducted discreet searches, their crimson cloaks blending into the night as they scoured the countryside. The Lion’s Mane children, though young, proved invaluable—Mustard Leo and Ruby even snuck into the city’s taverns, listening for rumors.
Lumina, however, was inconsolable. She refused to eat, sitting instead by the palace gates, waiting.
**"He’ll come back,"** she whispered to Goldmane, who lay beside her, his golden eyes scanning the horizon. **"He always comes back."**
But days turned into a week.
And still, no sign of Sun.
---
**Sun’s Journey: The Weight of a Crown Left Behind**
Meanwhile, Sun—now "Toma"—worked the fields of Hino, his hands blistered from labor, his back aching under the sun.
It was… freeing.
No politics. No expectations. No Spineless Brain whispering in his mind.
Just sweat, dirt, and the simplicity of honest work.
But at night, when the farmhouse was silent, he lay awake, staring at the wooden beams above.
*What am I doing?*
He had spent his entire time in this world fighting, scheming, clawing for power. And now, here he was, hiding like a coward.
But was it cowardice?
Or clarity?
Lira, the sharp-eyed girl from the farm, had taken a peculiar interest in him.
**"You don’t talk much, Toma,"** she remarked one evening as they mended fences.
Sun shrugged. **"Not much to say."**
She smirked. **"Or you’re hiding something."**
His grip on the hammer tightened. **"Aren’t we all?"**
She studied him, then nodded slowly. **"Fair enough."**
Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
Renn, the brash farm boy, remained suspicious. **"I don’t trust him,"** he muttered to Lira when he thought Sun couldn’t hear. **"No one shaves their head like that unless they’re running from something."**
Lira just laughed. **"Or maybe he’s just ugly."**
Sun, despite himself, smirked.
--
Back in Leona, the Lion’s Mane children had taken matters into their own hands.
Using the skills Sun had unknowingly implanted in them, they began mapping the kingdom, tracking every rumor, every whisper of a red-haired—or now bald—young man.
Mustard Leo, ever the boldest, even snuck into the city’s underground, bribing informants with sweets stolen from the palace kitchens.
**"We’ll find him,"** Ruby declared, her small hands clenched into fists. **"Because he’s ours."**
---
**Sun’s Revelation**
One night, as Sun sat by the farm’s fire, Lira joined him, tossing him a flask of spiced cider.
**"You ever think about going back?"** she asked suddenly.
Sun stiffened. **"Back where?"**
She shrugged. **"Wherever you came from."**
He stared into the flames.
*Back to the palace? Back to the throne? Back to the endless weight of a crown he never asked for?*
Or…
*Back to the real world?*
The thought hit him like a physical blow.
*One hour there is two years here.*
How long had he been gone?
How much had he changed?
### **Sun’s Life on the Farm – A World Without Power**
**Morning in Hino**
The rooster’s crow jolted Sun awake before dawn. For a moment, he forgot where he was—no silk sheets, no servants, no lions at his bedside. Just a straw mattress and the smell of earth.
Lira was already outside, milking the goats. She glanced up as Sun stumbled out, rubbing his bare scalp.
**"You look like a plucked chicken,"** she said, smirking.
Sun scowled. **"You’re one to talk. Your hair’s a bird’s nest."**
She flicked milk at him. **"At least I have hair."**
Renn emerged from the barn, stretching. **"Toma, stop lazing about. The wheat won’t harvest itself."**
Sun rolled his shoulders. **"Lead the way, farm boy."**
---
### **The Rhythm of Labor**
Under the blistering sun, Sun learned the weight of a scythe, the ache of a full day’s work. His royal hands blistered, his muscles burned, but for the first time in years—his mind was quiet.
No Spineless Brain. No politics. Just sweat and soil.
At midday, they collapsed under an oak tree, passing a waterskin between them.
**"Where’d you learn to swing a sickle like that?"** Renn asked, eyeing Sun’s calloused palms. **"You some kind of runaway soldier?"**
Sun took a long drink. **"Something like that."**
Lira leaned forward. **"You’re lying. Soldiers don’t have hands that soft."**
**"Maybe I was a scribe,"** Sun countered.
**"Scribes don’t carry swords,"** Renn said, nodding to the blade at Sun’s hip.
Sun exhaled. **"Maybe I’m just a man who wanted to disappear."**
Silence.
Then Lira tossed him a piece of bread. **"Well, you’re terrible at it."**
Sun laughed—genuinely, for the first time in months.
---
Nightfall brought stories.
Renn boasted of wrestling a wild boar (a lie). Lira told tales of the Eastern Witches who could curse a man with a glance (also a lie).
Sun, for once, spoke truth.
**"I had a sister,"** he said softly, staring into the flames. **"Small. Loud. Always getting into trouble."**
Lira tilted her head. **"Had?"**
Sun’s throat tightened. **"She’s… still there. Where I left her."**
Renn, uncharacteristically quiet, poked the fire. **"You gonna go back to her?"**
Sun didn’t answer.
---
Weeks passed.
Sun learned to mend fences, to haggle at the market, to soothe a spooked horse without mind-hacking it.
He learned Lira’s mother had died in childbirth, that Renn’s father drank away their savings.
They, in turn, learned "Toma" hated turnips, could recite poetry from memory, and had nightmares about lions.
One evening, as they repaired the barn roof, Renn smirked. **"You’re not half bad, Baldie. For a runaway noble."**
Sun threw a handful of straw at him. **"And you’re not half annoying. For a farmhand."**
Lira grinned. **"Careful. He’ll start thinking you like him."**
Sun’s chest ached.
*This. This is what I never had.*
--
The palace was a storm of whispers.
Sixhonia paced the gardens, her nails digging into her palms. **"He wouldn’t just leave. Not forever."**
Duchess Sina sipped her tea, watching the Lion’s Mane children train with the Red Lion Guard. **"He’s finding himself. Let him."**
Lumina, curled up with Goldmane, whispered, **"Come home, Sun."**
---
One night, a traveling merchant brought news to Hino—rumors of unrest in Waltonia. Of nobles questioning the king’s absence.
Lira noticed Sun’s grip tighten around his cup.
**"You know something,"** she accused.
Sun met her gaze. **"Maybe."**
Renn leaned in. **"You’re not just some scribe or soldier, are you?"**
A long pause.
Then, quietly:
**"No."**
The fire crackled.
Lira exhaled. **"So. Who are you really?"**
Sun stared into the flames.
And for the first time—
He considered telling them.
