TCL 18

chapter 18

Was the mysterious father’s appearance more important than my safety?

“I said leave it alone, but that only makes me feel worse!”

I knew a kidnapping would occur, and I was convinced I would be the victim. Of course I was anxious.

“I can’t just keep collecting evidence forever. I need to throw some bait so the director notices.”

If the director realizes someone in the orphanage has bad intentions, he’ll either tighten control over the staff or report it. He’ll have to do something.

I waited for the right moment and approached the director when the teacher was busy.

“Director, the cocoa is gone.”

“What cocoa?”

“The kitchen sister said so. She said cocoa definitely arrived before, but it disappeared without a trace.”

I had promised to keep it secret before, but if I could point to a suspect, that changed everything.

“She said it was expensive, so she hid it deep in the cupboard…”

“It’s not like it can walk away. And I never heard about cocoa coming in.”

“It’s true. It was written on the paper the baroness brought last time. I delivered it myself.”

Saying that, I led him to the director’s office.

When I opened the bottom shelf of the bookcase—
A whole pile of donation item lists tumbled out like acorns hidden by a squirrel!

‘I secretly collected and hid these ahead of time!’

Donors often visited several orphanages in a day.
To avoid mixing things up, they would sometimes bring a list specifying which items went to which orphanage.

And since I was always the first to run out and greet the nobles—

—“Me! I’ll deliver that paper to the director!”
—“Such a helpful child. Don’t lose it, okay?”

I pretended to like errands and asked for the documents, and they handed over the donation paperwork without suspicion.

The teacher thought there was no separate list for quantities and felt safe stealing items.

And the papers I received were kept in the director’s office—a place the teacher rarely entered.

“Why would you keep the documents way down here? How am I supposed to see them?!”

“I can’t reach the high spots because I’m short…”

Of course the real reason wasn’t my height—it was because I wanted them hidden until the crime was certain.

I got scolded a little, but that was nothing for the greater good. I kept acting.

“Oh! I saw the colored pencils being unloaded from the carriage too. Where did they go?”

“What on earth were you doing managing the supplies?! Hey, teacher!”

The moment the director realized the orphanage’s property was missing, he reacted exactly as I intended.

“You called, director?”

“You organized the things listed here, right?”

The teacher’s eyes trembled when he saw the documents that weren’t supposed to exist.

“Uh… I didn’t get this list when I sorted the goods. Maybe it got mixed up with another orphanage’s?”

“No. Our orphanage name is written here. And it looks like some things are missing.”

“Which ones exactly?”

“Rose, what did you say earlier?”

“…The cocoa and the colored pencils!”

└ [Hey, protect the identity of your informant…]

Sigh. I wasn’t expecting the director to be that thoughtful anyway.

“Right. Those! Find them and set them out where I can see them clearly. I’ll check later based on this list.”

“They might be in a corner of the storage room, I’ll go look.”

Of course items he already sold wouldn’t magically appear in storage, but he still excused himself and left the office.

‘Now that the director noticed something’s wrong, maybe he’ll back off?’

└ [Or now that he’s exposed, he might go wild instead]
└ [Hmm… Doesn’t this make things more dangerous for the heroine? He might kidnap her out of spite…]

That could happen.

But between
“I struggle alone, fail to stop the embezzlement, AND get kidnapped”
and
“I expose the suspicious person, THEN get kidnapped,”
the latter is definitely better.

└ [So she’s getting kidnapped either way LOL]

No! I don’t want to be kidnapped—but if I am, at least they’ll have a clear suspect and catch him fast.

I left the director’s office and watched the teacher secretly. He was behind the storage room, anxiously smoking again.

“Ha… damn…”

└ [Don’t swear, you criminal ♩♪♪ah]
└ [You literally swore while saying “don’t swear” lol]
└ [I was singing, actually?]

Judging by his expression, he didn’t seem to have money to replace the stolen items.

Then he only had two options left:

Give up kidnapping because he has to deal with the missing funds…
Or, like the commenters said, go completely unhinged.

‘Either way, I should be careful for a while.’

From that day on, I stayed glued to the other kids.

“May, can I sleep next to you?”

“Huh? Sure!”

I slept close with other kids at night.

“Today is the dessert drawing contest!”

“Waaah!”

I only played in groups.

With more people, he would hesitate to approach easily.

And indeed, the teacher made no attempt to come near me.

“Hey, you guys! Why are you always together? Scared to be alone? Cowards!”

Jeff seemed annoyed that a group formed without him.

I didn’t have the energy to deal with him, so I sighed and replied casually:

“You’re always hanging out with your group too. Why can’t we?”

└ [What, are they gonna get eaten if they gather?]
└ [THAT LINE LMAO]

I’m not a wolf—no one’s getting eaten…

Anyway, even wolves leave wolf pups alone.

When I tried to ignore Jeff and continue playing, he puffed up and provoked me again.

“Teacher said kids shouldn’t stay in groups. Said they won’t listen if they bunch up. You’ll get scolded!”

“Then you must’ve been scolded a hundred times already.”

“Teacher never scolds me! I even saw you getting scolded by the director! I bet you’re getting kicked out!”

Kicked out.
To children with nowhere to go, it’s one of the most painful things to hear.

I didn’t care, but the other kids would be shocked.

This wasn’t okay—I opened my mouth to speak, but Edin suddenly dashed over and stood in front of me.

└ [IT’S EDIN TIME!!!]
└ [Our future knight male lead ㅠㅠㅠ]

He said he wouldn’t stay quiet anymore—was this his courage?

Edin had grown—

…Wait.

Was he about to use that method?

“Y-you like Rose, hop!”

I hurried to cover Edin’s mouth, but the meaning had already spread.

I was standing with other kids. Jeff had his own group. And everyone around had heard it.

“Jeff, you too! Oooh~ someone’s blushing~”

That was Jeff’s group of boys.

“Rose is going to marry Leon though?!”

“What?? Then wh-what about Edin?”

“A love… rectangle…”

And the girls—
Why were they talking exactly like the comment fairies?

└ [Do the kids also have stocks in these ships or what LOL]
└ [Even in-universe supporters for Edin’s side]
└ [There must’ve been unseen letters or lore we missed. #TeamLeon]

“Agh! Edin, I’m not letting you get away with this!”

“Eek!”

Unable to endure the teasing, Jeff chased Edin, and Edin ran away fast.

‘Huh, he’s actually pretty quick at running.’

Maybe that’s why he survived Jeff’s bullying—he was good at escaping, not fighting.

‘Next time instead of talking back, I should give him a whistle so he can run away blowing it.’

I decided to give him one of the toy whistles I’d kept for emergencies.

‘Hmm. It’s suspiciously quiet.’

Preparing for a possible kidnapping (maybe) was mentally exhausting.

But despite all the tension, nothing happened at the orphanage.

Aside from putting back a few things, the teacher showed no movement.

└ [Did we defeat him?]
└ [Stop raising death flags please]
└ [Feels like calm before the storm]
└ [If the kidnapping doesn’t happen, when does the father show up then?]

Think about my safety once in a while…

But really—it felt like the calm before a storm.

Even Jeff was quiet today. Maybe he didn’t sleep well last night; he was dozing off as soon as he finished eating.

On the surface, peaceful days.

But with the comment fairies still around, something was bound to happen.

└ [What if WE are the flag?]
└ [Anything, please, move the plot forward]

Maybe their wishes reached whoever controlled fate.

That night, when I couldn’t sleep because of unease—

The storm finally came.