CH 49

Livia immediately recognized the child.

The child who sold flowers to Vincent.

And the culprit of this incident.

“You……!!” Vincent recognized the child and shouted abruptly.

The child also seemed to recognize Vincent and took a step back in surprise.

Whether it looked like the child was trying to escape Vincent’s eyes or not, without a moment’s hesitation, the child darted forward.

“Ah, Vincent, wait…!”

Livia tried to grab Vincent urgently, but she was already a step too late.

Vincent quickly stood in front of the child. The child looked at Vincent with terrified eyes, then, Vincent raised his hand high.

‘No way…?’

The child seemed to have a similar thought and huddled up, tightly closing their eyes.

But Vincent reached out his hand as it was.

“Give it to me.”

The child cautiously opened their eyes. Vincent was reaching out his hand towards the child.

His ruby eyes were stronger than ever.

Vincent spoke again.

“My treasure – give it back.”

The child was stunned by the firmness of Vincent’s voice, but then slowly put her hand forward.

In it, the ruby brooch was nestled.

Grabbing it with a quick motion, Vincent immediately returned to Livia’s side.

“Tutor Via!”

He returned with the manners of a little puppy, as if nothing had happened.

“Mmm.”

Feeling sorry for briefly suspecting Vincent, Livia met him with a bewildered expression.

~ Translations by Lurelia | Editing by Valpal | Read only at moonlightnovels.com ~

Luckily, he didn’t notice and held out the brooch.

“I finally got it back.”

Seeing Vincent sincerely delighted, Livia’s tension eased, and she couldn’t help but smile.

“Yes, it’s really fortunate.”

“I won’t lose it again.”

As if to fulfill that promise, Vincent went to attach the brooch to his chest.

After a moment of hesitation, he handed Livia the brooch and said, “Please attach it, Tutor!”

“Me?”

“Yes!”

Livia nodded lightly and received the brooch.

Carefully avoiding pricking him with the sharp pin, she attached it to Vincent’s chest.

“There, done.”

“Wow!” Vincent exclaimed in admiration, blushing as he confirmed that the brooch was securely attached to his chest.

As she looked at him fondly, Livia slowly turned her head.

The girl with pink hair was sitting there, gazing blankly at the place where they were standing.

They had managed to retrieve the brooch, but…

‘What should we do with her?’

Although it would be the proper procedure to report this to the security forces…

While Livia was contemplating, it happened.

“Cough! Cough!”

Just as she was about to turn her head, thinking she heard a cough, the girl with pink hair suddenly stood up and ran back towards them.

Vincent was taken aback, but the girl passed them both without a glance and went inside.

“Ugh…”

Soon, a stifled moan seemed to leak out from inside.

Livia’s breath caught in her throat at the sound, which was like a silent scream.

What on earth was happening?

In the midst of the sudden situation, while Livia was still confused, the girl who had gone inside came running back out.

And without hesitation, she grabbed Vincent’s arm and pulled him inside.

“Uh, uh, huh?”

No, where is she taking our Vincent!

“Wait!” Livia called.

Then she immediately followed the girl into the makeshift house, bewildered by what was happening.

And she froze on the spot.

“Uh, aah……,” the flower girl mumbled in distress, gesturing towards the floor.

“Cough! Cough!”

There was another person in the shack besides the pink-haired child and Vincent. A very small child, wrapped in a tattered cloth rag.

But…….

‘What’s wrong with them?’

The child, with a flushed face, was continuously coughing and contorting their body.

The girl with pink hair was beside them, at a loss for what to do, tears streaming down her face. Vincent, taken aback by the sudden situation, could only stare at the child in a daze.

Livia was not sure what exactly was going on.

One thing was certain, though: leaving the child wrapped in those rags would only put them in danger.

Livia ran inside faster than she thought she could and picked the tiny bundle up, still wrapped in the cloth.

“Let’s go to a clinic first.”

As she came out, Livia urgently spoke to Cardien, who was standing in front of her.

“Your Grace, please take care of the children!”

In response, Cardien calmly approached and alternately looked at Livia and the child in her arms. After a brief moment of contemplation, he swiftly took the child from her.

Tucking the child roughly into his side, he said, “I told you, Tutor, sometimes you don’t know what to do.”

“What……!”

‘No,’ Livia thought with frustration, ‘I’m in a hurry – what are you talking about?!’

“Do you know where the clinic is?”

“Well……..!”

Suddenly, her words were stuck in her throat.

Come to think of it, she didn’t know the geography of this place.

‘Usually, if we followed the road, we would come across a clinic.’

Livia had thought it was nothing out of the ordinary, but this place was not “usual.”

As she pondered, Cardien, who had been silently observing her, suddenly spoke.

“By the way, Tutor.”

“……?”

“Do we really need to help this child?” Cardien asked indifferently as he lifted the child.

In the meantime, the girl with pink hair, who had run out of the makeshift house with Vincent, rushed towards Cardien in a panic at his actions.

“Uh-uh! Ah-ah!”

The girl pounded her fists and flung her hands at Cardien, but Cardien just stared at Livia, unperturbed.

He elaborated.

“These children have nothing to do with you. Not even close.”

A bitter smile formed on his lips as he looked around at the desolate surroundings.

Truly, it was a sinister expression.

“These little rats hiding in this slum.”

“…….”

“Creatures that commit crimes and scavenge through other people’s trash to barely survive. And yet, you, Tutor…”

With a chilling expression that made one question whether Cardien had ever truly smiled, he stared at her and curled his lips.

“Are you willing to help even these vultures?”

“…….”

Livia silently looked at Cardien.

‘I don’t know what motivates Cardien to spit out such vile words.

But…….’

“Yes.”

Regardless of what he said, the answer had already been decided.

“I will step forward.”

“……Why? Is it because you’re a teacher? Or is it hypocrisy?”

He sneered with a hint of mockery, but Livia wasn’t shaken at all.

“No,” Livia shook her head steadfastly before glancing at Vincent for a moment.

Vincent, with an unfamiliar and fearful look in his eyes, stared at her.

After giving him a reassuring smile, Livia took a deep breath inwardly and looked back at Cardien.

‘He’s so cold.’

It’s not even a physical thing, but Cardien ‘s eyes were sometimes so cold that it was hard to make eye contact.

Where did that coldness come from?

He wasn’t a cold person from the moment he was born.

Even if he doubted her, it wouldn’t matter. On this issue, Livia couldn’t just give in to his mood and give him the answers he wanted.

That’s why…

“It’s a child.”

As Livia gave her answer, Cardien’s lips, which were drawing a line, gradually straightened.

“While, it’s true that these children may have done something wrong…,” Livia continued.

Just thinking about how it made Vincent upset still made her heart ache.

But…

“Unlike adults, children hardly have any choices,” she finished.

“…….”

“So, I mean, I can’t just turn a blind eye to their pain, even if they’ve done something wrong.”

In response to her answer, Cardien stared at her for a moment and then abruptly turned away without a word.

“Wait here.”

Leaving only those words, he held the child and went down the hill.

Livia stared blankly at his disappearing figure, then quickly regained her composure and looked at Vincent and the girl.

When the girl tried to run towards where Cardien disappeared, Livia hurriedly grabbed the child.

“It’s okay,” she murmured. “He just took her to the clinic.”

“Uh, uh, uh…”

The child couldn’t properly pronounce any words.

~ Translations by Lurelia | Editing by Valpal | Read only at moonlightnovels.com ~

Livia had vaguely noticed it before, but it was as she thought.

‘She can’t speak.’

Anyway, Livia tried to calm the child down, as it would be dangerous if she chased after Cardien and ended up going in the wrong direction or getting involved in a crime.

“It’s okay…”

“Uh, ah!”

“Just a little…”

“Uh, ahh!”

However, the child couldn’t calm down and struggled in Livia’s arms.

If she were a bit bigger, she would have pushed Livia away and run off a long time ago.

But Livia couldn’t keep doing this until Cardien returned, so she was at a loss for what to do.

Vincent approached the girl confidently and suddenly placed his hand on top of her head. Then, he began to pat it gently from side to side.

Livia opened her eyes wide at his action.

That…

‘It’s something I often do for Vincent.’

When Vincent was excited or adorable, Livia would stroke his hair instead of hugging him tightly.

Vincent spoke.

“It’s okay.”

“……..”

“We won’t hurt you.”

Like taming a young wild animal, Vincent whispered calmly.

But something remarkable happened.

“Uh……”

With just a few words from Vincent, the child who was struggling and kicking gradually calmed down.

But what was most surprising of all was.

‘Vincent is usually most afraid of children his age.’

With the deep trauma from the Academy, Vincent, despite being a noble, was always fearful and guarded around children his age.

However, it seemed that he didn’t feel that same fear towards this girl.

‘Why?’

Livia couldn’t explain the reason, but…

‘Perhaps this girl…….’

Livia turned to look at Vincent and the girl, who were facing each other in silence.