Luna guided Ribeta out of the carriage. Mario and Valen bowed when they saw her.

“It must be so hard, with your father being ill.”

Ribeta bent her knees to bring herself to the child’s eye level. Anxiety flickered in the child’s large eyes.

“Is your father the only adult at home?”

“Yes, yes…… I, I’m alone too. Without my dad……”

“I see. I would have been worried too, if I were you. You’ve been holding on all by yourself.”

Ribeta stroked the child’s hair. It was dirty and tangled, but she didn’t hesitate. Luna was a little surprised watching her. The child seemed surprised too, eyes going wide.

Ribeta smiled gently and spoke with warmth.

“Can you hold out your hand? I want to give something to a brave child.”

The child hesitated, then held out her hand. Ribeta placed gold coins into the small palm. They piled up quickly. Even at a glance, it was far more than several months’ worth of living expenses for a commoner.

“Use this to get your father treated. Your own health matters too if you’re going to care for him, so make sure you eat.”

“Oh……”

“But jumping in front of carriages is not all right. You could be badly hurt or lose your life. If you ever need money or my help, come to Count Ruperto’s residence and ask for me. My name is Ilesia Ruperto.”

“C, Count Ruperto? Is this from Count Ruperto?”

“That’s right.”

Unease crept across the child’s face. Had this child heard the rumors about Diego being a demon obsessed with gold? Ribeta found that quietly painful. The Count isn’t a bad person. People point fingers at him for buying slaves every day, but the people he brings home live in clean, warm conditions, eat well, and study freely.

She was about to add that there was nothing to be afraid of, that the Count was kind, when Luna stepped closer.

“My lady, looking after this child is all well and good, but if she walks home carrying gold coins, they’ll be taken before she gets there.”

“…… You’re right. I didn’t think of that. What should we do to help her, then?”

Luna fell silent, apparently unable to think of a good solution.

Then the child reached out and grabbed Ribeta’s sleeve.

“Um, miss. I have a favor to ask.”

“Yes? What is it?”

Ribeta asked gently, and the child still flinched. She opened and closed her mouth several times before squeezing her eyes shut and speaking.

“Could you please take my dad to the hospital? He can’t move on his own, and I’m not strong enough to help him…… could you possibly take my dad to the hospital?”

Hearing both Luna’s warning and the child’s words, Ribeta’s thoughts grew heavier.

She might not have known if she hadn’t understood the situation, but she did. She understood better than most what kind of position this child was in.

Not just slaves, but commoners too faced enormous difficulty getting medical care when they fell ill or were injured. Most never made it through a hospital door before dying.

Having already reached out her hand, she couldn’t bring herself to coldly refuse the child’s request now. Ribeta looked at the small hands gripping her sleeve and turned to Luna.

“How long would it take to reach the charity party venue?”

“It’s not far. By carriage, you’d arrive quickly.”

“There’s time before the party starts, isn’t there? Then let’s take this child’s father to the nearest hospital first.”

Luna would agree with anything Ribeta said, but even she didn’t answer readily this time. Ribeta read the worry on Luna’s face and spoke.

“I know. Where this child lives is likely somewhere dangerous for me to go. So could Mario and Valen bring the father here by carriage? I’ll wait inside the carriage with you.”

Mario, who had been listening, looked at Luna and nodded. He too was a former slave Diego had brought from the slave market, and he couldn’t simply pass the child by.

Luna looked at Ribeta’s steady face and let out a resigned sigh.

“Understood. But you must not move from my side, my lady.”

“Of course. I have no intention of keeping Her Highness waiting.”

“Hah…… I’m too soft when it comes to you, my lady. Let’s put the child in the carriage and go.”

The three of them got into the carriage and Mario and Valen set off.

The child said nothing from the moment she climbed in. She only stared out the window. Ribeta thought she must be worried about her father alone at home, and asked as gently as she could.

“Where is your house?”

“It’s, it’s near that green roof over there.”

The building the child pointed to was large, but the child’s home was almost certainly deeper inside, in the slums beyond it.

The green-roofed building the child had mentioned was a general store on a road with moderate foot traffic.

Ribeta had the carriage stop near it. The moment the child stepped out, she was trembling visibly, unable to hide her nerves. Thinking that the father needed to get to a hospital quickly, Ribeta gave Luna a quick look.

“We should wait here.”

“Yes. I’ll send Mario and Valen.”

Luna got out of the carriage with the child. Before stepping down, the child glanced back at Ribeta several times. Ribeta waved to reassure her, then watched the child’s retreating figure through the window.

Mario and Valen disappeared with the child into a narrow alley.

“Staying in the carriage will feel stifling. Shall we browse the shop?”

“That sounds fine.”

Ribeta stepped into the general store shortly after they disappeared. Unlike the central shopping district near the imperial palace, this was a shop that mainly sold everyday goods. Even so, Ribeta felt at ease in places like this. There were quite a few small decorative items too, which seemed like a good way for Luna to pass the time.

I should buy lots of bread to send her home with after we take her father to the hospital.

The child’s thin frame and rough skin stayed with her. What made it more heartbreaking was knowing the child had no real way out of her circumstances.

Without someone’s help, there was no escape, and with no one willing to help, being ignored until the only option left was to throw yourself in front of a carriage. Ribeta understood that desperation with her whole body.

Because I was the same. I was ready to die, to end everything myself.

If I hadn’t met the Count that day, I wouldn’t be alive now. I would have been swallowed by despair right there and died.

I hope today gives that child even a small piece of hope.

“My lady. Just listen.”

Luna moved close and whispered low. Ribeta felt a cold sweat run down her spine. It wasn’t only the tension in Luna’s voice. Something was wrong.

She looked around quietly and noticed men who hadn’t been there moments ago. Four of them, wearing dark, worn cloaks with hoods pulled up. Their presence felt off.

Sure enough, Luna whispered in a voice only Ribeta could hear.

“The men in the shop are carrying weapons and poison.”

“……”

Ribeta kept her composure as best she could and glanced at Luna from the corner of her eye. Luna’s right arm hung unnaturally at her side, completely limp. And yet she continued speaking without any sign of distress.

“They appear to be targeting you, my lady. They’re not particularly skilled, so I’ll buy you time. Please get out of here and……”

“Well now, you two. Why are you huddled together whispering like that?”

A man in a red hood sauntered over with a smirk. Another had already taken up a position near the entrance.

Luna stepped in front of Ribeta, shielding her.

“What do you want. If you have something to say, stop there and say it.”

“Oh my, how frightening. You ask so fiercely, do you really think we’d tell you who we are?”

The man blocking the entrance snickered. The man in the red hood gave a small tilt of his head. The other two men were still pretending to be customers, chatting with the shop owner. The owner had no idea and was attending to them normally.

“You’d do well to come along quietly. Unless you want to watch innocent people die.”