Chapter 006
What made Freya endure a grueling day was having Lus by her side.
Though his body was frail, there was a dignified air about him, and because of that, Freya didn’t feel anxious when she was with him.
If Lottie was like a younger sister who needed care, Lus made her feel like he was a friend.
The two sat across from each other in the attic of the orphanage, playing an amusing game.
“So, I’m the father, and you’re the mother.”
“But shouldn’t the man be the father?”
Lus spoke with a frown, as if dissatisfied with the role assignment.
“What’s the problem with who’s the father? The important thing is we’re playing together.”
“Together…?”
“Yes. Come on, let’s shape the clay quickly and make a cake.”
Freya took a lump of clay she had brought from the garden, molded it, and stuck short sticks into it to serve as candles. Lus sat watching her, his cheeks flushed.
“Lus, have you ever seen a cake before?”
“That…”
Lus faltered in his response, so Freya quickly spoke up.
“On a cake, white sugar falls like this.”
She sprinkled fine sand, also brought from the garden, over the clay. And so, the handmade cake was complete.
“Lus, do you think there’ll come a day when I can eat a real cake on my birthday?”
“Freya, when’s your birthday?”
“Oh… when was it? I think in February!”
She recalled a day when she and Lottie had gotten delicious bread.
“Isn’t there a specific day?”
“What’s the best date, you think? I’m thirteen, so let’s make it the 13th.”
“Alright. Freya, starting from your next birthday, cakes will pile up like a mountain in front of you until you can’t eat them all.”
She liked listening to Lus’s childish fantasies, but they also worried her a little.
‘If he’s this detached from reality, how will he endure the harshness of this life?’
“Lus, don’t worry. When I become really strong, I’ll protect you.”
“…What?”
Lus was taken aback by her sudden resolve.
While Freya chewed her fingers and whispered to herself, “Maybe we’ll go to the capital soon.”
Lately, a sense of unease had been gripping her.
What would her life be like in the capital? Would she stay with Lus forever? Nothing was certain.
“Freya, what’s something you wish you could have?”
Lus sometimes asked strange questions. Thanks to those questions, she could occasionally dream of another world.
“I don’t want anything.”
Lus smiled with his sparkling green eyes and said, “If there was a jar full of gold in front of you, and I was next to it, which would you choose?”
A scene of a glittering golden jar and Lus beside it formed in her mind.
The gold looked tempting, but Lus’s shining golden locks stole her gaze even more.
“I like Lus more. As for gold, I’ll earn lots of it later.”
His face flushed slightly, and he reached out to gently touch her cheek.
“Freya, you really…”
Lus sighed, and she smiled broadly.
He seemed shy, which made her laugh even more.
“Think of me as your big sister, Lus.”
She wanted to do anything for him.
* * *
The place where Lus was felt very far from the capital.
In the attic of a dilapidated orphanage, he removed the mask he was used to wearing.
“…I’m exhausted.”
He sat curled up, with no trace of his usual innocence on his face.
His eyes, staring at the dusty window, were clouded with darkness.
‘If only I could lose my memory.’
It was harsh to remain in hiding like this.
‘All this just to stay alive…?’
His original goal was the monastery, not the orphanage. But events had gone awry, and he ended up here, and this place wasn’t as he had imagined.
‘An orphanage built on abusing children?’
And that wasn’t all—it was also a den of every kind of corruption.
‘Devils are everywhere.’
He raised his hand to brush his hair from his forehead, recalling someone who had sat across from him before.
Since arriving, he had known nothing but pain. Depression, lethargy, no appetite, no desire for anything. All he wanted was for time to pass quickly.
‘But she was always bothering me.’
There was a girl who spoke to him and shared her food.
Her presence hadn’t pleased him at first.
‘…Freya.’
She was the one who found him collapsed on the ground. Her feelings toward him from the start weren’t friendly but closer to pity and caution.
‘But that piqued my curiosity.’
She reached out to him repeatedly, even though he hid like a corpse.
‘Even in this state, she still treats me kindly?’
The strange thing was that Freya saw him as someone who needed her protection.
Her clear, warm gaze… no one had ever looked at him like that before.
He wasn’t sure of his feelings, but he loved Freya.
‘It’s rare for someone to say I’m worth more than gold.’
He washed his face with his hands, recalling that day.
Her words weren’t a confession, but his heart—having passed the age of adulthood—beat faster in a way different from hers.
‘Freya, you’re my only one.’
She was the one who held his hand when he was about to fall into the abyss.
‘I won’t let go of your hand, no matter what.’
“Lus, what are you doing here?”
He snapped out of his reverie at Freya’s voice, as she carried a pile of wool for knitting in her arms. He hid his somber face and said shyly, “I was waiting for you.”
“What’s that? You look like a puppy waiting for its owner.”
“Now I’m a puppy?”
She laughed a little, and he loved seeing that smiling face.
* * *
Since the morning, chaos had engulfed the orphanage because of a man who came to buy furniture.
The long tables and chairs were taken from the dining hall, and the children’s beds were removed one by one.
Only a few things remained in Sophia’s room.
“You’re really lucky to buy these things so cheaply.”
Sophia spoke with a grim face as she collected the money.
After that commotion, the orphanage felt desolate.
“Lus, I think there’s no one here today.”
The stern uncle didn’t appear, nor did the cranky old woman in the kitchen. Even Sophia had gone out to a small party.
…Then thunder roared, followed by a torrent of rain striking the orphanage’s windows.
Freya shivered slightly, and Lus teased with a smile, “You say ghosts don’t scare you, and now you’re afraid of a little rain?”
“I’m not afraid of the rain, but when the sky flashes and makes those sounds, it bothers me.”
She spoke softly, and he smiled at her.
After a while, they grabbed a candle and climbed to the attic.
“It’ll be better here.”
The cramped attic was warmer than the empty rooms.
They sat close together, looking at each other.
“You know? The day I was left here, it was raining. Maybe that’s why I don’t like rain.”
Freya whispered as if revealing a secret. Lus reached out and took her hand.
“When it rains, I’ll stay with you. Forever.”
Freya surrendered to his sweet voice, beginning to feel drowsy.
It felt like luck had finally hidden something good for her.
* * *
All the cooking and cleaning duties fell to her alone.
She ran around all day until she felt out of breath, yet she never satisfied Sophia.
‘At times like these, I need to be cautious.’
Freya knew Sophia’s temperament well and tried not to provoke her anger. But Sophia, who often turned to liquor, was always on edge.
She criticized her food or complained about poor cleaning.
‘You expect me to eat this?!’
She shouted, flipping the potato soup onto the floor.
Freya gathered the spilled soup and dishes without apologizing.
‘This was all the ingredients I had.’
She knew justifying herself would only bring more yelling.
That day, Sophia grew angry because Freya had brushed her hair a bit roughly.
“You can’t even do this right? Are you deliberately insulting me?”
She snatched the comb and threw it to the floor with force.
Freya trembled as she watched the comb roll near the fireplace, but what worried her more was Lus.
She didn’t want him to see this scene. He was sitting in the corner, his fist clenched as if he were about to jump to her aid.
‘Lus, don’t look at me now.’
His skin was too delicate, and if the comb hit him, he’d be injured.
It was enough for her alone to bear Sophia’s cruelty. Since childhood, she had grown used to her punishments, and they no longer shook her much.
“Aunt, I’m sorry.”
She pleaded, and Lus inched forward.
She sent him repeated signals to stay where he was.
“Aunt, I’ll do better next time.”
“And why don’t you do it right from the start? Oh, right, how can I expect anything from a rootless child like you?”
Sophia didn’t stop pouring her anger on her.
The situation escalated, and Lus could no longer hold back. He sprang up, shielding Freya, and shouted loudly, “Enough, please!”
Sophia was stunned for a moment, then grabbed a broom and hurled it at them.
“Oh! Now you’re both daring to defy me together?”
Her eyes gleamed with madness as she reached for something else on the table.
