Chapter 14:
“Is your head okay?”
Franz gently rubbed the back of Kiryan’s head as she asked. She placed her hand there to check if he was bleeding, but he flinched slightly.
“Does it hurt?”
“Hurt? As if.”
If it didn’t hurt, then why was his face turning red? Kiryan pulled his head away to avoid her hand.
“Shouldn’t you put some ointment on it?”
“It’s fine. It’s not even torn. What for.”
“No, not fine. You hit the floor with a thud, so you need to rest. Go inside and lie down.”
She grabbed Kiryan and dragged him inside by force.
Even though he was annoyed, Kiryan let himself be led into the hut.
She made a spot for him where the sunlight shone warmly. Using a blanket as a pillow, she forced him to lie down.
It reminded her of when she used to play house with Diana.
“I’m the doctor. Kiryan is the patient.”
“What nonsense. Do you think I’m a kid? You want to play pretend?”
“Patients have to stay quiet. Want me to read you a book?”
When she looked around, she saw an old Bible thrown in a corner. She hurried over and picked it up. Bibles had a way of existing wherever you went.
She blew on it—*whoo*—and the dust scattered like dandelion fluff.
“Hey. Are you ignoring me?”
“Hehe.”
She lay down beside him, placing the Bible upright on her stomach, and began reading line by line.
Kiryan’s eyes touched the book, then drifted away, then returned again. Bored by the Bible, he soon yawned.
“Is it boring?”
“What do you get out of reading something like this? It’s all boring sermons.”
“But the part where the whale charges into the shrine and headbutts it was fun.”
“I don’t know that one. I never read it.”
“They preach twice a month at the shrine, remember?”
“I’ve never been to a shrine.”
“Not even once?”
“Not once.”
“Why? You go when you get baptized.”
“I didn’t get baptized.”
Franz shot upright and stared at him, unable to hide her shock.
Anyone who hadn’t been baptized by age ten was either a pagan or a foreigner. If they were neither, it meant they had been abandoned by the world.
Kiryan stiffened and asked flatly,
“Why? Do you think I’m a demon because I wasn’t baptized?”
“No. You’re as pretty as an angel.”
“W–what? P–pretty?”
Strictly speaking, he wasn’t *pretty* so much as *beautiful*.
His features were strikingly androgynous—handsome anywhere he went. And his golden eyes drew attention like a magnet.
“And the fruit-flavored candy they give at the shrine is so good! If you’ve never gone, that means you’ve never had any!”
“Hah. Candy? Seriously?”
“I learned to read because I wanted candy when I was little. If you recited a Bible verse well, they gave you one.”
“Read…”
Kiryan’s gaze fell on the Bible. Franz asked without malice, the way she had once asked him if the forest belonged to him when they first met.
“You can’t read?”
“…”
If he lied, she’d find out. But admitting it hurt his pride. While he hesitated, Franz asked,
“Want me to teach you?”
She had always wanted to be someone’s teacher. Diana taught her everything in the world, yet Yvonne had nothing to teach Diana in return.
“…”
“I’ll teach you. Okay?”
“Well… if you really want to, I won’t stop you.”
“Great! Just leave it to me!”
Franz opened the Bible and pointed at each alphabet letter one by one.
This is this, that is read like that. Her explanations were messy, but Kiryan focused quickly.
His golden eyes, lowered beneath dark lashes, simmered with the eagerness of someone who had finally found a chance to learn.
Without realizing it, Kiryan studied past lunchtime.
Franz, enjoying the act of teaching, ignored her hunger and stayed close, playing at being an awkward teacher.
“It’ll take you a long time to memorize. I was dumb so it took me about two weeks.”
“I memorized everything.”
“Really?”
“I’m still clumsy at reading, but I know the important parts.”
“Then read this.”
She pointed at a random sentence. Kiryan stumbled through it.
“To those who haave beeen forsaaken by God… e–even with just oone chance, salvation coomes. Right?”
“Yeah! Amazing! Wow… you must be a genius!”
A faint smile appeared on Kiryan’s lips. He sprang up and stretched.
“Let’s go. We really need to go to the village now. I have to get food at the market.”
“Do you have money?”
“If not, I’ll figure something out.”
“How?”
“Just follow me.”
“Okay. But I’m pretty sure you’re a genius. Diana would’ve been amazed.”
“Well, I thought it’d be something difficult, but it’s nothing special.”
Wearing an unusually gentle expression, Kiryan led her outside. Then he noticed she was still missing one shoe and shook his head.
“Just hang in there. Once we get to the village, I’ll steal shoes from someone your size.”
“Fighting is bad.”
“Not where I live, it’s not.”
With a cynical retort, Kiryan navigated the forest path expertly.
As she clumsily pushed through the trees like the day before, Franz chatted endlessly.
“Next time, let’s go to the shrine together to get candy. And when we come back, we’ll read *Lulu’s Ocean Hunt* before bed. For dinner we can have toasted bread with fig jam. Wouldn’t that be great?”
By the time she snapped out of her daydream, they had reached the market.
Strangely, once they passed the shoe stall, Kiryan conjured up a pair that fit Franz perfectly—as if by magic.
He rolled the shoes on the ground to make them look worn and slipped them onto her feet. When she hopped around happily, he gave a dry laugh.
“Wow. Are you a magician?”
“Think whatever you want. Aren’t you hungry?”
“I’m hungry. So hungry I think I could eat a carrot.”
“Follow me.”
When they stepped out of the alley, a heavily crowded street opened before them.
So many people. Even the busiest general store in her village didn’t have this many.
“Don’t get distracted. Stay close, got it?”
She mimicked his expression, only for him to notice immediately. He flicked her forehead.
His fierce face was fun to imitate.
“Not answering? I said stay close.”
“Okay. Don’t worry.”
“Good. Let’s go.”
There were wealthy-looking people, and beggars asking for coins.
When she stopped, feeling sorry for a beggar, Kiryan grabbed her ear and dragged her.
“Ow! That hurts—!”
“Didn’t I tell you not to get distracted?”
“B–but… he looked really hungry.”
“There are people far worse off than him. Don’t mind it.”
“But…”
“No buts. Got it?”
Kiryan drew a hard line. His expression was cold like a frozen winter lake, making her wilt.
“Mmh… okay.”
“One more time and I’ll leave you here. Do you know what happens to kids left alone around here? Without me you can’t get home. You don’t even know the roads, little noble. People here are cruel.”
Terrified by his words, Franz nodded quickly.
She clung carefully to the hem of his clothes, determined never to look away again. Kiryan seemed annoyed but sighed and let it be.
He guided the naive young master through the chaotic crowd with practiced ease.
Franz was nearly swept away multiple times, but each time Kiryan grabbed her wrist and pulled her along, saving her from being lost.
Just then, Kiryan’s eyes sparkled at the sight of a potato stall in the distance.
“Diana!”
Hearing someone shout “Diana,” Franz instinctively let go of his clothing and turned toward the voice.
“Diana. Long time no see. Has it been seven years?”
Nothing special. It wasn’t her sister Diana—just some woman with the same name.
But she couldn’t take her eyes off them. Seeing them reminded her of her mother.
The child shyly hiding behind the woman’s skirt looked like herself.
Suddenly she missed her family. Her mother, her father—how much did they miss her? Did they cry as much as they did when Diana was sick?
Now that she thought of it, was Diana feeling better? Were her parents very angry?
What punishment would she get when she returned? Maybe they’d lock her in her room and give her only one meal a day.
The thought brought a vague but rising fear. What was she supposed to do now? Where should she go? What should she do? She felt she knew nothing—felt utterly lost.
She bit her lip. She didn’t want to cry like a baby anymore. She wanted to be grown-up like Kiryan.
“Kiryan?”
She looked around, but he was nowhere.
Franz quickly plunged into the crowd in the direction he had been going.
“Kiryan!”
Where had he gone?
If he disappeared too, she would truly be alone.
*‘Without me you can’t get home.’*
*‘People here are cruel.’*
His words echoed in her mind.
“Kiryan!”
Where was he? Was he looking for her too? He wouldn’t just leave her, right?
There were too many people—she couldn’t spot him at all.
“Kiryan! It’s me, Franz! I’m right here!”
She prayed her voice would pierce through the noisy market and reach him.
She desperately wanted him to know she was here.
“Crybaby Franz. Don’t cry.”
She bit her lower lip and wiped away the streaming tears. She sniffled hard and tried to dry her eyes.
Kiryan hated tears. If he saw her crying from afar, he might run away in disgust.
“Kiryan. I’m here. Kiiiryan!”
She shouted as loud as she could, but her voice was swallowed by the apple seller’s booming cries.
Her lip trembled.
She had lost Kiryan.
She was… alone.
