Chapter 8

I quietly raised my middle finger before the carriage completely disappeared.

‘He’s talking nonsense.’

If I had been really just a child, Viscount Puterio’s abusive words would have left a scar deep enough to be a lifelong trauma.

But was I not 12 years old with a past life?

With the shield of my previous life, I was able to deflect such abusive language.

“Sislin, we need to wash our ears. You’ve met a man who poops with his mouth.”

I spoke bravely and wiped Sislin’s ears with my hands. Clean. Squeak, squeak.

‘But it’s kind of weird.’

The appearance of that man itself was strange. 

‘This was obviously an episode that wasn’t in the original.’

If it had happened in the original story, I would have been preparing for it… No matter how much I looked back on my memories, there was no episode in which he visited the forest.

But what happened had already happened, now it was best to find a solution.

‘…The Marquis of Corel.’

An extra in the original. I remembered him because he had a pretty unusual setting.

‘He was a man with great health concerns. Even mysophobia.’

Concerned about his health, he always stirred up the clinic, and he suffered from severe mysophobia in fear of getting sick.

Even after shaking hands, he always changed his gloves, and he was a sensitive person who even had seizures due to anxiety.

‘He and Viscount Puterio traded slaves a few times, maybe?’

That was probably why Viscount Puterio did not leave the dispute resolution to the lord of Ferdes, where his workplace was located, but insisted on calling the lord of Corel in this region.

‘If this is the case, there is no chance of winning tomorrow…’

“…Are you okay?”

I stopped pondering for a moment and asked Sislin that question.

Was it because he’s wet? It was because I felt his body trembling like an aspen tree.

Just looking at his terrified face made my heart ache. Suddenly, the viscount’s abusive remarks came to mind again.

“Sometimes there are children who are just ‘feces’ of sexual desire.”

…How sick and tired of such cruel remarks must Sislin be. If I had been caught by a man whose tongue was as sharp as a sharpened blade, my self-esteem would have been scorched to the floor.

Suddenly, I remembered what the boy had said when I first met him.

“I’m a dirty kid.”

“If you talk to me, you’ll get dirty too.”

…My heart throbbed and pounded as I expected what kind of abusive language he had been hearing.

As I stroked the boy’s back, he whispered softly.

“Is Annette okay?”

Even in this situation, Sislin was worried about me.

Even though he was shaking like this…

“I’m fine!”

“I’m fine too, Annette.”

Sislin, you could say ‘I was scared’ when you were scared, and ‘I’m scared’ when you are scared. It was okay for a child like you.

I gently touched Sislin as if to soothe him. Then, the sullen Sislin said something unexpected.

“I’d rather go back to the cave.”

“…What?”

“If I’m there, no one can take me.”

Then I realized. Why did Sislin enter the cave? He was not hiding simply because his senses became sensitive.

He believed that it was safe.

A place out of reach of those who tormented him. He was rather comfortable in that narrow, dirty and lonely cave.

My heart became heavy.

“No.”

I said as I solemnly covered Sislin’s cheek with both hands.

“I will never leave you alone in that dark place again.”

‘Well, I just spoke like a Gwanggong.’

“Now you’ll be together with me, Sisl.”(T/N: ‘Sisl’ is her nickname for him.)

Pretty and red eyes like rubies shook. He asked back in a small voice.

“…Continuously together?”

“Yes!”

As I smiled broadly, Sislin’s ears turned red. The boy quietly bowed his head as if hiding his handsome face and answered.

“…Yes.”

‘Ugh, it’s cute.’

I winked confidently.

“Yes, so just trust me!”

* * *

That afternoon, I went to the incinerator with Heinrich.

This was a place where garbage from the Forest was burned, so it was a place where Trees could not normally even go close.

“…Sister, do you really have to do this?”

Heinrich couldn’t erase his displeasure, and said while putting his hands on the back of his head.

“You can just send that beast to the Viscount.”

“Heinrich, you shouldn’t say such mean things.”

“Why!”

“He’s our friend.”

“Hey, since when did we become friends…”

Heinrich murmured softly with his purple eyes shining.

“I don’t want to be friends with him… And my sister loves that kid so much.”

I grabbed Heinrich’s hand and smiled.

“Anyway, thank you for coming with me, Heinrich.”

“…!”

Heinrich’s soft, bean-cake-like cheeks twitched and moved.

Then it quickly turned red like a deliciously ripe peach.

“Hmph, there’s no need to thank me for something so obvious.”

Heinrich easily climbed up a barbed wire fence that was twice his height, and then he jumped down.

“Oh, watch out!”

Tak–

After landing nicely, he wiped his hands and opened the lock from the inside.

As I went inside, I didn’t forget to give the boy a small hug.

“After all, Heinrich is the only one~?”

Heinrch groaned as his shoulders were curved in like a kitten that caught a mouse for the first time.

‘Ahh, as expected of this cute baby…!’

I smiled and entered the incinerator, and immediately gathered up the last month’s worth of morning papers one by one, then sat down and started reading.

What I was looking for was an article about Viscount Puterio or about the Ferdes region.

Viscount Puterio was quite the celebrity in the community as a man who ran a large slave trade. If something happened recently, it would have a ripple effect enough to be published in a newspaper.

‘It’s very strange that he came to the Forest all of a sudden. Also, to pick up a child.’

50 million gold was a large sum, but his slave trade was recording huge sales.

Whether it was worth coming a long way, dealing with Madam Mimosa in the Forest, which was reputed to be difficult, and calling even the lord to make a fuss… Well, something was ambiguous.

“Huh?”

Then a headline caught my eye.

「 The outbreak of Ferdes death plague ‘Marel’. Is it the devil’s curse? 」

‘An epidemic is circulating.’

There was an article in the newspaper that the lord of Ferdes had sealed off the borders and prevented commoners from moving between regions.

‘If there is an epidemic… The slave traders must have been hit hard.’

Who would buy a ‘human’ from an epidemic-prone area?

Just as expected.

「Ferdes slave trader bankruptcy crisis, Viscount Puterio “Calling for help from the community”」

‘Bankruptcy crisis!’

I now understood the situation.

That was why he came all the way to the countryside to find a little boy and threatened to release him for 50 million gold.

A business, once there was a hole in its financial ability, would go bankrupt in an instant.

“Hmm.”

I smiled lightly and raised the corners of my lips.

“I finally figured it out. How to avoid sending Sislin.”

“Huh? Really?”

Heinrich raised his eyebrows as if he was really curious and tilted his head.

I crossed my arms proudly on the paper box and smiled.

“Yes, something very bad came to mind.”

“…Something bad?”

“We can’t give our Sislin to anyone.”

My eyes flashed like an obsessed junkie.

If everything went according to my plan, the Marquis of Corel would favor Madam Mimosa’s hand tomorrow.

What the plan was is…

* * *

The next day.

There was the smell of bread from the morning.

In the kitchen, children were sitting, crawling, and kneading bread.

“Annette, look at this! I made this.”

Julien held out the bread dough to me, bright blue eyes shining like the lake.

“Ah, well done.”

I said with a smile.

“Did you make a monster? Julien?”

The big eyes under the fluffy blond hair became.

“…T-This is Annette…”

‘The world of art is profound.’

“Ah! After looking at it again, it really does look like me~”

Julien, who had been gloomy, heard what I said and smiled like the sun!

It had been a long tradition in the Forest for children to cook food together whenever a distinguished guest came.

Today was the day of the summary trial requested by Viscount Puterio, who claimed ownership of Sislin.

In the summary trial, the point was on ‘abbreviation’.

Normally, you would have to go to the marquis’ castle to explain what went wrong, but since the existence of the Forest was a secret from the outside, Marquis Corel agreed to come.

So from the morning, the secretary of Marquis Corel and the secretary of Viscount Puterio stopped by the Forest to speak about their superiors’ tastes and preferences.

The menu was prepared without any lack of effort, from roast duck, clam chowder, and soft bread to seasonal fruits.

And finally, just before the trial began.

I met Sislin.

“Sisl, you must be really nervous…”

With his red eyes stuck to the floor, the boy hardly looked up.

‘He couldn’t even make eye contact with Viscount Puterio.’

For Sislin, the viscount must be a monster.

He used terrifying abusive language, tortured him almost to death, and as if that was not enough, he even made him fear water. 

Of course, even making eye contact would require a lot of courage.

However, he had to participate in the trial in the room with the monster-like man who treated him mercilessly.

Moreover, depending on the outcome of the trial, it was possible for him to be dragged to the monster.

‘It’s understandable he’s scared’

It would be fortunate if he could even keep his head up throughout the trial.

I wrapped his cheek and spoke with the most gentle voice I could muster.

“Sisl, look at me.”

“…”

Beautiful ruby-colored eyes between his thick black hair meekly looked at me.

‘Oh my, he looks like a scared dog.’

It was heartbreaking yet cute, so I spoke boldly on purpose so as not to frighten Sislin.

“You know, we must go inside and make sure! To come back with a win.”

“…Annette.”

The boy licked his dry lips.

“I will go in alone. Annette stays outside.”

“Why…?”

I thought he would say he wanted to go in together because he was scared?

A shadow deepened in the ruby-colored eyes.

“Viscount Puterio is a vicious human being. I don’t want Annette to get involved because of me.”

He was willing to meet the monster alone because he was worried about that…

I felt it the last time I met Viscount Puterio, but when it came to things related to me, Sislin became strangely courageous.

Then I must be brave too!

I lowered my eyebrows and smiled brightly.

“I’m not afraid at all?”

“……”

With both hands, I carefully clasped Sislin’s hand.

“Sisl, from now on, we will go in and prove the Viscount wrong.”

“……”

“Don’t continue to suffer from the trauma that such a bad person inflicted on you.”

“So, if the Viscount collapses in there today… Your fear of water also collapses. Understand?”

The boy’s eyes, which had been shaking as if swept away by a typhoon, had calmly subsided.

“Yes.”

Sislin nodded.

‘Finally.’

Now was the time to carry out the prepared operation.

Today’s operation was so-called ‘Exterminating dog dung with bugs’.

It was about defeating the bad guys with the bad guys.

Would the marquis really move as I wish?

My heart was pounding and trembling with tension and excitement.

I grabbed Sislin’s hand and vigorously opened the door to the judging office, and entered.