I was wandering alone through the empty streets, not even carriages in sight.
"Ha..."
Is it because of the clothes that soaked up a lot of rainwater?
It was difficult to move forward as If someone was holding my ankle.
It was that moment...
A bright light appeared before my eyes, which were all hazy and blurry.
It was the moment when I approached the warm light that sparkled like a signpost as if fascinated.
"Stop."
The apprentice knight guarding the front of the temple stopped me.
"The worship time is already over. Go back."
When he saw me soaked in the rain, he muttered in displeasure.
"I can't believe you're looking for a temple like that."
I pretended not to hear what he said and spoke with my head down.
"I would like to meet the priest. My little brother..."
"He is busy now. Besides, he is not someone you can easily meet even if you want to."
I didn't back down even though the voice clearly showed annoyance.
"My little brother is very sick."
"If your brother is sick, go see a therapist. The temple is not a place where those without money come to beg. It's a place to reflect on God's words."
In a cold voice, swear words lingered in my clenched mouth.
They're like bastards.
"Please. The child's condition is very bad."
The man who had been snorting at me as I pleaded suddenly narrowed his eyes.
"Are you really from the slums?"
"..."
"Oh my God. You have good guts too. I can't believe you were born so lowly that you want to enter the temple."
My fist tightened as I mumbled something incoherent.
It was at that time that the tightly closed door of the temple opened.
A figure walking out with a small figure wearing a hood caught my eye.
The moment I saw the pure white priest's uniform, I ran to him and clung to him.
"Priest, please. My younger brother..."
Before I could finish speaking, my body fell helplessly into the rain.
The copper-colored coins that I had scraped together from what I had at home spilled onto the muddy floor.
The money was saved over several months. The priest frowned as if he was looking at something dirty as I hurriedly picked up the scattered coins.
He brushed off the mud that had splattered on his sleeve and reprimanded the trainee knight who pushed me to the floor.
"Buern, I put you there to prevent things like that from snooping around the temple."
Things like that.
Those words made me more miserable than rolling around on the floor covered in mud.
"I'm sorry. I will put it away right away."
The knight who bowed to the priest's words approached me with a grim look on his face. That was the moment when strong hands firmly grabbed both of my armpits.
An angry cry came out of my mouth as I had a premonition that I would be dragged away.
"You bastards!"
The lump of anger that had always been hanging around my neck poured out into the air as if I were vomiting blood.
"God is merciful! You said you would save me! You say all lives are precious!"
Know.
That we are not included in the 'precious life' they talk about.
For them, a precious life is ultimately someone who can sacrifice a lot for God.
"Such shameless..."
The priest's face turned red as if he had been insulted.
I knew I had to stop at this point, but I didn't know how to close my mouth once it was open.
"We don't deserve it? Who decided that?"
From the moment I was born, it was a life where I could not choose anything.
Other than accepting the future that has already been decided.
Even though I worked until my hands were swollen, I was busy earning a living each day.
In order to take care of my younger brother, I had to earn money, and every time I went out to earn money, my younger brother, who was left home alone, endured the pain and got sick again and again.
It was a vicious cycle that could not get better.
Why on earth did a life that no one blesses have to be born?
Even though I asked hundreds of times, no one told me.
I also didn't know the answer yet.
***
My body was throbbing here and there as I was thrown on the floor by the rough hands.
As I struggled to get up, someone suddenly held out a white handkerchief in front of me.
I glanced at the handkerchief held out in front of me and then raised my head to see who owned the hand.
Beneath the dark hood, green eyes with a kind glow were looking at me.
"Miss, I suggest you stay away. She's a girl from the slums, so I don't know what she's done."
The apprentice knight gave me a disdainful look and tried to dissuade her.
"Well. She doesn't look that dangerous to me. Isn't it Sir who pushed the helpless woman to the floor?"
The knight's face heated up at the handkerchief owner's comment.
"Can you get up? Phew, can you help this Young Lady?"
"Yes."
A man named Hugh, who was standing behind the woman, lightly helped me up.
Although it wasn't gentle, it was a much more polite touch than the temple's apprentice knight who had pushed me away.
Of course, that didn't mean he was willing to accept me.
The look in his eyes when he looked at me was extremely cold.
"I completely understand your loving heart."
The priest who was watching the situation opened his mouth.
"They do not worship God or offer offerings to express their gratitude. Clinging like this just to get help is common. If you offer help every time they reach out, you probably won't be able to escape that life."
Because their lives were poor, they could not offer tribute.
Since I don't have anything, I can't solve it on my own. so I'm asking for help.
Even that was just a word I could barely endure.
When I glared at him, the priest cleared his throat as if embarrassed and added in an excuse.
"I am planning to pray to God all night long today... You probably know this too. How important this is."
"Yes."
The noble lady smiled elegantly.
"I can't believe you're going to be praying for God all night long. I hope you will be able to look after the child with more spiritual power than ever before."
"Yes, yes?!"
"God looks down on everyone, and has given his servants the power to spread his mercy."
The priest hesitated at the words spoken in a sonorous voice.
"That's God's teaching, isn't it?"
Neither the apprentice knight nor the priest could say anything in response to the gentle voice's warning.
His fierce, red eyes turned towards me.
It was a familiar thing.
Cowardly people who are humiliated by a strong person and cannot say anything are bound to take out their anger on someone weaker than themselves. And I am at the bottom of the food chain.
"As much as I was impressed by the 'God's teachings' that the priest taught me, wouldn't it be good if you could show that mercy to this child as well?"
"That..."
The priest who hesitated sighed.
"Then let's do it like this. After I finish my early morning prayers, I will stop by to see that child when I have time."
I gritted my teeth as I listened to the words, which clearly had a disapproving tone. When is the time?
Since I was born, I have never once left the slums.
As I grew from a baby to an adult, that priest never once looked into the neighborhood where I lived. He is now at a loss for what the noblewoman said, but will he keep his promise even after she leaves?
'He'll make excuses again with fancy words.'
Even if he breaks his promise, I won't be able to make a proper complaint.
As always. It would end with only me being given an unfair result.
I also thought that it would be like that after experiencing it.
Because there is nothing I can do other than conform and adapt to reality.
'But at this moment, if you convince yourself that it is inevitable and step back..!'
What about my brother, poor Oliver?
"Young Lady."
It was okay to be criticized for being shameless.
What was important to me was my little brother, who was dying right now.
If only I could save that child.
I could hear as many criticisms as I wanted.
I raised my head and opened my mouth to her.
"Could you please lend me a carriage so I can bring my brother and show him to the priest?"
The noble lady blinked at my words.
"Because the fever doesn't go down easily. The child is very sick, so the priest can take care of him."
"Gibberish!"
Hugh, who had been silent until now, raised his voice.
I bowed my head in front of the noble lady, not caring about my life.
"I will do anything if you can help me just once."
"What are you doing? This person must leave this place immediately this evening!"
My body suddenly cringed at the sound of shouting.
The courage that arose out of desperation shook dangerously as if it could be extinguished at any moment by the knight's words.
The Lady who was looking down at me asked quietly.
"It looks like the child is very sick."
"He is one and only family."
He was the only family left. Starve to death, freeze to death, get sick and die.
In a slum where people dying was a daily occurrence, that child was my only hope.
Try this series too:
- To Help You Understand [Ongoing]
- The Crown I Will Take From You [ New!]
- The Terminally Ill Princess Hold The Least Of A Mad Dog [Ongoing]
- The Fake Daughter of the Brium Family [New!]
- I Have My Enemy's Baby [Ongoing]
- I Ended Up Living Up Next Door With My Ex-Husband [Ongoing]
- The Cup Of Revenge Is In Your Hand [Ongoing]
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