Chapter 5: 1.4

Since the mansion was heavily watched by Prince Michael, Yunyu decided to stroll around the city in the evening. The Holy City was a great, clean city, the architecture was very romantic and there were many spots where couples could enjoy their time together. But it was all unusable, because the strict rule of the church forbade any kind of relationship between man and woman before marriage.

Yunyu strolled alone, but he knew that he was not alone. The system told him that Prince Michael had four men watching over Yunyu at every corner, Michael seemed to want to catch him red handed.

Yunyu grinned, he turned at the junction and saw his target, an old lady who sold apples every evening. She was an old widow and selling apples was her only way of living. Yunyu had asked the system about the poor region in the city.

Duke Damien was tall, but he was graced with a gentle appearance. Yunyu used this to create a good image. He crouched down, and his gentle eyes had a glint of scarlet red, he said something inaudibly. After that, he smiled at the old lady, "Grandma, I want to buy a bag of apples."

The old lady was surprised to see such a gentleman, he was definitely not a common folks, but he wanted to buy an apple from an old lady. The old lady gave Yunyu a bag of apple and Yunyu gave her ten times the amount of money he should pay.

Yunyu strolled around again with a bag of apples, he saw poor kids who were either begging or collecting trash to sell and get some money for food. Yunyu sat near them and gave one apple to a passing kid, and Yunyu also gave them a bit of money for food.

Soon, he was flocked by many poor kids wanting an apple… and the money.

Yunyu patiently gave the apple and money to the kids, and he left before more beggars surrounded him. He walked around again, he hummed a soft melody while heading to one place.

[Ah, being kind makes me feel good.] Yunyu happily chatted with the system.

[Pupa: You just hypnotized the old lady and the kids, so they thought you are familiar.]

[Hehe, I know what Michael will do. Besides, it's fine, right? The old lady and the kids are unharmed.]

The system was silent. It couldn't rebuke Yunyu for this one.

[Anyway, Pupa, does the duke never do good deeds in his life? He is three hundred years old, he must've done at least one good thing throughout his life, right?]

[Pupa: Yes, one time, Duke Damien spared a woman because the woman had herpes. The duke released her in disgust, and since that time, Duke Damien vowed that he would never hunt a prostitute anymore.]

[… I wonder if that counts.]

Yunyu arrived in one small house, the house looked like it would break down anytime soon. And when he knocked on the door, a faint voice of a woman told him to wait. After a few minutes, a woman opened the door.

Yunyu looked down, because this woman used a wheelchair. The woman was surprised to see such handsome gentleman coming to her shabby shack. She asked, "May I know what is your intention here, sir?"

The woman was in the wheelchair because she was born without legs. After her parents abandoned her, she was put in this shabby shack alongside few other people who were abandoned by their family. They survived by receiving a monthly donation from the church, although it was not enough for them to eat for a month.

Yunyu crouched again and said, "My name is not important, but I'm here because I want to help. I will renovate this house, and I will also provide food for everyone in this house."

The woman was stunned, she grasped Yunyu's hand and her eyes were moist already, "Sir, we are… we are just a bunch of abandoned people. Even god has left us, why do you want to do this to us?"

Yunyu gave the woman a gentle smile, "Even if god has abandoned you, I will not. I am just a human who wants to help the one in need."

The woman finally cried. Somehow, she could feel the genuineness of this man. She hugged him, but soon realized that she was dirty. She immediately apologized for her action, fearing that her filthiness would disgust the generous man.

But Yunyu only said, "We are all human, we breathe the same air, you are not dirty at all."

[Pupa: Pffft… sure, Duke Damien is a human.]

[Sshh! Don't laugh, you'll break my acting!]

***

The news about Duke Damien's kindness was reported back to Prince Michael.

The Prince was reading the holy book until his men returned. Since that day, when the Duke said that he was more sinful than a faithless, Michael was determined to find the Duke's flaw. The Duke was just faithless, of course he had many sins in his life.

Michael wanted to find the Duke's sin and framed him for being a sinful faithless, then he would forcibly convert him.

He sent his men to spy over the Duke for almost a week now. Aside from his strange habit of eating alone, the Duke didn't do much in his mansion other than working on some documents. The Duke was really a clean man.

However, today's report from his men was a bit different from the usual.

"What is he doing today?" Prince Michael asked.

"Reporting to your highness, Duke Damien was seen strolling around Misven street, he bought a bag of apples from an old lady and paid her ten times the amount. He then gave the apples to the street kids and gave them money."

"He… did that?" Michael was unsure if he heard this right, "Did he destroy the old lady's store later? Did he kidnap, or at least beat one of the kids? What is he doing in that slum anyway!"

"No, Your Highness. The Duke only did that and then went to an old house. Based on our hearing, he would want to renovate the house and provide for their consumption. The house is that house for abandoned disabled people."

Another spy added, "Your Highness, I asked the old lady whether she knows about Duke Damien. She only said that Duke Damien never told them his name, but he often comes to Misven and helps the poor there. She said that he is a very kind man."

Michael was baffled by the report. He never thought a distinguished duke would come to dirty streets and help the people there. Even Michael frowned whenever he entered that slum, because it was very dirty and smelly. Thus, Michael often ignored the Misven area. The Misven was not a good place to represent the glory of the holy kingdom.

"You guys can disperse," Prince Michael said. The spies disappeared immediately.

Prince Michael seemed to be in deep thought. He couldn't believe what his men said just now. It was impossible for a noble to do that.

'Maybe I was wrong about him… maybe it truly is a good faithless…'

'So, I am more sinful than a faithless?'

Michael gritted his teeth, he slammed the table with his fist until everything on the table scattered, "I will check it by myself. I will not believe it until I see it with my own eyes!"

***

Ding!

"Huh, what?" Yunyu was busy managing the fund for the abandoned people in Misven Street. It was all with the fund of the duchy. Although he was wealthy, uncontrollable spending might lead to bankruptcy.

Pupa floated around Yunyu and said, "Breakmeter 45%, Fatemeter 20%, congratulations."

"Ah, his men must've reported about their finding already," Yunyu smiled brightly, "Don't you think I'm quite good, Pupa? I can constantly raise the Breakmeter without any significant problem!"

Yunyu stared at the system with his bright eyes, his expression was screaming 'praise me' to the system. But Pupa only replied with a scoff and disappeared.

Yunyu's chin raised up, he was indeed proud of his achievement. Turned out, it was easy for him to increase the Breakmeter of this zealot. Yunyu focused again with the budgeting and prepared himself for a show tomorrow morning.

Yunyu left early in the morning. He went to that old house and met the same woman in a wheelchair. Yunyu said to the woman that they would need to move for a few days until the house renovation was completed.

There were around ten people who lived inside the house, they were all people with disabilities or deformed. Michael had followed the Duke since morning, he also felt disgusted with their horrible deformity, though he felt pity, he wouldn't go as far as touching them and even carrying them to another house nearby to move for a few days.

Michael followed Yunyu who helped these people. They were all dirty, smelly and were not pleasant to look at, but Yunyu was currently feeding one guy gently. The guy didn't have hands and his feet were twisted in an unpleasant way.

"Sir, y—you don't have to feed me… you can put the bowl on the ground, I will eat it myself…" the guy pleaded.

Yunyu shook his head and fed the guy carefully, "You are not a dog, you shouldn't eat like one. At least, not in front of me."

"Sir, please don't be too kind to us. We are just abandoned people. We are not going to give you any benefit!" another guy pleaded. He was not used to seeing someone who was obviously very clean and noble. But what he did right now was not elegant at all.

"Sir… please don't feed us…" the woman in the wheelchair said, "You are a very kind man, sir. But we have been abandoned by god for a long time. We are… no better than an animal."

'Abandoned by god…' Michael felt that word deep in his heart. These people were obviously not pleasant looking, not useful to society, and barely survive with the pity of others. But… Did these people really get abandoned by god?

Yunyu shook his head, "Have you killed anyone? Have you hurt anyone in your life? If the answer is no, then god has not abandoned you yet," Yunyu smiled, "I am a faithless, but I believe, if god really exists, he will not abandon the people who never harm the others. He is the deity of kindness, right?"

Michael felt that his breath was heavier when the Duke said that. The Duke said it in a gentlest expression possible to heal the pain of these abandoned people. But to Michael, it was like a sharp knife to his heart.

Because he already harmed other human beings, hundreds of human beings. He massacred all of them in the name of god. But now, he wondered, 'If god is the deity of kindness, will he approve my way? They are all facing justice because they are evil faithless who refuse to convert. But, most of them never harmed others…'

For the first time, Michael felt conflicted in his heart.

Michael's eyes didn't leave Yunyu at all. The more he saw this faithless duke, the more he felt that this duke was something special. Because he was the first one that would do this, he could've been riding the clouds like an aloof noble, but he decided to step down and walked into this dirty slum to help others.

'What if… what Duke Damien said is true, that I am more sinful than a faithless?'

Yunyu left the house after he settled everything for these people to live here for a while. When he left the house, he was greeted by a hooded man.

Yunyu's brows sharpened when he noticed who this hooded man was, he asked in vigilance, "What is Your Highness doing here?"

Michael stared at the Duke deeply, and he said, "You are a good actor."