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“Is this a childcare story, by any chance? Chapter : 02”
When she got closer, she realized it wasn’t an object but a person. A boy who looked three or four years younger than Miela, with black hair, was lying unconscious on the road.
Startled, the basket of food in Miela’s hands dropped with a thud.
“Hey, are you okay? Snap out of it!”
Miela immediately rushed over and gently shook his shoulder to wake him up. But perhaps he had been badly injured when he fell, because the boy didn’t easily regain consciousness.
“What should I do? I’ve never seen him before…!”
Unlike Miela, who was wearing tattered, worn-out rags, the boy wore a pure white soft shirt and pants, along with sturdy leather suspenders.
It was luxurious clothing not commonly seen in this village.
After thinking for a while, Miela made a guess.
“Could he be from that fancy villa beyond the hill?”
About a year ago, several unfamiliar people had suddenly started coming and going in the empty land beyond the hill. They quickly built a structure there.
It had recently been completed, and people said it was a villa built with high-quality materials that could only be seen in the capital far away.
“Maybe some noble lord… or even royalty from a foreign country came to stay?”
“Right. No matter how you look at it, it must be a villa for some important person. I wonder what it looks like inside! I’m so curious!”
These days, everyone in the village was guessing who the important person living in that villa might be.
But it was all rumors, and no solid information ever came out. After all, even if people tried to sneak closer, several guards stood watch near the mansion, guarding it like an iron wall.
“I overheard adults talking, but I don’t really know who lives there.”
Unlike others, excessive curiosity was a luxury for Miela. She was too busy just surviving day by day.
Still, her instincts told her that this boy was connected to that mysterious villa.
“What should I do? Should I go to the villa and call someone? But if I leave, what if this kid gets hurt by a wolf or bad people? And if I leave him too long, something might go wrong…”
Standing there hesitantly, Miela quickly made a decision.
“Alright. My house is right here anyway, so I’ll take him inside first. Then I’ll go to the mansion and bring someone.”
Even a collapsing hut was better than leaving him on the street.
“Hup…!”
Miela struggled a bit but managed to carry the boy into her house. He looked much smaller than her, but he was surprisingly heavy.
“Phew, done!”
After laying the boy on the bed, Miela wiped the sweat forming on her forehead and turned around.
“He doesn’t seem like he’ll wake up right away. I’ll go to the villa and bring someone in the meantime.”
Just as she placed her hand on the doorknob—
“Ugh…”
A faint groan came from behind her. The boy, who had seemed unconscious, suddenly woke up.
Frowning as if his head were splitting, he muttered curses.
“Haa… damn it. Where am I… What the—did I get kidnapped?”
“What? I didn’t kidnap you!”
Miela shouted in shock. She had only been trying to help, yet being mistaken for a kidnapper felt unfair.
Only then did the boy notice her presence. He tilted his head slightly and asked,
“…What are you?”
His clear green eyes scanned Miela from head to toe.
“Me? I live here. You collapsed in front of my house, so I brought you inside.”
“Collapsed? Ah… I see. Come to think of it, the curse must’ve suddenly gotten worse…”
As if recalling what happened before losing consciousness, the boy muttered to himself. For someone younger than her, his tone sounded unusually mature.
“How strange. Are all nobles like that?”
Confused, Miela asked,
“Um, what is ‘jazuyang’?”
“…Not ‘jazuyang,’ I said the curse’s effect—no, never mind.”
The boy quickly looked embarrassed, as if he had said something unnecessary.
“Anyway, sorry. I should get going.”
He stood up. Miela watched him with a worried expression.
“You’re leaving right away? But you just collapsed…”
No matter how she looked at it, he still wasn’t in good condition. His face looked unwell, and his legs kept wobbling.
Watching him lean against the wall and struggle to stand alone, Miela cautiously asked,
“Hey, should I help you? If you walk like that, you might collapse again!”
“No need.”
But the boy immediately refused and walked past her.
As expected, her worry soon became reality. Just as he reached for the door, he lost his balance and staggered.
“Careful!”
Miela, who had been watching closely, rushed forward. Luckily, she caught him before he fell and got injured.
“….”
The boy froze in shock, unable to speak for a moment. Only his green eyes widened.
‘Wow, his eyes are really round and pretty!’
For a brief moment, Miela thought his eyes looked like something out of a fairy tale.
“Haa… that was close. I almost got seriously hurt. Thanks.”
Only then did the boy speak, sounding a bit flustered as he realized his condition was worse than he thought.
Instead of feeling proud, Miela looked worried.
“Don’t mention it. More importantly, why don’t you lie down for a bit longer? It looks dangerous for you to leave right now.”
She carefully suggested it. The boy fell into thought.
‘Hmm… I don’t really want to stay here.’
The boy’s name was Isstin Valuaire. Just as Miela had guessed, he was the young master living in the villa beyond the hill.
Bored of staying inside the villa, he had secretly slipped out to explore the village while avoiding the guards—and ended up collapsing unconscious.
Of course, he was grateful to the girl who had helped him instead of ignoring him. But in truth, he felt uncomfortable staying here.
‘It looks like it could collapse any second.’
Even though the girl called this place home, to Isstin, it could hardly be called a house. It looked like a collapsing ruin.
‘There are even holes in the walls.’
Even though it was indoors, cold wind was blowing through the gaps in the corners. Like a burrow dug by a mole.
‘Even if she’s not a noble, people don’t usually live in places like this.’
Isstin was the sole heir of a ducal family. Even he knew at least a little about how common people lived.
Before coming here, he had occasionally accompanied his father on inspections of their territory. Even so, this level of living conditions was too poor to even properly call it peasant life.
‘So is this girl… a commoner in poverty?’
In Isstin’s territory, welfare policies for the poor and sick were well established, so true poverty was rare. But he had heard that other regions were different.
Especially children who lost their families often fell into poverty.
To Isstin, the girl in front of him seemed like one of those cases. There was no presence of adults around her.
‘She looks like she can barely take care of herself… should I even accept help from her?’
He hesitated. But there was no other choice. The aftereffects of the curse still lingered, making it difficult for him to move properly.
“Then I’ll stay here until I recover.”
“Okay, you can.”
In the end, Isstin lay back down on the bed. But he couldn’t relax. Every slight movement made loud noises underneath him.
‘How old and worn-out is this bed to make that sound?’
Anyone listening would think someone was jumping on it. Even the slightest movement made the bed creak loudly.
He hesitated to move at all, worried it might break. To the girl, this bed was probably everything she had.
“Phew…”
Annoyed by the creaking sounds, Isstin lay still on his back and let out a soft sigh.
Then Miela, who was standing nearby, carefully asked,
“Hey… do you live in that new villa beyond the hill?”
