Chapter: 08
Before the carriage disappeared completely, I quietly raised my middle finger.
‘Yeah, right. What a load of crap.’
If I had really been nothing more than a little child, the vicious abuse Baron Puterio had hurled at me would have left scars deep enough to become a lifelong trauma.
But I was a twelve-year-old with memories of a past life.
My previous life’s mental shield was more than enough to deflect insults like those.
“Sysrein, we need to wash our ears. We just met a man who talks as if he’s spewing filth from his mouth.”
I said cheerfully as I gently rubbed Sysrein’s ears with my hands.
“Eww. Gross, gross.”
‘Still… something feels off.’
That man’s appearance itself was strange.
‘This definitely wasn’t an episode from the original story.’
If it had been, I would have prepared for it. But no matter how hard I searched my memories, there had never been a scene where he came to the forest.
Still, what was done was done. The best thing now was to find a solution.
‘…Marquis Corel.’
Though he had only been a minor extra in the original story, I remembered him because he had a rather unusual character setting.
‘He was an extreme hypochondriac. And a germaphobe on top of that.’
He constantly badgered physicians over every little concern about his health, and his fear of illness had developed into severe mysophobia.
He even changed gloves every single time after shaking someone’s hand, and his anxiety was so severe that he sometimes suffered panic attacks.
‘If I remember correctly, he and Baron Puterio had dealt in slave trading together a few times.’
That explained it.
Instead of asking the lord of Perdes—where his business was located—to settle the dispute, Baron Puterio had insisted on summoning Lord Corel from this region instead.
‘At this rate… we don’t have much chance tomorrow.’
“…Are you okay?”
I pushed my thoughts aside and turned to Sysrein.
Maybe it was because he was soaked, but his whole body was trembling like an aspen leaf.
Just seeing the terror on his face made my chest ache.
Baron Puterio’s cruel words echoed in my mind once again.
“Sometimes a child is nothing more than the ‘waste product’ of someone’s lust.”
…How many times had Sysrein been forced to hear such heartless insults?
If he’d been trapped with a man whose tongue was as sharp as a honed blade, even I would have ended up with my self-esteem crushed into the dirt.
Suddenly, I remembered what Sysrein had said when we first met.
“I’m dirty.”
“If you talk to me… you’ll become dirty too.”
…Just imagining the kinds of things he must have heard all his life made my chest throb painfully.
As I gently stroked his back, he whispered softly,
“Are you okay, Anette?”
Even in a situation like this, Sysrein was worried about me first.
Even though he himself was trembling.
“I’m fine!”
“I’m fine too, Anette.”
Sysrein… if you’re scared, it’s okay to say you’re scared.
You’re just a child. You’re allowed to.
I continued patting him gently, trying to comfort him.
Then, unexpectedly, he murmured,
“Maybe… I should go back into the cave.”
“…Huh?”
“If I stay there… no one can take me away.”
At that moment, I finally understood why Sysrein had hidden inside that cave.
It wasn’t simply because his heightened senses had driven him there.
He had believed it was safe.
A place where the people who hurt him couldn’t reach him.
Inside that cramped, filthy, lonely cave…
He had actually felt at peace.
My heart grew heavy.
“No.”
I cupped his cheeks firmly with both hands and looked straight into his eyes.
“I’ll never leave you alone in that dark place again.”
‘Wow… I totally sounded like one of those obsessive male leads just now.’
“From now on, you’re staying with me, Sys.”
His ruby-red eyes trembled.
“…Together… forever?”
“Yep!”
I gave him the brightest smile I could.
His ears instantly turned bright red.
Trying to hide his handsome face, he lowered his head and answered quietly,
“…Okay.”
‘Aww… he’s so adorable.’
I winked confidently.
“That’s right. So just trust me!”
That afternoon, Heinrich and I headed to the incinerator.
This was where all the forest’s trash was burned, so even the trees normally stayed well away from the area.
“…Sis, do we really have to go this far?”
Heinrich still looked thoroughly displeased as he clasped both hands behind his head.
“We should just hand that beast over to the baron already.”
“Heinrich, you shouldn’t say such mean things.”
“Why not?!”
“Because he’s our friend.”
“Tch. Since when was he our friend…”
He muttered under his breath, his violet eyes glimmering.
“I don’t want to be friends with him… Besides, Sis, you like that brat way too much.”
Smiling, I grabbed both of Heinrich’s hands.
“Anyway, thank you for coming with me.”
“…!”
His soft, mochi-like cheeks twitched.
Then they quickly turned pink like a perfectly ripe peach.
“Hmph. You don’t have to thank me for something so obvious.”
Heinrich effortlessly climbed over a wire fence more than twice his height before leaping down.
“Ah! Be careful!”
Thud.
He landed gracefully, dusted off his hands, and unlocked the gate from the inside.
As I walked in, I didn’t forget to shower the little guy with praise.
“I knew I could count on you, Heinrich~”
He puffed up with pride like a kitten that had just caught its very first mouse.
‘Goodness, our little baby is just too cute…!’
Smiling, I entered the incinerator and immediately gathered together all of the newspapers from the past month before sitting down to read them.
What I was looking for were articles about Baron Puterio or the Perdes region.
Baron Puterio was a fairly well-known figure in the area and owned a large-scale slave trading business.
If anything significant had happened recently, it would certainly have made the news.
‘It’s still strange that he suddenly came all the way to the forest… just to retrieve one little child.’
Fifty million gold was certainly a fortune.
But his slave business generated enormous profits.
Was it really worth traveling all this way, arguing with Lady Mimosa—who was famous for being difficult—and even summoning a regional lord over it?
…Something just didn’t add up.
“Huh?”
Then one headline caught my eye.
“Deadly ‘Marel’ Epidemic Sweeps Through Perdes. A Demon’s Curse?”
‘So there’s an epidemic.’
The article explained that the Lord of Perdes had sealed the borders and prohibited commoners from traveling between regions.
‘If an epidemic is spreading… then the slave trade must have taken a huge hit.’
Who would buy a human slave from a plague-infested region?
Sure enough…
“Perdes Slave Trade Faces Bankruptcy. Baron Puterio Appeals for Public Assistance.”
‘Bankruptcy!’
Now everything finally made sense.
That was why he’d traveled all the way to this remote countryside, threatening us over one little child and demanding fifty million gold.
Once a business develops a hole in its finances…
It can collapse almost overnight.
“Hmm.”
A small smile spread across my face.
“I finally figured out how to keep Sysrein from being taken away.”
“Huh? Really?”
Heinrich tilted his head, raising an eyebrow with genuine curiosity.
Standing proudly atop a stack of cardboard boxes with my arms crossed, I grinned.
“Yep. I just thought of something very, very naughty.”
“…Something naughty?”
“I’m not giving our Sysrein to anyone.”
I narrowed my eyes like an obsessive male lead from a dark romance novel.
If everything went according to my plan…
Tomorrow, Marquis Corel would rule in Lady Mimosa’s favor.
As for what that plan was…
The next morning.
The aroma of fresh bread drifted through the air.
In the kitchen, the children sat huddled together, kneading dough.
“Anette! Look! I made this!”
Julian held out a lump of bread dough with sparkling lake-blue eyes.
“Wow, you did a great job.”
I smiled warmly.
“Is it a monster, Julian?”
The large eyes beneath his fluffy blond hair immediately became watery.
“…I-It’s supposed to be Anette…”
‘Such profound artistic expression.’
“Oh! Now that I look at it again, it really does look just like me~”
Julian, who had looked crestfallen a moment ago, instantly beamed as brightly as the morning sun.
Whenever distinguished guests visited, it had long been a tradition in the forest for the children to help prepare the food.
Today was the day of the summary hearing requested by Baron Puterio, who was claiming ownership of Sysrein.
The important word was summary.
Ordinarily, everyone would have gone to the marquis’s estate for an official trial.
But because the forest’s existence was kept secret from the outside world, Marquis Corel had agreed to come personally instead.
That was why, from early morning, both the marquis’s secretary and Baron Puterio’s secretary had visited the forest, even informing the staff of their masters’ personal tastes and preferences.
The menu included whole roast duck, clam chowder, soft bread, and seasonal fruit.
Everything had been prepared without the slightest omission.
Finally, just before the hearing began…
I met with Sysrein.
“Sys… you’re really nervous.”
The boy kept his crimson eyes fixed on the floor, unable to raise his gaze.
‘He couldn’t even make eye contact with Baron Puterio before.’
To Sysrein, the baron was a monster.
A man who constantly abused him with cruel words, tormented him mercilessly, and had even made him terrified of water.
Of course, simply looking him in the eye would require tremendous courage.
And now…
He had to sit in the same room as that monstrous man during the trial.
Worse yet, depending on the verdict…
He could be dragged away by him.
‘Anyone would be terrified.’
It would already be a victory if he could keep his head up throughout the hearing.
I gently cupped his cheeks and spoke as softly as I could.
“Sys, look at me.”
“…”
From beneath his messy black hair, those beautiful ruby-red eyes quietly met mine.
‘Oh… he looks just like a frightened puppy.’
He was so pitiful and adorable that I deliberately spoke with confidence to keep him from feeling afraid.
“You know… we’re going in there, and we’re absolutely going to win.”
“…Anette.”
The boy parted his dry lips.
“I’ll go in alone. You stay outside.”
“…Why?”
I had expected him to say he wanted us to go in together because he was scared.
A dark shadow fell across his ruby-colored eyes.
“Baron Puterio is a vicious man. I don’t want you getting involved because of me.”
He was willing to face that monster alone.
All because he was worried about me.
I’d noticed it before when we met Baron Puterio.
Whenever it involved me, Sysrein somehow found the courage to stand up.
Then I had to be brave too.
Lowering my brows, I smiled brightly.
“I’m not scared at all.”
“…”
I carefully took both of his hands in mine.
“Sys, once we go in there, we’re going to prove that the baron is wrong.”
“…”
“I don’t want you suffering forever because of the trauma that awful man gave you.”
“…”
“So if the baron falls today…”
I smiled gently.
“…then your fear of water will fall with him. Okay?”
The eyes that had been shaking as though caught in a storm gradually settled.
For just a moment, I saw determination shine within them.
“…Okay.”
Sysrein nodded.
‘Finally.’
It was time to put my carefully prepared plan into action.
Today’s operation was called…
“Using one piece of filth to get rid of another.”
Defeating a villain with another villain.
Would the marquis really move the way I wanted him to?
My heart pounded with both nervousness and excitement.
Holding Sysrein’s hand tightly, I pushed open the courtroom doors and stepped inside.
