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Chapter 12
That day as well, the girl outside the window had been working in the yard since early morning.
Just a little while ago, she had been walking the dog.
What kind of work was a kid doing so much of?
In the end, Damian opened the door and headed next door.
Looking down at the girl who was pulling weeds, he said,
“Wave the shovel if I need to report this to Child Protective Services, Lizzy.”
At his voice, the girl looked up and pouted.
“It’s not like that. I actually go to a boarding school far from here. Most exchange students go back to their home countries during vacation.”
“Then why are you here?”
“I just didn’t want to go back to Korea. This place was arranged by the school. I can stay cheaply in exchange for helping with gardening and walking the dog. And I save on airfare too.”
For some reason, Damian felt both sorry for her and a sense of kinship. She seemed similar to him—someone who felt pushed aside by her own family.
“But it’s too much work to do alone.”
At that, the girl sighed.
“There’s actually another Korean boy here. But he doesn’t work.”
“Why? Is he slacking off? Then you should tell the host.”
“He threatened to tell the host mom that I bully stray cats.”
“Really?”
With both hands in his pockets, Damian looked around.
Then he spotted a boy with a nasty face sitting on the porch, eating a hamburger.
So that’s him.
While the girl was busy with the yard work, Damian walked over to him.
He lightly kicked the folding chair the boy was sitting on.
“Hey, Fatty.”
“…What?”
The boy looked up at him in disbelief, hamburger sauce smeared across his face.
His etiquette tutor had always warned him never to comment on someone’s appearance. But what did it matter? It wasn’t like this guy knew he was a prince.
People with no manners deserved a bit of shock therapy.
Damian spoke in warning.
“If you’ve stuffed your mouth full of burgers, go work. Don’t let a lady get her hands dirty.”
“A lady? Her? Don’t pick a fight and get lost!”
Damian stared at him quietly, then raised his hand and removed his eyepatch.
The bruises and cuts around his eye looked brutal. The boy flinched.
With his blue eyes flashing coldly, Damian said,
“Does it look painful? One of the guys I fought has to wear a prosthetic eye for the rest of his life. Compared to that, this scar is nothing.”
“……”
“Do you know why he ended up like that? Because he ran his mouth in front of me. And I don’t regret what I did to him at all.”
“S-Sorry….”
“Behave with manners. Especially if you’re a man, you should act properly in front of a lady. Got it?”
“Y-Yes!”
“You’ll do all the painting. That’s the price for slacking off.”
“…Yes.”
When the boy appeared carrying a paint can from one corner of the yard, the girl looked confused.
Damian tilted his head toward the house.
“Let him handle this. Let’s go get ice cream.”
After a moment of confusion, the girl seemed to understand what had happened. She smiled and stood up.
“Okay! But….”
“But?”
She gestured for him to lean closer.
When he lowered his head, she whispered,
“That man over there keeps looking at us. Isn’t he suspicious?”
Following her gaze, Damian saw a man sitting on a bench across the way, pretending to read a newspaper while watching them.
Damian closed his eyes briefly.
Lancaster.
It was his bodyguard.
What was he thinking, acting that suspicious?
Suppressing his irritation, Damian said to the girl,
“You’ve got paint on your clothes. Go change.”
“Oh, you’re right. Okay! Just a minute!”
After confirming she had run inside, Damian approached Lancaster.
“Give me some money.”
“Pardon?”
“Dollars. And it’s fine if you follow me, but don’t make it obvious. She’s already noticed you.”
The place Damian took the girl to was a large shopping mall nearby.
There was nothing special about it, but in this boring suburb, there wasn’t anywhere else to go.
Still, the two of them had a wonderful time there.
They played arcade games and laughed while trying on ridiculous outfits they picked out for each other.
Damian couldn’t even remember the last time he had laughed like an ordinary boy his age.
Probably before he turned seven.
For some reason, being with her made him feel at ease. Was it because she didn’t know he was a prince?
Or was it because her smile alone made him feel good?
She’s just a kid now, but when she grows up, she’ll probably make plenty of men cry.
After wandering around the mall for a long time, they went into an ice cream shop.
They ordered a large ice cream to share and were chatting when—
A man who appeared to be homeless entered the shop and began going from table to table, begging.
Eventually, he stopped at their table and held out a grimy hand toward Damian.
“If you have any spare change, please.”
The man looked miserable.
His dreadlocked hair, which seemed not to have been washed in ages, even gave off a sour smell.
As the crown prince, Damian had never been this close to a homeless person before.
Uncomfortable, he quickly pulled out a hundred-dollar bill from his wallet and handed it over.
Seeing the large amount, the man’s eyes widened.
“My goodness, you are truly generous!”
“It’s nothing. Have a good day.”
“I can’t just leave after receiving such a large sum. Let me read your palm as thanks.”
“No, it’s fine. We’re in the middle of a conversation, so please just—”
The moment the man grabbed his hand, Damian reflexively shook him off.
“I said it’s fine!”
“S-Sorry… God bless you.”
As the embarrassed man walked away, Damian took out his handkerchief and wiped his hand.
The girl, who had been watching quietly, spoke.
“That was rude.”
Damian snapped defensively.
“I’m sensitive about being touched by strangers.”
He had once been kidnapped and nearly killed.
But he didn’t want to sound like a whining ten-year-old, so he silently ate his ice cream instead.
However, she continued.
“But you wiped your hand right in front of him, like he was dirty.”
Damian let out a scoff.
“He’s homeless.”
Obviously he’s not clean.
“And he looks perfectly healthy. Why doesn’t he work instead of begging? That’s just laziness.”
“We don’t know his situation. Some people become homeless after getting addicted to painkillers while treating an illness.”
Damian listened half-heartedly.
“What are the shop employees doing? They should block people like that at the entrance. What if he spreads a disease to customers?”
“……”
Maybe there were drugs on his hands.
The thought made him uneasy, and he threw the handkerchief into the trash can on the table.
Suddenly, the girl stood up.
“Are you done eating?”
For some reason, her face was bright red as she glared at him.
“Let me give you a tip. Next time, don’t go with the ‘prince’ concept. It’s not cool at all.”
“…What?”
Why was she suddenly angry?
Damian looked up at her, stunned and speechless.
“Being born into a rich family and living in luxury as a prince isn’t cool at all!”
She turned sharply and stormed out of the shop.
“Ha. Seriously….”
Damian stared after her, looking as if he had just been punched.
Even long after she left, he couldn’t get up from his seat.
As if he had turned into a stone statue.
