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Chapter 62
The bookstore owner’s hand could not stop and he was about to slap Elisha, a Rubellin knight, who was waiting in front of the door, quickly approached and grabbed his wrist. In a low voice, he threatened the man.
“What kind of act are you committing now? Don’t be rash.”
It was then that the owner saw the emblem engraved on the knight’s uniform. He was astonished, wasn’t that the coat of arms of Duke Rubellin?
Seeing that, the hot-tempered abruptness of the owner suddenly subsided. He shuddered and lowered his hand.
“Oh my gosh, there are so many thieves like this, so I acted without thinking, I will stop… I ended up showing the Madam an ugly sight. I apologize.”
The owner rubbed his hands together as if he hadn’t acted impulsively at all, and bowed down to Elisha. Nevertheless, the eyes looking at the child in Elisha’s arms were still cold.
“But you shouldn’t cover him up. If you do them this favor, it will happen again next time. You have to scold them and kick them out.”
The child crouched down and trembled, perhaps feeling the bookstore owner’s gaze even after being hidden in Elisha’s arms.
Recognizing it, Elisha hugged the child tightly as if protecting the child from him.
“This book, I will pay for it. How much is it?”
“Uh-huh, what I mean is… If this guy does this again after this incident, it will cause damage to me, ma’am.”
The owner frowned and had a troubled expression. As he spoke, his eyes gleamed with greed. Nobles did not hesitate to spend large sums of money, rather, they used to show off their wealth by spending more than necessary.
The owner was thinking of taking advantage of this opportunity to take a large sum of money.
‘Since you’re such a rich family, you’ll give me more money and clean it up rather than arguing about annoying things.’
How much would a rich family like hers give him? While he was salivating at the thought of money, words completely different from what he expected came out of Elisha’s mouth.
“Damage… Isn’t it rather beneficial?”
“Pardon?”
“The owner was doing other things in the back there. If I didn’t catch this kid, wouldn’t he have just fled with the book?”
“Th- that’s right, however…”
“If this child had succeeded in stealing today, he might have succeeded in stealing again and stolen several books next time.”
She discreetly pointed out the owner’s behavior, and that she knew he wanted to scam her for something that had not been her fault, by directing the conversation toward his own failure to take care of his store.
The owner, who had thought that Elisha would gladly pay a little more and finish it, was bewildered by the sharp point. Then, as if he had ever said anything out of line, he slowly lowered his head.
“Th- that’s true. Ma’am helped me!”
“I will discipline this child, so ring up the book.”
“Ma’am is as kind as her beautiful appearance.”
Elisha ignored the shallow flattering and looked at Anne. She approached the counter with a pocket of gold coins. The owner, disappointed, received exactly the price of the book.
“Then take a look and come back again, madam.”
Elisha left the bookstore with the child without even looking at the crooked owner.
As soon as the child left the bookstore, he grabbed the book and tried to run away. But the knight quickly caught him.
“Hey, what are you doing?”
Elisha sat down and made eye contact with the child.
“Who told you to bring the book?”
The child tried to flee with the book in the absence of the owner’s store. A child as young as four or five years old at most would not have thought of stealing on his own. Surely someone must have ordered the child.
Books were not expensive items for nobles, but for the poor commoners, they were expensive goods that they could only buy with their total salary of an entire month. With all of their other expenses they need to pay for, most commoners aren’t willing to spend their money on books.
Yet, the child kept his mouth shut.
Growl~ The child’s stomach roared in response.
Elisha, staring at the child’s face, who was gazing at her without knowing what to do, spoke to Anne.
“Anne, can you go to the nearby bakery and buy me some bread?”
“Yes.”
The bakery wasn’t too far away. She came back with soft, yummy bread and milk.
“Come on, eat.”
Elisha handed a loaf of bread to the boy. Perhaps the child was too hungry, he hastily grabbed the bread and began to eat it, forgetting the wariness he had kept until just before.
‘You must have starved even though you’re so young…’
His skinny body and pitiful appearance made Elisha’s heart sink.
She waved the bread still in the envelope in front of the child and tried to talk.
“Kid, what’s your name?”
The child, who was chewing bread, saw the remaining bread in Elisha’s hand and replied in a small voice.
“…Leon.”
Elisha’s eyes trembled when she heard the name.
Leon Kairot.
It was the name of Harness’ rival, and it was the name of the male lead in the novel 『Bird Cage』
At the same time, on the way to the bookstore, I remembered the knights of the Imperial Family I had seen in the plaza.
‘Come to think of it, the original story said that Leon was chased by mercenaries sent by Rose when he was young.’
The male protagonist’s ill-fated past is an essential setting in almost all romance novels. Leon’s tragic past was described in more detail than usual, especially since it left him with horrific trauma.
‘Leon, who was being chased by mercenaries who were trying to kill him, reached a dead end, and his ability was manifested, but he could not control it and burned a nearby village.’
Thanks to that, the Imperial Family discovered that Leon had inherited the family’s ability and took him in, and Rose, who tried to kill Leon, failed in the process.
However, Leon, who was isolated inside an unfamiliar place like the Imperial Palace, suffers from the guilt of killing many people and the threat of murder coming from all directions. Eventually, he grew up as a Crown Prince who lacked humanity.
When I recalled that lonely childhood, a person came to mind.
‘Richard was the same, too…”
Richard was also threatened by Albert’s schemes from an early age, and he entered the guild to survive and grew up doing rough things. His childhood seemed to overlap with the child in front of her. So Elisha was even more heartbroken.
“You answered well, so I’ll give you this as well.”
Elisha handed the bag of bread she was holding to Leon. It was the price of an answer. As soon as the child was handed the bread, he began to eat in a rush.
Elisha was lost in thought, waiting for the child to finish eating the bread so that he would not have an upset stomach.
‘I can’t leave Leon like this.’
At this time, Leon’s biological mother had already died, and Leon was living alone on the streets. If she leaves him alone, he would be chased by mercenaries sent by Rose and would burn a whole village just like in the original.
For the sake of Leon and the innocent villagers, she couldn’t leave him like that.
‘But, can I really take him back to the Duchy with me…’
There was no justification to take him and convince Richard why they should raise the child, and above all, if the Imperial Family found out, things would get complicated.
‘But I can’t send Leon to another region.’
The place where the original story begins was Akaroa archipelago. But if the male lead, Leon, escaped Akaroa now, she did not know what unexpected changes to the story it would make.
‘Um… what should I… ah!’
In Elisha’s head, as she was contemplating how to change the future, a suitable place came to mind. A place where he could avoid the mercenaries without leaving Akaroa.
A sanctuary acknowledged by Imperial law so that no Emperor could invade it. And the only person with the ability to control Leon’s power is also there.
Elisha reached out to the child.
“Leon, would you like to come with me?”
Then Leon looked wary again and muttered as he slowly backed away.
“My mom said I shouldn’t follow someone I don’t know…”
At an age where he should still look at the world with pure eyes, the look of a child being wary at every move made Elisha’s heart feel saddened and proud at the same time.
‘I can’t believe such a cute child came from Christian’s… well, it’s such a miracle.’
Elisha looked into the bright eyes of the child with her own soft eyes and came up with a way to win the child’s trust.
“You’re smart, Leon. You look a lot like your mother.”
“You know my mom?”
“Of course, I was friends with your mom. Her name is Seira, right?”
Of course, Elisha had never met Seira, but she remembered the male lead’s mother’s name. It was something she knew from reading the original novel.
“Mom’s friend..”
As expected, Leon visibly loosened his guard after hearing his mother’s name. Elisha did not miss the opportunity and reached out to the child once more.
“Ngh! So I’m going to take Leon to a good place. If you go there, you won’t have to do bad things. I’ll give you clean clothes, and a delicious meal.”
“Um…”
“Do you want to come with me?”
Leon stared intently at Elisha’s face, who had a soft smile and her outstretched hand. Although she did not resemble his mother, her face reminded him of his longing for his mother.
Leon gently placed his hand on Elisha’s hand. Seeing that, Elisha smiled broadly and hugged Leon lightly.
“Good choice, Leon.”
Leon, held by Elisha, blinked in confusion. It was the first time he had been hugged by someone since his mother died. All the other adults he had met had only cursed at him or threatened to hit him.
The warmth he felt after a long time was cozy. To the point where he couldn’t help but smile widely. Leon carefully hugged Elisha’s neck. She had a nice scent he had never smelled before.
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“Sir Sert put this child in the wagon.”
Elisha ordered the knight next to her. Then she told the driver and the knights of Rubellin who were waiting for her,
“Let’s stop by the temple.”
(e/n: (╥_╥) I really want her to take him home with her)
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