Chapter 6
I didn’t know what the fairies wanted from him.
But seeing him tucked away all alone in a corner like that made me worry.
I had intended to wait until he adjusted, but judging from the look of things, he would stay like that forever. So I decided to approach him.
└ [Usually, the male lead candidate opens up right away if the female lead says a few words]
Hearing that, and seeing other fairies agree, I was tempted to try.
“Hey, Leon.”
“……”
“I know it’s tough now, but this place is filled with kids like you. If you stay with them, you’ll feel better soon. Everyone here went through the same thing.”
I meant to comfort him, but Leon didn’t seem to take it well.
His messy bangs still made it hard to see his eyes, but judging from his pouty mouth, I had touched a nerve.
“I’m going to leave this place.”
…Did he think I meant “You’ll live here forever”?
“No, I didn’t mean you can’t leave. I just meant that while you’re here, you might as well be comforta—”
“No. Go away. I hate you.”
It seemed the misunderstanding had already piled up. Leon wouldn’t even meet my eyes and buried his face in his knees.
This was the first proper conversation we’d had, and it ended like this?
As for how the comment fairies—who had been pestering me to talk to him—reacted:
└ [Grumpy little kitten? Actually, I love it.]
Was that what they wanted when they told me to talk to him?
‘Bunch of liars…’
It wasn’t the first time they’d tricked me, yet I believed them again.
I went back to my room, resolving to filter the fairies’ words even more from now on.
A few days passed after Leon had misunderstood me.
“Uuugh…”
I was in dreamland when I woke up to a strange sound.
‘What was that? Is someone having a nightmare?’
Or maybe someone’s crying.
At night, it was so quiet and dark that some kids cried because they were scared or missed their moms.
‘Sigh. I’m the adult here, so I’ll comfort them.’
Even though my body was that of a child, just having someone beside you is reassuring.
When I sat up, I only saw gently rising and falling blankets, in sync with soft breathing.
The sound must be coming from another room or the hallway. I rubbed my sleepy eyes and carefully climbed down from the bed.
“Ugh… ngh…”
The dark hallway.
I wondered if someone had gone to the bathroom and fallen, but I didn’t hear any footsteps—only a faint, muffled groaning sound.
‘Wh-what is this? It’s not a ghost, right?’
The eerie atmosphere made my body tense up on its own.
‘Should I just go back to my room…’
I hesitated, unable to take another step, but thankfully, the comment fairies showed up right away, wide awake as always.
└ [OMG, maybe it’s the ghost of a kid who died from abuse in the orphanage]
That made it worse!
‘Why would you say something so horrifying!?’
I forced my feet, which felt glued to the floor, to move and followed the sound.
Even though I moved slowly, the creaking wooden floor amplified the spooky mood.
‘If you’re going to appear, just do it already…!’
Rustle.
I stepped on something and almost screamed, but quickly covered my mouth.
‘What is this? Why is there a long cloth in the hallway…?’
I remembered hearing somewhere that ghosts hide their scary faces under cloths.
With my stiff neck barely turning, I looked toward the fabric.
In the dark hallway corner, what I saw was…
“…Leon?”
What I thought was a bundle of cloth had a bit of red hair poking out, trembling slightly.
‘He must’ve been wrapped in a blanket. No wonder I couldn’t see him from afar.’
And those groaning sounds earlier—he didn’t seem well.
“Leon, are you sick?”
When I sat beside him and placed a hand on his back, his body flinched hard.
└ [Sickly male lead?]
└ [He has a rare disease, but now the female lead can heal him with her powers]
I didn’t know where they were getting these plotlines from, but now wasn’t the time.
Maybe he instinctively sensed I wasn’t a threat—Leon grabbed my sleeve with trembling hands and clung to me.
“What’s wrong? Should I call a teacher?”
His head against my shoulder shook slightly side to side.
“I… I…”
At least he didn’t look sick, but his reaction was like he’d seen a terrifying monster.
└ [The male lead always has at least one trauma, sigh…]
Between emotional tests, looks, sometimes illness, and now trauma—being a male lead wasn’t all it was cracked up to be.
But that wasn’t important right now.
Feeling my shoulder grow damp, I gently patted Leon’s back.
“I…”
“Yeah. I won’t tell anyone. Just say whatever you want to say.”
“I don’t want to die. Save me…”
“What?”
Hearing a child say they didn’t want to die—it wasn’t something simple comfort could fix.
‘What happened to him…?’
I stayed beside Leon, stroking his back. Slowly, his trembling eased.
He grew quiet, just breathing softly. I thought maybe he’d fallen asleep sitting up, but his grip on my sleeve occasionally tightened, so apparently not.
I gently pried his hand off and whispered softly.
“Stay right here. I’ll be right back.”
I headed to the orphanage’s kitchen.
Some of the noblewomen brought snacks for the children instead of donations, and I remembered something useful from back then.
I climbed onto a chair and carefully pulled out a paper bag from the cupboard.
Inside was cocoa powder mixed with sugar.
‘One kid—no, two kids’ worth won’t even be noticeable.’
└ [Sneaking in some for yourself too]
Might as well treat myself.
I boiled water in the hearth kettle and made two warm cups of cocoa.
Back in the hallway, Leon was thankfully still there.
“Here, drink this. Don’t tell the director.”
The sweet aroma seemed to catch his attention—Leon slowly lifted his head.
His bangs were damp. He must have kept crying while I was gone.
“Did you have a nightmare?”
Leon nodded gently, showing he was willing to talk now.
“It’s okay. It was just a dream.”
But Leon shook his head firmly at that.
“What if… someone comes to kill me?”
Not just afraid of dying—afraid of being killed.
I didn’t know what had happened, but I knew I had to reassure him.
“There are teachers here, and adults come by often. No one can just come in.”
“But… my mom…”
Leon’s eyes welled up again.
“Scary men came. My mom told me not to be seen and hid me.”
“…”
“They kept looking for her. And then…”
He said the men told someone to dispose of her completely, and after his mother’s desperate pleas went silent, he heard footsteps of many men leaving.
Leon had listened to the whole thing from inside a closet.
When he came out, everything was quiet. He never saw his mom again. That’s how he was left alone.
‘That’s… murder.’
└ [WTF is this horrifying child abuse world]
└ [And he heard everything through sound, I can’tㅠㅠㅠ]
Now I understood why Leon had shut himself off so completely.
Anyone would distrust the world after that.
└ [What if the adults here sell him too?]
True. I hadn’t believed the fairies when they said child trafficking was common in orphanages.
But what if those mysterious men offered money to find Leon again?
“Did you tell the director or a teacher?”
“No…”
“Good. Unless you’re sure someone’s trustworthy, it’s best to keep it a secret.”
He must have been holding it in, but finally told me. If that secret spreads recklessly, it could be dangerous.
“But you don’t have to stay so tense all the time. I’ve watched the adults here. They’re stingy and timid—no way they’d deal with scary men.”
The director liked money, sure… but this orphanage was supported by nobles, so they couldn’t act out too much.
Plus, we were in a relatively organized region, and there were guards who would help if anything happened.
I explained all that, throwing in some lines about His Majesty the Emperor and donations to make it more convincing.
I wasn’t sure if Leon understood it all, but he looked a little more at ease.
“Still… I have to leave.”
“Do you have somewhere to go?”
Leon had said before that he’d leave this place eventually.
Maybe he had a relative or some trusted adult?
“I have someone to find.”
“Who?”
“Someone Mom told me to find. Someone who can… punish those men.”
Leon tugged at the neck of his shirt and pulled something out.
It was a silver pendant, etched with intricate designs.
