Chapter 42
“……?”
Not only Ivin and Lorena, but the other volunteers gathered behind them all turned their gaze toward the emperor at once.
Their expressions were as if they’d misheard something.
“What are you doing? Do you intend to disobey an imperial command?”
“I-I’m sorry…”
Lorena had never, not even once in her life, personally wiped someone else’s wet feet.
Yet what fell upon her was the command of a ruthless emperor.
Just as her trembling hands reached toward Ivin’s feet…
“Do you think I have no hands, no arms? I can handle this much!”
Ivin quickly snatched the towel from Lorena’s hands and wiped her own feet.
“Thank you for lending me the towel. I’ll even take care of the one the emperor used.”
“Stop pretending to be polite and come on. Now you’re in charge of the laundry, aren’t you?”
Ivin deliberately ignored the emperor’s words and gave Lorena a vague smile.
Through it, she desperately sent a silent message that said, “That guy’s insane, just understand it roughly.”
“Haha… I-I’ll see you again, Miss Huntington!”
“Ah, yes…”
“If you dawdle any longer, I won’t follow you into the hall.”
I should have pushed him into the stream earlier…
Ah, what a shame.
No, wait.
If I did that, the saint wouldn’t be able to meet him.
“Yes, let’s go.”
Ivin clenched her fist inside and hurriedly followed Rosignol.
“Endure, endure. Almost there.”
If she could endure three more times, she could save lives and facilitate the meeting between the saint and Rosignol in the hall!
Shwak! Shwak!
Rosignol was grabbing handfuls of candy from a basket and throwing them at the children, like a farmer sowing seeds during planting season.
He didn’t care at all if a child got hit by a candy or not.
Surprisingly, the reaction on the scene was enthusiastic.
“Wow! Wow!”
“The candy emperor is throwing candy again!”
“Wow! Please throw more!”
“Over here too!”
Thanks to the handsome emperor’s flashy entrance and the continuous flow of snacks like an endless treasure, the snack time instantly became a festival-like atmosphere.
The children’s cheers and responses were almost like an idol concert.
“You noisy little peasants, quiet down. You’re not monkeys.”
“Haha! He called us little peasants!”
“No, I’m not! I’m actually the tallest one here.”
Moreover, strangely, whenever Rosignol pouted or showed irritation, the children would jump up with delight. His rude, abrasive personality seemed to have a surprisingly attractive charm to them—they likely thought he was playing a game with them.
“Emperor, are you from the Candy Kingdom? Why, but why are you human? If you’re from the Candy Kingdom, shouldn’t you be candy-shaped? Oh, but I only got orange flavor earlier. Really! Should I stick out my tongue to see if other colors come out?”
“Stop talking nonsense and take this, now get out.”
“Uhahaha! He told me to get out!”
“Hehe, earlier he said my life was in danger!”
“Kekeke, I was told if I scream one more time, I’ll be locked in the imperial dungeon!”
The children laughed, but Ivin did not.
Because she knew the truth.
Rosignol… that lunatic was being more sincere than anyone else at that moment.
“Kids… he’s not just joking…”
Honestly, this was far better than what Ivin had anticipated. She had worried he might verbally abuse the children in front of them, leaving lifelong traumatic scars.
“Still, this is mild compared to what I feared. Phew.”
Just as she felt a sense of relief…
“Protect the emperor! Push them back!”
As children shouted and seemed to swarm closer around Rosignol, the royal guards drew spears and shields, moving to push the kids away.
“Just leave them.”
“Eh? I… didn’t hear correctly.”
“Leave the kids alone.”
“…Ah, yes. Understood.”
The commander quickly ordered the soldiers to step back, bowing urgently toward the emperor.
Apparently, he had expected the emperor to be displeased by the children crowding around, given Rosignol’s known fussiness and perfectionism.
Ivin was equally surprised.
“What… so Rosignol has this side?”
Just as she was about to feel a slight sense of awe…
“Huh?”
Her eyes caught something unusual.
“A magic circle made of candy… no, a barrier?”
Pieces of candy were arranged in a circle around Rosignol.
“Little noisy subjects, I hereby warn you. Do not cross this line. Anyone who crosses will get nothing—no candy, nothing. Even the snacks you have will be taken away, so behave quickly.”
Ivin found it ridiculous, yet the children seemed to accept it completely.
“That’s right, you shouldn’t cross the line.”
“When we play territory games, it’s the same.”
“If you cross, you’ll be excluded.”
“….”
Whether it was because their understanding levels matched or because he had tailored it to the children’s perspective, she couldn’t tell.
But one thing was clear: communication between Rosignol and the children was smooth.
“Why are the snacks so meager? What is the kitchen even making?”
Soon, the candy basket emptied, and Rosignol asked irritably.
“Due to the large number of children, there’s a limit to what we can do with the budget…”
“And?”
The director of the orphanage looked flustered as he tried to answer Rosignol. He hadn’t imagined the emperor would interact with the children and inquire in detail about budget allocation.
“Well, if you think the children need anything else…”
“You’re asking me that now?”
“…!”
“Then who else knows? You’re the director, aren’t you?”
He quickly lowered his gaze, realizing there was no good answer.
“Yes… I’ll bake some meat pies. Just give me a little more time…”
But his remaining words were drowned out by the children’s chatter.
“Hey, you just crossed the line with your toes, didn’t you?”
“No, I didn’t!”
“I saw it just now.”
Seizing the moment, the director slipped into the kitchen.
“The brothers must be in the kitchen… I wonder if the saint is seeing all this.”
Ivin quickly scanned the hall. She wanted to see whether the saint was observing Rosignol interacting with the children.
“The saint is coming out.”
At that moment, the saint appeared from behind the curtain at the podium.
As she appeared, the hall stirred. Not only the children, but the volunteers and nobles crowded around her.
Among those waiting for the saint were children with disabilities: some born with twisted legs or arms, some with malnutrition-caused blindness, others with polio, and other severe conditions.
They had gathered near the podium, hoping to witness the saint closely.
“Ah, it’s the saint…!”
“My body hurts too much… please help us so it won’t hurt anymore, saint…”
“Saint…!”
But the saint walked past them as if they didn’t exist, ignoring the children completely.
“Saint!”
The children reached out, but the holy knights’ armor blocked them. They couldn’t touch her.
The saint passed through the crowd of orphans and went straight to the wealthy noblewomen.
There were about fifty, all devout supporters who had donated generously to the event.
As she approached them, the knights flanking her moved aside like a phalanx, and finally, the noble saint appeared before the supporters.
“We behold the incarnation of the god Flula.”
The nobles bowed deeply.
“May the blessings of the gods always be with you.”
The saint loosened the belt around her waist and placed it over their heads, offering a short prayer for the prosperity and health of their families.
“No…”
Ivin, watching from a distance, stared in disbelief between the saint and the orphans.
She couldn’t comprehend what was happening.
“She’s prioritizing the nobles over the children? Even if they sponsored the event… this is over a thousand children and impoverished attendees…”
While Ivin thought this, suddenly, a child pushed through the crowd and grabbed the hem of the saint’s dress.
“Saint! My brother also needs your blessing…!”
