Chapter 5
There was a peaceful era without monsters or conflict. The land was fertile, food plentiful, and spirits and monsters were friendly toward humans.
All of this was thanks to a mysterious gem called the Cycle, imbued with divine power. The world’s order was maintained through the power of the Cycle.
Only one saint, chosen by the gods, was permitted to use the Cycle’s power. The world was at peace.
That peace was shattered by a greedy emperor.
“Do I really need the hands of a saint to use the Cycle’s power?”
He killed the saint to seize the power of the Cycle for himself.
But the moment his hand touched it, the Cycle shattered, scattering fragments across the world. The world, stripped of divine blessing, quickly fell into chaos.
The broken fragments entered compatible plants, animals, and humans. Those chosen by the Cycle and granted power were called Primordial Gems.
Primordial Gem holders developed a gemstone or symbol on a specific part of their body, called a mark.
The location of the mark varied. The mark in the eyes—called a Jewel Eye—signified the strongest affinity with the Cycle.
The stronger the affinity, the greater the power they could wield. Those with Jewel Eyes were almost always destined for success.
The male protagonist of this story, Liotis, was one such child with Jewel Eyes. Yet, no one welcomed him.
The reason was…
Liotis tried to pick up a carrot with a worn wooden fork.
Snap!
The fork broke under the firm carrot. The carrot slipped and rolled across the floor.
“Hey, Liotis. Can’t even use a fork properly?”
“Did you drop it on purpose because you didn’t want to eat it?”
The other children laughed and pointed at him.
“Bastards. How can you expect anyone to eat a raw carrot with that broken fork?”
The first child to tease him, Limon, grabbed Liotis’s fork.
“Why not just use your hands?”
Liotis remained silent.
“Can’t see? Or talk either? Are you mute?”
Watching him, it was clear he had been pushed far beyond any line of decency.
Selena clenched her fists, ready to punch Limon’s smug face. But before she could move,
“Everyone, sit down.”
Someone had called the headmaster.
A sudden hush fell over the room.
The children of Tryce Orphanage feared the headmaster; he often struck them on a whim.
Amid the tense silence, the headmaster spoke.
“Why all this commotion?”
As everyone looked around nervously, Limon raised his hand and shouted,
“Liotis threw his carrot on the floor because he didn’t want to eat it!”
The headmaster’s eyes twisted with fury.
“Throwing away precious food because of picky eating? Can’t you at least eat it?”
Even seeing the pile of carrots on Liotis’s tray, the headmaster scolded only him.
“Not a single person here is on Liotis’s side.”
Liotis bent down to pick up the fallen carrot, but his hands couldn’t find it.
It was because of his Jewel Eyes.
The mark in Liotis’s eyes was a pitch-black obsidian. The gem blocked all light, rendering him blind.
Obsidian usually manifests only in monsters. On rare occasions, humans with obsidian power became consumed by darkness, turning into destructive and murderous beings.
Thus, the black gem was called a curse of the devil. People feared and hated those with obsidian eyes, never knowing when they might become monsters.
A child cursed rather than blessed by the gods. A helpless orphan with no protector. Liotis’s childhood could only be tragic.
“Nobody would ever imagine that this child will become the High Priest in the future.”
Seeing Liotis groping the floor, the headmaster clicked his tongue.
“This won’t do. A child who doesn’t value food is not fit to eat.”
The headmaster grabbed Liotis by the ear and yanked him upright. Despite the rough, almost ear-tearing grip, Liotis didn’t cry out.
The headmaster cursed him, calling him a demon, but Selena felt a surge of pity.
“He knows no one is on his side.”
There was no one to stop the violence. No one to comfort him. Liotis had grown used to constant abuse and ridicule.
He was only seven years old.
The headmaster took Liotis away.
The other children continued eating as if nothing had happened, their innocent faces free of guilt.
“Everyone is strange. They act as if it’s natural for Liotis to be bullied.”
Selena remembered comments she had seen while reading the original novel:
Liotis ㅠㅠㅠ so pitiful
Author, please make Liotis happy
But did the male lead really need such an unhappy past? Kinda harsh;
└ Don’t overthink it
└ If you don’t like it, don’t read it
Contrary to the title, “I’ll Be Happy This Life,” Liotis’s childhood was miserable.
With the headmaster’s abuse and the children’s bullying, Liotis never experienced happiness until he met the heroine at sixteen.
Why did he have to suffer so much?
Selena, a fan of romance-fantasy novels, knew the reason:
“It’s all for plausibility.”
A male lead scarred by abuse and hardship makes his eventual love for the heroine believable.
The heroine saves the unfortunate male lead, leading to a happy ending. Liotis’s tragic past made the story plausible and made the heroine shine brighter.
Born to be happy, the heroine would rescue Liotis. Though his childhood was miserable, a happy ending awaited him.
In contrast, Selena—who didn’t even exist in the novel—faced a bleak future.
“Unless some rich noble family adopts me, I won’t live comfortably.”
At the moment, Selena had more urgent matters than caring for young Liotis: she needed to secure her own survival.
But…
“Even so, this is too much.”
Even if the world was designed for the heroine’s happiness, Liotis was simply too pitiful.
If she were merely a reader, she might have only commented, “Poor Liotis,” and left it at that.
“But this is my reality now.”
Selena decided she could no longer ignore Liotis’s suffering.
Watching a child being abused and doing nothing was wrong.
“And I, in my previous life, went through similar things.”
In her previous life, Selena also grew up experiencing abuse. She understood Liotis’s loneliness and pain better than anyone.
Selena quietly took some bread from her tray.
The dim underground storage had little light, thick with dusty air. Liotis was trapped here.
Selena used a key she had secretly taken from the headmaster’s office to open the storage door.
Liotis, huddled in the corner, flinched. His black eyes could see nothing and trembled with unease.
When Selena approached, he instinctively raised his arms—a reaction learned from violence.
“Liotis, it’s okay,” Selena said.
Hearing her voice, Liotis slowly lowered his arms. Selena cautiously held a lantern closer. Even with light directly in front of him, Liotis’s eyes did not react.
“He really can’t see a single speck of light.”
To live in darkness until the heroine arrived… Selena felt a surge of pity.
The storage room was chilly, like midwinter streets, despite being autumn. Selena rubbed her arms; her body was already trembling.
“If I’m this cold, how cold must it be for Liotis wearing only short sleeves?”
The headmaster hadn’t given him an orphanage uniform. Liotis always wore ragged shorts and a short-sleeved shirt.
“Good thing I brought the blanket.”
Selena offered him the blanket she had held close.
“Here, cover yourself with this.”
Liotis flinched at the soft touch. His untrusting eyes blinked slowly.
After a long moment, Liotis’s thin fingers reached out and tugged at the blanket. Watching him, Selena smiled warmly.
How could anyone think of abusing such a cute child…
Thwack!
Huh?
The blanket slipped from his hands and fell onto Selena’s lap. Liotis threw it back without covering himself.
Looking bewildered, Selena heard him speak sharply:
“Don’t act nice. Go away.”
“Huh?”
“I said go away.”
Selena was stunned.
Did she hear wrong?
“No, that can’t be. Liotis wouldn’t say that, right?”
She steadied herself, only for his voice to hit her again:
“Are you deaf? Didn’t you hear me? GO AWAY!”
Wait, author—wasn’t the male lead supposed to be #gentle #pure?
