chapter 06
“It’s really soft.”
Of course, this wasn’t a bed the orphanage children used. There weren’t any available spots anyway, and the knights would’ve rather suggested I sleep in a carriage than let me rest in a place like that.
Thanks to that, I was now lying in the best spot in the orphanage — the headmistress’s bed, from which she had been dragged out. The mattress was incredibly soft. It made it clear where all the donations from the Lefebvre family had gone.
“Young Lady,”
Venus, who had been following me around and roughly explaining how things had been dealt with after the incident earlier, spoke up.
“I’m not sure if I should say this, but…”
“Hmm?”
“It seems there’s a corpse hidden under the bed you’re lying on.”
“…!”
Thud, crash. I nearly rolled off the bed, but Venus quickly grabbed me and lifted me up. Now standing on both feet, I looked up at her, trying to calm my pounding heart.
“W-What… What did you just say?”
Venus spoke calmly.
“They tried to cover it up by burning strong artificial incense, but I can faintly smell the scent of a rotting corpse.”
“…”
“And no matter how I look around, the only place a body could be hidden is under the bed.”
“No way…”
My senses still weren’t fully back to normal compared to others. When I lay down, I did think the smell was a little weird, but that was all.
I didn’t think it could be that. But when Venus lifted the bed, I noticed the floor underneath was a slightly different color — and there it was. A corpse.
And not just any corpse… a child’s. I was at a complete loss for words.
“What… what is this…?”
“There are always a few clever kids, no matter where you go, Young Lady.”
“…”
While I was away from the orphanage for a bit, the knights and the audit inspectors managed to uncover all the hidden documents.
They also finished comparing the names on the records to the actual children staying at the orphanage. And strangely, some of the children listed had recently gone missing — they were real, living kids at one point.
“The inspectors are still piecing things together, but it seems some children who discovered the director’s corruption were murdered.”
“…”
I couldn’t even form words after hearing what Venus said. So they actually killed the kids… and hid them under the bed.
My hands started trembling at the thought that I’d just been lying on top of a dead child.
“W-Why… didn’t you tell me earlier…?”
“I was only sure of it the moment I entered the room.”
“Then… you should’ve said something… before I lay down…!”
I wanted to yell at her more, but I was so shocked my tongue wouldn’t work properly!
I gritted my teeth hard — but I couldn’t even stay angry for long.
“Do you think… there might be more bodies?”
“Most likely, yes. Since the orphanage is under the director’s full control, they could be hidden anywhere.”
“…”
They say that in poorer places, the smart kids work even harder to survive. At first, I’d nearly fainted at the sight of the corpse, but now… my heart just felt heavy. I fumbled for a handkerchief from my pocket, and Venus looked at me, puzzled.
“Young Lady?”
“I want to… cover them with this…”
“…Yes, Young Lady.”
Venus took my handkerchief and gently laid it over the child’s face. I clasped my small hands together and bowed my head in a brief moment of silence. I’d only come here because of Schloitz — and now I was actually glad I had.
“I want to search this whole orphanage…”
“We’ll take care of it, Young Lady.”
“…Okay.”
It hit me all over again. This world really was a post-apocalyptic tragedy setting.
Until now, I hadn’t truly realized it, since I’d been living safely within the sheltered walls of my home, because of my poor health. But yeah… it made sense. It was dangerous. This was a place where massive portions of the kingdom’s budget went into defending it from monsters everywhere.
How did Schloitz even survive here?
Schloitz wasn’t even the male lead — just a popular side character with a bit of screen time. And yet, even a place he only briefly remembered in his past was this dangerous…
I couldn’t even imagine what he’d have to go through from now on.
I need to give Schloitz the antidote… and feed him properly too. Feed him a lot before he goes…
But that plan fell apart the very next day.
****
“He’s refusing to take the antidote, Young Lady.”
“…What?”
I couldn’t believe it. Schloitz refused to take the medicine? The doctors looked troubled.
“We tried pretending it was just a nutritional supplement, but he still wouldn’t take it.”
“That kid… so suspicious of everything, seriously…!”
The doctors gave me a look like “You’re even younger,” but I didn’t care.
“I can’t exactly say it’s an antidote and force it into his mouth either.”
Of course not.
The only food Schloitz had eaten was the one that “Madam” supposedly brought.
And since that food must have been poisoned, if we now tried to give him an antidote, it would only make sense for him to suspect that his stepmother had tried to poison him.
Schloitz was extremely quick-witted. In the original story, this sharp instinct helped him survive several battles against monsters.
“Even now, he seems incredibly sharp.”
It was possible that Schloitz had already started to suspect that the reason he hadn’t awakened his powers yet was because of some scheme by his biological father.
After all, it was strange—why would anyone risk giving poison to a boy who had already been kicked out of his noble family for not awakening any abilities?
Of course, maybe I was giving Schloitz too much credit…
Still, it was better if he didn’t know.
Honestly, it was all too cruel.
It’s one thing if he were a grown adult—but he was still just a ten-year-old child.
I truly hoped he wouldn’t have to face the full shock of the truth… at least, not yet.
Even if he’d already been labeled an illegitimate child and thrown into the slums, eating poisoned food just to survive…
“This is too much.”
Did he really need to suffer this much?
For a moment, I wanted to just take him home with me — but I shook my head. That wasn’t going to happen. He wouldn’t even agree to it.
Schloitz had been raised on his mother’s words — drilled into him like a mantra — that he was the rightful heir, falsely accused.
“He even returns in the original story, after all.”
Schloitz had no intention of letting his family fall into someone else’s hands.
He survived, joined the military, became a national hero, and eventually reclaimed the family name.
“Yeah… I can’t interfere with that.”
“Young Lady?”
A doctor’s voice pulled me from my thoughts. I looked up.
“What would you like us to do? Should we stop trying to give him the antidote?”
“No.”
“Then…?”
“Give it to him… secretly.”
“…Pardon?”
“Make sure… he doesn’t notice.”
“……”
Later, I’d hear that the doctors went to my parents, worried I might be picking up strange ideas from Lord Enrico.
A little later…
“Young Lady. It seems we’ll have to tear the orphanage down completely.”
Venus, who had been busy discussing things since early morning with the knights and auditors, came to inform me.
I nodded.
“Do it.”
“In that case, your sleeping arrangements for tonight might be a bit uncertain.”
“It’s fine.”
“Then you can sleep in the carriage for tonight, and I’ll prepare a place for you to stay starting tomorrow.”
“Okay.”
“You should sleep with at least three blankets.”
“Mmhm.”
As I responded calmly, Venus suddenly bit her lip, trying to hold back a smile. Before I could even ask what was funny, a young auditor came running up to her.
“Commander Venus, if I could speak with you briefly—”
I looked up, not thinking much of it… then blinked in surprise.
“Huh?”
“…Dylan?”
He was one of the audit inspectors who had come with us from the capital. He looked at me in surprise.
“Young Lady? You know my name?”
“Of course I do.”
Dylan’s sharp eyes, usually giving off a cool and serious impression, looked briefly startled.
His expression clearly said, “How does she know my name?”
Well, there were plenty of inspectors who came down with us from the capital — it made sense he assumed a little kid wouldn’t know everyone’s names.
And honestly, I didn’t know the others either. Just Dylan.
“Because he shows up in the original story… as Enrico’s lackey.”
Right now, he was an auditor. But in the original, he had a small role as Enrico’s aide, with just a few lines.
Why do I even remember that? Because there was an illustration of him standing next to Enrico.
And the comments on it were full of reactions:
“Cold, handsome aide?!”
“The title was no joke this time.”
“Surely the author wouldn’t show him just to kill him off, right?? That would be so random. He’s definitely going to survive. That image was a hint!”
“Tbh, everyone is hot in this story, so with that alone? Nah. He’s probably gonna die.”
Turns out… those last few comments weren’t wrong.
Dylan died alongside Enrico. That chapter’s comment section exploded.
“So he used to be an inspector, huh?”
As I stared at him, Dylan seemed to catch on and gave a polite nod.
“Apologies, Commander Venus, may I borrow you for a moment?”
The two men walked off quickly, giving me a courteous bow on the way out.
“Busy, huh.”
Well, it’s always the people on the ground doing the real work.
I checked the time — it was almost lunch.
I headed for Schloitz’s house with one of the knights.
I needed to figure out a way to get him to take the antidote.
And honestly… I was really curious to see him eat. Maybe more than just a little curious.
“It’s surprisingly lively during the day.”
Even though this was a dark zone, people still lived here, after all.
I wasn’t surprised by the occasional glances as I walked through — my eyes were fixed on Schloitz’s house.
A knight was already standing guard out front.
We were sure those guys from yesterday would try to come back for revenge, so having protection was necessary.
They probably saw the knight and backed off.
The knight sitting by the door gave me a polite nod.
I waved back and leaned forward, peeking in.
The curtain that should’ve been there was torn and ragged, making it easy to look inside.
The thick glass window with iron bars showed that Schloitz’s maternal grandmother had done her best to protect the place.
“He’s eating.”
Through the window, I saw Schloitz.
He was scooping up huge spoonfuls of stew and stuffing his face with it.
