MCQN 04

Episode 4

Anyway, even Gerald used to be chubby when he was little, but at some point, the weight turned into height.

“He ate well, grew well, and used that big body just to come up with new ways to torment me. I was so sick of it.”

Suddenly, an unpleasant memory surfaced. I sat down next to Edin and watched him eat his bread.

└ [Edin is so cute, omnomnom]
└ [Please give us an illustration 😭]

A cute child had the magical effect of softening the atmosphere around him, including the comment fairies.

But that peaceful moment didn’t last long before a nuisance showed up.

“What’s this, Edin? I’m pretty sure you gave me your bread. Did you steal another piece behind the teacher’s back?”

At the spiteful voice, Edin flinched with a hiccup-like sound.

“He gave away his own food but saved mine?”

No wonder he ate so eagerly despite not seeming full.

└ [Poor baby 😭😭😭]
└ [Why take the poor kid’s food ♬♪♪]

In response to this heartbreaking story, the comment fairies once again began singing their mournful “boo-hoo-hoo” chorus.

“Jeff. Didn’t you hear the teacher say she’d give you more cleaning duty if you keep bullying Edin?”

“The teacher won’t make me clean. I help her keep the other kids in line!”

Jeff did get special treatment from the grumpy-looking male teacher.

When Jeff and his gang rounded up the kids like herding sheep, the others would fall silent and behave.

It was easier for the teacher to manage a few troublemakers like Jeff than a whole group of unruly kids.

└ [Jeff? Even his name screams side character.]
└ [Let’s destroy him.]

What happened to the fairies who were just adoring Edin?

Jeff was also a boy, but since no one called him the male lead, it seemed you had to pass some kind of personality test to earn that title.

“And I didn’t bully him. Edin gave me the bread.”

“You took it without his permission, didn’t you?”

“You didn’t even see it happen, so why are you assuming? Wait… Rose, do you like Edin?”

What the heck. Ugh, so childish! This is how kids argue?

Not like the noble battles I knew, where one would systematically destroy the opponent’s business deals and force them to kneel in public shame.

“He likes him~ She likes him~ Nyeh-nyeh~!”

This kind of direct mockery was a new psychological attack I hadn’t faced even before my regression.

While I was reeling and at a loss for words—

“St-Stop it……”

Edin stepped in to defend me, but he was trembling. That seemed to be the extent of his rebellion.

“Phew. Get a grip. I’ve survived the brutal noble society—I can’t let this get to me.”

I pulled out a secret weapon only I could use.

“Principal!”

└ [Calling the teacher when kids fight is a universal rule]
└ [Yo! There’s a fight in the next class!]

I wasn’t even a teacher, but calling for the principal in a loud voice shocked Jeff enough to try and cover my mouth.

“Principal! Jeff did something bad when the baroness visited—mph!”

“What?! What if the lady saw? You’ll ruin the orphanage’s reputation!”

As soon as the principal’s office door opened, Jeff stopped teasing.

“Ugh… I’ll let you off just this once!”

“Let me off? Whatever. Take this. Nyeh-nyeh~.”

└ [Omg that’s so childish LOL]

Feeling I needed to land one last blow before Jeff escaped, I reflexively retaliated in kind with childish mockery.

I clearly won the argument, yet I couldn’t shake the feeling that I’d just fought a preschooler with all my might.

“…Ahem.”

The principal grumbled and shut the door, leaving the hallway quiet again.

Feeling awkward, I coughed and turned around—only to find Edin staring at me with sparkling eyes.

“Rose, you’re so cool…”

The “nyeh-nyeh” was…?

I popped the bread piece he was holding into his open mouth.

“Just finish your bread.”

└ [Rose: I’ll protect my bread delivery boy]

Don’t go sticking quotes on my name that I never said.

I’d been too preoccupied preparing for the future to notice, but this day made one thing clear—life at the orphanage wasn’t going to be easy either.

Once Edin got his male lead approval from a few comment fairies, they buzzed with theories about him.

And somehow, completely unrelated names started being thrown around.

└ [Technically, the 2nd prince was her first true love]
└ [“I even thought about marrying you~ uweyehh~”]

“Huh. They’re actually singing now?”

It wasn’t as erratic as before when they were emotional, but there was definitely an intent to break into song.

True to their strict judgment of nobles, the fairies now seemed drawn to the highest-ranking people in the land.

└ [Anyway, isn’t the 2nd prince the real ML? Power ML supremacy]
└ [What do you mean! Cheating scumbag = no ML! I bet it’s the crown prince.]
└ [Went back and rewatched the flashback. Not 100% confirmed cheating lol]
└ [Show us illustrations of the 2nd prince and crown prince so we can vote]

They kept bickering over whether the 2nd prince should be an ML candidate or not.

“Well, I doubt we’ll ever meet again.”

I mean, I’m not even considering nobles right now—I’m barely scraping together potential sponsors among local gentry and well-off commoners.

Meeting a royal again is out of the question.

I found myself lost in thoughts too mature for a five-year-old.

“If I got over it this easily, maybe it wasn’t love.”

He felt more like the best possible partner than someone I truly loved with all my heart.

In any case, the comment fairies seemed to realize how far I’d fallen from royal society. So they turned their attention to someone closer.

└ [I’m investing in Edin stocks.]
└ [What if Edin is actually a hidden noble’s child?]
└ [LOL there’s always one missing noble kid in orphanage stories 😂]

“How is it possible that every orphanage has a hidden noble child?”

Sure, I’d once been mistaken for a count’s daughter, but that turned out wrong.

Yet the comment fairies were fully confident, claiming it was a classic “cliché.”

└ [He’s definitely an ML candidate. The narrator just hasn’t described him yet, so he must be handsome.]

The fairies couldn’t perceive things directly through my eyes.

But since they kept asking about appearances, it seemed they had their own sense of aesthetics.

“Maybe if I draw him, they’ll be able to see.”

They kept asking for illustrations, so they must enjoy visual art.

I tried drawing Edin as he sat reading a picture book in front of me.

“Round face, round features…”

└ [What the—can’t see anything]
└ [We want high-quality digital illustrations, not crayon doodles!]

Hmm. Looks like the picture I drew doesn’t reach the comment fairies.

As I moved to toss the failed sketch aside, I felt someone’s bright gaze on me.

“Rose, is that me in the drawing?”

“Huh? Yeah. Want it?”

“Really? Yay!”

Edin smiled shyly, clearly delighted.

Even if the comment fairies weren’t satisfied, at least Edin was happy. That was good enough.

└ [That was a confession, right? He’s the ML for sure.]

He liked the picture, not me—and who gives romantic weight to a five-year-old’s “I like it”?

└ [The childhood friend arc is being carefully set up.]
└ [There’s a reason Edin keeps showing up.]

True, Edin had become more attached to me since the “Nyeh-nyeh” incident—er, the Jeff defeat incident.

“But I play with other kids too.”

Even now, if I just turned my head…

“Finished the picture book? Come play dolls with us!”

Other kids were already lining up to play with me.

Since I stood up to Jeff and could summon the principal at will, the kids naturally flocked to me.

“To be precise, it’s not that I always play with Edin—it’s that the comment fairies only show up when I’m with him.”

They didn’t hang around me all day. They appeared when something interesting caught their attention.

And recently, their main obsession was figuring out whether this orphanage had a male lead or not—and if so, what he looked like.

└ [Please describe Edin’s hair and eye color. We beg you.]

Is that so important?

I hadn’t mentioned the kids’ hair colors because there was nothing unusual.

Most of the kids at the orphanage had brown hair. Edin included.

└ [Oh no… brown hair…]
└ [Nooo I invested in Edin but he’s a side guy after all 😭]

The moment I said he had brown hair, the fairies who were hyping him up suddenly backed off.

“Why are they so disappointed? Brown hair can be unique and pretty too.”

Especially in Edin’s case—his green eyes paired with it made him look like a lush, green tree.

└ [Brown hair + green eyes? Beep beep. 100% side character.]