Chapter 42
The sudden voice startled everyone except me.
Melinji, the family knights, and the people of the orphanage all flinched when they heard it.
A firm voice, more resolute than ever.
I turned my head toward where the sound came from.
“Dad!”
Even though I knew, I smiled brightly as if I knew nothing. It had been expected that Dad would come.
The fact that Dad had deliberately stalled and set out at night, and that he hadn’t scolded me much about it, was all because he knew he would be following after me.
“My daughter.”
The moment I called him, Dad appeared in front of me as if he had used teleportation.
Then he picked me up in one smooth motion.
“Hehe. Dad, how did you get here?”
I widened my eyes as though I had never expected his arrival.
“Were you that surprised?”
“Yeah, I was soooo surprised! I never even imagined you’d come all the way here!”
At that, Dad looked quite pleased.
“Are you touched?”
“Yeah! Of course!”
To give weight to what I was saying, I needed Dad more than ever right now.
In fact, the orphanage director, who had been trying not to play along with a child’s words, turned deathly pale.
“Ah… um, th—th… I greet His Grace the Marquis.”
“It’s been a while.”
“Y-yes, have you been well?”
“Yes. But unlike the last time I visited, the children’s condition seems rather poor.”
“Well, th-that’s because recently the donations have been low… Haha… Since you’ve come all this way, how about we go to my office and have some tea while we talk?”
“That sounds fine.”
Dad nodded, still holding me.
Thinking she had found some hope in his answer, the director’s face slowly brightened. But—
“Before that, I think I should take a proper look at that child. It seems my daughter has found a friend.”
“A f-friend, you say? That child is very sick. I worry that the young lady might fall ill because of her.”
At the word “sick,” Dad slightly furrowed his brow and looked back and forth between me and the female lead.
“Sick?”
“Yes.”
“Where?”
“Well, that is…”
“You don’t even know where she’s sick? Have you even had a proper doctor examine her?”
He wasn’t the kind of person to let “she’s sick” slide so easily.
My dad was kind-hearted and more moral than most people. He was the type who would give away the precious bracelet he was wearing if he saw someone pitiful on the street.
Even if the child had a contagious disease.
“Well… the, um… the illness hasn’t been identified.”
“Then you should keep seeing different doctors until it is identified. Are you saying you’ve just left her like this? And this room, what on earth is…?”
While saying that, Dad, still holding me, strode into the room.
All the windows were boarded up with wood, so there was no ventilation. Because of the leftover food scraps, insects were swarming everywhere.
Perhaps because it was next to the stable, the room was filled with a stench—whether it was the smell of horses or the smell of human bodies, I couldn’t tell.
“Ha… What on earth is this place…”
Dad, as if he had forgotten he was even holding me, let out a deep sigh, his face hardened.
“How can you leave a child alone in a place like this? Haven’t you managed things properly?”
“We were worried that, because the child is sick, the other children might…”
“The money I give you isn’t a small amount.”
“E-even so, it’s difficult.”
“So that’s why you didn’t even call a doctor properly and don’t know what disease she has?”
Faced again with the same question, the director could only bite her lips.
Meanwhile, Dad got up from where he stood and walked toward the female lead, who was standing there blankly.
[The first person who opened the door and came in looked like a god. A god who would save me from this place.]
The first person who helped the female lead escape from this orphanage had been a teacher who recognized her ability. But even she had helped her run away only to use her.
To the female lead, who had been thoroughly exploited by her “rescuer,” he would constantly say things like: if it hadn’t been for me, no one would have saved you, and you would still be living there.
That’s how the female lead was gaslighted by the god who saved her, and before she knew it, that became her normal.
‘Maybe she even had to choose the person she’d spend her life with according to what her rescuer wanted.’
I didn’t understand it back then, but when I thought over each word carefully, it made sense.
‘It’s funny that I can remember things I barely remembered before so clearly… but why do I understand her feelings this well?’
My body naturally leaned toward the female lead.
Dad, taking it as a sign that I wanted to be put down, set me on the floor.
“She doesn’t look that sick. She’s just thin.”
“Ah, that’s because…”
As if possessed, I strode straight toward her.
The female lead, who had been silently staring at the outsiders who had entered her world, finally moved.
Staggering, as though she might collapse at any moment.
“Ah…”
The child, her voice hoarse, barely opened her mouth and smiled very slowly.
“Save… me…”
That was all. Her gaze was clearly fixed on me, and from her mouth came the exact words she had once spoken to her former savior.
‘Ah… this isn’t right.’
I had hoped that her savior would be Dad or some adult.
I never thought she would see me—a child—as her savior.
The caregiver who had saved her in the past had not come alone either.
There had been a child who told the teacher about this room’s existence and stole the key from the director’s office to hand it over.
Just like us now, the teacher had entered the room with that child—but the one chosen by the female lead had been the teacher, not the child.
‘So why is it me this time…?’
I had even brought Melinji along on purpose.
I frowned slightly in frustration.
At that moment, the female lead, who had been smiling at me with a faintly refreshed expression, swayed like a balloon doll caught in the wind—and then collapsed to the floor with a heavy thud.
“Child!”
A startled Dad immediately scooped her up.
“What in the world is going on…”
Unlike Dad, who was flustered and unsure what to do, the director merely shook her head as if this were nothing unusual.
“D-didn’t I tell you she’s sick? This happens, so you needn’t worry.”
The director walked toward the child in Dad’s arms.
“This happens often?”
“She often gets overly excited and collapses. So there’s truly nothing to worry about.”
“Nothing to worry about? That sounds like complete nonsense.”
Dad, who rarely used harsh language, stood up abruptly, still holding the child.
“Your Grace?”
“You claimed the child might have a contagious disease, yet you come in here just fine, Director.”
“Ah.”
“You’re usually someone who’s extremely concerned about your own health, aren’t you? That means the child doesn’t have any contagious disease.”
Only then did the director seem to realize her mistake, and she waved her hands with an awkward laugh.
“N-no, I mean, it’s fine for adults, but fatal for children…”
“Enough with the nonsense. You say she collapses often, yet you haven’t even properly called a doctor once. I’m disappointed in many ways.”
“Please, just listen to me!”
But Dad was more resolute than ever.
“We’ll talk later. I’m taking this child with me.”
“What? N-no, you can’t.”
“And why not? If she stays here, she won’t even receive proper treatment.”
“B-but…”
“My daughter says she wants to be friends with her. That works out well. Don’t try to stop me.”
To the director, the female lead was like a gemstone kept in a jewelry box—or rather, neglected for now, but meant to be used later.
And the fact that she had neglected a child who wasn’t even sick would inevitably make her anxious.
Especially since Dad, the orphanage’s biggest sponsor, had seen everything.
“You cannot take a child out of the orphanage!”
“Is that so?”
“Yes. A child belonging to the orphanage…”
“Then I’ll adopt her.”
At Dad’s shocking words, the director, who had been trying to stop him, could only gape.
“A-adoption?!”
“Yes. I’ll send separate sponsorship funds for the adoption. This is urgent, so we’ll handle the paperwork later.”
“W-what? J-just a moment!”
“Why? Do you not trust me, when I, a marquis, am personally taking her?”
“That’s not it, but…”
“My very existence is a guarantee. So I will take her.”
Despite the director’s protests, Dad walked forward without the slightest hesitation.
“Amanet. I can’t hold you today. Your friend’s condition isn’t good.”
“It’s okay! I can just hold Melinji’s hand!”
I quickly grabbed Melinji’s hand. Perhaps because it was unexpected, she looked a little flustered at first, but I walked confidently so she wouldn’t feel uneasy.
“Your Grace! Your Grace!”
The director shouted as she tried to follow us, but the knights blocked her path.
‘For now, it’s a pass.’
It bothered me quite a bit that she had called me, not Dad, her savior—but for the moment, this was enough.
With light steps, I left that place behind.
