Chapter 03
“What are you reading? The newspaper?”
“Yeah. Today’s Chi newspaper.”
“What’s it about?”
Rozel reached out for a hug. Skyler smiled faintly and bent her knees to lift the child into her arms.
Despite her slender frame, people were always amazed at how effortlessly she could carry heavy loads.
“Hmm? What’s it about?”
“They’re reporting that the Paladin Order defeated a rank-2 monster horde that invaded the western border.”
“Monsters?”
“You remember what the headmaster said before. Hundreds of years ago, a portal opened in the abandoned desert, and monsters started coming through.”
Rozel nodded and hugged Skyler’s neck.
“Mm-hmm, and then?”
“The First Saint, the Deputy Director, and the Paladin Commander combined their powers to seal the abandoned desert.”
“So there shouldn’t be any more monsters, right?”
“Time passed, and gaps appeared in the barrier. That’s why the monsters are always on the lookout for humans.”
“That’s scary!”
Her curiosity twinkling, Rozel had been chirping like a little bird, but imagining terrifying monsters, she quickly buried her face in Skyler’s chest with a pout.
“It’s okay. It’s safe here.”
Skyler patted her acorn-like head, soothing her little sister.
“Really safe?”
“Absolutely. The temple protects us.”
“The Paladin Commander, the Deputy Director, and the Saint?”
“Yup.”
Skyler dragged out the last syllable of her word as she looked around.
This was the shelter for abandoned children.
The place they lived in was an orphanage.
A low boxwood fence surrounded it, and in the small garden, tomatoes, basil, and cucumbers grew.
The white wooden building was old, but with windows facing outward and a pointed roof, it had the quaint charm of a fairytale house.
“By the way, breakfast time is coming soon. If we don’t hurry, Doris will eat all your pudding.”
“Ah! No way!”
Rozel’s eyes popped open, and she slid out of Skyler’s arms and ran toward the dining hall.
Watching her, Skyler stretched broadly with a smile.
“That reminds me, sis!”
Rozel suddenly stopped mid-run, turned back, and stood on her tiptoes. Thinking she might whisper something, Skyler leaned down, and Rozel planted a kiss on her cheek.
“Happy seventeenth birthday!”
It was a truly happy morning. Good news, and an adorable birthday greeting.
After breakfast with her younger siblings, Skyler walked down the winding downhill path.
In a small village of about fifty households, she entered the local grocery store, greeted by the warm, plump-faced shopkeeper.
“Long time no see, Skyler.”
“Hello, sir. How have you been?”
“I’ve been well. Running an errand?”
“Yes, the headmaster said we ran out of butter.”
“If that’s what you need, it’s in the storeroom. Wait a moment.”
The shopkeeper disappeared behind the curtain in the back of the store.
While waiting, Skyler looked around at the store’s various items.
Although a grocery store, it was a small countryside shop that sold a bit of everything.
Her eyes landed on a handkerchief embroidered with sparrows.
“You know what?”
A voice pierced her ears from across the shelf, coming from another customer filling their basket.
“They’re recruiting girls for the temple again.”
“Excuse me? Isn’t it too early for that?”
“Monsters have been invading more frequently in recent years. My cousin who lives in western Arwin packed up and emigrated with the whole family.”
“Who knows what’ll happen to the world…”
“But they’re recruiting girls anyway. Any child with even a slight chance of becoming a Saint.”
“It may be an honor, but…”
The woman glanced around, lowering her voice.
“Have the Saints in the past lived long?”
“No, they’ve always had short lives. Killed by monsters, dying from exhaustion, overwork…”
“I would never send my daughter to the temple. Even if she has potential.”
“Of course. Only someone out of their mind would do that…”
The murmuring stopped as the bell on the door rang clear.
The door slowly opened, and someone stepped inside.
Instantly, every woman in the store’s gaze focused on him. A tall man with curly platinum hair and violet eyes.
He strode up to the counter with long legs and pressed the call bell on the table.
“Yes, coming!”
Just then, the shopkeeper brought a lump of butter from the back, opened the curtain, and stepped out.
Seeing the man standing across from him, he widened his eyes in surprise.
A man who looked like he came from a tailored suit shop in a modern city did not fit at all with the cozy, rustic grocery store.
Like a prince in a slum.
“Um… what brings you here?”
The nervous shopkeeper wiped his butter-stained hands on his apron. The man smiled faintly, sensing the frozen air.
“Excuse me, I’d like to ask for directions.”
“Oh, yes.”
“Where is the Sicklen Orphanage?”
“If you mean there…”
The shopkeeper’s gaze shifted past the customer’s shoulder.
Skyler turned and met the man’s eyes.
At almost the same moment, she took a short breath.
They were eyes that seemed never to have known impurity, perfectly beautiful.
“I live there.”
“……”
“Shall I show you the way?”
The man did not refuse. Skyler only needed butter, and she would have returned immediately.
They walked together along the path he had come alone.
“Thank you for showing me the way.”
“Not at all. I suppose it’s fate.”
Skyler avoided his gaze and bit her lip.
An adult man felt strange. At the orphanage, she was the second oldest after the headmaster, and any male presence was only as small as her younger sibling Rozel.
“But… what brings you here?”
“I have a short errand with the headmaster.”
“Our headmaster?”
“Yes.”
“To pick something up.”
“Pick something up…? There shouldn’t be anything for someone like you to take from Sicklen Orphanage.”
“Yes, I figured. I just stopped by to check.”
The man nodded and stopped.
“There was something.”
He casually extended his hand.
“Oh, I haven’t introduced myself. I’m Soléon Decameron.”
“Ah.”
Long, straight fingers.
The tendons stood out over the back of his hand, and Skyler’s gaze lingered a moment.
Blushing, she finally took his hand.
“My name is Skyler.”
She had no surname to inherit, so it was just a short name. Both speaker and listener could roughly guess it.
As she tried to pull her hand away in awkwardness, he did not release it.
Startled, Skyler lifted her head just as a familiar voice called from afar.
“Skyler!”
It was the headmaster.
A sigh escaped Noren, the headmaster, as he scolded Skyler.
“You… really. If it’s your birthday, why didn’t you say so? Then I wouldn’t have sent you on an errand.”
“What’s so special about birthdays? I planned to tell you after I returned.”
“Getting older makes the memory worse. Forgive me.”
“Don’t say that. I’d be hurt.”
“You’re too kind, it’s silly.”
Noren chuckled and reached out to pat her cheek.
“Thank you. I’ll enjoy the tea with the guest.”
“Yes, have a good time.”
Skyler set a tea tray with fragrant marigold and hurriedly left the office.
Once the door closed, Noren immediately offered tea to Soléon.
“Please try some. It has a wonderful aroma.”
“Thank you.”
He smiled faintly and took the cup without refusing.
After a sip, he acknowledged her words.
“This is truly exquisite tea. I’ve never tasted tea this good.”
“It’s Skyler’s talent. Her dream is to become the owner of a small outdoor café.”
Like a proud parent of a grown child, Noren straightened up. Shoulders squared.
“Even though she grew up in a difficult environment, she’s cheerful and kind. Since she was little, she’s always helped me more than anyone else.”
“Difficult environment?”
“Her mother worked at a tavern. She didn’t know her father and lived in the attic of the tavern until she was twelve, washing dishes, running errands, cleaning…”
“Oh my.”
“Then her mother got involved in illegal drugs. After staying somewhere else for a while, she came here.”
