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Chapter 15
When Kaedik mimicked Deon, who was hiding something in his arms, his gang let out a sinister laugh.
“Heh heh heh.”
‘Damn it!’
Deon was certain he had been caught checking his gold pouch, but he had no intention of letting it go.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about. Sorry, but I have somewhere to go.”
Deon forced a blank expression and tried to walk past them, but Kaedik grabbed him by the nape.
“What are you doing!”
“Me? I’m asking you! Where do you think you’re going just like that? If you leave, we’ll be too disappointed.”
“What….”
“You should share it with me too. We’re friends, so we should enjoy happy things together, right?”
The gang’s laughter he hated so much echoed again.
“Let go of me!”
“Let gooo!”
“Heh heh heh.”
Deon struggled to free Kaedik’s hand, but he couldn’t overcome the manyfold difference in strength. Taunting him while imitating Deon, Kaedik casually threw him aside.
“Ugh!”
Deon slammed against the alley wall, and his vision turned white from the impact. When he regained consciousness, he realized the pouch and box he had hidden were gone.
Forgetting the pain, he jumped up and glared at Kaedik. Kaedik was now laughing, holding both the stolen pouch and box.
“Wow, you tried to keep all the good stuff to yourself? I’m disappointed, Deon.”
Kaedik opened the pouch, checked the gold, exaggerated his expression, and stuffed it into his pants pocket. Then, showing no interest in the ornaments, he threw them on the ground, and draped the cravat around his neck, asking the others what they thought.
“Give it back!”
Deon shouted, trembling, but Kaedik didn’t care.
Deon reached for the ornaments on the ground, but at that moment, a large shoe stomped on his hand.
“Ahhh!”
He tried to pull his hand free, but it wouldn’t budge. Kaedik pressed Deon’s hand under his foot for a while, smashing the ornament with his other foot, then sneered at him.
“Thanks for the gift today. Let’s do this again next time, friend.”
He threw off the cravat around his neck and turned away with his gang. Deon gritted his teeth, picked up the broken ornament and cravat, and quickly ran to cling to Kaedik’s waist.
“Give me back my pouch! It’s mine, mine!”
He needed that money to take care of Hanna. He could feed her warm soup and bread until she was full.
Fueled by rage, Deon bit Kaedik’s waist. Kaedik screamed, flinched, and, with a mix of irritation, threw Deon against the wall with all his strength.
Thunk.
Deon’s world went dark.
“Who do you think you are, acting tough when you’re nothing?”
Kaedik, rubbing his bitten waist, ran to kick Deon while he was dazed.
“Ugh!”
A stone suddenly flew and hit him squarely on the head. He let out a pig-like scream and touched the bloodied spot. Enraged, Kaedik shouted:
“Who’s there?!”
He looked to where the stone came from and saw two figures wearing hoods.
Kaedik’s gang immediately surrounded the unexpected visitors. But the woman, feeling no threat, walked forward slowly.
Despite her face being hidden, her palpable anger made the gang hesitate, but Kaedik, more fearful, rushed toward her to stop her.
Then, a man behind her knocked them down with precise movements, without even drawing a sword. Thanks to him, the woman walked freely and stood in front of Kaedik.
“Was it you?”
“What?”
“You made that kid like this?”
Kaedik looked at Deon, unconscious and fallen, then wiped the blood from his forehead and replied:
“Yeah. That brat bit my waist, so I taught him a lesson. But your voice is pretty… I wonder if your face is too?”
Forgetting the pain, Kaedik grinned and yanked the woman’s hood off, revealing soft orange hair blowing in the wind.
Her golden eyes, red lips, and delicate jawline made Deon’s mouth water without him realizing, and he quickly swallowed.
“You’re so pretty… ugh!”
As Kaedik reached for the beautiful woman, a bright flash blinded him, and a sharp, excruciating pain in his most precious area made him jump.
“Arghhh!”
A pitiful male scream echoed through the alley, but the woman kicked him without hesitation and continued forward.
The woman, Harna, approached the unconscious child. She confirmed he was breathing and carefully picked him up. Blood flowed from the back of his head onto her hands. Harna, momentarily choking up, used her handkerchief to stop the bleeding.
After a moment, Kaedik, recovering from the pain, charged at Harna with bloodshot eyes.
“How dare you—my—! I won’t…”
His words were cut short. A strong force struck his head, and his eyes rolled back until only the whites showed. He fainted.
Haren efficiently dealt with the gang, ignoring the dirt on his hands and clothes, and watched Harna tend to the child.
“Brother, that fat thug probably has the gold pouch he took from this kid.”
“Right.”
Haren found the gold pouch in Kaedik’s bag and took it. Harna asked the barely conscious Deon:
“Are you awake?”
“Ah.”
Deon realized the woman holding him was the rightful owner of the stolen gold. Startled, he tried to pull away, but Harna didn’t let go.
“You’ve lost a lot of blood. Your hands are a mess. You need treatment, so let’s go to the healer.”
“I’m sorry. I’m really sorry.”
Still dizzy, Deon knelt, pleading to Harna.
“The gift ended up like this. I’m so sorry. I tried to return it… but…”
He pulled out the dirty cravat and broken ornament he had barely saved from Kaedik and presented them.
Harna, silently staring at the items in his bloodied palms, suddenly hugged Deon. Surprised, he hesitated, but the warm touch patting his back made him burst into tears.
Seeing Deon cry, Harna’s own eyes welled up, and Haren’s did too. The Jurn siblings were prone to tears—it ran in the family.
Because the child tried to protect the dirty, broken gifts, Harna cried a lot.
After calming down, she wiped her tears and gently released Deon. The small child, around ten, wiped his tear-streaked face on his old sleeve.
“Hmm.”
She cleared her throat. No matter how pitiful the child seemed, she couldn’t let someone who stole escape unpunished. She hardened her expression and glared.
“You know what you did was wrong, right?”
The child lowered his head, hearing Harna’s reproach. Despite wanting to say it was okay, Harna continued in her own stern way:
“Stealing is serious, so you must be punished.”
“I’ll accept any punishment. But please grant me just one request.”
“What request while being punished?”
The child flinched at Harna’s intense scolding. Yet he persisted:
“I have a sick younger sister. Without me, she might starve to death. Please take care of her. I don’t care what happens to me—just save my sister, please.”
Just like a maid who begged for mercy for her sick mother, this child bowed, asking not for forgiveness, but for his sister’s life.
‘Why are there so many suffering people in this world?’
Harna reflected on her past complaints about being stuck in the villainess’s body. If she had been in the body of a powerless, poor child like him, or a maid subject to noble abuse, she realized now: being in Harna’s body, with family support and status enough to act freely, was a blessing.
The child’s tears stained the dirt floor. Harna steadied herself and spoke to the kneeling child:
“Even if there’s no one to watch your sister, you must be punished. But first, let’s go to the healer.”
“Huh?”
The child looked up at her words. Harna carefully brushed his bloodied hair.
“You must recover first before I give you a proper punishment.”
Her threatening tone made the child flinch, but Harna held his head gently, refusing to let go. He paled, thinking she might pull out his hair in anger, but she didn’t waver.
Haren stood behind, watching contentedly. Harna, holding the pale child, stood up.
“We need to take this child to the healer. He stole from me, and he can’t escape punishment by dying easily.”
“Agreed.”
Haren stomped again on Kaedik’s unconscious crotch, agreeing.
Harna’s hands were bloodied from stopping the child’s head wound, her clothes dirty, her face streaked with tears. Yet she focused entirely on taking Deon to the healer, and Haren’s smile never faded.
