Chapter 8

“……?”

“Are your ears clogged? I said bark.”

A long, slender hand grasped the shoulder of a blinking Dominic.

Ugh.

He didn’t seem to be exerting much force, yet it felt like his shoulder was going to be crushed.

Where on earth did this strength come from…!

“What are you doing? I said bark. Aren’t you going to compensate me for my torn heart?”

Bark.

At the urging laced with amusement, Dominic swallowed his breath.

‘My breath…’

Instinctive terror began at the tips of his toes and crawled up his body.

It felt as if he were facing a massive darkness head-on.

Driven to his limit, Dominic finally.

“…W-Woof.”

He barked.

It was a bark that abandoned all human dignity.

“……”

“……”

For a moment, silence fell over the hallway.

And then, a moment later.

“Wow. He actually barked?”

Haha.

A short laugh followed.

* * *

“Live without barking from now on. Unless you want to be silenced forever.”

“Y-Yes, yes!”

“Then get lost. Looking at your face is annoying.”

As soon as the words ended, Dominic ran away with his tail between his legs.

Contie stood crookedly, watching his shabby back.

Ah.

Should I have just dealt with him?

‘Leaving scum like that alone only makes things more troublesome.’

Because insects have a habit of crawling up without knowing their place.

The filthy feeling just wouldn’t go away.

Thinking of Marshmallow, who must have been dealing with that son of a bitch…

“What to do. What should I do.”

A humming voice flowed from his crookedly raised lips.

His fingers, deep in thought, drew circles in the air.

A black aura rippled at the tip of his index finger.

However.

“Well, whatever.”

It wouldn’t be so bad to grant him a chance once.

“Don’t insult Wicky and the new uncwe! They’re both good people!”

Because he is a good person, after all.

Honestly.

“Living as a good person isn’t easy either.”

Clicking his tongue, Contie headed to the cafeteria.

Because his round, chubby Marshmallow would be waiting for him.

Chapter 2

At the late hour when everyone had fallen asleep.

Hehehe.

I, who hadn’t fallen asleep alone, let out a meaningful smile.

‘Finally, I took care of it.’

No, I did it.

At lunchtime, after Dominic left, I succeeded in bringing up the topic of the orphanage to Mr. Oliver when he entered the cafeteria!

“Uncwe. Do you know? The owphanage is… weally scawy.”

“Suddenly?”

“Yes. I heawd fwom someone that it’s weally scawy. They even steal youw money! If they steal youw money, you become a penniless beggaw, wight? Then you’we hungwy aww the time, cwying aww the time, and then you die.”

“Die? It goes that far?”

“The owtside wowld is a cwuel jungle.”

“I see. Cruel and extreme.”

‘Kuh. Awesome, Melony!’

You’re the best, Melony!

I’m so proud of you, Melony!

The coolest four-year-old in the Empire, Melony!

My cheeks ached from smiling so much with swelling pride.

‘Since I’ve built up some rapport, Mr. Oliver will find a decent orphanage for me, right?’

Especially since I scored some points today.

“Kiddo. If Bramchois closes and you had to live with one of the three of us, who would you want to live with?”

As soon as my orphanage story ended, Ricky abruptly threw a question at me.

After agonizing for a moment at the sudden question, I-.

“…Mr. Olivaw.”

I chose Mr. Oliver.

It wasn’t a decision made solely with the insolent intention of scoring points with him; it was a conclusion reached through my own reasonably valid deduction.

‘Ricky has to take care of his mom and sick younger sibling, so he’s out. Sister Jeanne has too strong a sense of responsibility, so she’s out.’

Once Sister takes me in, she’ll definitely try to take responsibility for me for the rest of her life.

‘I can’t be a stumbling block to Sister’s promising future.’

So I had no choice but to pick Mr. Oliver.

‘Surely protecting a lost child is part of an investigator’s job?’

I just had a feeling he would protect me for a few days and then send me to some decent orphanage.

Fortunately, he didn’t seem to mind being chosen by me.

The sausage he silently handed me was proof of that.

Hehe.

Grinning as I recalled the events of the day, I gently rubbed my sore cheeks and lay down under the covers.

“Yeah. I need to sweep now.”

Because children need to go to bed early and wake up early.

It was just when I was about to close my eyes with a heart full of contentment.

Tap, tap.

“Are you asleep, Marshmallow?”

Along with a very soft knock on the door, Mr. Oliver’s voice was heard.

“Uncwe?”

I jumped up from my spot and tiptoed toward the door.

Opening the door as quietly as possible and peeking out, I saw Mr. Oliver leaning against the wall.

“Oh my. Good children should be asleep early.”

“…I’ll sweep in five minutes.”

“Then I suppose we have to talk within five minutes.”

Nod, nod.

At my nod, Mr. Oliver smiled.

He plopped down on the hallway floor.

I also scurried over and sat down next to him, our hips touching.

It was a dark hallway, but strangely, sitting side by side with him wasn’t scary at all.

Haha.

Letting out a small laugh, he ruffled my hair.

“Marshmallow, what do you think of Panteyebe?”

…Huh? Suddenly?

I was taken aback by the question I hadn’t even thought about.

‘I was wondering what he came to talk about in the middle of the night.’

But the bewilderment was short-lived, and I quickly came up with an answer.

“Umm, a good famiwy…?”

Since he’s an investigator sent by Panteyebe in name and reality, it’s better to speak well of them.

Fortunately, my answer didn’t seem to be wrong.

“Oh, really? You think it’s a good family?”

Satisfaction was evident in his voice.

To be that happy just because I praised the family he belongs to.

‘I guess he’s a person with deep loyalty to his organization.’

If so.

“Yes. The sistews and bwothews say it’s a weally good famiwy! They say the Duke is weally handsome too!”

Panteyebe is the best!

The Duke is the bestest!

The greatest! So cool!

I even gave double thumbs-up and eagerly praised Panteyebe.

Never even dreaming of what consequences this would bring in the future.

* * *

‘Uncwe isn’t here today either.’

As expected, did he leave Bramchois?

Several days had passed since my last conversation with him.

Since our conversation that night, he had disappeared from Bramchois.

Everyone seemed curious about where Mr. Oliver had gone, but they didn’t seem to care much.

Because no one can leave Bramchois anyway.

‘Well. This is Bramchois, a place you can’t easily escape from.’

But Mr. Oliver is different.

Since he’s an investigator who infiltrated to search Bramchois, he must have figured out a way out in advance.

‘Seeing that he’s not here…’

Did he leave because his investigation of Bramchois is over?

Which means Bramchois will be closing its doors soon-.

“…Sigh.”

My peaceful days are over now.

“What’s this. Why the sigh, kiddo?”

“Just. Time is cwuel…”

“Well, well. Where did a kiddo learn to say things like that?”

Giggling.

Ricky chuckled and started braiding my hair.

“How is Sister Jeanne? Is she still weally sick?”

“No. She’s gotten much better. If she rests well until today, she’ll be completely fine.”

Sister Jeanne had been suffering from a terrible cold since a couple of days ago.

Saying it would be a disaster if she passed the cold on, she was quarantining herself in a secluded room.

As expected of the highly responsible Sister Jeanne.

“She shouldn’t be sick…”

“I know. Health is the best.”

Ricky’s hand, which had answered thus, paused for a moment.

And then.

“…I wish my little sister would get healthy again too.”

He muttered in a bitter voice.

‘Come to think of it, he said his younger sibling was sick.’

He said she caught a very rare disease and had been bedridden for a long time.

“Do you know how cute our Lina is?”

“Our Lina. She hasn’t gotten worse, has she?”

“Ah, I miss our Lina.”

‘Our Lina.’

Ricky always worried about and missed his younger sister left outside.

Every time he did, I…

‘Was secretly envious.’

Of the fact that he had a family who loved him this much.

Of course, I still feel a little envious even now.

‘…No. That’s too pathetic.’

Lina must be suffering because she’s sick, and here I am envying her.

Pricked by my conscience, I turned to look at Ricky and said.

“Don’t wowwy. Youw sister will definitely get healthy. Mewony guarantees it!”

“Yeah? A guarantee from our kiddo is very, very reliable!”

Ricky lightly pinched my cheek and smiled energetically.

I also smiled brightly at him and thought.

‘I hope Lina gets better soon.’

So that Ricky can always smile like that.

However, for some reason, wishes rarely come true easily.

A few hours later.

“No-!”

Ricky’s desperate scream echoed throughout Bramchois.