"Lady Aillard! What happened?" The coachman asked.
I shook my head.
Fuck, my head hurts.
As soon as Elliot, the useless piece of shit arrived, he sat beside the coachman.
I looked at my already numb legs and then at the carriage steps.
I can't take it anymore.
I faced the waste of space maggot, he looked at me blankly, with no guilt at all.
"Mr. Simon, please go down for a minute."
"Sorry? Ah, yes!"
When Mr. Simon, the coachman went down, I climb the steps. He looked up at me, "what's the matter, my lady?"
"...Ha ha ha, what's the matter?" I felt something in me snap. I grabbed his hair and slammed it against the glass window. His eyes widened, he was about to defend himself but I continued slamming his head until the glass completely shattered.
Bam! Bam! Bam!
Then, I dragged him down. In a daze, he was sitting on the ground.
To be honest, with Raina's weak body I don't know where the strength to beat him up came from, after all, this guy may be useless but he's still a knight of the Aillard duchy.
"Don't you dare show your face in the duchy again! You're fired. Dismissed." I turned around, "that's right, If you want, I can ask brother to refer you to Viscount Zelos so you can finally reunite with your kind."
"I want to go to the central market."
Soon after, the carriage started moving. Looking at the bloody glass shards spread out on the seat and floor... FUCK! What did I just do? No, fucking hell. Damnit!
Sienna, Sienna, what did Dr. Leve tell you!
Aggression.
Impulsion.
Agitation.
I was able to control them for 8 years, why did I let them get the better of me again!
Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh...
A new world, a new body, no attachment, no restrictions... Is that why?
Whatever.
I'm tired.
I leaned my head on the cushioned wall and closed my eyes, forcing myself to fall asleep while ignoring everything. The injustice, bloody shards, bruises, my body's soreness, and trembling hands, I forced myself to ignore everything. It was quite easy, actually. The pain of today is nothing compared to the realization that my family isn't here.
I have no family.
I really am alone.
Perhaps it was a good thing that I held the charity banquet for the kids in the orphanage and had a small family dinner for my eighteenth birthday. I spent quality time with my family and said my thanks to Uncle Kiel, even calling him dad.
So, they should be quite happy, that would be the ideal scenario, but I'm sure that's not what will happen. Grandpa is used to witnessing death, so he'll treat mine as the same as others, Uncle Bjorn does not spend much time with me and would be too busy comforting my cousins, but... what about dad?
Apart from his few friends in the organization, he only has me. His only child. His only daughter.
If I knew I was going to die so young, I would have called him 'dad' from the moment he adopted me. It was the only thing he wanted after everything he did for me and that was who he was, more than that bastard who cheated on mother, Kiel Argerich was my father yet I couldn't even call him that.
That foolishly loving father of mine... despite the pain of my death, I bet my casket will have the most comfortable interior and is embellished with sapphire and pearls.
Hahahahahaha...
"Huu..."
***
Hot.
Hot.
"WHY THE FUCK IS IT SO HOT?!"
Huh? Where... Ah, that's right.
I was about to stand but immediately fell back down on the seat.
"Ah! My bac–" I stopped. My head filled with a familiar pain.
Fuck...
I'm dying...
'Si——er! ——ok'
Zzzzzzz
'——d——ess'
Zzzzzzz
'We'll have to monitor her behavior. What happened today... It's extreme.'
WHEN WILL THIS RANDOM SEIZURE STOP?!?!
The physician said to just wait until I fully recovered! WHEN WILL THAT BE?!
"Haaah..."
I wiped my eyes, wore a shoulder bag, and went outside.
Mr. Simon flinched when he saw me. Don't let it bother you, Sienna, you're used to it. I'm used to it.
"Lady... Ai-Aillard."
I nodded then handed a silver coin to him, "Have the carriage fixed. Let's meet here at sunset."
***
I'm famished.
I wiped the sweat on my forehead, "two skewers please," I said. He handed the skewers, "Thank you... Wha-what?"
What? Why are you smiling like that?! "A copper coin."
"Ah! Sorry!" I fumbled through my bag, "Here, I've been out of it since earlier."
He nodded and gave me the skewer.
"Thank you..." I ate the skewers in my hands.
...?
Someone's staring at me!
I quickly shifted my eyes.
Wha...Children? Their eyes are shining... Don't look at me like that! How can I eat peacefully!
I sighed.
Hmmmmmmmmm... One... Five... Nine?!
"Mister! 36 more please!"
***
"Do you like it?"
"Hmmsnshh, it's gwood!"
They're like squirrels! So cute!
The children seemed to be healthy, they were clean and wore cheap but decent clothes. They looked like normal children of commoners but I'm sure this children are orphans because their clothes had a white 'Az' embroidered on them—a symbol that they are being protected by the emperor.
Huh?
"What's wrong? Do you not like it? Then what do you want to eat? Bread? Pastry? I can buy some... Hmmm, where's the bakery?"
"No... I just, can we really eat them?" The boy flinched, "Ah! No, I mean, thank you... But how can we repay you?" He said, voice lowering with every word.
So adorable!
With a smile, I waved my clenched fist and revealed pieces of jewelry, "how about surrendering this back to the authorities?"
The boy's face flushed. "Who was it?" He glared at the other children. Instantly, the children stopped eating with their heads down.
"Sorry... Devan." A girl said, her green eyes as shaky as her voice.
"Reya!" The boy beside her shouted.
Devan sighed, "Isaac, Reya... How many times do I have to tell you to stop stealing?! We promised Brother Len, remember?!"
Seems like he's the leader, Devan. You don't see that often, most of the people who take charge of children on the streets are older girls.
Anyways, who's brother Len?
"Alright, alright, that's enough... Stealing, aside from being morally incorrect, can be dangerous. Say, you got caught stealing, the person you stole from can beat you up and even though it's wrong to beat up children, people won't take your side because essentially speaking, you started it first."
"Or, let's say, you successfully stole something, what's next? Sell it to a pawnshop? But, you know it's suspicious to have a bunch of children have expensive jewelry with them. You can even be killed if you stole jewelry with an insignia-"
"That's so unfair! It's not like we steal because we like doing it... We just... don't want to die."
"Isaac, what are you saying!"
This program of Azriel must not have been implemented for long seeing as the children were still anxious.
I ruffled Isaac's hair, "You know, people don't care, whether children like you die or live. They are much too caught up in their own life and desire, and somehow, they get surprised when there are people who commit crimes just to survive. Under the guise of 'justice' and 'righteousness', they punish those people, as if they weren't the ones who caused it in the first place."
"I- I... Wuuu..." He tried formulating words but couldn't seem to do it, as he was trying hard to hold back his tears. I patted his head which caused him to cry louder, "Wa...WAHHHHHHHHHH!!!!"
The other children looked at each other before surrounding Isaac and saying comforting words.
"Zeke..."
"Don't cry."
"Ah, what a crybaby."
"Zeke, it's alright..."
"There, there."
Even the two children who looked to be aged 5-6 years old that didn't seem to know what was happening comforted Isaac by hugging his back.
"Haha, are you done crying now?"
"Ye-hic-s... So-hmp-sorry..."
His eyes were red and puffy, and it looked so adorable!
I gave him the bottle of water Kia packed for me which he diligently drank. "Devan, stay here with the kids and wait for me alright? I'll go and give these to the knights."
"Ah, I'll go with you..."
"No, thank you, you might get on their bad side." People are full of prejudice after all... But is it considered a prejudice if it's true...?
Anyways, I, at least have something to prove that I didn't steal it and someone to bail me out.
...Archen, will bail me out right?
"In any case, don't leave. After I return this I have something to give you lot, so, wait for me."
The children rigorously nodded, their eyes shining brightly.
***
"Those damn thieves!" The guard slammed his fist on the table and looked at me, changing his expression to an amicable one. "You might not know this miss but if I had every copper coin for every person going in and out of this office just to report and follow up on missing things, I'd be richer than his majesty himself!"
"You'd be reborn before that happens."
The voice was charismatic and... familiar.
I quickly turned around.
The man was wearing a black cloak, as his head was covered by the hood, I couldn't see his face, although, he looked about 185 centimeters and had a well-built body. He was completely different.
Oh...
Oh?????
What's wrong with me?
Who was he completely different from?
What was I expecting?
My heart thumped faster and faster for reasons I don't know and frankly, don't understand.
"Ah! The one you're holding!" The guard stood up, his eyes wide. "Isn't that the bastard who was doing a weird ritual a week ago?!"
I finally noticed the disheveled man, no, the disheveled skeleton that the man was holding.
The man hummed and threw the 'bastard' on the ground. I looked at the guard but he was busy ordering his subordinates to take the poor trash away. No, the guard literally called him trash.
Hey... Even if he's some weirdo, shouldn't you still handle him with care?
"The true ruler will come and retribution will fall upon all of you!"
Nevermind, he's a treasonous trash.
I looked up at the man and saw him staring at me. With a hand in my chest, I nodded, to which he returned the gesture.
Not knowing what to do, I stood in place, waiting for the guard to dismiss me. Soon enough, the guard came back with two pouches.
He handed a pouch to me, his face full of smiles. "The emperor encourages honesty and gallantry with reward, so don't refuse it, okay?"
I nodded. I wasn't planning on refusing it anyway.
However, when the guard faced the hooded man, his belief turned 180°, "Len, if you're just going to keep chasing and hunting those criminals, this place might just shut down! Stop robbing us poor guards of our job! The... The treasury is going to get emptied at this point."
Len took the pouch, mumbled something then told the guard, "It's not my fault I'm honest and gallant. If you're worried about your job, do it properly. Also, just send a request to the emperor, surely he doesn't lack money."
The two talked for a few minutes. Finally realizing I was still there, the hooded man turned to me. Despite the sunlight hitting him, I still couldn't see his face, not being able to read his expression, I just asked, "Are you perhaps Ira Len...?"
To be continued.