The small village has become a mire since early morning.
It was all because the Imperial knights suddenly came in and searched the whole town.
It was so early that the knights who knocked on the door before people could get out of their bed, searched all over the bedroom as well as the attic and the barn, but no one in the village knew what they were looking for.
However, they could barely hear the words ‘egg’, ‘dragon’ and ‘child’ at the end of the knights’ words.
But no one knew what was happening.
“He has black hair and purple eyes and looks like a five-year-old child. There’s a pair of wings on his back, so you’ll easily recognize it.”
A knight, who had been called in by the village chief, glared at the village chief with a scary look.
“Well, there’s no such child in this town.”
“If you keep it hidden and get caught, we’ll burn this whole village.”
Baron Lushen’s eyes, with a bandage all over his face, were so grim as if he would tear the village chief to death.
He’s still unmarried in his early thirties.
The oldest Baron family’s heir, who had been the most popular in society recently, is now ugly after being burned by a strong fire.
He wasn’t originally a violent character.
He was rumoured to be a gentle and polite man.
But he was no more of that figure.
He was still in terrible pain, and above all, he was haunted by the fear of Grand Duke Ernest.1
It’s so called dead end.
When a person is driven to a dead end, he or she becomes violent.
It’s already been two or three days since Lushen was burned by the dragon’s flames.
He devoted himself to treatment for four days, and began searching the village three days ago.
Fortunately, when he returned to the military camp with burns, Grand duke Ernest had returned to the capital.
Because Grand Duke Ernest, could not stay away from the capital for a long time, entrusted all his work to Lushen and returned to the capital, he was able to hide the fact that he had missed the dragon that had been awakened from the egg.
It was a good thing that happened.
After four days of treatment for the burns, enduring the tremendous pain, Lushen went straight into the search when he was able to move his body.
From three days ago, all villages around this area were searched.
He didn’t leave out a single remote house that was sparsely separated from the village.
The child said,”I have to go back.”
It was clear that having to go back meant that there was a house nearby, and that house was hiding the child.
They must be hiding the child in a house somewhere in a nearby village.
That’s what Lushen guessed.
“I’m telling you, a child with purple eyes. There’s no way there’s a child like that.”
The bearded chief’s eyes were genuinely frightened.
It didn’t seem to be a lie.
‘We need to search another town.’
It was a little child.
He fired a terrible fire, but his wings were small.
It couldn’t have flown far with that wings.
Obviously it’s around here.
“Write down all the locations of houses that don’t belong to the village and are a little far away. Especially a house with a child.”
Lushen’s eyes were shining brightly.
It was the strong eyes of a man who did not know giving up.
***
Today was a strange morning.
Adele, as usual, has been feeding her cows hay and water before sunrise.
There was a lot to do before breakfast.
Light the oven, put the pot on it, and go out to the yard to clean the chicken coop until the water boils in the pot.
And when the water in the pot boils, boil the stew for breakfast and take the bread out of the oven.
After setting bread, butter and bowls for stew on the table, Adele went out.
Around the fence, collect all the eggs that the chickens and ducks had laid here and there, and then milk the cows.
Usually, she had to fill about ten bottles of milk so that she could eat late at the end of her morning routine.
And in front of Adele, a pretty dress was presented which she had never seen before.
“Isn’t it really pretty?”
Her aunt laughed with a look that Adele had never seen.
Adele had never seen her aunt smile at her like this since she came here.
Her aunt smiled only when she came to the orphanage to see her.
Today, for the first time in nine years, her aunt smiled sweetly at Adele.
“Try it on. Of course, it would be perfect without trying it on. I have a good eye, don’t you think?”
‘What kind of wind is blowing that my aunt is treating me so kindly?’1
“You should have breakfast before you try on your clothes, right? Come sit here. Oh, you should eat your breakfast with your family. Don’t you think, honey?”
When the aunt looked at her husband, the uncle grinned and nodded.
“Of course. From today, Adele, you’re going to have breakfast too.”
‘What the hell happened?
Did a fairy came down overnight and make my uncle and aunt nice?’
“Anna. You take Adele after the meal and trim her hair, what’s this? And Mina, you take care of Adele’s nails. The underneath the nails are too dark.”
The roughness of the hair is due to working under the sun all day long, and the darkness of the fingernails is all about touching the soil and hay.
It’s always like this, but Adele was more anxious because she couldn’t figure out why her aunt is doing this today.
She was well aware that people don’t change suddenly, and she was anxious to know that her aunt wasn’t that kind of person.
“Don’t do anything else today, Adele.”
“But aunt, the hay is almost dead and I have to cut the grass and dry it.”
“It’s alright. Your uncle will take care of drying the hay.”
“Of course. A man should do such a thing. Don’t do such a thing anymore, Adele.”
Miller quickly responded to his wife words.
The eyes of the two exchanged were suspicious.
Anna and Mina were laughing as if they knew everything.
The eyes were so fishy that a piece of bread in her mouth did not go over.
Even though it was a food that she ate comfortably at the table, her mouth and throat was stuffy.
Thanks to them Adele had to drink three cups of water.
***
“That stupid thing is really useful. You really don’t know people’s business, honey.”
Mrs. Miller who was in a better mood, hums.
Mrs. Miller was having tea with her husband after she forced Adele into Anna’s room, saying she had to go to pick up the hay after eating.
“To take such a skinny and insignificant bitch with that high price. I don’t know if that old man’s mind is going back and forth because he’s old. You won’t talk anything about it later, will you?”
“The other thing is. If you get money and exchange what you want with each other, it ends.”
Miller laughed greedily.
“But honey.”
The smile disappeared from Mrs. Miller’s lips as she watched her husband’s smile.
With fierce eyes Mrs. Miller glared at her husband.
“Don’t even think about touching the money. If you take the money and go to the gambling table again, I’m really going to throw you out this time.”
“Oh, I won’t. What’s wrong with me now that I’m done gambling.”
Miller, who was hit in the chest, coughed and avoided his wife’s gaze.
“I’m warning you, if you touch the money one more time, I’ll cut that fingers off and feed it to you, so take care of it.”
With the terrifying words, Mrs. Miller put a cup of tea on her lips.
“Just keep an eye on her because she shouldn’t be running away. Because he said he’d pick her up tomorrow.”
“Why?”
“How much are you going to get?”
“What are you going to do with it?”
“But I still wonder. Are you going to get about thirty silver coins?”
“Don’t worry.”
As she drank tea from the teacup, Mrs. Miller think hard in her mind.
She didn’t tell her husband but it was five gold coins, not silver, that decided to hand over Adele over.
Thirty silver coins is a great win, but he put twenty more silver coins on five gold coins.
Five gold coins and twenty silver coins are enough to sell this old house and ranch and move to the capital.
Once she go to the capital and take over a small grocery store, at least it will be much better than milking the cows in the old ranch.
And her two daughters, Anna and Mina, are quite beautiful.
If Anna and Mina are well-decorated and let into society, they may get a husband of high status, such as a nobleman or a rich man.
Then the fate unfolds.
What can be left after obtaining a son-in-law in a similar situation in such a country?
They must go to the capital no matter what.
The capital is even better.
At any cost, if they dig between the dear wives of the capital and make Anna and Mina stand out, then Anna and Mina will get a good son-in-law and make her rich.
“Very good…”
Mrs. Miller smiled a pleased smile.
She was lucky.
-I’d like to have your niece as my concubine.
She thought it was a joke when the town’s most miserly old man said this to her.
The old man was over seventy years old and had already renewed his wife four times.4
The new wives were kicked out after a few years.
The old man said that his young wife smoked a lot, but all the villagers knew that if he got tired of taking the young girls, he would kicked them out with such excuses.
The old man, who had never spent money except for the dowry of a young virgin, was so nasty that everyone hated him.
Such an old hateful man asked Mrs. Miller for Adele as his wife just yesterday.
Added that he gave enough money.
For Mrs. Miller that was the most important thing. Enough money.
What is more important than money in the world?
Money is the best.
‘If we decorate her well and make her pretty, maybe the old man will come up with a little more silver.’3
Mrs. Miller smiled with greedy eyes.
Unaware of the calculations, Miller contemplated how to divert the money without his wife’s knowledge.
If she receive about thirty silver coins, she won’t know even if he steal about five.
In this way, the couple hid each other’s greed and savored a smile inside.