CH 46

‘Who is that?’

Livia curiously watched Vincent browsing the shops a few steps away as he began talking to a girl.

The unusually slender girl had pink hair and pink eyes and looked to be about Vincent’s age. She was holding a basket that seemed to be filled with randomly picked wildflowers.

Eventually, Vincent took out a silver coin from his pocket and exchanged it for a single flower.

Finally, Livia understood what was happening.

‘She’s a girl selling flowers.’

Livia had heard that during grand events like this festival, there were often children selling flowers or handmade crafts.

“Vincent.”

Livia called out his name and approached, but the startled girl ran away in a hurry.

‘Oh no.’

Livia sighed in disappointment as she watched her quickly disappear.

She had been thinking of buying a few more.

The girl must have been a timid child, or perhaps she was scared of adults.

“Tutor Via! Look at this.”

Vincent ran up and handed Livia a single flower.

It was a delicate and pure white wildflower, common enough to see growing along the side of the road. Yet Vincent was holding the stem gently with both hands, as if it were a precious flower.

He looked up at her and spoke carefully.

“Tutor, could you please lower your head for a moment?”

“Huh?”

“Come on, please.”

In response to Vincent’s urgent request, Livia slowly lowered her head. Then Vincent’s hand unexpectedly approached her ear.

Startled, she lifted her head and saw Vincent smiling mischievously.

“Hehe, it looks pretty.”

“Huh? Oh…”

She quickly understood what Vincent had done as her reflection appeared on the windowpane behind him.

A small white wildflower, which Vincent had been holding tightly just a moment ago, was inserted behind her ear.

“Tutor, it looks good on you.”

Praise came from below.

“Really?” Livia asked with a pleased expression on her face.

~ Translations by Lurelia | Editing by Valpal | Read only at moonlightnovels.com ~

Vincent nodded vigorously.

“Does His Grace think so too?” Livia turned her body halfway and asked Cardien, who was looking at the scene silently.

“It’s beautiful.”

Her eyes widened at the unexpected words. And then, a followup remark that could have been omitted came.

“The flower.”

“…….”

Well, yeah. What was she expecting?

Still, it was better than hearing words like “not good enough” or “doesn’t suit you,” so she decided to take it positively.

Anything can be beautiful.

After their little chat, they were about to head back to the carriage.

“Huh?” Someone murmured.

Livia turned her head at the alarmed little voice behind her.  Vincent was rummaging through his belongings.

“Vincent, what’s wrong?”

Seeing Vincent’s troubled behavior, Livia asked, and he immediately became teary-eyed.

“I… I…”

“I…?”

Finally, Vincent spoke with a trembling voice.

“I… I lost the gift you gave me, hic…”

“What?”

Eventually, tears that Vincent had been holding back began to fall from his ruby-colored eyes.

While Livia was flustered due to the sudden situation, she heard a chilling voice from behind them.

“He fell victim.”

At those words, she turned abruptly to look at Cardien.

Cardien was already looking elsewhere, in the direction where the child selling flowers had disappeared just a moment ago.

“No way…”

Livia didn’t want to believe it, but…

“A pickpocket…?”

Cardien fell silent, and that was the answer.

‘My goodness.’

* * *

Moving first to a nearby fountain, Livia forcefully swallowed the sigh that was rising in her throat.

What disappeared wasn’t just the brooch.

All the money that Vincent had diligently saved and brought with him after much consideration was also stolen.

The shock must have been quite significant, as Vincent couldn’t stop crying for a while.

‘Well, it’s an understandably big shock.’

After all, this was his first time experiencing a crime.

Livia patted Vincent’s back and comforted him.

“It’s okay, I’ll buy you another present. And as for the allowance… you can easily earn it again.”

Upon hearing that, Vincent raised his head and said, “Hic, I don’t need the allowance… But… but the first gift that Tutor Via gave me… It was the first thing you bought me…. huahh…”

Apparently, the “first gift” Livia had given to Vincent held a deep meaning for him.

Moreover, the pendant was a unique piece of craftsmanship, and it was impossible to buy the same one again.

But what worried her more was…

“I won’t….. buy anything like flowers ever again… Sniff…”

Livia was concerned that distrust and unpleasant memories about people would take root in Vincent’s heart. Especially when he already had a dislike for people to begin with.

On a special day like today, ending it with a bad memory didn’t sit well with her.

‘Should I report it to the authorities?’

Under normal circumstances, Livia would have immediately reported it to the authorities.

‘Under normal circumstances…’

Today, being a festival day, people crowded in from all over the empire.

Due to the high number of safety incidents that occurred on such days, most of the manpower was focused in that direction.

On top of that, crimes like pickpocketing were on the rise, making it virtually impossible to capture the child and detain her.

‘If only I had been more attentive…….’

An uncontrollable wave of regret washed over her.

In reality, her attention was always directed towards Vincent, but Livia let her guard down because the thief was a girl of the same age.

‘Regardless…….’

Livia looked at Vincent with a worried gaze.

Since there was nothing substantial that she could do for him, her frustration grew even stronger.

She wondered if she should file a report with the guards and return to the mansion.

Suddenly, a shadow fell over the two of them.

When she looked up, it was Cardien who had been observing them from a few steps away.

Vincent, who noticed Cardien’s presence, pressed his lips tightly and held back the sobs that were about to escape.

With great tension, Livia raised her gaze to him, afraid that Cardien might say something cold to Vincent.

After silently gazing at Vincent for a moment, Cardien slowly opened his lips.

“Vincent.”

“Hic, yes…….”

Vincent barely managed to hold back his tears and nodded his head.

Unexpectedly, Cardien bent his knees and aligned his eye level with Vincent’s.

Both Vincent and Livia were taken aback by his sudden action and looked at him with widened eyes.

After aligning his eye level with Vincent’s and repeatedly opening and closing his mouth, Cardien finally let out a gentle voice.

“Crying won’t solve anything.”

“…….”

Vincent’s lips tighten at the coldness of his words.

Livia contemplated whether to intervene now, but she decided to hold back.

It was clearly beyond her power to interfere.

Cardien is Vincent’s guardian, after all.

“Crying is proof of giving up. Keeping your hands down shows a lack of will to recover.”

“…….”

In response to Cardien’s words, Vincent stared blankly at him. And then, with a trembling voice, Vincent spoke.

“I don’t want to give up.”

“I know.”

Nodding as if understanding, Cardien stood up from his seat.

Livia and Vincent stared at him blankly.

“Since you’re still young, I’ll help you this time,” Cardien casually said with an indifferent tone and then looked over at Livia.

As she stared blankly at him, their eyes met, and she flinched.

“Please take care of Vincent, Tutor.”

“Ah…”

Livia was about to nod in agreement without thinking.

“Your G-Grace……!” Vincent urgently shouted and rushed out, blocking Cardien’s path.

Then, with a resolute expression, Vincent looked up at Cardien.

After hesitating for a moment, Vincent clenched his fist and mustered the strength to speak to Cardien.

“I’m not letting go. It’s my precious treasure.”

“……”

“I, I want to recover it too!”

Though trembling, his tone was firm.

In this unexpected situation, Livia gazed at Vincent with shaken eyes.

For a moment, Vincent felt like a different person.

~ Translations by Lurelia | Editing by Valpal | Read only at moonlightnovels.com ~

But…

‘He’s trembling.’

Vincent’s shoulders and legs were trembling in front of Cardien, and he was working hard to show as much courage as he possibly could.

Honestly, Livia couldn’t help but be surprised.

To Vincent, Cardien was both a source of difficulty and, at the same time, fear and burden. Standing in front of Cardien, Vincent seemed incredibly small and fragile.

And yet, he was blocking Cardien’s path and expressing his desire to go along.

‘And Cardien too…’

Livia recalled the words he had spoken.

Cold and composed, but in that moment of sharing wisdom, he truly felt like a father.

‘I’m very surprised,’ Livia thought to herself.

Cardien calmly stared at Vincent, who was trembling, blocking his path.

Despite the noisy festival surroundings, a quiet stillness seemed to settle between the two.

Cardien silently gazed at Vincent for a while.

And Vincent, without stepping back, stared back at Cardien.

And then…

“Very well.”

Cardien replied, and Vincent’s expression brightened at his permission.

“Thank you, Your Grace!” Vincent exclaimed loudly, then slumped to the ground as if his legs had given out.

As the situation concluded, Livia quickly ran to Vincent.

“Vincent!”

Whether he knew about her worries or not, Vincent simply smiled and said, “Hehe.”

Seeing him like that, Livia felt a sudden loss of strength as well.

She silently looked at Vincent and softly said, “Well done.”

She meant it from the bottom of her heart.

Vincent stared at her blankly for a moment and then suddenly stood up from his seat.

Then, chasing after Cardien, who was walking ahead, he called out to Livia.

“Tutor! Come quickly!”

“Ah, right!”

Livia hastily caught up and squeezed in between the two of them.

By the way…

As she walked, she tilted her head curiously while looking at the back of Cardien’s head.

“How does Cardien know the location of the brooch?”