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Chapter 16
The pickpocket incident was settled quickly. The thugs sprawled on the ground were arrested on charges of attempting to harm a noble, and the child was taken to the physician’s house for examination.
Fortunately, his head only had a torn patch of skin, and his hand showed no signs of fracture.
But the physician said the child’s malnutrition was a far more serious problem than his physical injuries.
Remembering how light and thin he felt when I held him, I looked at him with growing concern. Even as he listened to the diagnosis, he kept glancing between me and the physician, lips twitching as if he had something to say.
“Your name?”
“Deon.”
“All right, Deon. If there’s something you want to say, go ahead. It’s fine.”
Deon hesitated, looking back and forth between my face and the physician’s. Finally, he opened his mouth.
“Sir, I’m all right, so… could you please take a look at my little sister? I’ll bring her right away. Please just wait a moment. I’m begging you.”
Ah. My nose stung again. Trying desperately to swallow the tears at the desperate devotion of an older brother worried for his sister, I turned my head—and saw Haren standing behind me.
His eyes, which always seemed brighter than most, looked on the verge of spilling tears. He sniffed quietly, pretending it was nothing, wiping the moisture away before anyone noticed.
I quickly looked away before our eyes could meet.
Don’t worry, big brother. I didn’t see anything.
Deon began explaining his sister’s symptoms in detail. When the physician told him he would need to examine her in person, Deon turned to me with pleading eyes.
“I won’t run away, I promise. Can’t I go get her? Please, just let me bring her quickly.”
He was so young, yet wore such desperation on his face—it was enough to make my eyes well up. Definitely not because I was someone who cried easily.
I forced the tears back and spoke firmly.
“Even if you say that… how could I trust you?”
Hearing I didn’t trust him, Deon went pale with despair. I turned away from him and addressed the knights who had rushed in after hearing the commotion.
“Carry that boy home and bring his sister here.”
“Yes, my lady!”
The knights bowed. One of them immediately tried to lift Deon onto his back.
Startled, Deon flailed his arms like wings, but resistance from a child ended quickly. Soon he was safely carried out of the clinic.
“Honestly… children are such trouble.”
I squinted after them, half-worried the knight might drop him, then deliberately flopped into a chair with a grumble.
“Wait in the other room.”
The physician, already nervous from the sudden presence of a high noble, bowed quickly at Haren’s command and hurried out.
Once the two of us were alone, Haren sat in the chair across from me.
“What punishment are you planning to give?”
I smiled sweetly.
“A slave contract.”
Haren’s eyes widened at the completely unexpected answer.
“When Deon becomes an adult, I’ll bring him to the Marquisate and put him to work. That’s only fair, isn’t it? He dared to steal my money.”
“…That makes sense.”
He nodded with a laugh.
“I have a favor to ask, Onii.”
“Anything. Just say it.”
“Could you find a good orphanage? One with no abuse—somewhere safe.”
“…I’ll find one.”
“Thank you.”
Understanding what I meant, Haren agreed without hesitation.
I reached into my pocket and took out the things Deon had stolen—my father’s birthday cravat, now dirty, and the broken trinket.
I pictured Deon pulling them from his clothes, thinking only of his sick sister and with no parents to rely on. He had no way to earn money. Of course he would have ended up on the wrong path.
I couldn’t save every struggling child in the world. But at least this boy—Deon, whom fate had crossed with mine—I wanted to guide him onto the right one.
Time passed, and the day of Marquis Juren’s birthday arrived.
The Marquisate was decorated in grand celebration, festive colors everywhere, and the servants bustled around in cheerful spirits.
Derrick, Marquis of Juren, made his way to the dining room with a light heart.
Until last year, he hadn’t celebrated his birthday. No—he simply hadn’t had the energy to. He had always been busy cleaning up the messes Harnah caused every other day.
But today was different. His beloved son, his newly sensible daughter, and the family-like servants had all prepared a party, and he couldn’t stop smiling.
He had spent a long time choosing his outfit, even combed his hair neatly, wanting to look his best.
Looking every part the handsome, dignified middle-aged noble, he opened the dining room door. Flower petals rained down over his head. Harnah—growing more like her mother with every year—beamed and ran into his arms.
“Happy birthday, Father!”
“Thank you.”
He hugged her warmly, then glanced toward Haren standing behind her.
“Happy birthday, Father.”
“Thank you, my son.”
He was happy. Truly, deeply happy. Derrick had thought he would never feel joy again after his wife passed—but here he was, smiling. His children saw it and smiled with him.
“Here’s your gift!”
“We prepared it together.”
“What? The two of you… together?”
His eyes grew misty before he even finished speaking.
I knew they’d grown closer… but to prepare a gift together—
The siblings subtly wiped their eyes too. A family of soft hearts, they quickly composed themselves. Derrick cleared his throat loudly to shift the mood and opened one of the boxes.
Inside was a cravat. He removed the one he had been wearing and tied the gifted one around his neck.
“It suits you so well!”
“Does it?”
Pleased, he opened the next box.
Inside lay an ornate scabbard ornament decorated with a red gem. Tradition dictated that knights adorned their scabbards with gifts from cherished people.
Derrick immediately fastened it to his sword.
He admired it, about to smile—when he noticed something on Haren’s sword. A white handkerchief tied around the hilt.
He instantly recognized the clumsy, crooked rose embroidery.
Harnah’s handiwork.
He looked back at the gifts he’d received.
So she embroidered a handkerchief for Haren first… Not for her father.
Feeling slightly left out, he held his sword up and showed it to Harnah.
Look, Harnah! See how my sword hilt is missing something? Doesn’t it look a little empty? A certain… handkerchief, perhaps?
He shook the sword slightly so she couldn’t miss it.
But his daughter—who was not merely slow at noticing things but seemingly devoid of such instincts—completely failed to catch his meaning.
How cute! He must really love the ornament I picked, he’s waving his sword proudly like that.
Clapping happily, she said:
“I picked it out myself, and it suits your sword perfectly!”
“R–Right… yes.”
While the father and daughter interpreted the moment in two entirely different ways, Haren quietly won an unspoken emotional victory, fingering the embroidered handkerchief tied to his sword like a precious charm.
Dinner was joyful. The three asked after each other’s well-being and even competed to offer their dishes to one another.
The most satisfied of all was Harnah, who filled herself with the main course while father and son were too busy trying to give her their food.
After dinner came tea time. Harnah smiled proudly at the decorations on their swords—her father’s scabbard ornament and the handkerchief she had embroidered, both tangible proof of her effort.
It had been difficult repairing relationships ruined by the original Harnah’s past misdeeds, but now she finally felt the warmth of a harmonious family again.
Derrick and Haren felt the same. The family that had broken apart because of Harnah had, through Harnah, come together again.
Derrick, basking in laughter he hadn’t felt on a birthday in years, held the hands of the son and daughter sitting beside him. One strong like his own, one small and soft. He felt as though he had gained the entire world.
Embracing a happiness he had never dared to dream of, he cautiously voiced the wish he held in his heart.
“Will you celebrate your father’s birthday again next year?”
“Of course! Even if I get married, I’ll always come home for your and Oppa’s birthda—”
The warm atmosphere froze instantly.
“Married?”
“You said marriage?”
Harnah blinked at her father and brother, bewildered by their identical reactions. Did she say something wrong? She hesitated, then Derrick spoke.
“It’s far too early to be talking about marriage. You’re still very young.”
“Father is right. And if it’s because of your engagement to the Retorno family’s young lord—that’s only a pre-marital promise, nothing more…”
Their stiff expressions contrasted sharply with Harnah’s widening, sparkling eyes.
“So… I don’t have to get married? I can just keep living here?”
“Of course you can.”
Derrick swallowed the urge to say You can stay with me forever.
“I’ve been thinking of returning home soon myself.”
Haren quickly echoed:
“Then we’ll all live together—Dad, you, and me! That sounds wonderful!”
Seeing her bright smile, father and son relaxed and nodded with relieved expressions.
Harnah had no intention of marrying Cardin—the male lead destined for the heroine May in the original novel. And Cardin certainly wouldn’t want to marry her either…
…Probably.
She shook away the memory of his sudden love confession and smiled.
Yes. I’ll just live happily here!
In romance fantasy worlds, noblewomen always married in the ending. A happy marriage was the rule, so Harnah assumed she had to follow it.
But hearing her father say she didn’t have to eased something inside her.
I can’t hand my precious daughter to some thief.
Men in this world are all wolves.
The Juren family each held different thoughts in their hearts, but on the surface, all three were smiling.
Outwardly, it was a wonderfully peaceful evening.
