I first increased the distance between myself and the thugs, stepping back slightly.
I fixed my gaze on the large fellow standing at the very front and carefully moved my fingers to summon fire.
Initially, as I retreated, their faces were filled with expressions of disdain as they watched what I was doing, but that leisure quickly vanished.
This was because the hem of the large one’s overcoat began to catch fire.
“What is this smell— Aargh!”
He had been sniffing around, complaining about a strange scent, and only realized what was happening when the fire on his clothes began to spread uncontrollably.
“Wha-what is this!”
“Where did this fire come from!”
The men moved frantically, trying to extinguish the flames.
Standing beside them, I stared intently at the redhead who was clumsily flailing about to help put out his comrade’s fire.
In an instant, his hair caught fire as well.
“Ugh, Aaaargh!”
The fire blazed so fiercely that it was impossible to tell if the red atop his ugly face was his hair or the flames themselves.
“Save me!”
One man was rubbing his head against the ground to put out the fire, while the other was rolling on the floor to quench the flames that had consumed his entire overcoat.
The other two men could only stare at the scene in utter bewilderment.
I watched them for a moment with a sneer before gently pressing my fingertips together.
Immediately, the fires that seemed as though they would never go out vanished without a trace.
The sight and expressions of the men were quite ridiculous.
“Shall I do more?”
At my words, their faces turned pale with terror and dread.
“Heuk! N-no, ma’am!”
“We are sorry!”
“W-we were wrong!”
“We have committed a mortal sin!”
Apologies burst from their mouths simultaneously.
Then, before I could even open my mouth again, they took to their heels and bolted.
I considered following them to exact further revenge but soon decided against it.
Judging by their words earlier, they were only after the money and the child; they didn’t seem to have intended to cause me physical harm.
I simply watched as they fled.
Once they were out of sight, I approached the child who had remained frozen some distance away.
“You were scared, weren’t you?”
Even a glance at the child’s expression revealed his anxiety.
I could feel exactly what was in his heart—the fear that I might be forced to give up on him because I couldn’t do anything, and that he might have to return to the circus.
I gently stroked the child’s hair.
It was a gesture meant to reassure him that nothing would happen.
“It’s very late. Let’s go quickly!”
Looking up at the dark sky, the moon had already tilted far to the side.
I took the child’s hand again and quickened my pace.
However, after just a few steps, the child, who had been following obediently, suddenly stopped.
“What is the matter?”
I looked at him while asking for the reason, and his expression was even darker than before.
“What is it? Did something happen?”
I asked just in case, though it was unlikely anything could have happened in that brief moment.
“At the circus…”
“At the circus?”
“There are other children besides me…”
Ah, of course.
Since the child’s number was 5, it was certain there were at least four other children, numbered 1 through 4.
“There are four more, and those children joined before I did.”
The child’s words were slow, but I listened patiently.
“I don’t think I can do this. Looking at the situation, I can’t just run away alone like this…”
I understood immediately what he meant.
The guilt of being the only one to escape had overwhelmed him.
“Since they went back like that, if I don’t go, they will probably be beaten terribly in my place.”
The child was telling me he intended to go back to the circus.
“You’re saying you’re going back?”
“…Yes. The other kids are smaller than me, so they won’t be able to endure it if they are hit.”
“You had the chance to leave that place. Are you saying you’re going to throw away that chance yourself?”
At my words, the child’s eyes wavered uncontrollably.
However, his mind seemed made up; the wavering gaze soon turned determined, and he gave a cautious nod.
“They said the circus would leave here
early tomorrow morning. So if I want to leave with them, I have to go and join them
now.”
‘Why are you so foolishly kind?’
From our conversation earlier, I knew he
had only been at the circus for a month.
Yet, because he was worried about the children he had stayed with for that short time, he was about to blow a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to be free.
It was frustrating, but since it wasn’t as if I couldn’t understand, my heart grew a bit complicated.
“Thank you. I will never forget the grace of you saving me for the rest of my life.”
The child bowed his head deeply and then raised it.
Immediately after, he turned around and began walking away, the distance between us widening.
I watched the child’s back while contemplating what to do.
I wondered if I had no choice but to let him go, or if there was something I could do now.
After making a quick decision, I ran forward and grabbed the child’s wrist.
“Wait a moment!”
The child looked at me with startled eyes.
“I’ll help you.”
“…Pardon?”
“I’ll get the children out of the circus, so let’s go to the inn first. My knight is at the inn. So let’s go there together first.”
I felt the child wouldn’t be convinced unless I explained the reasons at such length.
So, I spoke rapidly without pausing.
“…But it’s too dangerous.”
“Didn’t you see what I did earlier?”
“I saw it…”
“I’m telling only you this, but I am much stronger than that. So don’t worry. And as I said, I’m not going alone. He’s my escort knight, so of course he’ll be strong, right?”
I tried to explain things from the child’s level.
I figured that being “strong” would be the most persuasive argument for a child.
“But Bell— ah, I-I’m sorry.”
“It’s okay. You can call me Bell.”
I felt sorry for the child who flinched, shocked that he had used the name I taught him so casually, so I gave him a reassuring smile.
“It’s just, I don’t know why Bell is helping me like this, and I don’t know if it’s okay for me to receive such kindness…”
Why was I helping this child to this extent?
In fact, even I felt a slight doubt as to why I was acting this way.
I could have just feigned ignorance, pretending there was nothing more I could do.
I could have ended it by rationalizing that our connection ended here and that I had done enough.
But those thoughts vanished quickly.
A pain that had taken root in me, lodged deep in my heart, led me to help the child.
My past life before coming here simply made it impossible for me to act otherwise.
I was an orphan abandoned by my parents from birth, and that was the greatest pain and sorrow in my life that I could do
nothing about.
And from the age when I could form thoughts and expectations, I always prayed.
That one day, the parents who gave birth to me would come looking for me.
That they would come to take me.
Or, even if it wasn’t my parents, that someone would pull me out of this terrible loneliness.
Because there were countless times I wished and wished for that, I had impulsively bought the child from those men earlier.
I wondered if that child felt the same way I did, hoping that someone would save him…
I have now grown from the child who desperately wanted someone to hold my hand into an adult who can hold the hand of a child seeking salvation.
That is why my heart kept whispering not to leave that child alone.
And ultimately, it was telling me that there was still something left that I could do.
Therefore, while all of this was for that
child, in a way, it was also a path to put my own mind at ease.
“Well, I wonder why.”
I let out a warm smile and leaned down to meet the child’s eyes.
“It’s because I like you. Because you’re pretty.”
“I’m… pretty?”
“Yes. You are really pretty. And you remind me of someone I know. That’s why.”
“Who…?”
“Someone—the person I loved the most.”
Since no one loved me, I loved myself more than anyone else.
“Now, let’s go. We have to hurry if we want to save your friends.”
When I arrived at the inn with the child, Mary was pacing in front of the door with an anxious look.
As soon as she saw me, she ran over hurriedly.
“My Lady!”
“Mary.”
“My Lady, where have you been? Without saying a word! I’ve been looking for you everywhere!”
Mary pressed me, her voice full of agitation.
“It’s a festival, so I went out to the streets. I’m sorry, you looked for me a lot, didn’t you?”
Her entire face was drenched in sweat.
Feeling how desperately Mary had searched for me, I offered her an apology.
“No. It’s enough that you returned safely. I was truly worried. Just in case…”
Unable to finish her sentence, Mary bit her lip hard.
It seemed she had imagined the worst, fearing something had gone wrong with me.
“By the way, where is Sir William? Don’t tell me he went out to find me?”
“Of course. You disappeared, so what escort knight could stay still? But he’ll be back soon. He promised to come to me every hour on the hour to update me on the situation.”
