episode_0122

***

They say a parent’s love is endless, but her parents were an exception.

Her parents, who ran a small inn, began to experience difficulties due to poor management, so they took the stress out on her and her younger sister.

Meaningless trouble.

The verbal abuse pours out every day.

A hand-shaped sword flies by every day.

Although she was young, she thought that if she continued like this, she would soon die.

And that thought helped her decide to leave home with her sister.

With the money she stole from home, she and her brother went on a long journey.

I decided that at least if I went to a big city with lots of people, I would have a way to make a living.

However, the city I arrived at after walking aimlessly was not as nice a place as I thought.

There were already many children on the streets who thought the same way as her, and adults who wanted to take advantage of them approached without hiding their dark hearts.

In order to survive, it had to be harsh.

Emma became fierce, just like her parents did.

If other children snooped around the alley where he was located, he would chase them away by brandishing an iron pipe.

Sometimes, when my younger sister was begging for food and was beaten by adults, she took revenge by throwing stones.

To survive in the city, I searched through trash cans and did pickpocketing.

Emma quickly adapted to that arrangement, but her younger sister Annie did not.

If Emma earned 5, Annie did not earn even 1.

Although they obviously left home to be happy, Emma forgot that and treated Annie harshly.

Annie searched the trash can more desperately.

“I’m sorry, sister. I’m not feeling well these days.”

One day, while listening to Emma’s reprimand, Annie cried and clung to Emma, and Emma only realized her mistake when she saw her sister crying in her arms.

As if she wasn’t lying when she said she was sick, Annie’s condition got worse day by day.

I was full even though I had not eaten anything, and my limbs were thin and thin.

His face became pale, and it was difficult to breathe.

“My sister will bring the doctor.”

Items could be obtained by pickpocketing, but doctors could not be summoned that way.

The sassy adult in the white gown would not move unless a fair price was paid.

The amount suggested by the doctor was ridiculously high.

Even if you spend all the money you have now, it is not even half of the amount.

“Money, I need money.”

Emma sat at the street fountain and looked for a target.

Rumors have already spread about children like Emma, and people are hiding their wallets.

Some people tied their wallets to a string and tied them to their wrists.

So she decided to target foreigners.

After waiting for a while, I was able to find a neatly dressed stranger.

He seemed to be unfamiliar with the geography of this place, and kept looking around.

Seeing her defenseless, she quickly started working and failed.

The butler near the gentleman snatched her hand.

“You guy! How dare you know who this person is!”

“Let go of this!! Let go!!”

Although he was struggling in the air, the difference in strength between the adult and the child was absolute.

“Sebastian. Please put the child down.”

As the gentleman spoke, the bearded old man threw Emma to the floor.

“Kid. Do you need help?”

The gentleman came to eye level with Emma, who was hitting her butt on the stone floor.

The gentleman did not ask, ‘Do you need money?’

Young Emma’s heart was relieved by the kindness she received for the first time since coming to the city.

” Also, my younger brother is sick.”

She still didn’t know why she shed tears while saying this.

After hearing her words, the gentleman was guided by Emma and went to where his brother was.

The butler next to him showed signs of disapproval, but did not say whether this happened often.

After examining Annie’s condition, the gentleman hugged her and went to the doctor.

Emma was surprised to see that the doctor who had told her to bring more money if she wanted to go on a business trip treated the gentleman politely with the kindest look in the world.

“Of course I heard the owner’s name.”

When I asked the butler the reason, he gave me a stupid answer.

After the treatment was over, the gentleman called Emma aside.

“Kid. The doctor said that my younger brother was already exhausted. I left the bottle too long.”

Emma, realizing the meaning of the words, cried loudly on the spot.

“No… Annie… Annie…”

The gentleman gently patted Emma’s back as she cried on the floor.

When Emma, who cried for a long time, had no more tears to shed, the gentleman spoke.

“By any chance, do you and your sisters have somewhere to go? Not that alley.”

“…Nothing.”

Emma shook her head.

“Hmm….”

The gentleman, lost in thought for a moment, calls the butler.

The gentleman instructed the butler to do something, and the butler seemed to protest for a moment, but then nodded, saying he understood.

Annie came out after receiving simple treatment, and the gentleman left the hospital holding Annie.

“Let’s go with uncle.”

In front of the hospital, the gentleman spoke.

“Where?”

“There is a villa where I can stay for a while. Let’s stay there. So that my younger brother… can rest comfortably…”

Annie was sleeping in the gentleman’s arms, making colorful noises.

It looked better than before, but it still looked painful.

“Yes. I understand.”

Emma had long since given up on the possibility that she might be following a bad adult.

Even if the gentleman suddenly changed and did something cruel to her and Annie, she was resigned enough to accept it.

But as if laughing at her worries, the gentleman took great care of Emma and Annie.

The maids cleaned Emma and Annie and gave them pretty clothes.

“Sister… am I pretty?”

Annie, wearing a frilly black dress, lay down on the bed and called Emma.

“Looks like a scarecrow wearing a suit.”

Emma answered bluntly, but did not hide the smile on her lips.

The gentleman called the doctor every day to check on Annie’s health.

The doctors did their best to take care of Annie, but they could only temporarily stop the worsening condition and could not cure it.

The gentleman gave Emma and Annie the food they wanted to eat as long as it did not put too much strain on Annie’s body.

“Sister, this must be heaven.”

Annie smiled brightly as she ate the baked potato and cream on top.

Emma’s heart became heavy when she saw her younger sister’s puffy cheeks.

Two weeks like that.

Annie, who held on tenaciously, passed away without seeing the next morning.

Emma’s voice calling her sister’s name rang through the villa, and the maids who had become attached to Annie wiped away tears.

‘Sister, I’m really happy.’

What her younger brother said the day before while eating roasted chicken legs were the last words Emma remembered him saying.

One month like that.

A gentleman came to Emma who was locked in her bedroom.

“Now, we are leaving here.”

“……”

“I came here for a vacation, so now I’m going back home.”

“…….”

“What will you do next? If you want, I will give you some money to help you become independent.”

“…….”

“Alternatively, you can live in a villa and take care of the villa management. It’s a bit uncomfortable to be alone, but it’s better than being in an alley.”

“Mr. I have something to ask.”

“Why are you nice to me? I tried to steal your wallet.”

The gentleman’s mouth fell silent at Emma’s question.

“Unlike you, I am a lowly person on the streets. Why are you so kind to me?”

“Do you want something from me?”

Emma’s watery words struck the gentleman’s heart.

The gentleman bit his lower lip at Emma’s suspicion.

The gentleman felt sorry for the girl who fell into a situation where he had no choice but to be suspicious.

“Aiya.”

The gentleman bends his knees and makes eye contact.

“I believe in the kind heart that humans keep deep in their hearts.”

The gentleman stroked Emma’s head.

“Good… heart?”

“That’s right. Good heart. Just like how you thought of your younger brother.”

“But….”

“You said you did something bad because the situation was bad, but it was all for your younger brother. I don’t mean to blame it.

“……”

“And it doesn’t matter to me whether your status is high or low. Of course, it is true that I am a nobleman… but I think all humans are noble. All humans deserve to be treated equally.”

This society divides the upper and lower classes based on class, but I don’t like that. The gentleman added:

“That was why I helped you. I helped you because you have a wonderful heart and because you are a person who should be respected.”

“…I see.”

“So, I don’t feel comfortable leaving you like this. Because life on the streets is not kind to a young girl like you.”

The gentleman looked at Emma with a worried face.

“How can I help you better? I will help you as much as I can.”

Emma thought for a moment.

Emma’s eyes turned to the door.

The busy sounds of workers packing up to go home could be heard outside the room.

The sound of something being loaded, unloaded, or making a fuss.

Emma felt the sound with her own ears.

“Mr. Can I follow that guy?”

“Hmm? Me?”

“Yes. Please let me work as a maid at your house.”

Emma said after thinking for a while.

***

“That’s how I met the owner, and thankfully the owner accepted me.”

When Emma spoke at the end of the long story, Inho shed a tear without realizing it.

“Are you crying?”

Emma approached Inho with a pitiful face.

She took out a handkerchief from her pocket and carefully wiped away the tear stains that had flowed down Inho’s cheeks.

“I didn’t expect you to cry over a story that was already decades old. Kind master.”

“Because this is my first time hearing this.”

After hearing about Emma’s dark past, In-ho became depressed and protested.

Emma laughed softly at Inho’s words, which sounded like a child’s complaint.

The sunset went down like that, and night came to the mansion.