A late afternoon street with people hurrying to go home. A boy who looked to be about nine years old was holding his younger brother's hand tightly. The boy whispered to his brother with a determined expression.
"Philip. Get ready. It's almost here."
"Yes! Dino, I'm ready!"
Philip answered with a firm voice. Whenever they passed this way, there was always a place that persistently reached out its hand to tempt them. Normally, Naina would have protected them from that temptation, but today, she couldn't come with them because she was taking care of sick Mitchell. So today, they had to make up their mind and free themself from temptation.
'We can do it!'
The two of them held hands and walked forward. As soon as they took a step, the rich aroma of butter hit their noses.
'It's come!'
It was the smell of soft, delicious bread being made.
"...!"
Just the smell made his mouth water. Dino swallowed hard and shook his head.
'No. I won't fall for this level of temptation.'
But as they got closer to the bakery, the smell grew stronger. Philip and Dino unconsciously peeked into the shop where delicious breads were displayed. They saw people choosing bread from the display case, sitting at a table on one side, and eating them deliciously with tea. Dino was lost in thought and stared at the sight until he came to his senses when the bakery owner spoke to him.
"Hello, little one. Have you come to buy bread?"
Dino had a few coins in his pocket that he had received from running errands, but this was money he shouldn't have spent.
"Oh, no!"
Dino shook his head sharply, hurriedly took care of Philip, and pulled himself together again.
"Philip. We must go now."
"Yeah..."
Philip, who had been enjoying the smell of bread with a relaxed expression, became sullen at Dino's words. He took a step that did not move as if he was disappointed.
"Let's go back to the orphanage quickly. Let's go and eat something delicious."
"Yes!"
As Dino soothed him, Philip's expression brightened again. He took light steps, but a loud noise was heard from far away.
"Wow! Give me some too!"
"Me too!"
Children were raising their hands or jumping up and down, asking for something. Some were shyly taking it while holding their mother's hand. Dino and Philip wondered what was going on.
"Should we just go and see what's going on?"
Philip nodded.
"Yeah! Yeah!"
"You have to hold my hand tightly. You can't let go, right?"
Young Philip, who was smiling brightly, answered cheerfully.
"Yes, take them one by one."
There was a crowd of people, children to be exact. They could hear the adults standing nearby talking.
"They are distributing food to children in Lamberda."
"I heard they do volunteer work so that children can eat what they want."
"They are doing a good job."
"My child got it too. He used to whine for snacks, which was a headache, but he'll be quiet for a while."
The children around the adults took out bread and cookies from the paper bags in their hands and ate them with relish.
"Wow."
Young Philip salivated at the sight. A child passing by took a handful of chewy-looking dried fruit from a paper bag and munched on it. Dino also gulped as he watched. Dino hesitated for a moment and then asked the child closest to him.
"Excuse me, how can I get that?"
"This? They just gave it to me if I went?"
"Really?"
"Yeah. It's true."
The child pointed with his finger to a stall where there were a lot of children gathered.
"Kids, come here and take one of these."
A plump, pretty woman was calling the children together with a bright smile. The men standing on either side of her were giving each child a paper bag. They looked fierce and scary, but when Dino saw the children taking the paper bags in front of him, he thought he could do it too.
"Philip. Do you want to eat that? Should we go and get some too?"
Philip nodded, covering his face. Dino gathered his courage and went to the stall to ask.
"Can I get this without paying?"
The woman laughed at those words and said.
"Yes, any child can take it."
"Really?"
"I'm just trying to let the kids eat whatever they want. Here, take one each."
Dino and Philip each received a paper bag. The woman smiled kindly and spoke to Dino and Philip as they accepted the bag.
"Come again tomorrow, we'll do it again."
"Tomorrow too?"
"If you bring your friends, they can receive it too."
"To my friends too?"
Dino asked, unable to hide his excitement.
"Yes! So bring lots of friends."
"Yes!"
Dino answered in a loud voice. Dino dutifully took care of Philip and came out.
"Wow!"
Dino and Philip were amazed at the contents inside. It contained a variety of soft white bread that is hard to come by, chewy and sour-looking dried fruits, cookies with nuts in them, and crunchy biscuits.
"Let's take this and share it together."
"Yes!"
Dino and Philip laughed with sparkling eyes.
"Let's go quickly!"
Dino and Philip hurried excitedly on their way to the orphanage.
He held the paper bag carefully in his arms so as not to drop it. With each step he took, the delicious smell coming from inside the bag tickled his nose. After walking briskly for a while, Philip's pace slowed down.
"Brother Dino, I'm hungry."
"Huh? Are you hungry?"
But they were still a long way from the orphanage. And where they were now was a forest path that led out of the city and toward the orphanage. There was no place to get food around there.
"Uh..."
Dino, who had been thinking about it, finally opened the paper bag.
"It looks really delicious."
Dino and Philip gulped.
"Then should we just eat one each?"
Philip's expression brightened. Dino and Philip each took a piece of bread and a cookie that they wanted to eat. Just as Dino was about to put the bread in his mouth, he saw a mother bird feeding her chicks on a tree. Dino, who was about to take a big bite of the bread, stopped. Looking at that, he thought of Aiden, who always took care of them first.
"..."
Dino opened his mouth wide as if he had made up his mind about something and closed it.
"I won't eat this. I'll give it to Aiden."
Dino put the bread he had taken out back into the paper bag.
"Umm...Me too."
Philip, who had already taken a bite of the cookie, spoke with his mouth full. However, he couldn't speak properly because his mouth was full of cookies.
"You're giving it to him too?"
Still, Dino understood Philip's words perfectly. Philip nodded. Philip tried to put the cookie he had bitten back into the paper bag. Dino laughed at the sight and grabbed Philip's hand, putting it back in his mouth.
"Yes. But since you already ate this, just eat it. I'll keep it a secret."
"Yes!"
Philip, who answered cheerfully with a smile, chewed the cookie in his mouth diligently. Dino wiped the cookie crumbs off Philip's mouth. Philip, who had been quietly receiving Dino's hand to wipe them off, offered Dino the cookie he was eating.
"Brother Dino too."
"You want me to eat it too?"
"Yes."
"Hmm..."
Dino, who had been worrying, smiled brightly.
"Then just one bite."
Dino took a bite of the cookie Philip gave him. The cookie was so delicious. The nutty flavor crunched between the crispy and sweet cookie. The more he chewed, the more nutty and delicious it became
"Is this a secret between us?"
Dino put his finger to his lips and made a shushing sound.
"Yeah! Secret!"
Dino and Philip shared a cookie and smiled happily. To be honest, half a cookie wasn't enough. But they held back and tried to eat.
"If I give this to Aiden, he'll be really happy, right?"
Philip nodded vigorously as if he thought it would be so. After eating all the cookies, Dino and Philip started walking again. After walking briskly for about 20 minutes, they saw an orphanage in the distance. And Aiden appeared in front of it.
"It's Aiden! Let's go!"
"Let's go!"
As soon as Aiden appeared, Dino and Phillip held hands and started running excitedly.
***
"Brother!"
"Brother Aiden!"
Two little boys, dressed neatly, came running towards Aiden, catching his eye.
"Dino and Philip?"
Aiden, who was clearing snow in front of the orphanage, saw children running towards him in panic and shouting.
"Hey, you guys! Don't run! You'll fall down if you do!"
"Don't fall!"
Dino came running in one stride, grinning and revealing his teeth.
"Brother! What did I bring you?"
Dino asked in an excited voice in front of Aiden. Dino chuckled at Aiden's expression of not knowing what to do.
"Wah!"
Dino, with a proud expression, held out the paper bag he was holding in front of Aiden.
"Brother Aiden! This is a gift!"
"Me too, brother, me too."
Philip, who was standing next to Dino, also held out the paper bag he was holding tightly in his small hands. Then he smiled shyly as if he was expecting a compliment.
"What is it?"
Aiden, who was grinning, took the paper bag and examined its contents. It was filled with expensive bread, dried fruit, and biscuits.
"You guys...where did you get this?"
Aiden asked with a stern expression. Contrary to expectations that he would really like it, Dino and Philip noticed Aiden's timid reaction. At that moment, young Philip twisted his body and raised one finger.
"We were the only ones who ate...."
Philip finally confessed the truth. But Aiden's expression didn't soften. The two of them looked at each other for a while before opening their mouths.
"Some people were handing it out on the streets downtown."
"...!"
As soon as Dino finished speaking, Aiden grabbed the two and sternly scolded them with an angry expression.
"You guys! I told you not to follow anyone who offers you food!"
"...!"
Philip's eyes quickly filled with tears as he was so shocked that his shoulders almost fell off. Dino, embarrassed, desperately denied it.
"Oh, no. I didn't go with them. They just said I could just take it without paying..."
Dino hesitated and then pouted.
"It was like a volunteer service where you let kids eat whatever they want. Many kids around me received it, and the adults also said it was a good thing. It's not strange."
Dino protested as if it was unfair. Aiden had heard a related story recently.
'They're giving food to children without any compensation.'
As soon as he heard it, he thought it was suspicious. When he told this story to the flower shop, Selena's reaction was not very good. Instead, she told Aiden to be careful not to get involved with the orphanage children. Aiden realized it with those words.
'They're not the kind of people who would do this kind of service for no reason.'
Aiden said with a stern expression.
"We don't need to accept things like this anymore. The Grand Duchess helps our orphanage a lot."
"I know that, but..."
Dino's voice, blurred, became increasingly filled with tears.
"I wanted to give it to you, brother... You don't eat well because you're always taking care of us..."
Philip, who was younger than Dino, was already sobbing beside him. Aiden's heart was also complicated as he watched them. He was grateful for his younger siblings. Still...
"Don't accept anything like this in the future. We have to be especially careful."
'Because we don't have parents to help us no matter what happens.'
He didn't really say anything. He didn't want to say that because he knew it would hurt his younger siblings. But he had to say it clearly. Aiden knew the reality of orphans very well. When something went missing, they were the first to be suspected, and even when they actually gave something to them, they were often accused of stealing it and labeled as thieves.
Having experienced such things several times, Aiden didn't want his siblings to go through the same thing. Fortunately, he had been able to get through it safely because the former director had stepped in and protected him.
However, the former director had passed away. Of course, he did think about Karina, Mikhail, and the people at the flower shop who had helped him.
'I received a lot of help, and I don't want to cause trouble by doing this.'
Moreover, just a little while ago, the Grand Duchess was involved in a hostage situation. They just thought that they had to be a little more careful.
"Don't forget what I say and take it to heart. Do you understand?"
Aiden spoke strongly, his expression unwavering.
"...Yes."
"Ugh..."
Dino and Philip answered, giggling.
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