Chapter 001
“You little rat!”
The collar of Ivan’s clothes was roughly yanked back just as he turned away, having snatched a fist-sized loaf of bread from the display stand.
“You thieving brat! How many times is this now? Do I look like a pushover to you? Huh?!”
“No, mister. I was going to buy this.”
Ivan spat out a curse internally as he hurriedly set down the bread he was holding.
He had clearly confirmed the owner going inside the shop, so where did this mountain of a man appear from?
“My mom told me to go ahead and look first. That’s why I was picking one out.”
Ivan made a quick excuse, putting on the innocent expression typical of a flustered child.
“Ha? You little beggar, who do you think you’re fooling?”
Thud.
Before he even had a chance to lament his bad luck, Ivan was sprawled on the ground. With a single swipe of the man’s hand, Ivan’s vision dropped to the pavement.
“You think I didn’t see your eyes darting around trying to steal?”
The man grabbed Ivan’s hair with all his might and shook him back and forth. Ivan instinctively knew he had messed with the wrong person this time.
“Because of runts like you, business is failing! Failing!”
“It hurts!”
“I’ll make sure you never dare show your face around here again!”
He tripped Ivan, sending him tumbling. Then, the cycle repeated.
He would grab Ivan’s hair to pull him up from the ground, trip him again, and then pull him back up.
Damn it.
Dazed by the mindless punches flying at him, Ivan glanced at the people surrounding them.
And then, he found her.
Among the crowd standing by with indifferent faces, he spotted a foolish woman frowning as if in pain.
The moment Ivan saw her, he knew.
She was the type who flaunted her nobility by reaching out to the wretched.
The moment he fell again and escaped the man’s grip, Ivan used every ounce of his strength to lung toward the woman—who was merely standing there with her mouth agape—and threw his arms around her waist.
“Mom!”
Ivan screamed, clinging tightly to the body that had gone stiff with tension, as if she were unaccustomed to violence.
This woman wouldn’t be able to ignore him. She would surely save him from this place.
“Mom!”
“What’s this? Are you this thief’s mother? Is that right?”
Ivan looked up at the woman, pulling on her clothes firmly as if to urge her. His eyes pleaded for her to play along.
The woman frowned slightly, looking bewildered.
“Mom…”
However, as if she had made up her mind, she soon wrapped her arms around Ivan’s head and nodded.
“If you’re trying to shield a little thief for no reason, stop it. He’s trash who doesn’t know how to repent anyway.”
The shop owner spoke, looking the woman up and down with a grumpy face.
“He’s the one who was loitering around, eyes rolling as he looked for a chance to steal bread. Even after that, he’s a brazen liar who tried to trick an adult.”
“Mom, I’m sorry. I won’t do it again. Please? Don’t pretend you don’t know me. I really won’t do it again.”
The man once again grabbed the back of Ivan’s neck and pulled hard.
“That’s enough lies. I’ll make sure you never mock an adult again—”
“Stop it. I told you he is my child.”
The woman, who had remained silent for a long time, finally opened her mouth.
Her voice trembled feebly, but a wave of relief washed over Ivan instantly. She pulled him into her arms once more.
It was a clear sign for the man not to touch the child anymore.
“Tsk, then pay up. For all the bread that brat has stolen until now.”
“I’ve never stolen bread from here! This is the first time!”
“This brat, even now?!”
As he raised his hand as if to strike again, the woman pulled Ivan’s head tightly against her.
“Stop. I said I would compensate you, so why are you hitting the child again?”
“Fine, then give it over quickly. 90 rocs.”
A worn-out skirt and a wrinkled shirt. No matter how he looked at her, this woman didn’t seem to have that kind of money.
“Hey, the one I tried to take was only 1 roc! You pig! Why are you trying to rip someone else off just because your business is failing?!”
Ivan shouted, tightening his grip on her waist, fearing the woman might get scared by the large sum and abandon him.
The mountain-like thug reached out to grab Ivan again.
“Sir, stop it.”
The woman’s lips set into a hard line.
She pulled Ivan’s arm with a bit of force and took a coin pouch out from inside her clothes. Then, she handed a single 100-roc coin to the man.
“No, I told you it was my first time!”
Seeing the thug’s mouth stretch into a grin, Ivan hurriedly grabbed the woman’s skirt and shook it.
Why would she just hand over such a large amount of money?
“Is it really your first time?”
“Yes! I don’t even live around here, so how could I have stolen before?!”
The woman’s pupils shook slightly.
“……Then why did you try to steal just now? You could have just told Mom.”
Ivan almost let out a sneer.
He thought she would argue with the man to get her 99 rocs back.
To think she would spout such nonsense, believing that educating him was more important than the money.
If things could be solved with just words, who would ever bother stealing?
“You shouldn’t steal things that belong to others.”
Stupid woman.
“I understand. I won’t do it again.”
Ivan wiped his eyes roughly while nodding his head, feigning a submissive attitude.
“Look, you’re bleeding.”
“It’s okay.”
Just as a cool hand was stroking Ivan’s face repeatedly—
“I received it well. Here, your change.”
With a snort from the shop owner, coins were dropped through the air as if being thrown away, rolling messily across the ground.
“Hey!”
The woman, who had been staring at the coins rolling on the ground for a moment, turned red in the face. She immediately chased the man into the shop.
She didn’t even glance at the 10 rocs rolling on the ground.
Despite her clothes, she seemed quite wealthy.
He hadn’t seen it clearly, but her coin pouch looked quite full…
Ivan considered picking up the money and running away immediately, but he soon changed his mind.
If he appealed to her sympathy, she would surely give him a larger sum of money.
Yes, it seemed better to wait for the money the woman would give him rather than running away with just 10 rocs.
Ivan wiped away his flowing tears again and began to pick up the money dropped on the ground.
If he told her thank you for helping and returned this money, she would surely tell him not to do it again and hand him a few more coins.
Ivan checked to see if he looked sufficiently miserable right now.
Clothes that were worn out because he hadn’t been able to change for the week since coming to the capital, and messy hair roughly combed with his fingers.
Beneath his short sleeves, his wrists were thin enough for the bones to protrude from hunger.
“Ahem.”
Ivan, who was about to touch his wound as he was disappointed the bleeding had already stopped, suddenly looked up at a shadow looming over him.
“What is your name?”
The man had come back outside at some point; he rubbed his apron with his large hands awkwardly and subtly avoided eye contact.
When their eyes met again, the man forced the corners of his mouth upward.
What on earth was he doing?
He wanted to scream at the man to stop his stupid antics and hand over the money, but adults didn’t like fierce children.
“……It’s Ivan.”
Ivan caught a glimpse of the woman standing behind the man and spoke submissively.
“Right. I thought you were the one who had been stealing bread from this shop all this time. No, no. What I mean is, I’m sorry for hitting you.”
“……Huh?”
Ivan, who had been watching the woman’s movements out of the corner of his eye, turned his head back to the man.
The mountain of a man, who had been red-faced and hurling curses while beating him just moments ago, was apologizing.
And he was apologizing to Ivan, not the woman.
He apologized to a mere seven-year-old who had nothing.
Ivan quietly looked up at the woman who had returned to his side.
“I’m sorry. Sincerely……”
“……”
“Ah, wait. Try some of these. And next time you stop by, I’ll give you whatever you like for free.”
The man apologized once more while glancing at the woman, then put several loaves of bread from the stand into a bag and handed it over.
Ivan, who had ended up with a bag full of bread in his arms, looked up at the woman again.
This woman must have done something after chasing the man inside.
What on earth did she do to make that man apologize like that?
With firmly closed lips and unwavering eyes.
The woman, who had been staring at the man in that state, suddenly let out a faint sigh and looked away.
“Well then, get going.”
As if that were some kind of signal, the man hid inside the shop immediately, scurrying away like a stray dog being chased by a predator.
The people who had stopped to watch also began to move along one by one.
“……”
When their eyes met, the woman reached out her snowy-white hand toward Ivan.
“……Here.”
Ivan stared at that white hand for a moment before handing over the coins he was holding.
Without a word, the woman put all the coins into her pocket and reached out her hand again.
“Let’s go home now, Ivan.”
