23 Fragile Hear (1/2)

”Does Commander Bai think of Rin differently now?”

Looking up into the little girl's unwavering eyes, he could detect the evident loneliness which was instantly replaced with a hard shell of dullness.

He shifted his intent gaze down to naturally see the girl's firm grip on her blanket as she waited anxiously for his response.

Commander Bai had been silent for a few possible moments before he chuckled lightly with his head gently lowered.

Soon enough his light chuckles turned to large fits of hearty laughter.

For the first time, Rin stared wonderingly at the old Commander with...shock.

Why was he laughing? Had he'd gone hysterical from her words?

Clearly confused, Rin furrowed her brows towards the old man's reasons for laughing.

After he had calmed down, the Commander wiped a tear from the corner of his eyes.

Looking up towards the little girl in the bed, an expression that would be marked into Rin's mind forever appeared.

He was smiling.

It wasn't a fake smile Rin would see when she was in the village where the other mothers would stare at her with hidden disgust. She didn't grasp the reason for their disgust.

It wasn't like the fake smiles she'd see when she was a child in the Li Palace, where the maids and servants would stare at her and smile. But they were clearly smiles of pity.

She didn't care about their disgust. She didn't care for their pity. All their raw emotions and personal feelings towards her didn't matter to her.

She killed many at a young age. Shown the sinister side of society too soon, too young. She was tainted with their negative thoughts that gradually developed her into a figure of darkness.

She was a monster.