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Chapter 4
Part 1
……Wow, what a truly awful person. How can someone be like that? Saying that she was “making the children feel pitiful” was just a nice way of putting it. It was obvious what she was thinking. Just to satisfy her own selfish desires, she was going to use those kids……!
I wanted to hear exactly what she was planning to do, but before I knew it, she was humming to herself while busily writing something down on a piece of paper.
That was when I realized.
No matter how long I stayed here, there was nothing more I could find out.
‘A human being that’s worse than trash. A piece of garbage that should have been thrown away.’
My teeth clenched in anger, but there was nothing an eight-year-old like me could do right now.
I wasn’t a savior. I wasn’t a saint either.
And it wasn’t like I turned out to be the child of some great family.
That wasn’t the case. I knew exactly who my parents were.
The only thing someone like me could do was survive by myself and make the childhoods of the novel’s hidden villains just a little better than what was written in the story.
‘Still, I have to stop the children from getting hurt.’
Thinking that I would have to keep an eye on things for a while, I carefully ran toward the twins.
Since I had already been there once, the path to the warehouse felt much shorter this time.
Just like before, I crawled through the small hole and squeezed myself inside.
The children were still wary of me.
Even so, I shamelessly sat down in front of them.
“Goo-goo. Don’t worry.”
Without realizing it, I clicked my tongue the way someone would when dealing with a puppy.
But the reaction I got was completely different from what I expected.
The child who had been growling with his mouth twisted his lips and looked at me as if I were pathetic.
“Wait, what’s with that expression?”
“……”
“You’re not getting any then?”
“Grr……!”
“Do you know how hard it was for me to get this? And you’re looking at me like I’m some kind of idiot!”
It was petty of me, but even now, just thinking about what happened earlier made my legs tremble.
‘I’ve never been directly bullied by the orphanage director yet, but hearing what happened to the other kids who went through things with her… it was terrifying.’
Most children who came back after being called by the director wore long sleeves even in the middle of summer.
If you lifted those sleeves, their condition was beyond words.
There were also many children who could barely move properly.
A person who didn’t hesitate to abuse children.
Even though I had come all the way here, my anger still wouldn’t settle down.
“Ugh……”
Then.
When I let out a deep sigh and hardened my expression, the child who had been hiding the entire time slowly peeked out.
“No, no. Don’t be scared. What would I even say to you? Don’t just stay back there. Hurry up and eat this.”
I gave them the gentlest smile I could, worried that they might get frightened.
Of course, judging by their reactions, my smile seemed to scare the twins even more.
‘Does my face look that scary?’
Pouting slightly, I took bread and milk out of my pocket and tossed them toward the twins.
The two children, who had been extremely cautious until then, immediately approached me as if they had been waiting for this moment.
Then they quickly grabbed the bread.
“You guys… you actually understand everything I’m saying, don’t you?”
“……”
I was pretty sure they understood, but whenever I asked something like that, the twins would shake their heads.
They looked so gloomy, like wet puppies.
Seeing that, I immediately became weak-hearted again.
“Do you know what this is?”
“It’s milk. Milk.”
My precious milk.
Even I rarely got to drink it.
It was so rich and delicious that it made my whole body tingle.
The orphanage director only gave us milk once a month when she was in a good mood, and just seeing it made my mouth water.
“Slurp.”
I quickly wiped away the drool that had fallen embarrassingly.
Unfortunately, the children were incredibly good at noticing sounds like that, and both of them looked at me at the same time.
“I didn’t do anything, okay?”
Their eyes moved toward the spot where my drool had fallen.
“I’m telling you, it’s not because I want that milk!”
“……”
“Anyway, it’s a little cold now, but it should still taste good. It’s nutritious too. But don’t drink it on an empty stomach. Eat all the bread first, then drink it.”
I rambled on out of embarrassment, but the children only stared at the milk bottle I had thrown them.
They even rolled it around with their feet.
“Ah…… your nails are too long, so you can’t open it?”
If I had my way, I wanted to cut those nails first.
But feeding them was more important right now.
I walked over to the milk bottle, opened the lid, and handed it to the child who was waiting.
“Grrk!”
“Wow. I opened the milk for you, and instead of thanking me, you’re still being suspicious?”
Of course, I got no answer.
The child quickly took the milk from my hand and shared it with their sibling.
“Is it good?”
“……”
“……Yeah, eat a lot.”
Then.
Grrrrr.
A thunderous sound came from my stomach.
The twins, who had been busy eating until just now, both looked at me.
“N-no, don’t worry about it. My stomach just makes noises easily.”
Even though I said that, I thought they would at least tear off a piece of bread for me.
But the children really did ignore it.
I felt a little disappointed.
“Well…… as long as you guys eat well, that’s what matters.”
I sat there with my knees raised, resting my chin on them while watching the twins hurriedly eat.
Their long fingernails and toenails still bothered me.
Their dirty faces.
The scratches covering their bodies.
“……Hey. The orphanage director really comes here and treats you badly, right?”
“……”
“You don’t know who the orphanage director is? You know, that bear-like woman. She’s huge, and her hands are as big as frying pans.”
Just in case, I stood up and imitated the director’s walk, waddling around like she did.
Then the child who was always hiding behind the other one nodded strongly.
“Ha…… I knew it.”
“That woman……”
“When does she come here?”
“……”
Since they couldn’t speak, it was frustrating.
‘Where should I start? First, making sure they eat properly is the most important thing. After that, teaching them how to speak. No, wait, maybe first I should provide them with a better environment……’
At that moment.
While I was sighing repeatedly, something dropped in front of me.
A piece of bread.
It was the younger sibling, who always stayed behind their older brother and acted more timidly.
When I looked at the child, they placed the bread down and quickly ran back to their original spot.
“……? What? Are you giving this to me?”
“……”
I had only seen them twice, but both times, the child had been extremely shy.
“Are you telling me to eat it?”
The child nodded vigorously.
Their messy hair looked like a feather duster.
For some reason, my heart ached.
“Have we become the kind of relationship where we share even a single bean now?”
Of course, there was no answer.
But my chest filled with an unfamiliar emotion.
Until now, I had only thought that I needed to gain the twins’ favor in order to survive.
But—
‘These children aren’t just words written on paper.’
They weren’t simply the hidden villains from a novel who committed terrible crimes and met miserable deaths.
They were alive.
They had emotions.
They had endured more pain than anyone else, and they were still struggling harder than anyone else just to keep living……
They were heartbreaking, yet they still held onto the warmth of human kindness.
They were nothing more than children.
“I’ve decided.”
When I muttered those words, four pairs of eyes stared at me.
Their messy bangs covered their faces, and their eyes were dirty, but there was still a faint sparkle remaining inside them.
“I’ll give you guys the most ordinary childhood anyone could have. I’ll help you grow up as completely normal people. So wait for me. I’m coming back!”
I couldn’t afford to just stand here anymore.
If they had no food, I could go to the apple farm thirty minutes away from the orphanage and collect discarded apples.
If they had nothing to drink, I could bring water myself.
Compared to the children trapped here and forced to live like animals, I was still much freer.
I clenched my still-small fists and left the warehouse.
