Chapter 16

“Sislin, are you okay?”

After Julius left, I went to Sislin first.

He was unfairly driven as a thief and heard all kinds of bad things.

‘He had barely escaped from the cave.’

The boy who hid because the world was scary and difficult received the cold eyes of the world again.

From Sislin’s point of view, it was something that could be seriously hurt. If it were me, I would want to throw everything away and run.

It was possible to catch the true culprit, but it was difficult to reverse the wounds on the child’s heart.

Fortunately, however, Sislin looked at me and nodded calmly.

“I’m fine, Annette.”

“…Really?”

“Yes, Annette told me. If you wait patiently, something will happen.”

The boy smiled faintly.

“It didn’t hurt because it was what I expected.”

‘…Hehe, my baby is all grown up. People in the world, look at how confident my baby is!’

I thought that if only Sislin could endure without feeling hurt, catching that little devil would be a breeze.

With a wide smile, I said,

“Sisl, you did a really good job of boldly saying you didn’t do it earlier!”

“…It’s my first time.”

Sislin lowered his red eyes under his black hair, slightly embarrassed.

“That I said that it wasn’t my fault when I was unfairly accused.”

“……”

In other instances, he must have just accepted the beating.

Even if the other person stigmatized him recklessly, he wouldn’t have been able to respond to anything.

An unfamiliar heat hit my chest. I clenched my fists and said,

“…Sisl. From now on, I’m going to be the one saying it’s your fault or not. Understand?”

“Yes.”

He looked so pretty nodding his head gently, so I hugged Sislin tightly.

“……!”

For a moment, I could feel Sislin’s hand in the air.

The boy’s small hand, which had been hesitating in the air, was carefully placed on my back.

The warmth was so good.

After a brief hug, we parted, and the boy’s face was as red as a ripe tomato.

‘Fufu, it’s cute.’ 

“You know, Sisl! I have a good idea?”

“…Uh, what are you thinking?”

At this time right now, the fact that I had a ‘good idea’ could probably only refer to that.

I said with my eyes shining.

“I just thought of a way to catch that ‘little devil’ who was driving you into a thief.”

“Really?”

“Yeah! But we’ll have to wait a while. I don’t know if he’ll steal again or bother you in another way.”

If it occurred in a different way, we would have to come up with a new plan for it.

But if he steals again…

“If something like today happens again, I think we will be able to catch him at once.”

“How?”

Instead of answering, I just smiled and winked.

“Just trust me!”

***

I went straight to Reina. Reina was tinkering with the teddy bear brooch.

“Reina, can I ask you something?”

“Yes! Annette is always welcome! You’re welcome to ask anything!”

Reina nodded her head eagerly with her blueberry-colored eyes shining.

‘Active collaborators. This is good.’

Thanks to this, I was able to ask the questions I was curious about the whole time without feeling burdened.

“Have you ever talked about that teddy bear somewhere else other than that time when you showed it off in the classroom before?”

Obviously, Heinrich wasn’t in class earlier when Reina showed off her teddy bear brooch.

There was no way he could steal something he didn’t even know existed and hid it.

On the other hand, Vivian was in the classroom and clearly heard the bragging.

‘So, depending on Reina’s answer, the fate of the little devil candidates 1 and 2 will be different.’

If Reina had not spoken elsewhere, the culprit was narrowed down to Vivian. Of the two, only Vivian knew of the existence of the bear.

“Umm…”

Reina soon lowered her eyebrows after pondering with innocent eyes.

“I bragged about it to Heinrich earlier.”

It felt like a sharp jab, like a cut.

“…Really?”

“Yes. But Heinrich told me not to be too happy. He said he received dozens of gifts like this, but no nobles actually applied for adoption…”

“……”

“He said that it’s just like giving a dog or a cat treats because they’re cute.”

Ah… Heinrich knew it too.

Right.

There was a slight shadow on my face. I didn’t know why, but maybe it was because Reina didn’t have the answer I was looking for.

“Why? Are you in a bad mood, Annette?”

“Oh no!”

I quickly changed my expression and smiled.

Then I clasped both hands together.

“Reina will surely find a good family.”

“Really?”

“Yes!”

I nodded quickly.

Reina soon smiled sweetly like a flower.

‘There is no need for such a kind child to be disappointed and hurt in advance.’

In fact, in the Forest, there were a lot of cases where they went near adoptions and the deal dropped, but there were many more cases where adoptions actually took place.

That was because all the Trees were wonderful and lovely.

Of course, Heinrich was different.

Adopting a special level 1 Awakened cost a lot of money, and it was an amount that even a noble could not easily spend.

There were times when he got hurt because of it. Almost getting adopted but then the deal broke through, or being treated like a real son but then the deal dropped.

I knew that was why Heinrich couldn’t trust people, hated them, and only clinged to me.

‘Poor thing…’

I swallowed the bitterness, comforted Reina well and returned to my seat.

“Whew.”

I let out a light sigh without realizing it.

‘The moment I heard that Heinrich knew, I was disappointed without realizing it.’

Unknowingly, I was hoping that Vivian was the culprit.

How could I have that kind of heart while helping Sislin, who was unfairly accused of being a thief?

I felt so sorry for Vivian.

‘I’m sorry, Vivian.’

As I looked at the little platinum blonde head, I sincerely apologized.

‘If I lose my objectivity and drive an innocent child to be the culprit, there is no point in helping Sislin.’

Definitely, I had to think objectively.

No matter how much I love Heinrich.

“Good.”

I nodded my head firmly as I habitually touched the very shiny apple that Sislin gave me.

“Sister, what’s that apple?”

“Oh, what a surprise!”

Heinrich, who had approached me all of a sudden, shrugged his chin and smiled softly.

“What are you thinking, that you didn’t know I’m here?”

“……”

I opened my eyes and looked to the side.

Heinrich’s slender purple eyes were like a kitten seeking attention.

His smiling face was so pretty.

Heinrich buried his head against my shoulder and rubbed his forehead lightly. It was his own kind of cuteness.

“My sister. Answer me.”

“……!”

‘Ah, objectivity is disappearing like snow…!’

How difficult it was to be objectively cool in front of my favorite, heuk-heuk.

But I opened my eyes to keep my mind as straight as possible.

‘This is also for Heinrich!’

If Heinrich continued to do bad things to Sislin, he would eventually be found out.

From then on, this life and the original would inevitably flow the same way.

Sislin and Heinrich both suffered, and the thought of a distant future slowly crumbling into ruin made me shiver.

Every day, I remember the nights when I fell asleep wetting my pillowcase with tears because I felt sorry for Heinrich in the original.

‘…I can’t let that happen, Heinrich.’

“Heinri, where did you go earlier?”

“Hmm.”

“Why did it take so long? You’ve been away for a while.”

Heinrich answered my question with a deep shrug.

“Ah, I was about to come back right away, but Madam Mimosa called me and we talked for a while in the room.”

“……!”

In an instant, I remembered my interview with Madam Mimosa.

“As a procedure, I’m asking all the children who come into my room.”

She said she would speak to all the children who she suspected might have tampered with the life records.

…Why did Heinrich go to that room? What were they talking about for such a long time?

Could it be that Madam Mimosa was suspicious of Heinrich enough to ask a lot of questions?

I looked at Heinrich with slightly unsure eyes.

My heart was pounding with tension.

Soon, I carefully opened my mouth.

“What did you talk about in Madam Mimosa’s room?”

“That…”

Heinrich brought his head closer to mine.

The tip of my nose tickled at his characteristic sweet body scent.

Badump, badump.

Then, with a languid voice like a little devil’s, Heinrich whispered in my ear.