HPBUY Chapter 55

‘Can’t we just hand this over to the Knights?’

Though his opponent was just a child, he was getting irritated at this point.

Just then, the child’s gaze suddenly fixed on something outside the window. Following the line of sight, Declan saw red lollipops through the glass window of the shop across the street.

Declan unconsciously furrowed his brow.

Come to think of it, Aila also used to enjoy such unwholesome snacks.

Though her nutritional state was clearly a mess, whenever she ate those candies, her face would light up as if she owned the whole world.

After staring at the candy for a moment, Declan checked the gold coins in his pocket and said to the child:

“Don’t move from here.”

Instead of answering, the child just looked up at him with wide round eyes. Since he hadn’t expected a response anyway, he immediately left the building and strode toward the shop.

All the candies together were barely worth one gold coin – they were that cheap. Declan grabbed a bunch of lollipops and pulled out five gold coins from his pocket to hand to the merchant.

The owner received the gold coins with a bright face and cheerfully bid him to come again. When he returned to the room, the child was sitting quietly in place as he had warned.

He pulled out one candy from the bundle and abruptly held it in front of the child’s face.

“Here.”

The child stared up at him before slowly accepting the candy. As soon as the candy disappeared from his hand, Declan asked again.

“Now do you feel like telling me your name?”

The child looked up at him furtively and muttered in a barely audible voice.

“…Sasha.”

“Family name?”

The child pressed their lips shut again. Declan asked another question in resignation.

“Where do you live?”

“…”

“Are you going to keep your mouth shut?”

His patience was starting to wear thin.

“If you’re so clever, you shouldn’t have gotten lost in the first place.”

When he muttered sarcastically, the child’s eyes flashed angrily.

“I’m not lost! I just…!”

Such a tiny thing had quite a loud voice. Sasha, who had been trembling with fists clenched, slumped their shoulders again.

“I was just looking for my mother…”

“Mother?”

The child nodded. Tears started welling up in their eyes again as if overcome with emotion.

“I heard she was going to the square.”

Declan looked at the child suspiciously.

“It’ll be hard to find your mother there today with so many people gathered.”

“I don’t care. As long as I get there, I’ll find her somehow.”

Though he wasn’t sure where this confidence came from, the tone was quite resolute.

But Declan couldn’t act rashly just based on the child’s words. After all, this wasn’t directly ordered by his superior.

“Do you have a meeting place arranged with your mother?”

Sasha rolled their eyes slightly before nodding frantically. However, instead of letting them go easily, Declan pushed a paper toward the child.

“I can’t trust you, so write your name here. I’ll verify it separately later.”

“Ah, I’m telling the truth!”

“I heard you, now quickly write it down. Your name.”

Sasha flared up in anger, but Declan wouldn’t give in easily. When he handed over the blank paper and personally gave them a pen, the child reluctantly scribbled down letters and returned it to him.

For a child, the handwriting was quite neat. Declan glanced at Sasha with surprise before looking back at the name.

“Sasha Yenolam? Is this really your name?”

Sasha nodded, still wearing a disgruntled expression.

‘I’ve never heard of this family.’

Well, it had been several years since he’d wandered the borders, so it wasn’t strange for a new family to have come to the capital. Declan put aside his pointless suspicions and tucked the folded paper into his coat.

“Where are you meeting your mother?”

“By the fountain in front of the square.”

“I’ll take you there.”

Although Sasha protested they could go alone, Declan ignored it. It wasn’t safe for a child to wander alone on such a crowded day.

Declan headed to the square with the child. On behalf of Sasha, whose short height blocked their view, he scanned the fountain area.

“What does your mother look like?”

“Black hair and green eyes.”

“Is that your mother in the brown dress?”

Sasha quickly glanced in the direction Declan pointed and nodded in agreement. Declan let the child go without any suspicion.

“Your mother must be worried. Go on now.”

“Okay.”

Sasha, who was about to turn around, suddenly spun back.

“Thank you.”

At this unexpected word, Declan raised an eyebrow slightly. Sasha pointed at the candy in their mouth.

“Ah.”

When Declan let out a dumbfounded exclamation upon finally realizing it was thanks for the candy, the child grinned. After waving once at him, they turned again and walked toward the fountain.

Declan stood there watching Sasha’s back as they disappeared into the crowd. He could see them firmly gripping the candies in one hand.

For a moment, he might have smiled as that sight reminded him of his long-forgotten younger sibling.

****

When he barely made it back in time, preparations for the execution were already complete.

Declan finished giving a brief report to the already overwhelmed commander and headed to his designated position. When he took his place beside the stairs leading to the scaffold, a soldier standing opposite asked mischievously.

“Did you escort the child well?”

Declan didn’t even look at the clearly teasing question.

Soon the bell announcing noon rang. Shortly after, the Empress was dragged outside by guards. The crowd packed in the square began to stir. Unspeakable curses started flying from all directions.

Declan’s forward-facing gaze turned to the woman in the white linen dress.

The Empress’s lifeless gaze met Declan’s before moving to the scaffold behind him. Declan quietly watched her. Even as she passed by him and climbed the stairs, the Empress never looked at him again.

She seemed not to recognize him at all.

Well, it wasn’t strange since much time had passed.

The Empress, now standing on the platform with the scaffold, made the sign of the cross and closed her eyes. Declan turned his head forward again. But suddenly, he felt an inexplicable unease.

‘…What is it?’

He looked back at the Empress. Pale white skin and black curly hair. Slightly upturned eyes and a high nose bridge.

As he carefully examined the Empress’s features, he finally realized the source of his déjà vu.

‘Yenolam…’

In that moment, Declan stopped breathing.

The alphabet reversed would spell Maloney. The royal family’s surname.

****

Unlike Joseph and his sister who were of similar age and whom he had played with several times, he had only briefly encountered the princess.

Moreover, even that last sighting was years ago, and at that time the princess was too young to even speak properly, so it was impossible for Declan to have recognized her.

Whatever the case, he didn’t dwell on his thoughts and immediately rushed from his position.

However, finding the child in the chaotic square was no easy task.

Among the ant-like crowd, several soldiers were shouting themselves hoarse trying to control the masses. Declan squeezed through the people to approach them.

“Have you seen a girl about this tall?”

“How many kids that size do you think are here? I don’t know.”

One soldier snapped back with an irritated face. Despite the sharp response, Declan persisted.

“She’ll be noticeable with a bunch of red candies. If you find her, bring her immediately. It’s a direct order from the Commander.”

At those words, another soldier tilted his head.

“A child with red candies? I think I saw one over there earlier. I thought it was strange since their clothes suggested they shouldn’t be in a place like this.”

Just then, a roar of cheers erupted. When he turned his head, he saw white feet struggling in the air. A high-pitched scream came from the direction the soldier had pointed. Declan instinctively headed that way.

As he pushed through the dense crowd, he felt something crunch under his feet. Red candy fragments.

Looking up, he saw a child not far away, covering their ears while crouched down. He quickly approached and grabbed their arm to help them up.

As soon as his eyes met the dazed blue eyes, he urgently whispered in a low voice.

“You cannot stay here.”

But even that seemed inaudible to them. The child was muttering incomprehensible words while trembling violently. Anyone could see this wasn’t normal.

“You must return quickly. If His Majesty learns of this…”

At the mention of the Emperor, the princess’s trembling body suddenly froze.

Declan held the princess’s hand and quickly escaped the crowd. As soon as they left the chaos of the square, he led her to a deserted alley.

“Where are your knight escorts?”

“None. Such things…”

Tears began falling again from those large eyes. Fresh tear tracks formed on the already tear-stained face.

“His Majesty dismissed them all. The knights and the nannies… all of them… sob!”

Even while wiping her eyes with the back of her hand, her stubbornness remained firm.

“I won’t… won’t return to the palace.”

“Please be reasonable.”

Despite his cold rebuke, the princess paid no heed. Instead, she grabbed Declan’s clothes and pleaded.

“Please. Take me to where my mother is.”

“I don’t know where she is.”

“Liar. I saw men dressed like you taking her away earlier!”

The princess shouted angrily. Declan looked down at her tear-stained face with a cold gaze.