When the Main Protagonists Broke Up

It was only then that Mary’s voice was heard from inside, and soon she opened the door and came out at a frightening speed.

However, when he saw the man next to me, he called me again with a surprised expression.

“Miss…?”

“I will explain the details later. What about the child?”

“I’m inside.”

“Okay?”

I went into the room

Then the child came towards me at once.

“Bell!”

“Oh my, boy! You’re calling someone’s name carelessly right now.”

At Mary’s scolding tone, the child immediately looked at me pitifully with a timid face.

I gently stroked the child’s hair and smiled as if it were okay.

Then, looking at Mary, he opened his mouth.

“Mary, it’s okay. I said yes.”

“But, lady…!”

I shook my head slightly, saying stop.

Anyway, today was the last time a child called my name.

Mary looked as if she had more to say, but immediately shut up at my words.

“Lady?”

Then the man waiting outside called me.

I opened the door wide with a sorry expression.

It meant to come inside.

A man named Eden strode into the room.

Perhaps because of his physique, when he entered, it felt like the

room was somehow filling up.

Suddenly, the child grabbed my hand and gave me strength.

“Bell….”

Then he called me in a small voice.

It seemed that he was frightened by the sight of a strange man.

I bent down to get to the child’s eye level and held the child’s hands.

“This is the person who helped you.”

“Yes…?”

“He also saved my younger siblings.”

After saying that, I straightened my lower back and looked at the man.

“This child. That’s what they said about child number 5.”

“Okay.”

But as the man moved closer to the child, the child hid behind the hem of my dress, still wary.

“I am not a bad person. He is the one who will help you.”

I explained again and tried to drag the body of the child hidden behind me and put it next to me.

But even as a child, he was so strong that he couldn’t budge.

“I think you should go with me. After we arrive at the inn where the children are, I will take you back.”

“Ah…Yes, I do.”

Seeing the child’s condition, it seemed that we should accompany her to the inn.

“Let’s go, meet my younger siblings.”

When I said let’s go see my younger siblings, the child nodded and gently grabbed my hand.

The child held my hand without hesitation, probably because he was accustomed to holding my hand.

I joined hands with the thought that such a child’s behavior was cute.

The three of us set out for the inn where the children were staying.

The two did not speak much.

Of course, I’m not the talkative type, so except for a few words between the child and me, there was silence between the three of us.

After walking like that, I arrived in front of an unfamiliar building.

“This is it. This is the inn where the children are staying.”

“Yes, then.”

I let go of the child I was holding on to and bent down to make eye contact with the child in the same way as before.

And this time, he held the child’s shoulders with both hands and opened his mouth.

“Listen to me. This person here will take care of you and your siblings from now on.”

“…yes?”

Somehow the child looked up at me with a rather shocked expression.

“You guys will be going to an orphanage this man knows well. If you go there, they say that there are many children rescued from circus troupes like you.”

“….”

“If you go there, you won’t have to live a wandering life like you do now. You should be fine. Understand?”

The child did not respond to my words.

The child’s face hardened, but he pretended not to know.

I shrugged and straightened my back. Then he looked at the man and said.

“I have a long way to go, so I’ll stop here. Promise me that I can trust you and that my beliefs are not wrong.”

“I promise.”

Of course, I didn’t blindly trust people with just a few words, but for some reason this man was trustworthy.

You shouldn’t trust people just by looking at them, but my intuition was telling me that anyway.

“Yes. Then I’ll believe you. And on the way back, you can go with my escort driver. So could you please call my escort driver?”

“Then wait a minute. Let’s go in.”

But even though the man beckoned the child to enter the inn, the child did not move.

I pushed the child on the back and nodded, telling the child to follow the man in.

But still the child did not budge.

“What’s the matter? Do you have something to say to me?”

“…You bought it.”

“Huh?”

“You bought me. So you didn’t want to take me?”

“Uh? that is….”

“What do you mean bought?”

When unexpected words came out of the child, I couldn’t hide my embarrassment and thought about how to say it.

Meanwhile, the man was looking at me with eyes full of questions.

“So that….”

I didn’t do anything wrong, but I don’t know why I was suddenly rushed into it, but I soon opened my mouth with a proud expression.

“You said you saw a kid being beaten by a circus performer while walking down the street? I ended up handing over the money to them to save the child.”

I gave a rough explanation of the situation to allay the man’s doubts.

“Bell.”

The child called me and took my hand and pulled me.

It felt like I was told to stop looking at men and look at myself.

“Can I go with you too?”

“What?”

“I will listen carefully. So please take me too. Yes?”

I looked down at the child with a puzzled expression.

“That’s not allowed. I’m not going home That’s why I can’t take you.”

I had no choice but to ignore the child’s desperate expression.

“And I didn’t mean to take you in the first place. Sorry, but this guy will take better care of you and your younger siblings than I do. So you should listen carefully. Understand?”

“….”

The child now hung his head down without answering my words.

Then suddenly, when he saw me, tears welled up in his eyes.

“Please call the escort driver.”

It was no longer something I could do, so I just chose to quickly leave this seat while avoiding the child’s face.

The man brought the child into the inn, but the child was still looking at me with sad eyes.

* * *

When I returned to the inn late at dawn, I slept until late in the morning, perhaps because I was tired.

“Miss.”

When the sun rose in mid-sky, I barely opened my eyes to the sound of Mary calling me outside the door.

“Come in.”

Mary came inside.

“What time is it?”

“It is already time for lunch. Are you hungry? I called the lady in the morning, but there was no answer, so I skipped meals, but you should have lunch.”

“William?”

“The driver has already woken up and finished his personal training in the morning.”

Wow, diligent

He was also a first-class knight.

“How about lunch? Would you like to eat at the inn?”

It’s a festival, but it can’t be.

Since I was planning to leave tomorrow anyway, I wondered what the festival would look like during the day.

“Let’s go out and eat.”

“Yes?”

“It’s a festival. So let’s go out and eat something delicious.”

“Then I will tell the driver to prepare and come back, so please wait a moment.”

“Huh. Okay.”

After a while we left the inn.

As a result of my trip yesterday, I couldn’t move by carriage, so I decided to walk to the street where there are shops.

“My lady, are you okay? Aren’t you tired?”

“Are you okay.”

“Still, let’s go in the carriage.”

“There is nothing wrong with this. And if you ride in a carriage, you won’t be able to see the sights properly.”

Mary looked at me with a concerned expression.

I gave her a reassuring smile and eased her concerns.

“What do you eat?”

“A while ago, I asked the innkeeper to tell me the most famous place in this town, and he gave me one.”

Then William interrupted and said.

“Okay? Then let’s go there.”

“Yes. I will guide you.”

So we decided to have a delicious lunch at a place recommended by the innkeeper.

Fortunately, it was located not far away, and it was one of the older pubs in the area, William explained to me what he had heard from the innkeeper.

When I opened the door of the bar and went inside, it was crowded with people from daytime like a famous bar.

The smell of delicious food and sweet wine stung my nose.

We took a seat in a corner and ordered so many food and drinks that the three of us couldn’t finish them all.

“My lady, will you eat all of this?”

“Huh.”

“But….”

“Mary, it’s a festival. Stop worrying and have fun, okay? And I’m not going to eat alone. We will eat together.”

“But we can’t eat with the lady.”

Just like yesterday, Mary mentioned the difference in status.

“Are you okay. We’ll be together for a long time, so you’re telling me

to keep eating alone?”

“But, lady, we will separate later-”

“If I do that ‘But’ one more time, will I get angry? Gyung-gyeong,

gyeong-gyeong, eat it quickly. From now on, if nothing special happens, we will eat together. Understand?”

“Summer solstice-!”

When Mary was about to say the word ‘But’ again, I glanced at her out of spite.

“All right.”

“Okay, lady.”

Fortunately, both of them seemed to understand what I was saying and responded in a compliant manner.

I smiled broadly at the sight, and after a while, the food that looked delicious to the eye began to come out one by one.

“What is this?”

“I guess it looks like a meat stew?”

“What kind of meat is it?”

“In case you don’t know, I’ll taste it.”

Since it was sold at a bar, many people were eating it, but Mary tasted it first just in case.

“It’s lamb.”

“Lamb?

If it was lamb, you could eat it.

I immediately scooped out a spoonful of stew meat and put it in my mouth.

“It’s good!”

The unique aroma and flavor of the lamb spread throughout the mouth.

“Let’s eat quickly.”

Starting with the stew, a variety of foods that had never been seen before in the Duke’s family came out.

The ingredients and processing methods were quite different between the dishes eaten by nobles and those eaten by commoners.

We filled our stomachs little by little with wine.

After eating, we looked around the streets.

The village seen during the day is a little different from the night.

Since it was a festival, there were definitely more people at night, but as many people filled the streets during the day as at night.

After walking around the streets during the day, it quickly became evening.

After eating at another bar until dinner, I was on my way back to the inn after a full day.

Suddenly, five-colored lights flashed in the dark sky and exploded in all directions.

It was fireworks.

‘There are fireworks here too…!’

It was amazing and the fireworks exploded so beautifully that I felt good. I spoke to Mary with a big smile on my face.

“Mary, look! It’s fireworks…!”

“Miss! So pretty!”

Mary was also watching the fireworks with a thrilled voice.

I took Mary’s hand and ran for the best view of the fireworks.

Then, I took a seat in an open area and watched the fireworks explode with my head straight out.

“Really pretty.”

“Yes. So pretty.”

As I was appreciating the fireworks exploding all over the world,

somehow I felt a warm gaze.

I turned my head to where I could feel the gaze.

A few steps away, a man named Eden whom I met yesterday was staring at me.

As soon as Eden’s eyes met, we couldn’t take our eyes off each other.

“Miss?”

I was able to move my gaze fixed on Eden only after Mary called me and shook her body slightly.

“That person….”

William recognized Eden first and then opened his mouth.

Soon he strode towards us.

Perhaps because he was tall, he arrived in front of us in no time.

“See you again.”

“Yes.”

“I guess you like fireworks.”

“I haven’t seen you in quite a while.”

I was ashamed to show that I liked it while running around as an adult, not a child, so I tried to hide my embarrassment. But strangely, the man didn’t even think about answering me and just stared at me.

And in the meantime, the short fireworks display ended.

“Unfortunately, it’s over.”

“It will be nice to see you next time only if you feel regret.”

“Is that so.”

“Yes. If you see it whenever you can, if you have everything you want, you don’t know how precious and good it is. I just like this.”

“Yes…That’s right.”

For a moment, Eden’s eyes seemed to have a strange feeling.

‘Are you moved by my words?’

It wasn’t a word to be moved, but judging by the darkening in his eyes, my words seemed to have moved him somewhere.

“I have a way to go, so I have to go. Let’s go.”

“Yes.”

“Yes, lady.”

I bowed my head slightly to say hello and walked past the man when I suddenly remembered the child.

“Well, how are the children?”

So I put my foot back on the floor and looked at the man and asked.

“I was sent to an orphanage this morning.”

“Good for you. Did the child I brought go well too?”

I couldn’t forget the child’s eyes yesterday, so I checked the child once again.

“Yes. It went well. Perhaps by tomorrow morning, word will come that the children have arrived safely.”

“Thank god.”

“If you are curious about the news of the child, I can let you know.”

“No, no. It must have arrived.”

I must have already found a safe nest, it was too much to pay attention to the child anymore.

And somehow I didn’t want to get involved with this man any more.

“As you promised me, please take good care of the children. Enough

then.”

I greeted the man again and headed towards the inn.

I kept feeling the gaze from behind, but I went on my way without looking back once.

After breaking up with the man, I arrived at the inn and was about to go inside when I saw a familiar figure in front of the door.

It was the same boy who went to the orphanage.

“You?!”

I called out to the child in a loud voice.

Then the child lifted his head from being buried in his lap and looked up at me.

“Why are you here!”

Apparently this kid had something to surprise me with.

It was the fact that he went to the circus again because of his younger siblings after he saved it, and the fact that he suddenly appeared today.

“Bell….”

“Why are you here? What about an orphanage? Didn’t you go to the orphanage?”

“…I made it to give you a bell.”

“What?”

The child hesitated, then held out his hand to me.

A small flower ring was placed on the child’s palm.

“What’s this?”

“Thank you, I want to give you a present, but I don’t have money….”

He wanted to give me a present, but he had no money, so he made a flower ring.

It was so beautiful that my heart fluttered in an instant.

“Thank you. It’s so pretty. Can you cuddle here?”

I reached out to the child.

The child looked at me with surprised eyes and put a flower ring on the fourth finger.

“…you are pretty.”

“Huh?”

While putting the ring on me, the child muttered something in a low voice, but I couldn’t hear it well except for the words that it was pretty.

“…I want to wear a real ring next time.”

“Ah…Ok, thanks.”

I smiled and said thank you, wondering what the child would know about the meaning of giving a ring.

“By the way, did you come to give me this?”

“….”

When the child asked why he was here, his mouth, which had been responding well until just now, fell silent.

“Let’s go in and talk.”

I don’t think it’s something to talk about outside, so I took the child

and entered the inn first.

And it was late at night, so I couldn’t send the child anywhere, so I rented a room for the child to spend the night.

“Let’s go up.”

However, as I was about to take the child up the stairs to go to the room, a thunderous growl sounded from inside the child’s stomach.

When I looked at the child in surprise, I was ashamed, and my face and neck were all red.

“Have you eaten anything up until now?”

“….”

The child did not answer again.

I took it as a positive.

“Mary, I will go upstairs with the child, so could you bring him something to eat?”

“Yes. I understand, lady.”

After telling Mary to bring me some food, I took the child into his room.

“Come in.”

I went in first and checked the room, but the child couldn’t come inside and was hanging around outside.

“Come in, quickly.”

After saying it twice, the child entered the room at a slow pace.

“First of all, let’s sleep here for today.”

“Yes….”

“Sit here.”

I sat the child in a chair by the table.

And after staring at the child for a moment without saying anything, 

he opened his mouth.

“Did I really come to give you this?”

He raised his hand with a flower ring and asked the child.

“I am-.”

“Miss.”

Just as the child was about to speak, Mary’s voice came from outside the door.

At the word to come in, Mary entered the room, holding a tray in her hand.

On the tray, there were bread and soup that could be eaten as a meal.

Mary put the food on the table and I put the bowl in front of her.

“Eat.”

Hearing the word to eat, the child glanced at her at first, then swallowed when the smell of food wafted in front of her eyes.

“Eat quickly. Come on, let’s eat and talk.”

He held the spoon in the child’s hand and motioned for him to eat quickly.

Then, the child hurriedly began to eat a spoonful of soup.

Watching the child eat, it seemed that he was really hungry.

I told Mary to go and watch the child eat.

The child looked at me from time to time while eating, but he emptied the bowl cleanly at once, as if he had a good appetite.

“Delicious?”

“…yes.”

“Should I ask for more food?”

“No. Are you okay….”

“Eat as much as you want without paying attention.”

“Are you okay. I am full now.”

When I said I was full, I shut my mouth.

And watching the child who was wiping his mouth clean, he waited for the child to open his mouth first.

“When you saved me yesterday….”

The child quietly opened his mouth as if he had read my eyes quickly.

“Bell did it to me when I asked why he bought me. He said he looked at me asking for help.”

I was right about what I said, so I nodded slightly.

“That’s right.”

“The moment Belle saved me, I swore to myself. I’m going to take Bell as my master for the rest of my life.”

“I didn’t save you with that meaning.”

I thought I was talking to the child so that he could understand, but the child was acting strangely.

“I kept telling you, but I meant to leave you in a safe place from the start. I am not in a position to take you.”

“Please. You bought me You saved me. I want to follow Belle.”

“Then what about the younger siblings you’ve been with?”

“….”

“Wouldn’t it be nice not to see those kids again? They said they stayed together, and if you go with me, you’ll never see them again.

Are you okay though?”

“…are you okay. Because those kids will get along well in the future.

I hate breaking up with Belle more than they do.”

The kid completely nailed me.

I was staring at the child, lost for words, when I heard William calling me from outside.

“My lady, this is William.”

“Come in.”