Hello, Readers! I am celebrating my birthday with extra chapter updates, so please enjoy this special chapter release of 4 bonus chapters! 🥳

(Lurelia’s Birthday Bonus – Update 3/4 🎉)

♡ To all readers who purchased these chapters before my Birthday: I can’t express this enough – Thank you for your support. (*ˊᗜˋ*)/ᵗᑋᵃᐢᵏ ᵞᵒᵘ*

“Huh?”

As Liria was surprised, the boy belatedly fumbled to take something out of his pocket and quickly put it on his face.

It was a white eye patch.

Is there something wrong with his eyes?

As if he had shown a flaw that should never have been revealed, the boy asked in a low voice.

“Who are you?”

“Oh, I’m Liria. I live inside those gates over there. I just came out for a short walk. But what were you doing here?”

The boy raised an eyebrow.

If she lived inside the gates, there was a high chance she was of noble birth, but not only nobles lived there.

She could also be a young maid.

Moreover, he had never heard of a noble walking around without a guard. He couldn’t sense anyone else’s presence.

Of course, the boy had only heard about noble girls, and never actually met one, so he was just guessing.

By the way, this girl smelled sweet.

She might be a kitchen maid.

Thinking this, he answered.

“…Taking a nap. Someone disturbed me.”

“Ah, I’m sorry. Was I being too noisy? Actually, I came here because I heard rumors that no one was there. I didn’t know you’d be here.”

As Liria lowered her voice and approached, the boy startled and stepped back.

His ears tingled for no reason.

“Don’t come closer.”

Liria tilted her head, watching the retreating boy.

“Are you scared of me? I have no intention of hurting you! Kiki won’t either.”

Not knowing why it was angry, Kiki glared at the unfamiliar boy with its watermelon seed-like eyes and hissed.

“Kiki, stop it. You’re scaring him.”

Then the boy sniffed and tilted his head.

“…Is it a wild animal? I’m not scared of those, anyway. Is that perhaps your dinner?”

As the boy asked, tilting his head, Liria was shocked.

“What? No, this is my friend. Gasp, don’t tell me you eat ferrets too?!”

As Liria leaned in close, asking curiously, the boy slightly moved away and said quietly.

“I, I’ve never eaten that either. I only eat the meat my uncle hunts…”

“Uncle?”

“Yeah.”

“Where do you live?”

“In the cabin beyond the hill.”

“I see. …Wait a minute. Did you say you live in the c-cabin?”

“Yeah.”

The cabin keeper, who only existed in rumors, is this child’s uncle?

Judging by the small wounds on his body and his shabby appearance…

That person called Uncle doesn’t seem to be raising this child properly at all.

Liria unconsciously clenched her fists.

“Are you okay? Are you hurt anywhere?”

As she approached, genuinely concerned, trying to examine his body, the boy flinched.

“Don’t touch me.”

“Ah, sorry…”

If he was being abused, this reaction made sense.

It might be better to carefully find out when they became closer.

Still, she was worried.

If he was being abused in a remote cabin, this child would have nowhere to ask for help.

“Hey, can I come visit the cabin next time?”

As Liria asked with a gentle smile, the boy shook his head.

“No. Absolutely not…”

His reaction was unsettling.

“I understand. Then I’ll come play here again. Let’s meet under this tree shade.”

Liria opened her eyes wide, then nodded and said.

The boy nodded reflexively, then as if realizing his mistake, he snapped.

“What? Why… why should I!”

“Don’t wait for me every day. Hehe.”

Liria smiled brightly.

“…Who said I’d wait.”

The boy who had been pretending not to care muttered, pouting his lips.

Liria was lost in thought for a moment.

It might be excessive worry and meddling.

But Osdel was likely to have created other sacrifices besides Adrian.

What if, by any chance, the cabin keeper was Osdel’s underling and this child was one of the sacrifices imprisoned in the laboratory in the future?

Liria didn’t want to ignore this child.

“Hey, by the way, what’s your name?”

“Why are you asking about such a thing?”

“Such a thing? Don’t say it like that. It’s a precious name your parents gave you.”

At that, the boy’s face darkened and he lowered his head.

“…Noah.”

“Ah, Noah. That’s a nice name.”

Liria was relieved to hear Noah’s name. Even though she knew it wasn’t Adrian, she wanted to confirm it somehow.

On the other hand, Noah was annoyed by the child who responded so cheerfully.

Not knowing others’ circumstances.

This girl seemed to have flown in from a world full of flower petals.

She was fluffy and soft like a young bird.

Her chirping chatters too.

Her small but noisy footsteps too.

Even her hair swayed like a gentle breeze with every movement.

Everything about her was irritating from head to toe.

Noah deliberately stepped back about two steps from the girl.

“Stop hanging around here and go back. If you don’t want to experience something scary like in the rumors.”

“What?”

After snapping like that, Noah turned around and started walking away with the wooden sword slung over his shoulder.

Thud, thud.

Not all parents in the world give names.

Noah’s parents were like that.

Uncle Humbletine had said he picked up and raised Noah when he was abandoned as a newborn.

Even the name Noah was casually given because Uncle Humbletine said he resembled a horse he used to raise.

At the end of every sentence, he would say he should have sold Noah long ago if he were a horse, and kick him.

‘When I get home, I should climb up a tree and pretend to be asleep.’

On days when Uncle Humbletine came home after drinking outside, the chances of getting beaten were fifty-fifty.

It was a lucky day if he passed out right away, drunk.

On days when there wasn’t enough alcohol, Noah would be the target of his anger.

On such days, it was best to hide in the small room built in the tree, as it was really unlucky.

He couldn’t climb trees because he was fat.

It was while he was thinking this.

Tododo, something rolled over like a small squirrel and grabbed Noah’s collar.

A sweet scent tickled his nose. It was the smell of that child from earlier.

“Wh-what. Let go of this.”

“Wait a moment, I have something to give you.”

Then she rummaged in her pocket for a while and pressed something firmly into his palm.

“What is this?”

“Try eating it. It’s as delicious as the wild strawberries here. I’m really going now. Goodbye, Noah! Oh, next time, pick some strawberries to replace the ones you ruined! Promise!”

Liria said that arbitrarily and then left, making small footsteps.

When he could no longer sense her presence, Noah carefully touched what was in his palm with his index finger.

It made a crackling sound when touched, and smelled savory.

After unwrapping it, as soon as he put it in his mouth, a crispy and sweet taste enveloped him.

“Wow, there are things like this.”

How can something be this delicious?

It was a high-class snack he had never tasted before.

‘Was she really a kitchen maid?’

Noah, who had devoured it in an instant, stood there for a moment as if rooted to the spot, then ran off beyond the hill.

Noah’s eyes, freed from the eye patch, were as cold blue as a winter lake.

“Just looking at your eyes brings bad luck.”

Cursed eyes.

That’s what Uncle Humbletine called Noah’s eyes.

He told Noah to always wear an eye patch when others were around and pretend he couldn’t see.

“I told you to keep them well hidden so no trouble would arise!”

If he dared to ask why, he would be beaten with hands as big as pot lids, so he didn’t even dare to ask.

Once, an old lady passing by happened to see Noah’s eyes, and she ran away as if she had seen a ghost.

It was the same with the woman doing laundry by the stream.

Noah thought his eyes were very hideous and ominous.

So he preferred to be alone.

The freedom to fully take in the beautiful lights of the world with his eyes gave him a sense of liberation.

For this reason, he had never fully shown his eyes to others.

He was nervous that the girl from earlier might have seen them, but fortunately, it didn’t seem like she had due to his hair covering them.

By the way, she was really a strange girl.