MCBD 04

Chapter 04

“Where have you been, Siena? The family is this busy.”

On my way back to the Buetri Ducal Estate after checking whether supplies had been properly delivered to the orphanage,
Uncle Marshal greeted me with a sly smile.

There he is. The cancer of our family.

Marshal Buetri.

He was my uncle—my father’s older brother—a dullard who had failed to inherit the title after losing out to my father.

I smiled at him.

“It’s been a while, Uncle.”

“Didn’t I see you just yesterday? I even visited you while you were sick.”

“Did you? I tend to forget things that aren’t important.”

“Oh, Siena. You must have forgotten because you’re exhausted. That’s understandable. After all, your whole family has died…”

Under imperial law, I was still a minor. To my uncle, I was nothing more than a child who had lost her mind after losing her family.

At this time, he was aiming for the position of my guardian, slowly selling off the ducal family’s assets piece by piece.

“I care about you a great deal, you know. You should rely on the family you still have. For example, a guardian.”

Uncle Marshal patted my shoulder, acting friendly, assuming I had no idea about his schemes.

Oh, but you’ll die by my hand.

Doing good deeds and dealing with rotten people were two completely separate matters.

I brushed his hand off my shoulder and smiled.

“Thank you for your concern, Uncle. So, where were you coming from today?”

“I went to Harbor Bridge.”

“Why did you go there?”

“Oh my, Siena. You may not know this, but trade through Harbor is extremely important. Since our Buetri family’s merchant guild is in charge of the bridge construction project, I went to oversee and manage it…”

“Yes, I know that. What I’m asking is why you went.”

“Well, I don’t really—…what?”

If I remembered correctly, he earned the elders’ trust by successfully completing the Harbor Bridge project.

From there, under the excuse of becoming my future guardian, he gradually took control of the entire family.

I won’t let that happen this time, Uncle.

“Since it’s business conducted under the name of the Buetri family, shouldn’t I, as the acting representative of the head of the household, be the one to handle it? Especially when no legal guardian has been appointed yet.”

“Hahaha, Siena. Leave such troublesome matters to your uncle. You must be tired—get some rest.”

“You seem to be getting on in years too, Uncle. Your eyesight must be failing. You should rest as well.”

I needed to find a guardian better than my uncle.

And that guardian…

…had to be someone trustworthy.

A few days later, a white bird tapped against my window. A bundle of letters was tied to its leg.

It looks like it’s from the Elpis Orphanage. What is it?

Worried something had happened, I immediately sent the maid away and opened the letter.

And then—

“Hello Nunya
I lernd how to rite letters for the frist time”

“What is this? Another world’s language?”

I stared blankly for a moment before realizing within three seconds who had sent it.

The boy in the yellow raincoat.

“I am doing a play at the orfanage
I got the role of Leaf 13 called ‘Bboo-Bboo’
I want to show you
Can you come?
The date is tomorow
I will wait for your letter”

Leaf 13. Bboo-Bboo.

The letter, which I had barely managed to decipher, contained an astonishingly simple message.

At the end of the day, a child is still a child. He just wants attention and affection.

I crumpled the letter in my hand.

“I can’t go.”

I whispered quietly, as if speaking to the child directly.

“I’m busy right now. I have to keep an eye on Uncle Marshal…”

And I still needed to find my guardian. There was too much to do within the ducal estate. So I couldn’t go.

But still…

…Should I at least reply?

He said he’d wait. That much should be fine.

And it seemed the child needed something else as well.

“My goodness, why did so many spelling books arrive?”

“They’re from our sponsor. One for each child.”

“Wow—and they even sent gifts and snacks for tomorrow’s play!”

“It’s truly something to be grateful for.”

At Jenny’s words, all the children cheered.

But among them, one child was especially excited.

The boy in the yellow raincoat.

His eyes sparkled.

The first book he had ever owned in his life.
The first gift he had ever received.

Sitting at his desk, his heart pounding, the boy opened both the Imperial Language and Ancient Language textbooks.

The very first word written inside was:

Aldehyde.

A word meaning “the salvation of my life.”

The boy pondered deeply, recalling the moment he had first met the ghost.

In other words, the moment he had met his salvation.

The day he first met the girl in the gray robe.

It was exactly three years since his mother had abandoned him.

He had lived in the orphanage for three years, yet he still had no name. The headmistress had tried to give him one, but he refused. He didn’t want anyone to call him by a name.

He planned to die.

Because that was what his mother had told him to do.

That he was the reason their family had become miserable.
That he should obediently die.

Mom was right.

One day, while living with his family deep in the mountains, a power descended upon him.

Its name was Instant Death.

The power to kill anyone he touched.

The tragedy began when the boy failed to control that overwhelming power.

Beaten daily by his drunken father, the boy tried to stop him one day—and accidentally killed him.

It was clearly self-defense.

But his mother, who had always found him repulsive, eventually abandoned him on a rainy day.

“You monster, just like your father. Don’t ever touch anyone. Live like that and rot to death.”

The one who brought the abandoned boy to the orphanage was the headmistress, Jenny.

The boy decided to follow his mother’s words to the letter.

He stayed alone at the orphanage, and on rainy days, he wandered around outside wearing a raincoat.

She said getting wet would make me sick, and then I’d die.

That belief alone kept him going.

Then one day, he met a ghost in a gray robe.

The moment he took the ghost’s hand, the boy realized—

The headaches that drove his power into a frenzy,
The voices calling him a monster,
The heart that sometimes pounded like it would explode—

All of it had gone quiet.

It was the first time in his life.

Touching someone without hurting them, without killing them—
Instead, feeling as though he was the one being healed.

A single touch can become an unforgettable memory.

To him, the entire world was that ghost.

She was like sunlight peeking out after the rain had cleared.

At that moment, a small light flickered around the boy’s wrist and disappeared—like sunlight itself.

It was a mysterious mark, one whose meaning no one yet knew.

Rubbing his wrist, which had once burned red, the boy looked again at the book she had given him.

A word like this on the first page of a gift book… maybe it’s fate.

As the precocious boy mulled over the old-fashioned notion of destiny—

“Did you know? Our sponsor sent a letter too.”

At the sight of the bundle Jenny handed him, the boy’s eyes widened.

That letter must be just for me!

Sure enough, Jenny winked.

“Read it secretly.”

He scurried to a corner and unfolded the letter.

“I’m sorry, but I can’t come see the play.”

“Hngh…”

Shocked, but unwilling to give up hope, the boy read the next line.

“Kid.
Study your spelling.”

“Hiiing…”

Another dagger to the heart. But there was more.

He quickly read the rest, written in neat handwriting.

“But your terrible spelling is kind of cute.
That ‘Bboo-Bboo’ word too.”

His eyes widened at the word cute.

Does she like cute things? Even the word ‘Bboo-Bboo’?

Thankfully, he was still small and short.

I might be kind of cute.

As if enchanted, a blush spread across his recently well-fed, chubby cheeks.

Jenny was kind, but with so much work, she couldn’t pay close attention to each child.

Being called cute by the sponsor was the first exclusive compliment the boy had ever received in his life.

So…

“I’m… cute.”

In other words, it didn’t take long for cuteness to become part of his identity.

“And she said Bboo-Bboo is cute, so I’ll do my best!”

The boy resolved to perform his role as Leaf 13, Bboo-Bboo, with all his heart.

Even if she couldn’t come to the play,
the small ghost who had once reached out to him might appear again.

I’ll be Bboo-Bboo forever. Truly. Forever.