🔊 TTS Settings
Chapter 2
“Hello!”
A child with clear, pale beige eyes like fluffy baby chick feathers lifted the hem of her dress slightly. Her soft, cloud-like hair fell all the way down to her waist.
The child’s manners were still a bit unpolished, and that very imperfection made her even more endearing.
“Thank you for visiting the Trice Orphanage!”
In a voice that chirped like a little bird, she spoke clearly and politely. The adults watching her couldn’t help but smile fondly.
The child struggled to lift a basket placed on the table. It was a small basket, the sort you might take on a picnic.
But in her hands, the basket seemed unusually large. As she barely lifted it, her lower body was almost completely hidden behind it.
Carrying a basket as big as herself in both hands, she waddled along, looking like a baby penguin. Some of the ladies covered their mouths to hide their giggles.
“Look at those tiny hands!”
“And the way she waddles!”
“She’s just too adorable!”
The noblewomen whispered quietly so the child wouldn’t hear. Of course, the sharp-eared child caught every word.
The distance wasn’t even three adult steps. Yet the child took each short step with effort.
“What if she falls?”
The ladies held their breath.
Even if she fell, it would probably be cute.
But thinking of her crying with reddened eyes made their hearts ache.
Balancing precariously, the child safely reached the nobles and opened the basket with her tiny hands. Inside were pink bags filled with cookies.
“We made them really hard, you know!”
She said proudly, as if she had accomplished something extraordinary. Her chubby cheeks puffed out further with her beaming smile.
Watching her confidence, the adults imagined:
“She must have kneaded the dough with those tiny hands.”
“And pressed cookie molds bigger than her hands to shape them perfectly.”
For the adults present, the taste of the cookies didn’t matter. These were cookies made by a lovable child for them. That alone made them more precious than any cookie from a famous bakery.
“Thank you.”
As the adults received the cookies with happy smiles, the child delivered her finishing touch.
“Make sure to brush your teeth after eating! Or else it’ll hurt, okay?”
With that utterly charming ending, she gave a small bow and left the room. Only after she left did the adults let out the suppressed exclamations of admiration.
“How can she be so cute?”
“And so polite too. I wish our Thomson could learn from her.”
“Honestly, I’ve never seen a child this adorable!”
A woman watching all this smiled warmly.
“At Trice Orphanage, as you’ve seen, we prioritize teaching children manners. All the children here are kind and polite, like Selena. While we don’t yet have any ‘Gems,’ to me they are more precious than any gemstone.”
The head of the orphanage, Sophie, spoke with heartfelt emotion, and everyone nodded.
“An orphanage filled with such lovely children cannot operate without the help of kind benefactors. We hope you will take a warm interest in supporting us.”
All those gathered were wealthy nobles.
Rich nobles needed charitable work to enhance their reputations. Among various charitable activities, supporting orphanages was the most popular.
Donations for the children’s growth—it was a suitable way to show off social virtue.
Of course, they didn’t support just any orphanage. Even when donating, they wanted a return on their investment. Naturally, their interest focused on orphanages with ‘Gems.’
“A Gem just appeared at the Sunflower Orphanage.”
“Sunflower Orphanage? Wasn’t that the place where the Gem adopted by the Wilton family came from?”
A Gem.
This term referred to children chosen by God who had gained mystical abilities. Their powers manifested in unique gemstones and patterns on their bodies, giving rise to the term.
Orphanages without Gems often struggled financially and failed to attract noble support.
Trice Orphanage also had no Gems. Yet it attracted the attention of many nobles.
All thanks to the adorable child, Selena, who had just distributed cookies to the nobles.
Selena was unusually sociable for an orphan.
“Hello! Hehe.”
She greeted adults she had never met with ease.
“Ma’am, your skirt is folded! I’ll fix it for you!”
Kind, polite, and cute—her personality won over many nobles.
Her small stature, even for her age, also added to her charm.
Enchanted by her adorableness, the nobles gave their donations without hesitation.
Selena, watching this through the door, clicked her tongue.
‘Love, my foot.’
Away from the nobles’ eyes, Selena wasn’t the sweet, charming child who had just stolen their hearts.
‘If it weren’t for Rio, I’d never do something like this.’
Sophie, the head, grinned from ear to ear at the filled donation box. Watching this, Selena muttered and walked away.
“I told you not to play with Selena.”
Among five children gathered in a group, the tallest blond boy huffed. The small child surrounded by them didn’t answer.
“Hey, Riotis. You ignoring me?”
The blond boy raised his voice further. Despite his threat, Riotis didn’t speak.
“This is it!”
Angered by the repeated defiance, the blond roughly shoved Riotis’ shoulder.
Riotis lost balance and fell. His hand scraped against the floor, cutting him slightly. He raised his bleeding hand and crookedly smiled.
“Idiot.”
Not something you’d expect from a bullied child. Surprised that his reaction wasn’t what he expected, the blond boy hesitated. But he soon hardened his expression and grabbed Riotis by the collar to pull him up.
“What did you just say? ‘Idiot’?”
“Yeah.”
Riotis, arms thin as branches, hung loosely without any sign of fear.
“You blind fool, who gave you the right to call someone an idiot!”
The child shouted.
Riotis slowly blinked his black, unseeing eyes.
Indeed, he couldn’t see. With his frail body, he was often bullied by the other orphans.
But it didn’t bother him.
“She wouldn’t even care about you, Selly.”
“What did you say? You little—!”
The child threw a punch. Riotis fell again with a loud smack on his cheek.
“Hey! What do you think you’re doing?”
A sharp, ringing voice echoed. Running footsteps approached, and Riotis smiled. His scraped hand and slapped cheek throbbed, but it was fine.
‘I have Selly, after all.’
‘They’re bullying Riotis again.’
Selena walked briskly, fists clenched.
The child who had punched Riotis, Rimon, stepped back, startled.
“Move.”
Selena strode forward, pushing Rimon aside, and went to the fallen Riotis. Seeing his red, swollen cheek and bloodied lips, her face twisted with anger.
“Rimon!”
Rimon flinched and mumbled.
“No, it’s Riotis who—”
“Riotis what?”
“He called me an idiot and told me not to play with you…”
“Don’t lie. Riotis wouldn’t say that.”
“No, it’s true! Right? Guys, you heard it too.”
Rimon protested earnestly. The other children nodded reluctantly.
But Selena didn’t believe Rimon. A group bullying Riotis couldn’t be trusted.
“No, Selly. Rimon’s right… I did call him an idiot.”
Riotis spoke, voice quivering with the verge of tears. With his eyes downcast and shoulders drooped, he looked completely different than when Selena wasn’t around.
Selena, unaware of this, only felt pity.
‘Such a kind, gentle child, saying something bad to someone… there must have been a reason.’
“What happened, Rio? It’s okay, tell me.”
Selena gently wiped his torn lips with a handkerchief. Riotis, hesitant like someone who had committed a grave sin, slowly answered.
“Rimon teased me for being blind and threatened me not to play with you… I got angry. I’m sorry, Rimon.”
Rimon, dumbfounded by the sudden apology, just pointed awkwardly. The shameful attitude of the group left him speechless.
“You don’t need to apologize, Rio.”
“But still…”
“Don’t bother with those bad kids. Come with me to the infirmary.”
Selena took Riotis’ hand. A few steps in, Riotis glanced back. He silently taunted Rimon with his tongue for stomping in anger, yet Selena didn’t notice a thing.
