Chapter 10: The Story Of A Little Warrior
by fnovelpia
Wealth does not come to everyone.
But in the end, death comes for all.
The flames of war spared no one—not even the wealthiest man in town.
The grand mansion, imposing even from a distance, was reduced to charred ruins in an instant.
The garden was engulfed in flames.
The intricately carved marble fountain was no longer recognizable.
All that remained was the shattered head of what was once a noble statue, lying discarded on the ground.
The interiors, adorned with gold and jewels, meant nothing in the face of the raging fire.
Precious collections were destroyed, and the lavish paintings hanging on the walls turned to handfuls of ash.
The mansion’s symbol—
The massive chandelier that once boasted of its wealth and glory—
Finally crashed to the ground, shattering into pieces.
The deafening roar sent shivers down the spine,
And a woman clutching her child flinched as she tried to escape.
“Ahhh—!”
The heat from the flames scorched her lungs,
And the thick smoke made it impossible to breathe, let alone see.
But she never let go of her child.
Clenching her teeth,
Covering her mouth,
She struggled to make her way outside with the child in her arms.
—At least, before the ceiling collapsed.
With all her strength, the woman hurled the child forward.
The next moment, what remained of the ceiling crushed her beyond recognition.
The name “mother,”
The warmth of her embrace—
Vanished completely in that instant.
Someone arrived too late.
A soldier from the kingdom’s fire brigade.
Through the dense smoke, he spotted something.
Amid the wreckage,
A survivor—miraculously alive.
Tiny hands and feet.
Blood trickling from the head and legs.
Pink hair covered in soot and ash.
A child with hollow eyes, staring blankly at where her mother had been.
“Kid!”
The soldier rushed into the flames, shouting desperately.
But—
The child showed no reaction.
She simply stared at the spot where the one who had protected her until the end had disappeared without a trace.
“It’s okay. You’re safe now. Let’s get out of here.”
Even as the soldier carried her away,
The child shed silent tears, her eyes empty.
The soldier held her tightly and hurried outside.
The garden, still burning.
The mansion, half-collapsed.
And the crowd watched the spectacle with perverse satisfaction.
A precious life barely saved.
After setting the child down in a safe spot, the soldier shouted urgently.
“We don’t have enough hands! Someone help us put out the fire!”
“……”
The flames raged on.
But no one stepped forward.
No one felt the need to help.
To the child,
Her parents had been everything.
But to them,
They were nothing more than greedy, arrogant trash—
Better off dead in the fire.
No one mourned them.
No one lifted a finger.
And so, the unwelcome glory of the wealthy family sank into oblivion along with their mansion.
* * *
The child who lost her parents in an instant was taken in by her only remaining relative—her aunt.
Unlike her brother, the child’s father,
This woman’s reputation was entirely different.
People praised her unanimously.
“She’s nothing like her brother,” they said.
She was kind and gentle to everyone.
She helped poor orphans
and ran a charity to support the marginalized.
The trust people placed in her was immense.
So when she announced she would take the child in—
Naturally, no one objected.
The only family left.
A trusted figure.
And—
The unwanted child of the greedy tycoon no one wanted near them.
Everyone believed she was the only one who could take responsibility for the child.
“You must have been so scared and hurt, haven’t you? Come live with your aunt.”
“……”
And so, the aunt brought the child to her home.
“This is our house now.”
“……”
“It’s much humbler than what you’re used to, isn’t it? I didn’t get much from your grandfather.”
The aunt smiled brightly at the child.
But that smile—
It was slightly different from the one she showed others.
She was very different from her brother.
Her reputation was impeccable.
She was generous and kind to people.
She worked tirelessly for society, even founding a charity.
But she shared just one trait with her brother.
—An insatiable greed.
The moment they were alone—
She cast off her mask of hypocrisy completely.
“Finally, they’re dead.”
“……”
“I hope the inheritance left for you is substantial. Otherwise, taking you in would’ve been pointless.”
The aunt muttered to herself.
Though her lips curled into a smile,
Her eyes, glinting with greed, held no warmth.
“I hope there’s something salvageable in the mansion. There’d better be something worth taking.”
“……”
“Don’t look at me like that. I’ll take good care of you.”
Even as she gently stroked the child’s head,
she made no effort to hide her ugly intentions.
After all, the child could never expose her true nature.
“You can’t possibly handle all that wealth by yourself.”
“……”
“So your aunt will manage it very carefully for you.”
“……”
“It’s a good thing you’re mute.”
The lips that once spoke of pity
no longer held any sympathy.
The hand stroking the child’s head was filled not with affection, but possessiveness.
“Don’t worry. I’ll dress you up nicely and show you off in public.”
“……”
“Then people will praise me for raising my poor niece so devotedly, and donations will pour in. You’re quite the little goldmine, aren’t you?”
She pinched the child’s cheek lightly as she spoke.
The child’s only remaining family.
To the aunt,
The child was nothing more than a lucky windfall—a bundle of cash.
* * *
The aunt had learned from her brother’s mistakes and pretended to be virtuous,
But inside, she was just as vile.
With a smile on her lips,
She coldly cut off anyone who wasn’t useful to her.
She extended a helping hand to orphans with sweet words,
yet exploited their misery for her own image.
“It’s so heartbreaking to see more and more helpless children.”
“We’re running dangerously low on supplies.”
“Thank goodness for our generous donors, but…”
The charity she was praised for,
It was nothing more than a front for money laundering.
The donations that poured in thanks to her carefully crafted reputation were just a bonus.
And at the center of it all—
was the child.
A disabled child who couldn’t walk.
A mute child who couldn’t speak or do anything.
The devoted aunt raising such a pitiful niece.
The world called her that,
And the aunt weaponized that pity.
She cried,
She smiled,
She milked their sympathy.
The child’s vast inheritance.
The donations earned by exploiting the child.
Bit by bit,
The wealth piled up—
Only to be devoured by the aunt’s gambling addiction.
Quietly,
Relentlessly,
Without anyone knowing.
In the end—
The aunt destroyed the tower of wealth she had built— with her own hands.
The constant losses,
The mounting debts.
Donations dwindled,
And cracks began to form in her carefully crafted image.
“It’s all just an investment. Losses are part of the game.”
“Why does that damn brother of mine have so much debt?”
“I’m sacrificing so much for this niece—shouldn’t I at least get something in return?”
“…This is all your fault! Don’t look at me with those disgusting eyes!”
Her wealth continued to shrink.
Her outbursts at the child grew more frequent.
And then,
When all her masks had fallen—
The aunt vanished without a trace.
Abandoning the child.
The greedy siblings who had stirred up the town were gone.
All that remained for the furious townspeople
was a small, trembling child in the ruins.
“The child isn’t at fault, is she?”
A few might have thought that.
But no one spoke up.
Too many had suffered at the hands of the siblings.
Exhausted by the ravages of war, no one had the energy to save anyone else.
People stayed silent.
No one took responsibility.
No one looked back.
Every gaze turned away from the child.
And so,
The child was left alone in the ruins.
* * *
The child was quiet.
Her silence wasn’t just because she couldn’t speak.
Her heart was so hollow that she had nothing left to say to the world.
The child was hungry.
Yet she didn’t move.
She had no strength left to live.
More than anything—
The child knew.
No matter how much she struggled,
No one would save her.
She didn’t even wait.
She knew better than to expect anyone to come.
Even if she couldn’t speak,
She had seen and heard everything.
She closed her eyes.
The sounds, the smells, even time itself seemed to fade away.
But then—
An unfamiliar voice reached her ears.
“Oh? You blinked.”
The child’s ears twitched slightly toward the sound.
Something approached her.
Slowly, cautiously.
He—
Spoke to the child.
The child didn’t answer.
She couldn’t,
But she also had no will to.
Even that small warmth was too much for her.
The child thought—
This person will ignore me and leave too.
But—
He didn’t leave.
Instead, he sat quietly beside her.
The child’s frail body trembled faintly.
He—
Didn’t speak again.
Didn’t even acknowledge her.
He simply—
Shared the silence with her—
until the sun set.
Darkness settled over the ruins.
The chilly late autumn wind cooled the child’s body.
The man who had stayed silent for so long spoke again.
The child tried not to pay attention.
She tried not to hope for anything.
“If I pick you up now, will I be accused of kidnapping again?”
…Until she heard.
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