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Chapter 5
“Uh, I saw it too!”
The children each raised their voices.
“That was because that guy kept spouting nonsense!”
After all, they were all abandoned children in the same situation, yet he kept going around saying things like his mother would come to find him, or that he was of a different class from them. And because she hated seeing him look down on the other children at the orphanage, she had only scolded him a little.
“Last time, he even kicked Akan’s leg!”
“That was because he was acting all high and mighty… Anyway! I never hit kids who listen well.”
“Okay, we’ll listen well!”
“Because Aisha is our leader!”
Looking at the children who smiled so brightly that their eyes were almost invisible, I nodded firmly.
“That’s right. I’m your leader. And what we’re doing right now is a mission.”
“A mission!”
“That’s cool!”
“So from now on, you’re going to act like you normally do!”
“Not doing something cool? I want to do something cool.”
“This is something extremely cool. Something no one else can do except you.”
The innocent children each made different expressions, but soon returned to their places as if they had made some huge and important decision.
Only after that did I put on the bundle that was filled with quite a lot of things and headed toward the storage building. Of course, I didn’t forget to receive and pack the necessary items from the orphanage caretakers along the way.
‘Wait for me, beasts… no, twins! I’m coming!’
The bundle was heavy, but somehow, walking with a silly grin on my face like Santa Claus, my steps felt light.
The storage building I arrived at still didn’t feel familiar, even though I had come several times before.
I hesitated in front of it for a moment before sticking my head through the small hole.
“If you’re inside, take these.”
Like a bundle merchant, I had brought all sorts of things wrapped in a large cloth, and I hurriedly pushed them through the hole first.
“……”
“Hey, are you listening to me?”
Of course, the twins inside didn’t help me at all.
Thinking that they might lower their guard a little after my third visit was my mistake.
In the end, I had to push the luggage through the hole with my hands and feet before barely squeezing through myself.
Of course, I understood.
How terribly must they have been treated by people for children this young to become so wary?
‘In the novel, it was clearly written that the orphanage director came regularly and tormented these children.’
I never expected that I would become close friends with them right away.
Because this was nothing more than one-sided concern on my part. I knew that this kind of affection could also make the other person uncomfortable.
‘Even so, I can’t just leave you two alone.’
I was also just a powerless and insignificant child myself, so I couldn’t erase their entire childhood and leave only happy memories behind, nor could I rescue them from here immediately…
But there was at least one thing I could do.
I could stop them from living like animals.
So, after hiding my slight disappointment, I placed the bundle down in front of the children with a thud.
“Look. All of this belongs to you, okay? It’s nothing amazing, though.”
When I pointed at the bundle and said that, the twins hesitantly approached.
If my memory was correct, the children were currently seven years old. Although they had grown up being abused, thanks to the power of the Grand Duke’s blood flowing through their veins, they had grown to match their age even without eating properly.
Unless something major happened, they would continue growing well, so I had prepared shoes of various sizes.
“Hmm… Which ones will fit?”
The shoes were things that the orphanage children had worn and thrown away or outgrown, so their condition wasn’t very good, but they were still better than having no shoes at all.
“Before that, let’s cut your toenails and fingernails!”
“……Grr?”
“Even cats and dogs take care of their claws, but yours are in terrible shape. If they’re this long, you’ll scratch up your face while sleeping.”
Lariz, the younger twin who had been sitting beside me while I took things out of the bundle, nodded.
“How cute.”
Seeing that dog-like expression, I ended up chuckling.
“Looks like you’ve already scratched your face quite a bit.”
When I stared at him, Lariz seemed embarrassed and quickly stepped backward before pointing at his older brother beside him.
“Your brother did that?”
“……”
“Then should I cut yours first? After cutting your nails and toenails, let’s trim your hair too. Both of your bangs are so long they’ll poke your eyes. We can’t change your clothes right away because we don’t know when the orphanage director might come again, but…”
Determined, I took out the nail clippers and approached Rohen.
“Come here.”
“……Grr!”
“Aww, come on. Even though I look like this, I’m good at trimming the nails of neighborhood cats.”
Even then, Rohen had no intention of coming closer. Meanwhile, Lariz, who had been hesitating, slowly held out his hand while keeping as much distance from me as possible.
“You want me to cut yours first?”
The child holding an unknown bundle in his arms carefully nodded.
Rohen frowned uncomfortably and tried to block the space between me and Lariz, but before he could do anything, I quickly cut the child’s fingernails and toenails.
Perhaps he was scared, because Lariz had even squeezed his eyes shut. But only a few minutes later, when his nails were short, his already large eyes widened even more.
“Ah……”
“How is it? Isn’t it more comfortable with shorter nails?”
“Mm!”
Lariz stared at his nails for a long time.
Likewise, Rohen alternated his gaze between Lariz’s nails and me. After clearing his throat awkwardly, he quietly held out his hand.
“You want me to cut yours too?”
There was no answer.
He only moved his hand up and down.
I smiled and cut Rohen’s fingernails and toenails as well.
Meanwhile, Lariz hopped around the room like a rabbit.
“Do you like them?”
“……”
Rohen also seemed to like it quite a lot, staring at his own nails for a long time.
“Should I cut your hair too?”
Lariz, who had acted as though he wouldn’t open his heart no matter how delicious food I brought him, sat down in front of me without hesitation.
It seemed that having his nails trimmed had pleased him quite a lot. The sight was so adorable that a smile naturally spread across my face.
As I carefully trimmed Lariz’s bangs, I cautiously asked,
“Hey. When does the orphanage director come here?”
“……”
“He doesn’t come?”
But the child’s head didn’t move up or down, nor left or right.
He simply froze stiffly.
Even without an answer, I understood.
The orphanage director really had been coming to visit them repeatedly.
I began speaking to the children, almost as if I was complaining.
“B-but fortunately, the orphanage director has been in a good mood lately. Since he only comes here when he’s in a bad mood… what I mean is, he probably won’t come for a while.”
It was the same for us.
When the orphanage director was in a bad mood, he would call the children and beat them.
After all, to that man, we were nothing more than a source of money.
“I’m going to get revenge on the orphanage director somehow. And this time, I think he’s even trying to hurt the children.”
My hand holding the scissors stopped.
The resentment I had buried deep inside felt like it was about to burst out.
“……Anyway, you’ll probably be okay. I’ll do my best so he won’t find you for a while.”
Just as I skillfully finished cutting the ends of Lariz’s bangs that had been poking his eyes, Lariz flinched.
“Really? He won’t come anymore?”
It was an unfamiliar voice.
I thought I had heard wrong, but no.
That was definitely Lariz speaking.
“……Huh? You c-can talk?”
“……”
But the child immediately closed his mouth again.
Caught off guard by the sudden situation, I froze while still holding the scissors.
“You two… c-can talk?”
Weren’t they unable to speak because they had grown up like animals?
I could only move my lips in confusion.
Lariz quietly looked at me before scratching his head.
“I… can’t do it well.”
“You could do it though!”
Lariz smiled brightly, his cheerful expression matching his newly cut bangs.
A very bright smile.
“Yes! Talk!”
“Ha… I thought you couldn’t because you never said anything until now.”
“Idiot. Did you really think we couldn’t even talk?”
At that moment, Rohen walked toward me with steady steps and sat down confidently in front of me.
He spoke so confidently that it was almost absurd.
And he called me an idiot.
“You two were the ones who never spoke!”
“……That’s true, but… you never asked us if we could talk either!”
Was that true?
I was too shocked to even think objectively.
The children I had naturally assumed couldn’t speak had both suddenly started talking…
“Anyway… why are you so good at talking?”
“Lariz was originally good too. But when he was young, he ate poison, so he couldn’t speak.”
Even while saying that, Rohen’s lips trembled.
Rohen must have eaten poison too.
Yet he was forcing himself to talk.
“Still, he’s much better these days. Don’t just stand there. Cut my bangs too.”
“Uh, uh…”
Still unable to process the unexpected situation, I mechanically moved and cut Rohen’s bangs just like Lariz’s.
“But why did you pretend you couldn’t talk?”
“Because there was no need to. Are you done?”
He acted as if he had simply entrusted me with something ordinary.
“Y-yeah. Done. More importantly… I can’t believe you knew how to talk.”
“Is that really something to be surprised about?”
“No, well…”
I thought it was possible.
The Grand Duke’s bloodline was said to be the bloodline of wolves with incredible survival abilities.
No poison worked perfectly against them, they wouldn’t die even without food, and even if they were abandoned in the middle of a snowstorm during winter, they would remain healthy. They also had excellent learning abilities, enough to read difficult ancient books easily.
‘But I never thought children who had never received any education could speak this well.’
“Ah! Then, do you happen to know your names too?”
