Ch#110
Tie widened her eyes.
She looked at Jen with a puzzled expression.
"What's this?"
Jen's ears turned bright red.
Without answering, Jen hurriedly placed the item he'd brought into Tie's hand and said.
"Don't you know amber? It's a gem from the coal mine."
"A gem?"
Tie's expression grew even more confused.
For a gem, the item Jen offered looked just like a colorful stone.
"But why give a gem to Tie?"
Jen clamped his mouth shut and let out a deep sigh.
"Because you saved our village."
Tie's eyes widened round.
Jen added, his cheeks flushed red.
"And you even brought medicine so my face could be treated!"
Only then did Tie's gaze shift to Jen's right cheek.
Jen still had gauze with ointment on his cheek.
It was the injury from being caught by Reginald's knight the day after Agavert arrived in the village.
As Tie stared blankly at it, Jen continued hurriedly.
"If it weren't for you, my mom and dad would have had to work in the mines every day from now on. That hurt my heart, so......"
"It hurt?"
"I kept doing bad things to try to help somehow."
Suddenly, the memory of Jen trying to steal Veil's necklace flashed in her mind.
Back then, she'd wondered why a kid who looked not much older than her would do something so bad.
"Then stealing Veil bro's necklace that time was......!"
Jen averted his gaze and said in a tiny voice.
"......I know it was bad. But we had to sell something like that for my family to eat."
Jen glanced at the amber he'd just placed in Tie's hand.
"That gem—Grandpa gave it to me before he passed away. He found it in the mine. I was saving it only to sell if my family was about to starve to death......"
"......"
"The grown-ups say now that Adelin sis is the lord, we don't have to worry about starving anymore."
"I-I see......"
"So you take it."
Tie unwittingly closed her mouth.
A while later, she hesitantly nodded.
Somehow feeling a bit touched, she pulled her backpack from her back to the front.
And as she carefully tucked the amber Jen gave her deep into her inner pocket, she said.
"Thanks, Jen. Even if Tie's poor, I'll treasure it......"
That was when.
"B-but you, ahem! Do you have a boyfriend by any chance?"
Tie looked up at the sudden question.
Jen was poking the ground with his toe, looking embarrassed for some reason.
Tie, briefly stunned, gaped.
'Is this...... a confession?'
Her heart pounded.
Suddenly, she recalled something from her days at Hanbit Kindergarten.
'Isol-jae, um...... Can I be your boyfriend?'
It was the day the quail class and flower class outdoor lessons overlapped by chance.
That day, Tie and the quail class kids saw it.
Next to the slide, a flower class boy confessing to his crush!
'Here, take this ring too!'
That boy even gave a 1-carat diamond ring to the girl he liked.
That day, the quail class kids watched in a daze.
The girl receiving the confession hesitated at first.
But soon, conscious of the stares around her,
'Okay!'
she accepted the ring with a shy expression.
The ring was too big for her finger, of course.
But that day became historic for the quail class kids.
Because in the afternoon, the confessing boy's parents came to the kindergarten!
'Sigh, we're so sorry, teacher. Our Hyun-seo...... No, I'm too embarrassed to say anything......'
'Oh, no, it's fine, sir. These things happen sometimes. At least the kids didn't lose it while playing with it? Haha......'
The quail class kids turned detective watching the serious conversation between the teacher and parents.
'Why'd Hyun-seo oppa's dad come to kindergarten?'
'Dummy, don't you get it? Hyun-seo oppa's gonna marry I-seo noona for real, that's why.'
Of course, Tie was one of them.
'Marriage is super serious. Like in the drama, the team leader's mom says, eyes like this, "Over my dead body will you marry!"'
'But isn't "over my dead body" already dead?'
'Same difference.'
'Hmm......'
What were boy-girl things?
This act that seemed only for grown-ups stirred a strange sense of naughtiness in the children.
And thus, it was an unknown realm that sparked even more curiosity.
'To think such a day would come for Tie too......!'
Tie swallowed hard and looked up.
Jen was still twisting his body, face beet red.
"I just thought, if you don't have a boyfriend, I'm tall for my age and fast at running, so......"
But such an important decision couldn't be made on feelings alone.
As Tie was about to ask Jen a few questions.
"Wh-wh-what's this little kid saying?!"
Veil suddenly popped up from somewhere.
Veil was stuttering with his mouth agape.
"How old are you? How old and already talking boyfriends?!"
Jen furrowed his brow.
Soon, a rebellious look appeared on the child's face.
"......Six."
"Do you even know what a boyfriend is?"
Jen puffed out his lips.
"Mister. Do you think I'd confess to her without knowing that?"
Jen added to the gaping Veil.
"Boyfriend and girlfriend means tying each other's shoelaces. Eating dinner together every night after waiting, and the boyfriend holds the door for the girlfriend."
Tie swallowed hard.
He knew things about boy-girl stuff that she didn't.
Jen really must be six.
'Mature, passed!'
Having decided, Tie tugged lightly at Veil's sleeve.
"Veil bro."
Then she said.
"Tie is having kids' talk right now, so go wait over there, okay?"
Veil staggered in place.
But Tie pushed Veil aside and stepped forward with a cheeky expression.
"So that thing you gave earlier is instead of a 1-carat diamond ring?"
"Huh?"
"You usually give a 1-carat diamond when confessing."
Jen widened his eyes and nodded.
"Yeah. Right."
"Okay, got it. But Tie has to go to the Capital today. Can Jen do long-distance?"
This was actually the most important question.
But at "long-distance," Jen looked confused.
"Long-distance? What's that?"
Tie held up one finger and explained earnestly.
"Teacher Isoljae from quail class says it's when you're far from your boyfriend and only see each other sometimes."
"What? Sometimes?"
"Yeah! If busy, only once every three months!"
Jen's face darkened. The child hesitantly asked.
"Then we can't eat dinner together every day......?"
"Isn't that how it is?"
Shocked, Jen stared blankly at the ground.
Then he looked at Tie with a troubled expression.
"Th-then I don't think I can be your boyfriend...... What do I do? Sorry."
Tie blinked.
But soon, she smiled brightly as if she'd expected it.
"It's fine!"
Jen, who'd been looking distraught, stared at Tie.
"Aren't you sad?"
Tie slung her bag securely on her back and replied.
"Not really. Tie prepared her heart when becoming a mercenary."
"Prepared her heart?"
"Yeah. Due to job nature, no time to play with boyfriend is normal, right?"
"I-I see......"
Jen's eyes sparkled with strange admiration.
Jen soon added as if truly regretful.
"Really too bad. If you became my girlfriend, I could've held the door for you every day."
Tie waved coolly.
"Can't be helped. Even if sad, think of reality! Jen can meet someone better."
Then she nodded at her bag.
"Thanks for the gem! When I visit next time, let's play then!"
"Yeah......"
You have to know when to let go of ill-fated ties.
Pushing aside her regret, Tie turned away emptily.
But she soon froze in place.
In front of the carriage.
The members were staring at her like statues.
Among them were Lucarion and Ppuppu with eyes wide open.
