Chapter 23

Chapter 23

However, Kurt had an unexpectedly beautiful face.

Even when he opened the eyes he had squeezed shut, the bright blue irises that appeared were so dazzling that they made me forget to breathe, as if jewels had been embedded in them.

“W-what, Kurt! Why are you so handsome? No, why do you go around hiding such a handsome face?”

Perhaps he had used up all the courage he had barely managed to muster, because he hid behind Maya again.

Maya explained on his behalf why he went around hiding his face.

“Kurt has been famous for being pretty since he was little. So a few times…… he almost went through some bad things.”

“Some bad things?”

Ah, I knew quite well what kind of ‘bad things’ could happen to pretty children.

A pretty face, poor parents, a neighborhood with terrible security……. There must certainly have been beasts who looked over him with filthy eyes from the moment the child began to walk.

Children who had been kidnapped or sold in places like that occasionally appeared in the <Mulberry> troupe as well. And before long, someone else would sell them again.

“You’ve managed to endure all this time.”

“Yes. Kurt has been through so much…….”

“No. Maya, I mean you.”

Of course, Kurt must have desperately tried to hide himself, but the fact that such a beautiful child had survived this long unharmed was probably thanks to the sweat and blood his older sister had shed for him.

But I was against Kurt continuing to live while hiding himself like this.

“In any case, is there really nothing wrong with you mentally?”

At those words, Kurt hesitated before nodding. I put strength into my eyes.

“If your throat is fine, answer with words from now on. You’re not mentally deficient, are you?”

“Y-yes.”

“Kurt. Until now, you probably lived hiding because you were afraid, but not anymore. I’ll protect you.”

I took out a ribbon that I carried for emergencies and gathered Kurt’s shaggy, long hair into one bundle and tied it up. Even during that, Kurt’s hands trembled nervously, but I had no intention of going easy on him at all.

“A pretty face can be your weakness, but it can also be your strength. And it can even be a weapon.”

The openly revealed face of the beautiful boy was enough to attract anyone’s gaze. Why let it go to waste?

“How long are you going to keep hiding behind your sister?”

Kurt shook his head.

“I told you to answer with words.”

“N-no! I don’t want to be a burden to my sister.”

“Then start pulling your own weight. I’ll officially hire you as my errand boy. I’m saying that if you do your job properly, I’ll pay you a salary as well.”

At that, Kurt’s eyes grew wide. He seemed surprised that he could earn money for himself.

“You’ll mainly be delivering my letters. So keep your wits about you. Don’t even think about acting spoiled.”

I grinned and took the children out of the changing room.

The shopkeeper, who had been asking how the clothes looked, immediately turned her gaze toward Kurt. It came with a low exclamation of admiration.

I turned around and whispered,

“If you hide from this fear, all that will remain in your life is darkness. But if you face those gazes head-on, your life will become radiant from that moment on.”

Kurt swallowed hard, but he did not lower his head. He couldn’t meet the shopkeeper’s gaze directly, but he did not hide behind his sister.

That’s right, a boy ought to have at least that much courage!

Perhaps because the children looked so presentable now, I didn’t regret paying for the clothes at all.

***

Shopping takes quite a bit of stamina. Even more so when you bring children along.

“Haa, we finally bought everything. Let’s get something to eat. I’m hungry.”

Although I had eaten breakfast before coming out, I had moved around much more than usual, so it felt like my stomach was about to stick to my back.

Maya and her younger siblings seemed to feel the same way, as their eyes grew even brighter than when I had suggested going to buy clothes or shoes.

We couldn’t go to an upscale restaurant where only nobles were allowed, but since we were already out in the bustling district, I wanted to buy these children at least one proper meal.

So I entered a restaurant that anyone could use regardless of social class. It was cheaper than places reserved exclusively for nobles, but it was still somewhere ordinary people could never dream of affording on their wages.

“Wow, that looks delicious!”

I had been drawn inside by the mouthwatering aroma, and the dishes that were served were just as impressive.

Maya and her siblings thanked me several times before they finally picked up their utensils and began eating. The moment they put a spoonful of soup filled with clams into their mouths, three pairs of eyes widened.

“It’s delicious, isn’t it?”

I was seriously shocked when I first ate it too.

“I-I’ve never eaten anything like this before.”

“It’s too good to swallow.”

I understood that feeling. It tasted like something I would regret for the rest of my life if I swallowed even one bite carelessly, so I had chewed it until it was completely mushy.

“Eat as much as you want. If it’s not enough, I’ll order more. But don’t eat so much that you get a stomachache.”

The children nodded as they chewed the food stuffed into their mouths, unable even to answer properly.

Still, I knew they wouldn’t ask me to order more food. So I would have to order more for them myself at the right time.

Satisfied with the reaction I had expected, I tore off a piece of warm bread and put it into my mouth.

“Eh?”

I had few acquaintances, yet there was a familiar face on the other side of the restaurant. And of all people, why did it have to be Ash McCallen?

“Why is he here…….”

I was muttering blankly when Maya whispered beside me.

“Oh my! It’s ‘Dolly’!”

“Huh? What?”

“I mean Dolores Hamilton. You saw that woman over there, didn’t you?”

Maya pointed at the woman sitting across from Ash. She looked at the woman before looking at Ash McCallen, so this girl really wasn’t interested in men.

Anyway.

“Her name sounds really familiar…….”

I rolled the name around on the tip of my tongue several times, Dolores, Dolores, and at some point, I realized that she was the very actress who had been my childhood idol.

“That person is Dolores Hamilton? Good heavens……!”

Looking again, it was the same face I had seen on posters long ago. Though her expression looked slightly sharper than it had back then.

‘It was worth lying just to stay alive!’

The old saying that you have to live long to see everything was true. Since I was alive, I could even see Dolores Hamilton in person!

“I can’t believe we’re eating at a restaurant where such a famous actress comes to dine. It feels like a dream.”

Maya also seemed to think that it had been worth staying alive.

Kurt and Dylan also seemed fascinated, so they peeked toward where we were looking, but when the additional dishes we had ordered were served, they focused on those instead.

I was actually the one who kept glancing over like a country bumpkin.

‘Why is that man with Dolores? Ah, could it be……?’

It was well known that Ash was the illegitimate child between Count McCallen and the ‘famous actress.’

And Dolores Hamilton was far too old to be Ash’s lover.

‘So she was his birth mother!’

That would certainly explain his presence. Dolores Hamilton was a great actress who had dominated an entire era.

She must have been incredibly famous for even someone living at the bottom of a rural traveling troupe to know her.

Wow, his biological mother was an incredibly famous actress, and his biological father was a wealthy and powerful count. He may have been discriminated against for being illegitimate, but at that level, he ought to thank his parents for his birth several times over.

‘But why does he look like he’s been chewing shit?’

Dolores continued speaking to him with a gentle expression, while Ash replied curtly with short answers, not a trace of a smile on his face.

If I were Dolores, I think I would have gotten angry and smacked him on the back.

‘I heard he was hated by the Countess, so I thought he would at least be affectionate with his birth mother, but not at all.’

Maybe he was simply emotionally dry as a person.

I clicked my tongue and dipped a piece of bread deep into the soup before putting it into my mouth.

Perhaps I had soaked it too much, because the soup dripped onto my chin, and at that very moment, my eyes met Ash’s.

‘Why now of all times!’

I stuffed the rest of the bread into my mouth and quickly grabbed a napkin to wipe my chin. Though that couldn’t undo the fact that he had already seen it.

Because I ate in such a hurry, my throat suddenly caught, making me cough, and I belatedly noticed that the soup that had dripped onto my chin had fallen onto my clothes.

There are truly all kinds of ways to embarrass yourself.

“Baroness! Are you all right? Here, have some water.”

“Cough, th-thank you, Maya.”

I drank water for quite a while, just as embarrassed as I was, while hoping that he would look away in the meantime.

***

“What is it?”

“It’s nothing.”

Ash, who had been watching Rosalyn’s foolish behavior, briefly shook his head in response to Dolores, who tilted her head and asked, then wiped the corners of his mouth and fingertips with a napkin.

More than half of the sea bass steak, the restaurant’s specialty, remained on his plate.

“Don’t tell me you’ve already finished eating?”

“I don’t have much of an appetite.”

“Well, you’ve probably only ever eaten at upscale restaurants, so this level of food wouldn’t satisfy you. I wish I were a noble too…….”