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Episode 7
“Found it!”
Held in the Baron’s excited hand was a fist-sized conch.
“Wow, good find!”
I gave him a thumbs up, and the Baron beamed a bright smile. His radiant face was overflowing with charm, making me smile too.
“Not bad, kid.”
“Ugh! I said I’m not a kid!”
The Baron pouted with a face full of discontent. Maybe because he was young, any expression he made was just cute.
This morning, after feeding the Baron the leftover roasted conch from yesterday for breakfast and confirming the tide had gone out, we headed to the sea. But the Baron insisted on coming along to help with Harujil.
It’s daytime, so visibility is good, it should be fine. Besides, he said he’d be bored alone at home.
‘Alright, let’s go together. But you have to stick right by my side! Tell me right away if you get tired!’
During the day, as long as the tide isn’t an issue, it’s not too dangerous, so after much admonishment, I brought him along. Unexpectedly, he was quite skilled.
Those little hands actually were useful.
Thanks to him, even though we were just collecting conchs, the bucket grew heavy quickly. I estimated it was about 8 kilograms.
“Let’s stop and head back now.”
“Huh? Already?”
The Baron looked towards the horizon.
“It seems like there’s still time before the water comes in, doesn’t it?”
“It’s already too heavy, it’s tiring. It’s also hard to exhaust all your energy from the morning.”
I had a lot of work to do today as well, so I needed to conserve my stamina.
As I picked up the bucket, the Baron reached out his hand.
“Give it here. I’ll carry it.”
“What are you talking about? It’ll feel heavier if a kid carries it.”
“No, I’m strong.”
I shook my head at his absurd claim, and the Baron insisted more forcefully.
“I’m serious. I’m probably much stronger than you, sister.”
“Liar.”
“You can just give me the bucket. Then you’ll see right away.”
“What is this little guy saying.”
How could a seven-year-old possibly carry this?
It seemed like trivial childish bravado, and I laughed.
‘But… wouldn’t it be cute to see Baron struggling to lift the bucket?’
I hesitated for a moment, looking down at Baron. He was waving his outstretched hand as if demanding the bucket.
‘Right, this isn’t about teasing a child. It’s just about making Baron realize the reality.’
It’s heavy even for me, how could Baron possibly carry it? Since he won’t be able to lift it anyway, I just need to make sure he doesn’t get hurt trying.
“Then, will you try lifting it carefully, just once?”
“If I lift it well, can I keep carrying it?”
Instead of saying ‘that won’t happen,’ I cautioned him again.
“Be careful not to get hurt.”
I set the bucket down on the sand and pushed the handle towards Baron.
But then something unexpected happened.
Baron lifted the bucket effortlessly. And with one hand!
“This much is nothing, it’s light.”
He’s lifting that?
Even seeing it, it was hard to believe.
Worried he might get hurt, I watched closely, but Baron took a few steps and then frowned.
‘See, I knew it,’ I thought, quickly reaching out my hand.
“Here, it’s hard to carry, right? Now give it here.”
“No, it’s just inconvenient to walk like this because I’m short.”
Then, like a waiter, he lifted the bucket, supporting its base with just his right hand.
“Going like this is fine, so it’s okay.”
“Huh?!”
It was clearly not the strength of a seven-year-old child, and my jaw dropped.
“Baron, why are you so strong?”
Baron grinned at my wide-eyed expression.
“The Eldit Viscountcy has been a knightly family for generations. They say my father was very strong from a young age too.”
Watching the back of the child walking confidently ahead, I was reminded once again that this was an romance novel world setting.
“Ah! Come to think of it!”
Simultaneously, my mind snapped to attention.
I saw a hint of the original story’s plot in Baron.
First, he has no parents. He said he was the sole survivor of a ruined noble family.
Add to that extraordinary looks, intellect, and now, even strength from a young age.
‘Is he… perhaps the budding sword master dreaming of revenge?’
Thanks to my accumulated experience as an romance novel reader, the narrative likely destined for Baron immediately came to mind.
‘I’m sure he said his title was stripped and his assets confiscated.’
That means the imperial blade fell upon House Eldit, whether from the male lead’s side or the regent’s side.
Losing his parents and being abandoned by his wet nurse, Baron was kidnapped and even sold into slavery, fostering hatred for the imperial family. But he hides his emotions and grows up fiercely.
‘With his innate, extraordinary strength, once grown, he escapes slavery to become a mercenary, or hides his original status to become a knight for some noble and rises rapidly.’
Then, his endpoint would be either a mercenary captain or a knight order captain.
Setting where Baron, having earned merit fighting demon beasts, eventually receives a new title and quietly waits for his chance at revenge?
My head tilted on its own then.
‘Wait, if he’s all grown up, that’s post-ending, right? The age doesn’t match. So is it a side story?’
There was no mercenary captain character in the original, but there was a knight order captain. I remembered a side story of the original mentioning a rebellion by the sword-master Imperial Knight Commander.
After the male and female leads set off on a happy journey and the princess born to them ascended the throne, the Knight Commander who adored her confessed. He asked her to marry him as her consort.
But the proposal was rejected, and in response, the Knight Commander rebelled.
‘When I read it, I thought he was such a foolish, stupid jerk. Is that our Baron?’
Come to think of it, there was a description of that Knight Commander having long black hair. I vaguely recall his eyes being described as a deep orange, but honestly, as an extra, my memory isn’t precise.
No, wait. I think they were described as a clear violet…?
‘Gasp!’
At that moment, the final piece clicked into place.
‘Was that Knight Commander Baron with a changed name? Being rejected was just a pretext; it was actually revenge, right? If their child dies, the parents would be utterly devastated.’
The trap was that the Knight Commander didn’t fully know the extent of the Princess’s abilities.
Naturally, the rebellion failed pathetically, and the Knight Commander was dealt with by Raven, the Death Knight by her side.
It was an obvious conclusion. In web novels, villains can’t beat the protagonists.
Looking at the round back of Baron’s head walking ahead, I felt a pang of sadness for this poor child’s future.
Even though he’s so talented, to spend his life honing a blade for revenge only to be killed by the female lead’s daughter’s subordinate…
‘Ah, you poor kid. If you’re that Knight Commander, you’ve got a death flag planted.’
Just then, Baron looked back.
“Why are you crying?”
“Huh? Oh.”
I hurriedly wiped my tears with my fingertips and smiled.
“I was just moved because our little guy is so strong.”
“I said I’m not a little guy. Well, but…”
One corner of Baron’s mouth curled up confidently.
“Something like this is nothing.”
Baron started walking again. Seeing him go with little shoulder shrugs, he seemed to be in a good mood.
‘Ugh! He’s so adorable like that.’
Watching that, I made a decision.
I would pull Baron out from that death flag and save him.
No matter how hard it is, I’ll pour love into him and raise him to be a good mood child.
‘I’ll earn lots of money to feed him delicious food and dress him in nice clothes. Even if it’s not as much as a noble, I’ll raise him without want and send him to an academy.’
There, if he makes good friends and grows up happily, and if he’s lucky enough to get a girlfriend, his thoughts of revenge would naturally fade.
‘Yes! Love is indeed the answer!’
Of course, his parents passing away is very unfortunate, but Baron’s parents would also prefer their only son to get married and live happily rather than be executed for pursuing revenge.
To raise Baron well and earn more money, I must do my best at Harujil… Ah, right.
“Baron, that Flash Firefly thing you mentioned yesterday, can you tell me how to catch and tame it?”
“Huh?”
“I need bright light. The brighter it is, the better I can see underwater.”
Baron thought for a moment, then snapped his fingers.
“Yeah, they’re easy to catch. I’ll catch some for you tonight.”
His confident answer made me smile automatically.
After a quick wash, we packed the conchs and headed for the street stall.
On the way, I didn’t forget to check the prices of daily necessities Baron and I needed, as well as today’s seafood prices, at a shop we passed.
There would be a difference between shop and stall prices, but I still needed to know the average to avoid being ripped off.
“Hello.”
The stall owner’s eyes widened comically as he saw the bucket I presented along with my greeting.
“Huh? What, you really brought them? You caught more than I thought. And the quality is good too?”
The stall owner poured my conchs into a basket, weighed them on a scale, and nodded.
“A little over 8 kilos. I’ll give you 10 coppers per kilo.”
Maybe because the original is a Korean-style romance novel, Korean measurement units are naturally blended in, which is good but…
“Excuse me?”
What did he just say?
“For this amount, that’s a generous rate.”
‘Ha… Mister, where is your conscience?’
And today’s conch market price is 1 silver, 20 coppers per kilo.
Since 1 silver is 100 coppers, that’s undercutting me by twelve times!
Even considering he’s a street vendor, this is too much!
