#703
Lead Us Not Into Temptation, But Deliver Us From Evil (5)
‘…What was that just now?’
Of course, I didn’t recognize the child in the desert.
At that time, I didn’t know Cornelli’s appearance or voice.
‘What is it?’
‘I thought I saw someone I knew, but I’m not sure. I’m confused.’
‘Could it have been a friend from the Holy Kingdom?’
‘That… I’m not sure. I think I just mistook someone.’
However, I vividly remembered the heart-wrenching feeling I had felt at the Gigolt Night Market that day.
The emotion I felt brushing past someone in the cloud-like crowd.
Although it quickly evaporated and disappeared, and I was even more bewildered because it was my first time experiencing such a thing, I didn’t forget that I had felt such sadness.
And after quite a long time…
‘Mister, uh, I’m Serenite. I came from a place with a beautiful lake. Can I ask your name?’
‘No.’
I vaguely realized that it was Prince Yeser’s emotion left within me.
‘Huh?’
‘Liar.’
‘Are you talking about Mister…?’
‘That’s not your name! I hate you!’
The swaying curly hair and black eyes looked like a stream on a sorrowful night.
The unfamiliar girl pushed me away and cried even more pathetically.
I couldn’t help but intuitively realize that the child was an acquaintance of the Prince.
Considering the wound I had unknowingly inflicted, I was overcome with belated regret and guilt.
Since there was no way to offer a late apology, my mouth kept feeling bitter.
‘Her clothes looked really expensive. She must be a noble young lady.’
‘Her accent was definitely from the Holy Kingdom. She’s definitely not an ordinary village child!’
Several clues, the voices of my friends, kept lingering in a corner of my mind.
After returning home and thoroughly reading … I finally understood.
‘You’re going to fall and get hurt. Don’t run around.’
‘Amy!’
‘Here. All the medicine is applied.’
‘From now on, no acting like a wild horse indoors. Promise.’
In the short narrative from the Prince’s point of view, the young existence was monopolizing his longing.
Those few short lines were all it took for me to know how good he was at hiding his feelings.
If Christel de Sarnes was the one who made Yeser Fenetian live day by day, then the fundamental root that sustained him was Cornelli Fenetian.
The Prince deeply loved his only sister.
Like someone who had forgotten that the girl’s father was terribly abusing him.
‘「…The Prince’s beloved sister, young Cornelli, often stepped on her skirt.
She would come to him, often dragging torn ribbons or lace.
The adorable reason for insisting on wearing dresses instead of pants was that she liked the servant-like things [referring to the dresses].
Yeser would sometimes mend them with a sewing kit, but the results from entrusting them to the sewing room were always the best.
So, he temporarily tied and secured the fabric to prevent the child from tripping.
That way, no matter how much she ran around, it wouldn’t be noticeable until she changed into her nightgown.」’
Ivory-colored hair flowing like newborn waves. Light green eyes like sprouts.
‘「Cornelli, ugh. Ugh.’
Yeser thought of his small, young sister.
He was sorry that his brother couldn’t keep his promise. That they had only met after repeating 100 days of night for countless eons…
He had to apologize.」’
The innocent child had no original sin. Not even a single line.
‘「A being for whom he would not begrudge giving his heart」’
“…Is it you?”
“……”
I quietly looked down at the girl who had approached my feet.
While the girl next to me was talking to Sant—while the grown-up priest was sweating and flustered—Cornelli’s gaze was fixed only on me.
I felt Cédric, who had already met the child at the night market, watching us.
He didn’t grab his sword or raise his energy, but he seemed ready to do so at any time if necessary.
Jibril Diop also stayed in place and watched us.
The bonfire and the noise of the mountain people faded away like a dream.
“Are you, are you Serenite?”
The child asked with a desperate look.
Indeed, the Princess remembered the name she had heard from me that day.
I smiled faintly and moved my lips.
“…Yeah. Long time no see. How have you been?”
Then, Cornelli’s eyes widened.
I slowly lowered myself to meet the child’s gaze.
The tearful eyes were finally clearly visible.
I felt the longing for her brother was still there, and my heart ached. She’s so young.
“My name is Jeong Yeser.”
But, I won’t lie. I’m convinced that I shouldn’t do that to you.
I can’t deceive you with this voice.
“In the Empire, I’m also called Marquis Serenite or Princess Juliette…”
“……”
“I owe a great debt to your brother, Prince Yeser.”
“Ah……”
Finally, the dark clouds covering the child’s forehead poured out rain [she started crying].
The downy face was crumpled like late autumn leaves.
I silently embraced her trembling shoulders for a long time.
*
Around that time, Gain was leaning against a large rock, hugging her knees.
In front of her, a stream of water, hardly worthy of being called a stream, trickled.
“…I, cough. I have to apologize.”
A hoarse voice came out.
John, who had been glancing at the tent village, turned to his disciple.
The mint-colored irises that had been emitting a sharp light also calmed down as if lying.
Gain continued to mutter.
“…I have to apologize to my mother. Honestly, I’m scared.”
“……”
“I’m scared to death. Ham Gain, you despicable bastard. Is this the time for you to be scared?”
“You’re a hero of the Empire; you should use kind words.”
The Cardinal replied gently.
Gain glared at him before burying her forehead in her knees again.
The man quietly cleared his throat.
“…Even Sam, honestly, I’m too much for you, right?”
“You underestimate me.”
“Hehehehe……”
A foolish laugh came out at the unexpected answer.
After a long time, Gain mumbled between her knees.
“…When will I really become an adult?”
“……”
“I’m old enough to eat, but I’m more immature than the snot-nosed kids. I only pick out bad and ugly things to say. I’m afraid of taking responsibility. How can I fix it? If you don’t learn when you’re young, can you never learn?”
“……”
“It’s not like I didn’t want to learn…”
Soon her voice became muffled as if submerged in water.
John was just listening to his disciple’s story, looking down at the delicate stream at his feet.
A gentle night breeze blew.
“…I really… wanted to learn. But when I made a mistake, the adults would scream. They would get angry no matter what and throw everything they could see. The basement window would break, and the corners of the TV would crack. When I was young, that was as terrible as the world collapsing. It sounds like a shabby excuse…”
“……”
“…I just kept my mouth shut. Then the house was quiet. Not every day, but…”
“You can’t learn now.”
The teacher, who had been listening all along, finally opened his mouth. Gain raised her head with a desolate expression.
The man was still staring at the flowing water.
The way it was busily trickling between the moss and gravel looked difficult.
“As you know, you can’t grab the past that has already flowed by.”
“…That’s really fair, that. It’s amazing.”
Gain knew John’s childhood roughly, and she also knew that all his words were truths that came from experience.
A heavy sense of frustration seemed to cut through her heart. Shamefully, tears welled up.
However, because of her frozen vessel, there were no droplets flowing down.
“Instead… you can change the flow.”
“……”
What is he talking about again? Before the disciple could ask, John moved his finger first.
The moment his scarred fingertip slashed through the air—
-Glug glug glug……
“……”
“……”
The dirt floor in the mountains was deeply dug, and a different path was created for the small stream.
As if it had never been frustratingly crawling, it began to vigorously run down the second waterway.
Gain stared at it with a dazed look. John continued to speak calmly.
“It’s impossible to correct the path that has flowed, but things will be different if you find a new path.”
“……”
“It doesn’t matter how much mud there was under the surface. It’s the same even if there were those who carelessly threw garbage into the water.”
“……”
“You can run again while creating a new waterway. Of course, it will flood during the rainy season and become a lost child during the drought. You’ll be wandering quite a bit at first.”
“……”
“…But now you have someone to apologize to.”
The man’s hair, bathed in moonlight, was white like a blessing.
‘There is someone to apologize to.’ Gain dropped her gaze and savored the sentence like the wind. It was true.
She now had friends who had given her their side, and there were people she wanted to protect forever.
There was someone she wanted to show only good things to, someone she didn’t want to disappoint.
There was an adult she wanted to rely on, and there was a guy she unknowingly trusted.
“…That’s right.”
She was no longer alone.
There were people nearby who would reach out their hands whenever she asked for help.
She certainly knew that, but it was difficult to gain courage anew from that.
She was pathetic for being afraid in advance, even though the worst tragedy had not yet occurred.
John smiled at her.
“Your daughter’s voice is loud like you.”
“Ah, a joke, ah……”
When Gain frowned, the Cardinal finally laughed out loud.
However, the words that followed were very serious.
“Lynn was born using your water as amniotic fluid.”
“Wait a minute. Now that you say amniotic fluid, it’s really a bit……”
“It may be burdensome, but that’s the truth.”
“……”
“That child will dream of you and admire you as she grows up. She will try to resemble you, and she may chase after you, wanting to learn anything over your shoulder.”
“……”
“I won’t tell you to be a mother. I’m not a good father to Herit either.”
He clenched his fist and gave a bitter smile. Gain blankly looked at the teacher’s profile.
“But… I think you can be a good adult. If it’s ‘Ham Gain’ that I know.”
“Oh……”
‘Are you suddenly coming in like that, Sam?’ She was going to scold him with a smile like that, but for some reason, there was something that tightly choked her throat, and she couldn’t make a sound.
Her heart was touched by the face of her teacher, who was looking at her with a firm gaze.
‘A good adult.’ It was really the first compliment she had ever heard in her life.
In the moment of being foolishly gaping her mouth for a long time, someone tapped her military boots.
-Weeeeng
“Oh my gosh. Ropi?”
‘Did you come all the way here leaving the captain behind?’ Gain asked, reaching out her hand, but the divine beast slapped the air with its tail and lightly escaped her touch.
Then, it quickly moved its small body and promptly lay down on her thigh.
It rarely used her, who was a water attribute, as a pillow, so she let out a hollow laugh.
Her heart seemed to melt a little at the warm and fluffy body temperature.
Several tens of minutes later, Gain thought.
Maybe that sly fox sent Ropi to her.
*
When the sun rose the next day, I was surrounded by a lot of children.
But only two of them were clinging to me.
-Shaaaaa……
“It’s delicious. It’s really delicious.”
“I’m glad. Eat a lot.”
“Woong.”
Lynn, who had cried a lot and fell asleep last night, was receiving Ether [magical energy] from me.
Her face and eyes were swollen, but the baby bravely washed her face and ate her meal.
I sat cross-legged while holding the child, occasionally tidying up the baby hairs on her forehead or patting her back.
Cornelli, who was sitting right next to me, stared at us intently.
The girl who introduced herself as ‘Iseol Roseharder’ firmly guarded the Princess’s side.
Finally, the sick children in the mountain village were sitting about three steps away, waiting patiently for their turn for treatment.
“……”
-Sararara……
“……”
This is… It feels strange.
“Is she the Marquis’s daughter?”
Flinch. I turned to Cornelli and lowered my voice as much as possible.
This girl’s eyes were also swollen.
“Um, that’s not it. We’re protecting her right now.”
“…Is she perhaps your brother’s daughter?”
“No? Absolutely. Wow. Absolutely not. He didn’t go that far. Really.”
“……”
When I vehemently denied it, Cornelli and Iseol narrowed their eyes at the same time.
I quickly cleared my throat to change the subject. Ahem.
“Of course, you must have a lot of questions for me… I’ll answer anything I can to the best of my ability. And then let’s discuss together how we can help this place. You said you wanted to cooperate too.”
“If she’s a real princess, it would be better to take her as a prisoner.”
Ugh, Crown Prince student again!
“Cédric, shut up!”