Chapter 5
“I’m not an aunt. I’m only twenty-one.”
“If you’re over twenty, you’re an aunt anyway.”
The child snorted lightly as he wiped his mouth with the sleeve of his dirty clothes.
Look at this little brat.
You dare call me an aunt when I’ve never even been in a relationship?
“…Just call me noona (older sister). Are you a kid from this place?”
“Can’t you tell? There’s no way a kid like me would be hanging around here otherwise.”
Six years old. Maybe seven.
He was very small for his age, but the way he talked was as bold as an adult.
“Damn it. I look like a complete mess now. All because I stole a little soup.”
“…What did that person do to you earlier?”
“He dumped rotten meat soup all over me. It’s the only set of clothes I have too. What a waste.”
The child’s hair and clothes were a complete mess after being drenched in the foul-smelling liquid.
Judging by the bruises scattered across his body, it looked like he had been beaten as well.
“Take my hand and get up. There’s a well over there. Let’s wash up.”
“I don’t need help from an aunt. I can get up on my own—!”
“Liar. You can barely stand right now.”
During her time wandering the underworld, Renia had treated many injuries herself.
From what she could tell, the child had badly twisted his left ankle.
“Ugh, what’s wrong with my leg? It won’t move.”
“Stay still for a moment. Let me take a look.”
Fortunately, she had grabbed a few emergency medicines when she stopped by the temporary warehouse earlier.
Kneeling on one knee, Renia examined the child’s ankle carefully before letting out a sigh of relief.
“Luckily, it doesn’t seem broken. If we treat it a little, it’ll heal quickly.”
“…Really?”
“Yeah. Really.”
Although he tried not to show it, the pain seemed severe.
Every time she touched the injured area, he trembled and barely managed to endure it.
Ah… poor kid.
Seeing the boy desperately trying not to cry reminded her of her own childhood, and she gave a bitter smile.
“Hey, kid. Open your mouth.”
“Huh?”
“Good.”
Plop.
Caught off guard, the child swallowed the mysterious medicine whole. His eyes widened.
Compared to how he had been angrily snapping like an adult earlier, he now looked far more like a child.
“W-What did you just make me swallow? It’s not poison, right?!”
“It’s a painkiller. Just one pill will reduce the swelling and ease the pain.”
The medicine Renia gave him was made from rare ingredients and worked immediately.
As the child’s expression noticeably relaxed, she finally breathed a sigh of relief.
It was hard to obtain, but using it for something like this didn’t feel like a waste at all.
“…Thank you.”
“What? I didn’t hear you.”
“Hmph. I didn’t say anything.”
Such a cute little brat.
She held out her hand to the boy, who was puffing out his cheeks in annoyance. After hesitating for a moment, the child carefully grabbed her fingers.
His hands are rough. Just how much hard labor have they forced him to do…?
The adults who should have been protecting children were instead exploiting them for their own purposes.
If this were Korea, I’d report them immediately and throw them in prison.
Unfortunately, this wasn’t Korea.
Here, in an agriculture-based society, child labor was considered normal.
If I were the typical protagonist from a romance-fantasy reincarnation story, I’d overturn this entire system.
But reality was cruel.
Changing the world with her strength alone was nearly impossible.
Of course, if she managed to win the empire’s biggest audition—the selection for the Duke family’s heir—her status might change a little. But to uproot the deeply entrenched practices of the underworld, one would at least need to be royalty.
“…Human hands are really warm. I never knew.”
As if surprised by his own words, the child lowered his head, his ears turning red.
Had he never properly held someone’s hand before?
Renia tried not to show her sadness and smiled gently.
“Alright, we’re here. I’ll wash you with water, so close your eyes tightly.”
“Mmm. Okay.”
With the boy’s voice now much softer, she scooped water with a ladle and carefully washed the grime away.
Huh? This kid’s hair color…
At first, she thought it was ordinary brown hair.
But the more she rinsed it, the more strands like golden silk appeared between her fingers.
“You have beautiful blond hair. It’s really pretty.”
“I hate my hair color. It’s the reason I get bullied.”
“…Bullied how?”
“Blond hair is common among nobles. When a kid like me has flashy blond hair like this, adults beat me up. They say just looking at it is bad luck.”
Because of something as trivial as hair color, he had to accept violence as normal.
The thought of such injustice being endured by a small child made her throat tighten.
“Hey… would you like to come with me? I’ll treat you much better than the people here.”
“Why should I trust an aunt like you? At least here I get one meal a day. They say if you go outside, you’ll starve to death.”
No wonder he looked so thin for his age.
For this child, a single meal a day seemed like a luxury.
Renia sighed quietly and confidently held up three fingers.
“If you help me with a job, I’ll guarantee at least three meals a day. Plus snacks and late-night meals sometimes. What do you think?”
“…What kind of job pays that well? You’re not making me do something weird, right?”
“You just have to stay by my side and pretend to be my son. It won’t be difficult. I’ll let you wear nice clothes and eat delicious food.”
Even a child unfamiliar with the world would grow suspicious when faced with such unbelievably generous conditions.
The soaked boy stared at her with wide eyes.
Renia decided to make an offer he couldn’t refuse.
“Everything I said earlier is just basic welfare. If you come with me, I’ll pay you properly. I’m serious.”
“You’ll give me money? How much?”
Looks like you can’t hide the fact that he’s from the underworld, even if he’s young.
Seeing the boy’s eyes sparkle at the mention of money, she held out a gold coin.
“Fifty gold coins as a starting payment. When the job is finished, I’ll give you ten times that. I’ll never starve or beat you. I swear to the goddess.”
At that moment, the child’s eyes flashed.
“Mom, what’s for dinner tonight?”
His sudden change of attitude made her burst out laughing.
“You don’t have to call me ‘mom’ already. Just don’t call me aunt.”
“Idiot. You have to practice things like this until they become a habit. You wander around the underworld like it’s nothing, but you don’t even know that?”
Yeah, yeah. You’re very smart.
After finishing washing him and roughly drying him off, she headed toward the gloomy building that housed the director’s office.
She could have simply left with the child, but she stopped by in case there were documents about his biological family.
Of course, the director shook his head and claimed there were no such records.
Then he demanded a huge sum of money as the price for the boy.
