IBWHK 64

~Chapter 64~

Gareth couldn’t understand what was happening in front of him.

He was ready to fight and get the Lady out of here, even if it meant killing everyone.

His master’s order was clear: Protect the Lady, no matter what.

“Sister, tie my hair!”

“Hey! Dad said not to bother our guests!”

“I’m not bothering her! I’m just playing with her so she won’t get bored!”

But what was this?

Luckily, the thieves’ boss—who already knew us—was friendly toward the Lady. The generous money she’d given last time must have helped.
So, there was no fight.

Instead, the boss insisted we stay here for a while, so the location of their hideout wouldn’t be revealed. The Lady agreed.

Then—

‘Let’s clean up this mess first. Kids, come here! Not coming? Three, two, one!!’

He shouted like a lion and grabbed each of the wild kids—very skillfully.

The mood calmed down. Seeing there was no danger, Gareth looked for a way to send a message to his lord.

But the hideout was deep underground—no way to send the hawk.

‘The entrance is guarded, too.’

He could have forced his way out, but the Lady always avoided hurting common people.

His lord probably wouldn’t care about that.

‘We’ll just wait. When the Lady and the thieves relax or sleep, we can leave and report back.’

But when he returned, the Lady was handling six children at once like they were toys.

“Hey, who said you could play during meal time? Sit down and eat nicely.”

“He started it!”

“No blaming others. Just eat.”

She pushed down a child’s head and messed up his hair like it was nothing.
She seemed to really like children.

‘What is she thinking?’

These people weren’t even listed in Lombard’s population records. They were just vagrants, stealing food to survive.

Gareth couldn’t understand why the Lady was so kind to them.
He never cared about what nobles thought, but for a moment, he was curious about the Lady’s thoughts.

After eating, I told old stories to the bored children.

I’d loved reading since I was little, so I knew all sorts of tales—from the history of the Empire of Baldin to legends from across the sea.

The kids listened, holding their breath.

But now it was nap time. I soothed the whining children and put them to sleep.

Then—

“What am I even doing right now?”

After being stuck in this hideout for several days, I felt pretty strange.

Women in the hideout looked at me with respect, as if I were a saint for calming the wild kids. I sat down on a stone chair, pulling my hair in embarrassment.

‘Old habits die hard!’

In my old life, I lost my parents early in a carriage accident.
I didn’t want to leave our house for an orphanage, but in the harsh winters, I sometimes stayed at a monastery’s orphanage.

There, I got used to helping care for the younger children.

‘Now I’m a noble Lady, but here I am, playing babysitter again.’

Whatever.
I gave up thinking and just sat there, smiling blankly, until someone handed me a piece of rye bread.

I looked up and saw a familiar face.

“Sardine guy.”

“I told you, my name is Gibson.”

I’d gotten pretty casual with him. Not sure how that happened.

He sat down beside me.

“You don’t eat fish, right? I saw you barely touched your food. This is my emergency bread stash—have some.”

“It’s for emergencies. Are you sure I can have it?”

“You gave me money, didn’t you? I’ve been selling fish at Bellamare for decades, but you’re the first rich person to both puke and then pay me a bonus!”

If it was bought with my money, whatever.

I broke the bread in half and took a bite.

It was hard and dry, like cardboard—nothing like what I ate at the castle,
but I was used to it from old times.

Gibson clicked his tongue as he watched me eat easily.

“You really are an inland bumpkin.”

“Says the sardine seller who tried to feed me that stinky fish.”

“Let’s just move past that part.”

Gibson laughed at my comeback, but then his face turned a little serious.

“To be honest, I thought you were a noble at first.”

“Because I’m pretty?”

“You showed up here out of nowhere, with attendants trailing after you, and then followed us into our hideout… it was all weird.”

I should have forced Ramon to bring fewer people.

While I wondered how to scold Ramon later, Gibson continued,

“I even thought about taking you hostage if you were working for the governor.”

But you didn’t seem like a noble at all. You couldn’t eat street food—not just fish, but any fish. You acted like a regular person with the kids, blended in with everyone… Just like us. Ordinary.”

‘It just reminded me of the village where I grew up.’

I scratched my chin, suddenly curious.

Actually, I’d wondered about this the whole time I’d been here—

Why were such ordinary people living in a cave?

There were women, children, even old people who couldn’t fight—not just thieves.

It was like an entire village had moved underground.

“Gibson, why does everyone here hate the governor so much? What did he do?”

“I knew you outsiders didn’t know anything.”

Of course, Lombard was huge—almost like its own country.
The Duke couldn’t govern every city himself, so Bellamare was ruled by a governor with full authority.

Bellamare was the only place in Lombard with true autonomy, and its system was completely separate from the main duchy.
That’s why I didn’t know what was happening here.

“It’s a long story.”

Gibson sighed and began.

“I used to be the head of the Bellamare merchant guild. My family’s been here for generations. I was always nosy, so… somehow I ended up leading.”

But Gibson loved his hometown.

He complained about being stuck with the job, but he did his best to help Bellamare grow.

The old governor was useless but kind, but he died of old age.
The new governor, Count Dorva—the former Duke’s younger brother—took over.

He had lots of experience and good connections in the capital,
so people expected Bellamare to finally prosper.

“But things turned out differently. As soon as he became governor, he showed his true colors.”

He forced harsh labor, raised taxes more and more.

When people couldn’t pay, he burned their houses and made their families stand in the square to be pelted with stones.

Shops closed, the town emptied out.

Gibson stayed silent out of fear for a while, but couldn’t take it anymore.

“My fellow merchants and I wrote a petition about Bellamare’s suffering and sent it to the capital.”

“Then why wasn’t it fixed? The officials there would never ignore a petition.”

“Bad timing. Right then, there was a big earthquake at the north wall…”

I sighed.

The rest of the story was predictable.

The former Duke died fighting monsters, the central government was in chaos,
and an official connected to the governor stole the petition and sent it back to Bellamare.

When the governor saw it, he lost it.

“We had no choice but to run for our lives, leaving our homes behind. It’s a common story.”

I didn’t know what to say.

After all, I was an official.
Even if it happened before I joined, Bellamare’s suffering continued.

Was it really not my responsibility?
As a Lombard official, could I have noticed the danger and helped? If I’d just tried a little harder—

“Don’t make that scary face. It’s not your fault.”