AEPOB 06

Chapter 06

I whispered softly, just loud enough for Kiki to hear.

“Kiki, can you hold this for a moment?”

Kiki nodded and took the handkerchief from me.

Brushing off my knees, I organized my thoughts. I needed to add a little threat to prevent this from happening again.

As I stood up, I gave the children a slow, cold once-over. As if to say, I’ll remember all of you clearly.

Wherever my gaze landed, the children quickly averted their eyes.

It seemed my intensity had instilled a sense of fear in them.

I spoke firmly.

“I’ll let it slide this time. But! If you ever bully him again, I won’t hesitate to tell the adults everything. That you hit him with a wooden sword and made him bleed.”

“I told you, we didn’t do it!”

Even now, the self-proclaimed boss kept protesting until the end. If only he could use that leadership for something good.

I nodded as if I understood. Then I pointed to the building next door.

“What a coincidence, this place is right next to the medicinal herb dealer! The owner there really cares for Kiki. What do you think would happen if I showed him this situation?”

“Abeli, you’re acting strange today. Normally you’d…”

The boss boy blinked rapidly several times, looking at me as if he couldn’t believe it.

I cut him off without mercy.

“Enough! Should I call him or not? He’d be really angry if he found out Kiki was hurt, right?”

If even this didn’t work, I’d have to ask the adults for help.

Please, let this work.

I wanted this to end here.

Soon, the boss boy waved his hands. He seemed tired from my relentless approach.

“Fine, we won’t bully him anymore. Just take him away!”

Done! The threat worked.

In case they changed their minds, I quickly went over to Kiki.

Just as Kiki had taken my hand to help me, I grabbed his hand and hurried out of the alley.

What a commotion in just one day, really.

‘But is he okay?’

I tried to sneak a glance at Kiki’s face to check on him, but his long hair covered his eyes, so I couldn’t see properly.

Still, since he was holding my hand and following me, I thought he’d be fine after treatment, and I felt relieved for a moment.

“……!”

The moment we stepped out of the alley, Kiki and I ran straight into my father.

“Bell……?”

We met him at the entrance to the herb dealer, so he must have just finished treating the grocery store owner’s wife.

What should I do? I wasn’t ready to face my father just yet.

The simulations I’d been running in my head in front of the herb dealer vanished in an instant.

My mind went completely blank, and I lowered my head.

“Bell! Look at the state of you… and is that Kiki next to you?”

My father’s face was full of shock the moment he spotted us.

And it was understandable.

Kiki was holding a bloodstained handkerchief to his injured forehead, and I was a mess too.

The pigtails my father had so carefully tied were now lopsided from struggling to escape the boss boy’s grip, and my dress, which had gotten dirty from falling in the market, was an eyesore.

On top of that, my tiny hands were wrapped in handkerchiefs.

‘I’m going to be smothered with overprotectiveness for a while.’

My father rushed over to us, grabbing and examining us both alternately. Then he asked.

“Bell, Kiki. What happened to you two?”

“Kiki was trying to help me when I fell, and this happened. Father, I’m fine, but Kiki is badly hurt.”

It was when I let go of Kiki’s hand, which I had been holding, to show his wound to my father.

*Whoosh!*

*Tap, tap, tap.*

As if he’d been waiting for that moment, Kiki suddenly moved far away from me. I stretched out my hand with all my might to grab him, but it was no use.

“Wait, you need treatment…”

He turned his body and quickly ran off in the opposite direction.

He was so fast that by the time I finished speaking, Kiki was nowhere to be seen on the street.

*Ding—*

**[Mission Success!]**

**’Save the person in crisis.’** Mission successful. A reward has been granted. Would you like to check it now?

—Reward: Hint about the original story (1/3)

[Y/N]

The dialogue window announcing the mission success blocked my view. Even though it said I succeeded, I felt strangely unsettled.

Even though I had obtained the hint about the original story that I so desperately wanted, I just stared blankly at the market through the translucent options.

My father remained silent the entire time he sorted out the errand and treated my wounds.

He just nodded in understanding at my story about falling, saying we’d talk about the details later, and concluded that it was fine since I was safe.

It felt like the calm before a storm, and my heart kept pounding.

When we were alone in the carriage on the way back, my father finally asked about today’s events.

“Bell, can you tell me in detail what happened today?”

“Well… it’s a bit complicated to explain.”

“It’s fine if it takes a while. Tell me one by one.”

He held my hand tightly, as if ready to listen.

But with his eyes so full of concern, I couldn’t easily open my mouth.

Where should I start?

That I got lost and ended up in the Harem District? That I got knocked down by people there and even encountered a slave trader?

That Kiki happened to save me from that? Or that I saw the big boys bullying Kiki and threatened them to save him?

‘I’m going crazy. Nothing about this is normal.’

If I told him the truth as it was, he’d worry about everything I did, and then it would be hard to go out again.

In the end, I decided to set an appropriate boundary.

The method I chose was to tell the truth but soften it.

I let out a silent sigh and began.

“I ran into Kiki while I was on my errand. But since it’s the market, there were a lot of people carrying heavy loads.”

“Right.”

“I didn’t see one of them and almost bumped into them, and Kiki tried to help me, but we both fell. That’s when the ointment jar broke, and Kiki got hurt too. We were on our way to the herb dealer for treatment when we ran into you.”

After hearing my explanation, my father nodded as if he finally understood.

“Was Kiki hurt badly?”

“I stopped the bleeding. But Kiki suddenly ran off, so…”

“Either way, I’ll see him tomorrow and check his wound. But Bell, why were you two holding hands?”

“Excuse me?”

I was at a loss for words at the unexpected question.

I looked up at my father, wondering if he’d caught on to something, but his eyes were so purely curious that I actually felt guilty.

I just grabbed his hand so we could escape quickly, so why is he looking at me with such expectation…?

After hesitating for a moment, I finally came up with an excuse.

“Um… well, I wanted to be friends with Kiki…?”

“So you’re okay with Kiki now?”

“Yes…?”

“Come to think of it, you used to ask about Kiki quite often.”

My father nodded, as if convinced. For some reason, his expression seemed brighter.

Caught off guard by his unexpected reaction, I stared at him blankly.

In the meantime, his misunderstanding grew.

“You said you wanted to be friends with Kiki? Now that I think about it, this is the first friend you’ve ever said you wanted to make on your own.”

“Ah, Father.”

Something was going wrong.

I couldn’t pinpoint exactly what, but my intuition was screaming at me.

“Don’t worry, Bell. I’ll take responsibility and make sure you become friends with Kiki.”

He was showing more enthusiasm than I’d ever seen since I was possessed.

Seeing him pat his chest with his fist as if to say ‘trust me,’ my head started to throb.

‘No, Father. That’s not it.’

This was completely opposite to my plan to stay at home and avoid meeting anyone as much as possible.

“Father has been quite hurt that our Bell hasn’t been sharing things with her father lately.”

I had noticed his voice was getting choked up since earlier, and he seemed touched by my words.

He pulled me into an embrace and continued.

“Thank you for telling me your true feelings.”

I had unintentionally moved him.

Buried in my father’s warm embrace, I secretly made a bitter face.

I couldn’t possibly tell him at this timing, ‘Father, you’ve misunderstood.’