Chapter 37
“Hah, you idiot?! You don’t have parents either, you know!”
Although Aris retorted without backing down, her eyes were already brimming with tears.
“I’m different from you! My dad promised that once he earns a lot of money and buys a house, he’ll definitely come pick me up later!”
“You believe that? That’s just what adults say when they abandon their kids here. Aren’t you already over ten years old? Don’t you know that yet?”
Aris fired back before the friend could even answer.
She seemed furious that her own wound had been touched so carelessly.
“W-what….”
When her straightforward hit made the red-haired friend start sniffling too, the surrounding atmosphere instantly froze coldly.
“Now, now. All the friends here are special and precious. You shouldn’t fight with each other.”
Yvienne hurriedly stepped between them, first sitting the sniffling red-haired friend on her lap and began to soothe her.
But…….
“But you, Aris, you’ve never even seen your mom and dad’s faces!”
“……!”
“My dad comes to see me once a month, at least!”
……
Wow.
This is a real problem.
“Sniff….”
Right then, from the group of boys with Theodor, sounds of sobbing also began to be heard.
Looking to the side, a boy with a bright red face, deeply bowing his head, could be seen.
‘That kid… he was the one who was hanging from Theodor’s arm and climbing on him excitedly just a while ago?’
And it wasn’t just that boy.
All the children around had become sullen, staring down at their own toes.
It seemed the girls’ squabble had been heard all the way over there.
“Ahaha, kids, why don’t we go play something fun together again?”
Just as Yvienne, sweating coldly alone, was trying to salvage the situation.
Theodor, who had been silently watching the situation, set down the child he was holding in his arms and walked over to Aris and the red-haired friend, who were still in a staring match.
“I’m also from this orphanage.”
“……What?”
The girls’ eyes widened at Theodor’s words.
*A knight who shines like that… is from the same orphanage as us?*
“I became an orphan at an even much younger age than all of you.”
Ah….
Hearing that, Yvienne let out a short sigh inwardly.
*Whirr.*
The pages of the original story flipped in her mind.
The sudden fire.
The child who survived amidst everything turned to ashes.
A mere three-year-old, who survived in the fire.
As if blessed by the gods.
People chattered that such a miracle was possible only because Theodor was a Stigma Bearer, blessed by the divine mark of the goddess Flulla.
—Theodor, the only way to wash away the sinful blood that taints your parents and your soul is to devote yourself to the goddess Flulla and overcome the trials of fate. Do not forget this, always remember it.
—Consider your parents’ death as the will of the gods. That was the fate given to you and your parents.
“You too, Sir Knight…?”
The children’s eyes turned towards the radiant knight.
Glimmering at the corners of their eyes were faint threads of hope.
“Yes. So all of you can become anything too. Whether the driving force is resentment, or a determination to definitely escape this old downtown district, it’s all fine.”
*Tap.*
Theodor’s hands landed, one each, on the heads of the two girls who had just been fighting.
“However, don’t blame yourselves.”
It was then that Yvienne saw Theodor’s gaze waver for the first time.
‘Yes, that’s exactly the image of Theodor Reitner I knew before I entered this world.’
A tragic Stigma Bearer who lost his parents at a young age and was taken in by the Holy Nation.
A holy knight who overcame past pain and fears no danger to uphold his convictions.
Didn’t original readers tend to easily open their hearts to characters with poignant backstories and sad auras?
‘Commonly called the “one-shot” characters.’
Yvienne was one of those readers.
“You brats, you were all gathered here! It’s time for the Saintess’s sermon! Everyone, get inside to the hall!”
*Bang!*
As the well-built orphanage director, who appeared by nearly breaking the back door open, shouted, the children gathered in the backyard all rushed into the building at once.
Aris and the red-haired girl, who had been arguing in front of Theodor, also bowed their heads politely and followed the crowd inside.
As the children all cleared out at once, the backyard, which had been noisy all along, instantly became quiet like an empty lot in a flash.
Only two people remained.
“…….”
Yvienne quietly rolled her eyes.
She was thinking about how to handle this.
‘In times like this, disappearing as quickly as possible is the best move.’
“Well then, I’ll be on my…”
*Bow.*
Just as she bowed to Theodor and was about to turn around.
“What scheme are you up to now?”
A quiet voice sounded from behind her.
“Huh? What… scheme?”
“A necromancer doing volunteer work at an orphanage?”
He’s picking a fight, bringing up necromancy again.
I was just trying to quietly disappear, but.
*Sigh.*
Yvienne let out a short sigh and turned to face him.
“It’s already been revealed that I have no connection to the Cory incident… I don’t understand why you keep treating me and my family like criminals.”
“It hasn’t been completely revealed yet.”
“Surely, you don’t think the disappearance of the bodies is my family’s doing, do you?”
“There’s room for doubt.”
Tired of the continued suspicion, Yvienne felt utterly fed up.
“Ah, yes, yes. I see. Well then, I have to finish moving the laundry I was handling, so I’ll be going first.”
There’s no point arguing here with this stubborn man.
Feeling fatigued, Yvienne picked up the laundry basket that had been spread on the ground.
And the moment she was about to move her steps towards the wash area.
*Whoosh!*
“Eek!”
Something grabbed her arm, causing her body to be yanked backward.
*Stumble.*
Her body swayed greatly, and the basket slipped from her hand.
“Whoa?”
The next moment, a cold sensation was felt on the back of her head as she flailed her arms precariously in the air.
“……!”
Yvienne opened her eyes as wide as a rabbit’s and looked up.
She was now nestled against Theodor’s chest.
She tried to free herself from his arm but couldn’t move.
‘Trapped.’
For a moment, it felt as if the fingers of Theodor’s hand wrapped around her waist were subtly exerting strength.
“T-this, could you let go of this arm first?”
“Ah.”
After a brief silence, the holy knight’s hand that had been touching her waist fell away.
The man, now a step away from her, had a slightly apologetic look in his eyes.
He had grabbed her arm in haste to stop her from turning away, but it seemed he hadn’t controlled his strength as intended.
“……My apologies. I didn’t mean to grab you so hard.”
“Ah, yes.”
What’s this.
Grabbing me so roughly as if he was about to scold me, and then suddenly apologizing.
Feeling burdened by the holy knight’s gaze silently boring into her, Yvienne pointlessly cast her eyes towards the distant mountains.
“…….”
“…….”
The ears of the two, illuminated by the sunset, were particularly red.
The one who broke the strange silence first was Theodor.
“The Saintess is also here. If you make even the slightest suspicious move, you and your twin brothers won’t get off unharmed.”
“The place is swarming with Holy Nation soldiers… and commoners are coming and going all over. What are you so worried about? Even if they were demons, they wouldn’t act recklessly in a place like this. Of course, not that we are demons.”
You say you’re not demons?
Theodor tilted his head slightly as he looked at Yvienne’s plump red lips reciting her piece confidently.
“Then why do you keep appearing, acting coy?”
……In front of my eyes.
He didn’t utter the latter part.
He just looked down at her with his black eyes.
The emotion tinged in his gaze was closer to longing rather than wariness.
What I want is not your innocence, Yvienne Kinselo.
Cause trouble, commit a sin, prove the wickedness of your family.
So I can lock you behind iron bars again.
—Theodor. Your parents… became part of the army of the dead led by a necromancer.
—The only way to wash away the sinful blood that taints your parents and your soul is to devote yourself to the goddess Flulla and overcome the trials of fate.
The Kinselo family—a demonic lineage that bestowed upon him a long, agonizing time, like a horrific plague.
She is a woman born of that seed.
Therefore, she must be a demon.
That is…….
It must be without a doubt.
So the only emotion I hold towards this woman is anger.
That… must be all.
“Sir Reitner, I am…”
The slender wrist of the woman trying to recite her excuses didn’t even fill a handful in the knight’s rough hand.
Just as Theodor was quietly gazing at Yvienne’s face, not missing the delicate, sprout-like sensation he felt in his own hand.
“Well, well. Who do we have here.”
Like sticky candy rolling, a slow, smooth voice rolled in, breaking the taut tension between the two.
Even without looking back, Yvienne felt she knew who owned that voice.
‘Of all times, now.’
Theodor frowned slightly between his brows, then slowly turned his head towards the direction of the sound.
There stood a man who had climbed to the highest position a human could reach on earth based on lineage alone, looking down at the two with a haughty gaze as if shooting daggers at them.
“The most esteemed holy knight of the Holy Nation, Theodor Reitner, is it not?”
Theodor released Yvienne’s wrist and bowed respectfully towards the Emperor.
A voice laced with sarcasm flew towards Yvienne, who, flustered, quickly followed suit and bowed her head deeply.
“My, the youngest daughter of the Kinselo family as well.”
The gaze landing on top of her head felt particularly stinging.
‘…I was just coincidentally caught, though.’
Why her heart was pounding anxiously like a child caught doing something bad, she truly couldn’t fathom.
“What’s this, were the two of you having fun, and did I interrupt?”
