Ch#110
"His Majesty?"
Evi muttered in surprise, and the girl puffed out her chest proudly before saying emphatically,
"Yeah. His Majesty the Emperor. His Majesty has been sending us tons of snacks since last month. Right?"
As if to prove her words weren't a lie, she spoke to the other children standing beside her.
All the children in front of the candy store nodded.
"It's true! I ate three cookies! They were bigger than my palm!"
"I ate a brownie. I ate this whole big one by myself? The Orphanage Director said His Majesty will send more next month, so don't worry!"
"Yeah. That was sweeter than candy. She said when winter comes, he'll send snacks with cream too?"
The children chattered to Evi, bragging about what they had eaten.
The more she listened, the wider Evi's eyes grew in astonishment.
Finding Evi's reaction amusing, the first girl shrugged and continued,
"It wasn't just snacks. We got pens and notebooks too."
"Chris brother was so happy because the tuition for advanced school got covered? He said since he's smart, he'll keep studying."
Mentioning the name of some child they knew, the children boasted proudly as if they themselves were attending advanced school.
Then the first girl looked at Evi and said in a slightly sharp voice,
"So don't look at us pitifully. We eat lots of delicious things too."
Arsel, watching from behind, realized why the children were looking at Evi unkindly.
They thought her asking if they were hungry was out of pity.
"No, that's not it......"
Evi shook her head and opened the paper bag in her hand.
Inside were the candies she had received as extras (in Evi's opinion), excluding the one for Arsel.
She took out a long stick candy, snapped it cleanly in half, and said to the children,
"Want to share this with me?"
* * *
No matter how many cookies and snacks they received as gifts, children get hungry again soon enough.
Not just giving out of pity, but offering to share what she herself was eating—the children excitedly took Evi's candy.
The children waved goodbye, saying to come again, and returned to the Poorhouse.
After parting with the children, Evi and Arsel wandered around the village.
The villagers who recognized Arsel welcomed him warmly, saying it had been so long.
While passing by the tailor's shop, Arsel stopped.
"Oh, isn't that Young Master Arsel? Long time no see."
The elderly tailor greeted Arsel happily, then smiled at Evi.
"And who's this cute little miss?"
"Hello. I'm Evi Alden!"
"Such a spirited one."
While they exchanged warm greetings, Arsel pointed to something in the tailor's small showcase and asked,
"How much is this?"
What he was asking about was a small pouch made of fabric with a chick pattern.
"Price? I'll just give it to you."
"No. Properly......"
"Last time when I had a bad cold and was suffering, you sent the mansion's doctor. This old man was wondering how to repay that favor, and if I can settle it with this pouch made from scrap fabric, it's a bargain repayment."
Hearing that, Arsel thought for a moment before replying,
"Then, I'll gratefully accept."
Arsel took the pouch and handed it to Evi.
"Here, put your coins in this."
Because she had paid with a gold coin and received a handful of change, the coins jingled inside her bag every time Evi walked.
Evi was about to say it was fine, but realizing she needed it now, she thanked him and took it. She also bowed politely to the tailor.
After that, the two continued wandering around the village.
Since it wasn't a very large village, after walking for about an hour, they had seen it all.
Arsel was thinking of heading straight back to the mansion when he noticed Evi looking toward the stream near the village. He told the coachman,
"Go back to the mansion first. We'll walk slowly."
The coachman hesitated at first but, upon Arsel's insistence, said he'd return to the mansion and wait before leaving.
In other places, it might cause alarm, but in Duke Kailun's territory—especially the village right next to the mansion—it was commonplace.
The duke himself often strolled leisurely to the village.
That's how safe the area was.
The path leading to the mansion was lined with large trees, with benches placed here and there.
The mansion servants, as well as the villagers, made benches whenever they had time for the duke who frequently walked this path.
After walking for a while, Arsel sat down in a shaded spot with a clear view of the stream in the nearby field.
Even walking under the tree shade, the summer weather made them sweat.
Sitting on the bench and cooling off in the breeze, both naturally closed their eyes and savored the cool wind.
Then Evi, gazing at the distant Poorhouse, spoke up.
"Did our Poorhouse get some too?"
The Poorhouse children had said His Majesty the Emperor sent snacks, and that other places received them too.
So maybe Elam's Poorhouse had gotten some as well.
After Izriella threw a fit at Genius Academy demanding she hand over what she stole, Evi had received a new box of well-packed cookies from the academy cafeteria and sent it to the Poorhouse.
Of course, along with Seraphina's separate gifts of pencils, pens, ink, and notebooks.
When Evi was packing gifts for her friends into the box, Irene was ready to empty out her entire room, asking if there was anything else they needed.
On the way back after sending the letter and gifts, contrary to her expectations, Evi's heart felt heavy.
'Only I'm eating well and living well.'
The happier she was at Genius Academy, the more she thought of her Poorhouse friends.
She could always eat until stuffed, but her friends could barely even see such things unless she sent them.
'There are so many here.'
That's why her heart stayed heavy even after sending the gifts. When she thought about needing to send them diligently every month, she felt a bit sad.
'Do my friends have to keep waiting for someone else's gifts? Can't they eat snacks as naturally as I do?'
That thought kept lingering in her mind.
Here, everyone gave snacks to children as if it were the most natural thing, telling them to eat lots of delicious food.
So she hoped her friends could do the same.
But who could provide that for everyone?
She had thought no one would take care of all the Poorhouses like that.
'His Majesty is sending them all.'
Then her friends must have received theirs by now too.
Even without her, they could always eat delicious things.
"When we get back to Genius Academy, I'll go to His Majesty and say thank you."
Her throat tightened, and her eyes grew hot.
Evi didn't realize it, but in Arsel's eyes as he watched, her lips were pouting, and her chin had become nut-like from holding back tears.
Arsel knew Evi wouldn't cry.
Even when she was beaten badly by Izriella and the emperor appeared, Evi had stayed quiet without shedding a tear.
In other tough moments too, she never showed tears.
'Maybe she should cry.'
Instead of bottling it up inside, wouldn't it be better to cry it out loud?
Besides, if she was going to cry, he wanted her to do it in front of him. That way, he could comfort her right away.
But.
Arsel opened the paper bag Evi had given him and took out the stick candy inside.
Then he snapped it in half and popped the larger piece into Evi's mouth.
"......!"
Surprised aside, her lips worked it around, and she bit into the candy.
As the refreshing mint flavor and candy's sweetness spread in her mouth, Evi's tearful face brightened.
"Tasty?"
"Yes."
"Then let's have one more."
With that, Arsel quickly shoved another piece into her mouth.
Crunch. Crunch.
Each time the candy cracked, Evi's face grew brighter.
Seeing her gloom lift and her face light up again, Arsel felt satisfied.
As expected, he liked seeing Evi smile the most.
* * *
"All gone."
Arsel shook the empty paper bag. They had eaten all the candies so eagerly.
"Uh, uh......"
Evi panicked at the bag that only dropped crumbs, her mouth agape.
She had said she'd buy them, and she ended up eating them all!
'What do I do? What do I do?'
Flapping her arms in distress, Evi spotted red flowers blooming abundantly in the field across the stream.
It was a flower Evi knew well.
"Salvia!"
"Salvia?"
"You can get nectar from those. I'll go pick some!"
Since she had eaten all the candies, she felt she should give Arsel something else.
"Evi!"
In her urgency, Evi ran to the stream without hearing Arsel call her.
She hurriedly kicked off her shoes and splashed one foot into the flowing stream.
"Eh?"
She slipped on a slick stone and fell straight backward.
