"Then... my parents..." Hope shone in Tiffany's eyes.
"Yeah, they're very likely in Lordaeron right now." Seeing the light return to Tiffany's face, Malone knew his reassurance had helped.
"When Stormwind fell... the Orcs didn't enter the city by conventional means."
Malone continued. He knew what he said would give Tiffany even more comfort.
"They didn't?" Tiffany wasn't sure what counted as a normal way to enter a city and what didn't.
"Yeah. The Orcs assassinated King Llane of Stormwind." Malone recounted what he knew of Azeroth's history. "That caused chaos, and they took the opportunity to invade Stormwind."
"What? His Majesty King Llane..." Tiffany covered her pink lips with her small hand, her face filled with disbelief.
Tiffany had seen the king of Stormwind, though not many times.
She remembered the last time she'd met King Llane with her father. His Majesty had been complaining that the Stormwind Council's interference in state affairs kept him from issuing orders freely.
Of course, Tiffany's father was also one of the Stormwind Council's leading members, so the king's words had left him feeling very awkward.
Tiffany remembered that King Llane had a neatly trimmed black beard and looked quite gallant.
By then, Tiffany was already a young woman. She remembered the king telling her father that he wanted her to marry his son, the young Prince Varian Wrynn.
Tiffany had never met the prince, and her father hadn't given the king an answer on the spot. But after they returned home, Tiffany's mother told her that her father was rather taken with the idea.
Tiffany didn't dislike the idea, but she wasn't particularly enthusiastic about it either. Mostly, she felt shy, so she hadn't discussed it much with her mother.
She never expected that now, of all times, she would hear from Malone that the king had died—and that he had been treacherously assassinated by the enemy.
Even the messenger who had told Tiffany, Richard, and the others that Stormwind had fallen hadn't mentioned it.
"But... if Marshal Lothar was in Stormwind, how could he have let those Orcs..." Tiffany's eyes widened in disbelief.
The king, beloved by everyone in the Kingdom of Azeroth, noble and commoner alike, had just... passed away?
"Anduin Lothar wasn't in Stormwind at the time. By the time he arrived, the tragedy had already happened. The Orcs were running amok in the city, and Anduin Lothar didn't have enough men to retake it. He could only protect the civilians as they fled north with the navy's help."
Malone answered her.
"So if your parents stayed calm, they had plenty of time to board a ship and escape under the soldiers' protection. Your parents aren't impulsive, are they? You have to believe in them."
Malone continued trying to reassure Tiffany.
"Of course they aren't..." Tiffany said firmly. "My father's always been known for his calmness on the Stormwind Council. We have servants and guards at home, too. They'll definitely protect my parents and help them escape by ship!"
"Right, exactly! I'm sure your parents are somewhere, worrying about your safety, too. So you need to rest and recover. Once your leg is a little better, and I've made more preparations, we'll leave here, all right?"
Malone looked into Tiffany's eyes. Tears still glistened in her beautiful blue eyes, but there was clearly more hope in them now—the hope of living on.
This time, Tiffany didn't say she was afraid of being a burden to Malone. The longing to see her parents and reunite with her family filled her small heart.
"Okay. I'll be counting on you, Mr. Malone!" Tiffany nodded emphatically.
"Your father's a noble on the Stormwind Council?" Malone suddenly recalled a detail in what Tiffany had just said.
"Mm..." Tiffany nodded quietly. She didn't know why Malone was asking.
But Malone didn't press her for more. He'd simply remembered that, in the history of Azeroth, the Stormwind Council had done quite a few things that had "forced the people to rebel."
The famous Defias Brotherhood, for instance, and the even more famous Edwin VanCleef, though that had mainly been the work of the Black Dragon Princess, Onyxia.
Still, Stormwind's nobles had dared to oppress the laborers just after the war with the Orcs ended. Malone could only imagine how badly they'd exploited the poor before the war.
Malone also remembered that when the Defias Brotherhood and VanCleef caused trouble, Stormwind had lost a queen, too. But her name didn't come up much in the official story, and its Chinese translation was rather awkward to pronounce.
What was it again? Malone couldn't remember the queen's name just then, so he put the matter out of his mind.
Footsteps sounded behind Malone. Teron Gorefiend came over to him and set down a basin of clean water, along with...
"What's this, a pair of boots?" Malone looked at Teron Gorefiend excitedly. Though he could only stay crouched, he still thumped Teron on the thigh.
"You're a lifesaver, Teron. How'd you think of that?" Malone had completely overlooked the fact that Tiffany had been barefoot the whole time, but Teron Gorefiend had noticed.
"Don't get the wrong idea," Teron Gorefiend said unhappily. "I didn't do it for this human woman. I just figured you'd remember later and make me come back for it."
The first thing Malone thought after hearing that was that the guy was a bit tsundere.
Malone looked around the shed. There weren't any chairs.
So he had Tiffany sit on a pile of hay and placed the large wooden basin under her feet.
Though Malone volunteered to wash Tiffany's feet—don't get the wrong idea, he was only worried because she had trouble moving around.
But Tiffany seemed to get the wrong idea anyway. Blushing, she "snatched" her feet back from Malone's knees and put them into the wooden basin below.
"Ah!" Tiffany shivered.
She'd expected the water to be cold, but the moment she dipped her feet into the basin, she found it was warm, just the right temperature.
"What's wrong? Is it too cold?" Malone asked worriedly. Although washing bruises with cold water was good for healing, water that was too cold could chill her to the bone.
"No, no, it's not. The temperature's perfect. It's nice and warm," Tiffany replied quickly.
"You even heated the water? Teron, I underestimated you!" Malone hadn't realized Teron Gorefiend was so thoughtful.
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