“Of course not.”

“When the money comes later, you know how I’ll get upset.”

“I came here…”

Perhaps because of Mrs. Miller’s chilling voice, Leo was especially scared and hugged me. Mrs. Miller frowned.

“He’s eight years old and still a fool?”

“He’s a little sensitive.”

Mrs. Miller listened to me and rolled my luggage open and looked inside.

“Hey, what are you doing!”

“Shut up. Let’s see… Here we go!”

A bag of three million bergs was in her hand, which had slipped out of my bag.

“Oh hey. That’s quite a lot of money. How are you hiding this? Growing up, you must have not been good at lying, but you still had money hidden away!”

“It’s my money. Don’t touch it!”

“How much money I can get from here, it should help! Matilda, what are you doing? Guide this kid to her room! And you, a little boy the size of a mouse. Eight and ten-year-olds should stay in the children’s room. Follow me.”

As I opened my mouth to retaliate against Mrs. Miller, someone grabbed my hand and dragged me. A little girl, one span taller than me, dragged me with great force and took me somewhere.

“Mrs. Miller took my money. I have to get it back.”

“Your brothers still look very young, you better just give it to Mrs. Miller.”

“What?”

The girl turned around and introduced herself.

“Call me Matilda. Hey. I don’t know what Sierra was like, but in the Empire, you shouldn’t be reckless. It’ll become a big deal.”

“But…”

“Even if you are from Sierra, this is the Empire. You don’t know what will happen if you act your way, so just move on.”

I thought something was wrong. As confusion appeared on my face, Matilda comforted me.

“Still, the situation here is better for an orphanage. The place the temple manages is even more terrifying.”

“…”

Was coming to the Empire a wise choice? I was concerned.

“If you look good to Mrs. Miller, she will help you meet your godmother who is in the capital.”

“That…”

That was too unfair. Even before she could say that, Leo’s cry could be heard.

“Sister. Wahhh. Sister!”

The conversation was interrupted by Leo’s cry. Hurriedly, when I went to the place where Leo’s voice was heard, I saw Mrs. Miller, who had an annoyed face, and Daniel, who was trying to comfort Leo.

“Sister.”

Leo found me and immediately ran to me and hugged me. He’s very timid and sensitive, and he’s still young and gets scared of things, so it seems he was afraid of being separated from me.

“Your brother should start with discipline.”

“I’ll do my best.”

“If you did your best, would he cry like this just because you’re away from him? By the way, tomorrow, the girls will have a picnic nearby, so take the lead with Matilda and go.”

“I don’t know much about this place.”

“That’s why you’re also taking Matilda. You’re a member here now, so you have to do your part. Anyway, keep that in mind. I’ll have to go and fix an accident caused by the freaking colts outside.”

Then Mrs. Miller ran and disappeared. But her voice came back with a terrible scream.

“You don’t listen to me at all! Don’t make any trouble and sit down quietly. How many times have I told you?”

It was a voice with terrible anger to the extent that it was a little scary. Leo trembled and curled up, wondering if the sharp voice was scary. Daniel’s anxious gaze met with mine.

Did I really make the right choice? I was suddenly scared and wanted to ask my mother or father if they were here.

It was not easy to sleep separately from Leo. Especially if today is my first day in Kirgen.

“I can’t sleep.”

I think I heard Leo crying just when I was turning off the lights, but I can’t tell whether he really cried or I just heard nonsense.

After my parents passed away, Leo cried when he was away from me even for a moment.

Perhaps that’s why I’m just hearing things, but I often felt like I heard Leo crying when I was alone.

“You can’t sleep?”

I heard Matilda’s voice next to me.

“Yeah.”

“Your younger brothers and you will adapt quickly. Mrs. Miller’s personality is a little bit like that, but the kids are nice. I have a lot of peers.”

“I see. When did you come here?”

“It’s been about seven years for me. My family was poor. My father was a blacksmith, and my mother was doing chores in the village, but the epidemic went around and that happened.”

“I see.”

Matilda continued to talk about whether she was happy to have a friend of her age.

“I’m 14 years old, so I have to leave this place in a year. There were only young children left, so I always acted as the oldest. It must have been hard for you to have two younger brothers.”

“Three.”

“Huh?”

“There are three. There is another younger brother, but he ran away from home.”

Come to think of it, where and what is Edward doing now?

It must have been hard to grow up apart from your parents because you were weak, but it’s only been a year since you lived with them, and your parents passed away, so you must be shocked.

He must’ve heard that we have come here now. I hope I can reach Edward.

‘I hope you’re healthy now.’

If Edward was still in a very bad condition, he might have been wandering around the streets crying and crying about going to a nursery with the rest of his younger siblings.

Whatever it was, my heart was stuffy and I sighed deeply. Matilda apologized for this.

Pls read only at pink muffin tl.

“Sorry.”

“No. It’s nothing. I’m just worried that my youngest brother might wake up and cry.”

“He’s 8 years old.”

“I guess it was a big shock that my parents died. Since then, he’s trying to stick to me more.”

I didn’t want to talk about my family anymore, so I murmured with my face on my pillow.

“I’m sleepy now, so I’m going to sleep now. Matilda, good night.”

“Yes, good night.”

When I said I was going to fall asleep, I fell asleep shortly after a long time. Maybe because I talked about Edward before going to bed, for Edward appeared in my dream.

~*~

“I will go too! I want to go with my sister!”

Leo grabbed my leg and lay down on the floor.

“Idiot. Only women can go.”

Daniel tried his best to remove Leo, but Leo was stuck like a leech.

In addition, Leo had more innate strength. On the other hand, Daniel was slender and delicate from his stature, and he was not on the strong side of his body.

“Go away! I mean, I’m going with my sister!”

“This…”

Daniel’s face turned red and blue, and he hit Leo’s head.

“This is really from yesterday… Stop swarming!”

“Ahhhh. Sister! Brother hit me!”

It was truly a mess. Leo shed his runny nose and wept, Daniel was angry, and I tried to appease Leo. It was then.

“Everyone, stop!”

Mrs. Miller stomped on the floor. She opened her sharp eye and looked at Leo with a bitter gaze.

Leo, who had been weeping, stopped crying at her gaze and began to sob with his mouth closed.

“Go now. I can’t be late.”

As I hesitated, Matilda took my arm and stepped forward.

“If you are late, Mrs. Miller will make a fuss.”

It seems that Leo’s cry is humming in my ears. 

“If you’re thinking of getting your money back, just give it up.”

As I walked quietly, Matilda suddenly spoke.

As she said, I was thinking about the stolen money.

I was contemplating whether I should ask for it back after going on a picnic, or if I should talk about it after dinner.

The conclusion was that I should find an opportunity at the right time and talk again.

“But why the hell do we have to follow Mrs. Miller on the picnic? I don’t want to go on a picnic, I want to be with my younger brothers.”

“Because this is a picnic under the guise of a picnic.”

“What?”

“When spring comes, there are many things to do in the countryside. You and I will be doing silk farming today.”

“What?”

My mind went blank at the thought of beating insects. Bugs were the thing I hated the most in the world.

“Are you supposed to touch it with your bare hands?”

“I’m going to do it with my bare hands, so will you wear gloves?”

“No… Did you always have to do something like that at the orphanage?”

“This… It’s just like that.”

Matilda, who faltered in her words, went to the back, calling out the names of the children behind her.

I stopped walking, bewildered, not knowing if I was going the proper way.

I was not sure if I was going straight, so my stomach became stuffy.

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