The Crown Prince, who had been quietly watching them, nodded half a beat later.
“Yes, I came in today.”
“It’s the first time I’ve seen that kid.”
The girl who had been smiling faintly soon asked cautiously.
“But you, didn’t you give up the food you received a little while ago to the kid next to you?”
"Yes."
“Why did you do that?”
“He look hungry.”
The Crown Prince, who had a puzzled expression on his face at the unexpected question, answered nonchalantly. Then, the three witnesses simultaneously let out a low sigh.
“What about you? Aren’t you hungry?”
“I ate before coming here, so I’m fine.”
First of all, why are you asking this?
He couldn't understand the intent of the question, but once he answered, the other girl smiled and patted his head.
“I see. You know how to compromise. You’re a good kid.”
But the voice that followed was extremely cold.
“Well, you’re kind, but you don’t know anything yet.”
The boy, muttering in a muffled voice, began to scold the Crown Prince.
“Don’t do that again. You have to eat and live, too. No matter how young you are, you should know how to take care of your own share. No one will recognize you if you do that. They’ll just take you for granted.”
It was as if he had mastered the ways of the world.
'I think you said you were thirteen years old.'
Is this something that should come out of the mouth of a child of that age?
The Crown Prince, momentarily speechless, just stared blankly at them.
A girl intervened, perhaps misunderstanding that he was scared.
“Jed, why did you kill the baby? It must have been done with good intentions.”
The child who had been protesting loudly towards the boy turned her gaze back to the Crown Prince and smiled prettily.
“Sorry, are you surprised? I’m not mad at you. I’m just worried that if this keeps happening, you’ll get hurt.”
“That’s right, there’s no one here to look after your stuff, so you have to take care of it yourself.”
Another girl agreed.
“...”
The Crown Prince could not help but be shocked by the sight of children who had come into the world too early due to unfortunate circumstances.
The Crown Prince, who had been looking at them silently, soon answered with a sigh in his voice.
“Yes, I will. Thank you.”
The girl smiled brightly and caressed the Crown Prince's head, perhaps because she found the sight so cute.
“But you’re really cute. What’s your name?”
“Ethan.”
“...Ethan?”
"Yes."
The atmosphere hardened in an instant.
The hand that was gently stroking the Crown Prince's head also stopped.
It was a completely different reaction from what the director had shown when he had said the same name.
The Crown Prince's gaze became sharp.
“Yeah, it’s Ethan...”
The girl who had been muttering with a blank expression soon began muttering to herself in a sad voice.
“Your name is similar to Evan’s.”
It was clear that she meant the assassin.
'As expected, you know each other.'
As the Crown Prince looked at them with sharp eyes, Jed grabbed the girl's arm tightly and growled.
“Hey! I told you not to bring up that name! It’s a name that doesn’t exist anymore!”
“Oh, that’s right.”
The girl who had hurriedly covered her mouth spoke hurriedly as if making an excuse.
“Sorry, that name sounds similar to something I’ve seen in a book before. Let’s pretend we didn’t hear that one.”
Then she ran away from the place.
But that awkward reaction only served to reinforce the Crown Prince's thoughts.
As expected, the child named Marca clearly has the blood of an assassin.
'But why did you hide it?'
He couldn't figure out what the director was hiding.
The Crown Prince's eyebrows furrowed.
The first day at the orphanage went by in an instant.
As he was guessing what secret the director was hiding and getting angry at the children living in poor environments, the sunset.
The servant who came running after finishing work led the children by clapping his hands.
“Yes, children. It’s time to go to sleep. Make your beds quickly.”
"Yes!"
The children quickly carried the blankets as instructed.
'It's not like it's the military.'
The Crown Prince paused for a moment at the sight of such determined behavior that it was hard to believe it was that of children. Then he quickly mingled with the busy children and carried the blanket.
The children, who had been tossing and turning while lying on old blankets with holes and tears here and there, soon fell asleep.
The crown prince also lay down among them, but unlike the other children, he had a hard time falling asleep.
At that time, he was busy thinking about how to improve this poor environment and how much money would be needed.
Knock knock.
Something touched his head.
When he looked up, wondering what was going on, he saw a white cat looking down at him. It was Delton.
“...Why here.”
The Crown Prince paused for a moment at the appearance of the unexpected gray creature, and when he asked, Delton gave a small “meow.”
Then he walked towards the door and wagged his tail.
'Are you asking me to follow you?'
He can't understand exactly what Delton's saying since they can't communicate like Shayne, but judging from his actions, it seemed like that was probably it.
He sat up quietly and looked around. Fortunately, all the children were fast asleep.
He followed Delton, his footsteps muffled.
Eventually, he arrived at a warehouse where Shayne was waiting for him.
“How was it?”
While mumbling with something stuffed into her mouth.
“...What are you eating?”
“What the hell, bye.”
Shayne, who had been mumbling something unintelligible for a while, swallowed what was in her mouth.
“This damn director, she's afraid that someone might call her a miser, so she only gives us a slice of bread and a potato for lunch and dinner? It’s really unbelievable. What does she expect me to do while feeding me like that! She's worse than Your Highness!”
“Why am I coming out of there?”
“Why are you coming out! Your Highness, when I first arrived at the scene, you only gave me a loaf of bread! Don’t you remember?”
Shayne raised her voice as if in disbelief.
The Crown Prince suddenly remembered the first time he visited the disaster site with Shayne.
“Your Highness, what is this?”
“Can’t you see it? It’s bread and water.”
He threw a single multigrain bread to Shayne as a snack when she was completely exhausted from working tirelessly on the site.
“Eat it with gratitude, without complaining. This is the food that countless people in the empire eat every day. After all, the Saintess will soon return to the temple and eat the precious food again.”
He was talking coldly to Shayne, who was protesting that this was all the food she got for working without a moment's rest since she got up at the crack of dawn.
"That..."
A look of bewilderment spread across the Crown Prince's face.
In fact, at that time, it had only been a day since he had learned that Shayne had impersonated the Saintess.
Of course, he couldn't help but be angry.
So he felt resentful and tried to act more coldly. He thought that since she was going to eat expensive food every day, it would be okay to eat something light once in a while.
But now that he looks back, he thinks his actions were a bit harsh.
The Crown Prince, who had nothing to say, could not bring himself to refute Shayne's words and awkwardly changed the subject.
“So you’re stealing food from the daycare?”
“Why, are you going to scold the children for stealing food when they already have so little?”
Shayne shrugged her shoulders, seeming offended as she recalled the rude treatment she had received in the past.
“Don’t worry, this is food that the director has set aside.”
"Set aside?"
“Yes, this lady had his back pockets really full. Oh, would you like some? Your Highness, you haven’t had a proper meal, have you?”
Shayne took a piece of the bread she was holding and offered it to the Crown Prince.
It was white wheat bread.
While she was giving the kids whole grain bread that was hard to chew properly, she was eating wheat bread.
The Crown Prince's expression suddenly crumpled at the director's behavior.
“No, I don’t have an appetite.”
He pushed the bread away in front of him with a cold expression.
“Continue with that back pocket story. Do you have any evidence that the director is embezzling?”
“Ah, what a mess.”
As if she had just remembered, Shayne swallowed the bread she had stuffed into her mouth again.
“I didn’t get any evidence, but I did hear testimony.”
“What is that?”
“That’s right. I heard it from the servants. This director, well...”
Shayne told the Crown Prince in detail the stories she had heard during the day.
Everything from the fact that the director's mother is a famous person in the industry, to the fact that she brings in a lot of sponsorship, but the director embezzles it all.
As Shayne continued to speak, the Crown Prince's expression hardened rapidly.
Looking at him like that, Shayne shook her index finger.
“It’s too early to be surprised. Those groceries are nothing.”
“What else is there that makes you do that?”
“Well, this damn director is sold kids.”
“Kids?”
The Crown Prince's expression hardened to a degree that was incomparable to before.
Shayne, who was slightly startled by that, went back to tell the story she had heard.
It only took a moment for anger to appear on the Crown Prince's face.
“Ha, is she really selling off orphans? How dare you.”
The Crown Prince, who had been gnashing his teeth, asked again as if urging her on.
“Where is that? Where is she taking the children?”
“I don’t know much about that... Well, I guess I’ll have to find out from now on.”
The Crown Prince touched his forehead at Shayne's answer.
Embezzlement was something he expected, but he never thought they would sell off children too.
How could this happen?
The Crown Prince clenched his fists, unable to contain his raging anger.
“But, have you found out anything? You spent the whole day with the kids. You even went into the director’s office.”
“There’s nothing special about it. The only thing is that the children live in a very poor environment. Oh, I know for sure that the assassin was the child’s older brother yesterday.”
When the Crown Prince told the story of meeting the three witnesses, Shayne snapped her fingers.
“Oh, that’s right. I checked with the servants. How dare she hide his perfectly normal brother and make the child mentally ill. And she has the gall to lie in front of the Crown Prince and the Saintess?”
It was then that Shayne raised her voice, saying that she had to show the director an example by revealing all the secrets he was hiding on this occasion.
Thud. Thud.
Footsteps echoed from somewhere.
“Yes, I came in today.”
“It’s the first time I’ve seen that kid.”
The girl who had been smiling faintly soon asked cautiously.
“But you, didn’t you give up the food you received a little while ago to the kid next to you?”
"Yes."
“Why did you do that?”
“He look hungry.”
The Crown Prince, who had a puzzled expression on his face at the unexpected question, answered nonchalantly. Then, the three witnesses simultaneously let out a low sigh.
“What about you? Aren’t you hungry?”
“I ate before coming here, so I’m fine.”
First of all, why are you asking this?
He couldn't understand the intent of the question, but once he answered, the other girl smiled and patted his head.
“I see. You know how to compromise. You’re a good kid.”
But the voice that followed was extremely cold.
“Well, you’re kind, but you don’t know anything yet.”
The boy, muttering in a muffled voice, began to scold the Crown Prince.
“Don’t do that again. You have to eat and live, too. No matter how young you are, you should know how to take care of your own share. No one will recognize you if you do that. They’ll just take you for granted.”
It was as if he had mastered the ways of the world.
'I think you said you were thirteen years old.'
Is this something that should come out of the mouth of a child of that age?
The Crown Prince, momentarily speechless, just stared blankly at them.
A girl intervened, perhaps misunderstanding that he was scared.
“Jed, why did you kill the baby? It must have been done with good intentions.”
The child who had been protesting loudly towards the boy turned her gaze back to the Crown Prince and smiled prettily.
“Sorry, are you surprised? I’m not mad at you. I’m just worried that if this keeps happening, you’ll get hurt.”
“That’s right, there’s no one here to look after your stuff, so you have to take care of it yourself.”
Another girl agreed.
“...”
The Crown Prince could not help but be shocked by the sight of children who had come into the world too early due to unfortunate circumstances.
The Crown Prince, who had been looking at them silently, soon answered with a sigh in his voice.
“Yes, I will. Thank you.”
The girl smiled brightly and caressed the Crown Prince's head, perhaps because she found the sight so cute.
“But you’re really cute. What’s your name?”
“Ethan.”
“...Ethan?”
"Yes."
The atmosphere hardened in an instant.
The hand that was gently stroking the Crown Prince's head also stopped.
It was a completely different reaction from what the director had shown when he had said the same name.
The Crown Prince's gaze became sharp.
“Yeah, it’s Ethan...”
The girl who had been muttering with a blank expression soon began muttering to herself in a sad voice.
“Your name is similar to Evan’s.”
It was clear that she meant the assassin.
'As expected, you know each other.'
As the Crown Prince looked at them with sharp eyes, Jed grabbed the girl's arm tightly and growled.
“Hey! I told you not to bring up that name! It’s a name that doesn’t exist anymore!”
“Oh, that’s right.”
The girl who had hurriedly covered her mouth spoke hurriedly as if making an excuse.
“Sorry, that name sounds similar to something I’ve seen in a book before. Let’s pretend we didn’t hear that one.”
Then she ran away from the place.
But that awkward reaction only served to reinforce the Crown Prince's thoughts.
As expected, the child named Marca clearly has the blood of an assassin.
'But why did you hide it?'
He couldn't figure out what the director was hiding.
The Crown Prince's eyebrows furrowed.
***
The first day at the orphanage went by in an instant.
As he was guessing what secret the director was hiding and getting angry at the children living in poor environments, the sunset.
The servant who came running after finishing work led the children by clapping his hands.
“Yes, children. It’s time to go to sleep. Make your beds quickly.”
"Yes!"
The children quickly carried the blankets as instructed.
'It's not like it's the military.'
The Crown Prince paused for a moment at the sight of such determined behavior that it was hard to believe it was that of children. Then he quickly mingled with the busy children and carried the blanket.
The children, who had been tossing and turning while lying on old blankets with holes and tears here and there, soon fell asleep.
The crown prince also lay down among them, but unlike the other children, he had a hard time falling asleep.
At that time, he was busy thinking about how to improve this poor environment and how much money would be needed.
Knock knock.
Something touched his head.
When he looked up, wondering what was going on, he saw a white cat looking down at him. It was Delton.
“...Why here.”
The Crown Prince paused for a moment at the appearance of the unexpected gray creature, and when he asked, Delton gave a small “meow.”
Then he walked towards the door and wagged his tail.
'Are you asking me to follow you?'
He can't understand exactly what Delton's saying since they can't communicate like Shayne, but judging from his actions, it seemed like that was probably it.
He sat up quietly and looked around. Fortunately, all the children were fast asleep.
He followed Delton, his footsteps muffled.
Eventually, he arrived at a warehouse where Shayne was waiting for him.
“How was it?”
While mumbling with something stuffed into her mouth.
“...What are you eating?”
“What the hell, bye.”
Shayne, who had been mumbling something unintelligible for a while, swallowed what was in her mouth.
“This damn director, she's afraid that someone might call her a miser, so she only gives us a slice of bread and a potato for lunch and dinner? It’s really unbelievable. What does she expect me to do while feeding me like that! She's worse than Your Highness!”
“Why am I coming out of there?”
“Why are you coming out! Your Highness, when I first arrived at the scene, you only gave me a loaf of bread! Don’t you remember?”
Shayne raised her voice as if in disbelief.
The Crown Prince suddenly remembered the first time he visited the disaster site with Shayne.
“Your Highness, what is this?”
“Can’t you see it? It’s bread and water.”
He threw a single multigrain bread to Shayne as a snack when she was completely exhausted from working tirelessly on the site.
“Eat it with gratitude, without complaining. This is the food that countless people in the empire eat every day. After all, the Saintess will soon return to the temple and eat the precious food again.”
He was talking coldly to Shayne, who was protesting that this was all the food she got for working without a moment's rest since she got up at the crack of dawn.
"That..."
A look of bewilderment spread across the Crown Prince's face.
In fact, at that time, it had only been a day since he had learned that Shayne had impersonated the Saintess.
Of course, he couldn't help but be angry.
So he felt resentful and tried to act more coldly. He thought that since she was going to eat expensive food every day, it would be okay to eat something light once in a while.
But now that he looks back, he thinks his actions were a bit harsh.
The Crown Prince, who had nothing to say, could not bring himself to refute Shayne's words and awkwardly changed the subject.
“So you’re stealing food from the daycare?”
“Why, are you going to scold the children for stealing food when they already have so little?”
Shayne shrugged her shoulders, seeming offended as she recalled the rude treatment she had received in the past.
“Don’t worry, this is food that the director has set aside.”
"Set aside?"
“Yes, this lady had his back pockets really full. Oh, would you like some? Your Highness, you haven’t had a proper meal, have you?”
Shayne took a piece of the bread she was holding and offered it to the Crown Prince.
It was white wheat bread.
While she was giving the kids whole grain bread that was hard to chew properly, she was eating wheat bread.
The Crown Prince's expression suddenly crumpled at the director's behavior.
“No, I don’t have an appetite.”
He pushed the bread away in front of him with a cold expression.
“Continue with that back pocket story. Do you have any evidence that the director is embezzling?”
“Ah, what a mess.”
As if she had just remembered, Shayne swallowed the bread she had stuffed into her mouth again.
“I didn’t get any evidence, but I did hear testimony.”
“What is that?”
“That’s right. I heard it from the servants. This director, well...”
Shayne told the Crown Prince in detail the stories she had heard during the day.
Everything from the fact that the director's mother is a famous person in the industry, to the fact that she brings in a lot of sponsorship, but the director embezzles it all.
As Shayne continued to speak, the Crown Prince's expression hardened rapidly.
Looking at him like that, Shayne shook her index finger.
“It’s too early to be surprised. Those groceries are nothing.”
“What else is there that makes you do that?”
“Well, this damn director is sold kids.”
“Kids?”
The Crown Prince's expression hardened to a degree that was incomparable to before.
Shayne, who was slightly startled by that, went back to tell the story she had heard.
It only took a moment for anger to appear on the Crown Prince's face.
“Ha, is she really selling off orphans? How dare you.”
The Crown Prince, who had been gnashing his teeth, asked again as if urging her on.
“Where is that? Where is she taking the children?”
“I don’t know much about that... Well, I guess I’ll have to find out from now on.”
The Crown Prince touched his forehead at Shayne's answer.
Embezzlement was something he expected, but he never thought they would sell off children too.
How could this happen?
The Crown Prince clenched his fists, unable to contain his raging anger.
“But, have you found out anything? You spent the whole day with the kids. You even went into the director’s office.”
“There’s nothing special about it. The only thing is that the children live in a very poor environment. Oh, I know for sure that the assassin was the child’s older brother yesterday.”
When the Crown Prince told the story of meeting the three witnesses, Shayne snapped her fingers.
“Oh, that’s right. I checked with the servants. How dare she hide his perfectly normal brother and make the child mentally ill. And she has the gall to lie in front of the Crown Prince and the Saintess?”
It was then that Shayne raised her voice, saying that she had to show the director an example by revealing all the secrets he was hiding on this occasion.
Thud. Thud.
Footsteps echoed from somewhere.
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