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chapter 16
From the beginning, the comment-fairies had been begging for me to enter a noble family, so I understood why they were getting frustrated.
But would pretending not to notice the children’s danger really be the right way for Rose to live?
‘If I keep avoiding Count Torto above all else, that’s just letting him control my life.’
At least I still have options, even if I get adopted into the Torto household.
I could make them find Rayley quickly and get myself sent back, or I could disappoint them after my orange hair grows in and get kicked out.
But the other kids don’t have any choices.
This is the best I can do. I held the hand Leon had wrapped around my arm.
“Leon. Once you get home, you’ll make lots of new friends. When you get busy, you probably won’t even remember someone like me.”
“I don’t want anyone but Rose. If you’re not going, I’m not going either.”
“It’s not like we’ll never see each other again. We can write letters.”
└ [Isn’t the FL going to leave the orphanage someday? If her letters suddenly stop, what about Leon…]
└ [Yandere-ML maker]
Leon was now the young master of the Duke of Clarke.
As long as I didn’t disappear into some remote mountain where even a duke couldn’t find me, we’d be able to stay in touch somehow.
└ [Stop raising death flags ㅠㅠ]
Why does he believe everything will go the way I imagine? I don’t have that kind of power.
Leon still looked unconvinced.
‘I didn’t want to bring this up myself… but I guess I have no choice.’
I whispered softly so no one else could hear.
“We still have to find the men who hurt your mom and teach them a lesson, right? You can come play after things are safe. You’ll be busy for a while, so once the important stuff is done, if you want to play again, we can do it then.”
When you put your newly met father and a trusted friend on a scale, maybe the friend would weigh more.
But if you have to choose between a friend and your mother, then… your mother comes first.
At my words, the wavering in Leon’s eyes solidified.
Even as a child, he knew how to prioritize.
Now he let me push him away with just a little nudge.
“See you again.”
“…Yeah.”
There was still lingering attachment in his eyes, but he left with the family he’d finally been reunited with, back to where he belonged.
└ [ML left… what’s the fun now?]
└ [If a story starts with childhood, just consider it a “FL growth arc.”]
└ [Why “ML left”? It’s always going to be Edin anyway—fate ML]
The Leon-stock fairies were missing him, and the Edin-stock fairies were thrilled that the sub-male-lead odds had increased—just an ordinary day.
“That’s what I heard—this is the place the Duke sponsors?”
“Yes, madam. That’s right. It shows how well-managed the orphanage is. Somehow word got out, and many people have started showing warm interest.”
Thanks to the Duke of Clarke’s personal donation, plus the steady support of Count Mateo—who didn’t get tricked by the fraud scheme—our orphanage was experiencing unprecedented abundance.
The fact that the duke’s son had lived here was a secret, so the director received extra hush money.
He was also threatened, but maybe the memory of the money overpowered everything else, because he was happily greeting nobles.
└ [Why doesn’t Rose get anything?]
I did receive some gifts—clothes, ribbon pins.
Probably not from the duke, but from Leon…
└ [If it came from a duke’s house, that stuff must be crazy expensive ㄷㄷ]
No. If a commoner kid wore clothes with jewels or fancy ornaments, they’d just become a target for thieves.
And if only I received clothing gifts, the other children might get jealous.
So the Duke of Clarke sent outfits for all the children, but mine had my name sewn in separately.
Maybe because Leon chose them—all the fabric was red, or had red accents.
Leon must like red.
└ [No, he’s matching the FL to his own hair color so he can “claim” her. “He must like red,” she says LOL]
Ah. That’s what that was?
└ [FLs are always smart about everything except romance]
└ [This is why lifelong singles… smh]
The comment fairies had apparently debated whether I really loved the Second Prince before. They concluded I didn’t.
Which somehow earned me the lifelong badge of romantic zero-experience, a “never dated even once” title.
That’s harsh…
I wasn’t going to argue about whether it counted as romance or not, but still—somehow it felt unfair.
I pouted with no one to glare at and no one I could complain to without seeming petty. Then Edin came up beside me.
“Leon’s parents must’ve been super rich. Did you see them, Rose?”
The duke had taken Leon early in the morning when all the kids were asleep.
The children only heard that Leon’s real parents came for him—they didn’t know it was the Duke of Clarke.
They probably didn’t even know this country had a Clarke dukedom.
I was the only one who knew exactly who Leon’s father was.
—If you’re a smart child, you’ll know how to act for Leon’s sake.
That’s what the duke told me before leaving.
└ [Talk is cheap. Leave money.]
No! What would an orphan do with money except get it stolen?!
Even if I accidentally slipped up and rumors spread, they could just dismiss it as a child’s lie—so the duke probably thought a simple reminder was enough.
Of course I had no intention of revealing Leon’s identity.
“Uh, yeah. They live in a really big house.”
“I knew it. He came with knights before.”
Right, the day before, the duke’s aide and guards had kneeled in front of Leon.
Did Edin realize the person who took Leon was a high noble?
I wondered what excuse to give—when he added:
“The knights were cool.”
Ah. So he wasn’t interested in their master—just knights in general.
“Edin, you like knights?”
“Yeah. They protect people.”
The knights I saw at Count Torto’s estate seemed to hurt people more than protect them…
But he’s at an age where dreams should stay nice. No need to crush them.
└ [#KnightML]
The comment fairy who always assigned me weird “keywords” was now tagging Edin with one.
To me they always attached labels like schemer, mastermind, bald villain—yet Edin got “future dream” tags?
“To become a knight, you need to eat a lot first.”
And stop making me your snack shuttle.
The orphanage had plenty of snacks now, and Edin loved sharing—meaning he kept giving them to me.
Even now, he tried giving me a jelly wrapped in paper, so I took it and popped it straight into his mouth.
└ [He gave it because he likes you, you dense girl]
└ [This is why lifelong singles 222]
Is that another “romantic zero-experience mind” thing?
The comment fairies really think about everything in romantic terms.
“What~ Rose, Leon’s gone so now you’re playing with Edin? Two-timing! Cheater~”
And here was another one whose whole brain was romance.
Where did he learn words like two-timing and cheating?
“Haa. Jeff. You’re the one who seems to care who I play with. Do you like me?”
“W-what?!”
When the comment fairies said the same thing to me before, I reacted like that.
But thinking about it—eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth. Using his own teasing against him would hit the hardest.
Jeff panicked, and the kids who always hung around him stared at him.
“Jeff? You?”
“Aaah! Jeff likes Rose!”
“Hey! Shut up! Get back here!”
The kids scattered noisily.
└ [Huh? Sub-ML #2?]
└ [Are you grabbing ANY male as a candidate now?]
└ [Could be an enemies-to-lovers ship, who knows]
The comment fairies were expanding the male-lead candidate list…
Is there some conservation law of male leads or something?
Leon leaves the orphanage and they immediately pull Jeff—who was previously eliminated—back into the lineup.
As for the first candidate, Edin…
Watching how I dealt with Jeff’s teasing, he seemed to have made some decision.
“I-I won’t just stay quiet anymore when Jeff teases you.”
“You finally can’t take it?”
“That’s not it… I want to get stronger so I can protect you.”
└ [Protect Rose?]
People, obviously.
He seemed like the type who needed to protect himself first—but if he got stronger, he could do both.
But looking at Edin’s small frame… I worried he’d just get hit if he tried fighting back.
“If Jeff teases you next time, what will you do? Pretend this doll is Jeff and show me.”
Edin stood up with a determined look and faced the teddy bear.
If punching didn’t work, I thought I’d teach him a lady’s self-defense trick—something to slip out of bad situations.
But instead—
“D-do you… like Rose?”
So he was going to talk it out?
