Chapter 13 (1/2)

Chapter 13

She had a long ongoing dream.

It was her dream as Lilian Lou’s days,

Twelve-year-old Lilian Lou was a young child who lived in a slum, set in a barely inhabited dark forest with her mother in the Duchy of Delois.

The way she lived wasn’t exactly how a normal ‘young child’ would be raised, but life wasn’t bad.

She was never hungry, though she was never full either. She still had a mother even if she didn’t have a father.

“Lou, my baby.”

A loving mother’s voice hugged and whispered to her every night.

“Lou, come and get something to eat.”

The only neighbor who took care of the mother and daughter, Aunt Mariel.

Lilian Lou was living a decent life with what she had.

But people don’t realize if their life was terrible.

They only realize that face when they are in misery, but they eventually feel better.

Just as Yvonne, who believed there would be no greater misfortune than the Duke, realized that real misfortune was after marrying Karloi.

Even taking into account that her misfortunes are not so diverse, the misfortunes that came to Lilian Lou were overly banal.

A terrible illness fell upon Denise, who needed expensive medicine for an illness that could not be cured.

Sickness and poverty were easy things that mated. No, maybe misfortune brings in other misfortunes.

Lilian Lou suddenly became responsible for her livelihood at a young age. She didn’t have many options.

There were thugs living in the dark forest who would not refuse any job as long as you provide them with money. Those thugs often needed young children who looked naive, so Lilian used to work for them often.

She helped them avoid the security forces’ suspicion, deliver things for them, clean their dwelling place, and a small amount of labor. Then she would get her hand on a small amount of money.

For Lilian, who was in a rush for money, she had no feelings of guilt, conscience, or a sense of justice, so the thugs got it easy. Besides, she was a child with big guts.

The day she first saw Karloi was a normal, usual day for her. She had just found a young boy tied up as she went to clean the place for the thugs, which was dirty like a pig’s den.

“Uh…”

The embarrassed Lilian groaned without her knowledge. She wasn’t surprised that there were people there.

This was originally a place where thugs often locked people up. Threatening, beating, or torturing.

However, it was the first time she had ever seen such a young child.

The boy let out a deep yell.

“Run away! Get out of here! This is a dangerous place!”

It seemed that he thought Lilian was a child who entered innocently without knowing anything.

Lilian was shocked. If she was in that situation, she thought she would shout ‘save me’ first.

Some people don’t usually think about their own livelihoods and their own lives first. They can afford to care for others and do the right things.

Lilian stood as if she was nailed to the spot and looked at the boy who was worried about others without considering his situation. How could this be?

As Lilian stood still for a while, one of the thugs came in and shouted.

“Lou! Why are you caring about useless things? If you don’t, you won’t get any money, and you’ll have to be prepared to get kicked out of here.”

Lilian nodded roughly and pretended to wipe the floor. The thug turned his gaze lightly.

Since Lilian never ratted about their business to anyone.

The expression that appeared on the boy’s face when he looked at her then was buried in her mind. The look of betrayal, contempt, and all kinds of negative emotions was shown on his face.

“What, you are in the same gang? You…”

A terrifyingly dull sound echoed. The thug gave a relentless blow to the boy’s head.

In fear, Lilian Lou ran out. It felt completely different than seeing a grown-up beat a child at her age.

“What, Lou, why did you come out?”

“Oh, that’s…”

“That’s right. If you turn right past the witch’s tree, a man in black will be standing there. Get some stuff from him.”

The witch’s tree was at the entrance to the dark forest.

“When it comes to medicinal herbs, the security forces won’t say anything. Everyone here knows that you’re struggling with your mother’s disease.”

Lilian listened to him because it was better than cleaning. It wasn’t until she realized that the goods she brought were a massive number of gold coins.

The boy, who seemed to be beaten all day, became quiet until the evening was over. At that time, Lilian went into the place again, but the boy was tied up and shedding tears.

“If you rebel, it’s worse. You better just shut up.”

Lilian’s helpful advice wasn’t appreciated at all, and the child glared with his tearful eyes. His bloody face was terrifying, so Lilian rubbed the child’s face with her hand without her knowledge.

“What, put your dirty hands away.”

“Don’t you know? Your face right now is a lot dirtier than my hands.”

“It’s not that dirty… Boy, why are you looking at me like that? Put your hands away!”

“What? You idiot!”

“Wh, what? How old are you! You’re a criminal!”

She wanted to squeeze the boy with his bursting open mouth, but Lilian couldn’t do that because he looked so miserable.

Instead, she took a clean wipe and wiped his face. As she wiped it, it was bloody, but his face didn’t fit the situation as much as she thought.

His lips seemed to burst, but the face was not that swollen except for his right cheek, as they hit his head and body a lot.

The boy stared at the floor with a piercing glance, as if he was not thankful for this kindness at all.

“You’re just pretending to be nice to me, too.”

Lilian Lou wasn’t very patient. She replied,

“Then, should I hit you, too?”