I hadn’t seen Yulid’s face since yesterday until this late afternoon.

‘Did I touch on some weakness of his?’

But I never saw any information about Yulid having a child in “Marino.” Could it be a hidden child?

‘Come to think of it, he was wearing a ring on his ring finger, right? Then it’s possible.’

I wanted to casually ask about his family relationships, but without seeing him, I had no opportunity.

“Sigh. Did my trust points stop at 20?”

I thought things were going well for a moment, but apparently not.

‘I should find my own way out. I need to scout the location where Sharen is imprisoned and plan an escape route.’

I left my room and walked down the corridor. Several rebels glanced at me, but no one stopped me.

‘Being Yulid’s secretary seems to have had an effect.’

Everyone seemed to think I was one of his close associates.

“Is that the woman?”

“Yeah. They say she dared to hit the leader.”

“And she’s still alive? Plus, if she made the leader bleed, she must be stronger than she looks?”

…I could hear some strange whispers.

I found stairs leading underground and approached the guard at the entrance to ask:

“Hey. What kind of people are kept in the prison here?”

“Why are you ask… asking, my lady?”

I rotated my fist while speaking.

“As the leader’s secretary, I want to see the faces of those I might need to deal with.”

“Gasp. So it’s true…”

A look of admiration appeared on his face. But shortly after, he asked with suspicion:

“But didn’t you incur the leader’s wrath yesterday? It’s surprising you’re still alive… Please wait a moment. I’ll ask the leader about your access to the prison.”

“On, on second thought, never mind. Don’t bother the leader.”

Getting on Yulid’s bad side now would be disastrous. I quickly moved away.

‘Of all times, there had to be an issue yesterday…’

I’d have to look for another opportunity to visit the prison.

But I didn’t want to return empty-handed… That’s right. Why not visit the children?

The orphans I saw yesterday.

I wanted to check if the child suffering from high fever was okay and see how the other children were doing.

If they followed me well, I could take them with me when escaping.

‘Food is always the best way to win children over.’

I gathered plenty of snacks and headed to the supply room. The children were staying in a warehouse section of the storage area.

But someone was already there.

A man stood with his arms crossed, tilting his head sideways with attitude.

“Why won’t you take it? This can’t be the first time you’ve seen gold coins.”

“……”

“Hmm. Are you scared? Then I promise. Even if you take this, I won’t cut off your wrists.”

“…!”

The children trembled and couldn’t respond.

Being their kidnapper, plus having cruelly cut off the leg of the boss who managed them, such words from him only terrified them more.

Yes, it was Yulid dangling gold coins in front of the children like carrots.

‘…What is he doing?’

While I was staring in disbelief, I heard him muttering.

“They see money but are too scared to move? Failures as beggars. I wasn’t like that in my day.”

“……”

Excuse me, sir.

“They should know the value of money better than anyone, how strange… Ah, perhaps.”

Had he finally realized the problem?

“Maybe it’s not enough money to overcome their fear.”

Chink-chink—

He held money pouches in each hand and turned them upside down, creating hills of gold coins on the floor.

The man grabbed a handful of coins and held them out to the children.

“Take them.”

“…!”

When the child froze, Yulid pressed the coins against the child’s cheek.

“I said take them. You must be happy inside, right?”

“…!!”

They’ll foam at the mouth at this rate!

Unable to watch anymore, I intervened.

“What are you doing here, Leader?”

“…!”

He must have been quite focused because Yulid was startled when he finally noticed me.

“What are you doing here? Supply management shouldn’t be part of a secretary’s duties.”

Though he spoke calmly, his expression was poor. His face showed embarrassment more than anger.

“…Could it be you came because of what I said yesterday?”

“No?”

“Are you trying to bribe the children with money?”

“No. Why would I need to do that?”

Please put away the money before speaking.

Swallowing a scornful laugh, I opened the cover of the basket I had brought.

“Delicious snacks are better than money they can’t use right now. You don’t understand children at all.”

“……”

Under Yulid’s piercing gaze, I offered the butter-scented bread to the children.

“Would you like some?”

“…Sob!”

But the children feared me just as much as they feared Yulid. Some of the younger ones started sniffling.

Why are they more afraid of me!

“They’re hardly likely to enjoy bread offered by someone who beat another person until they bled.”

“No, it wasn’t beating, it was therapeutic tapping.”

Come to think of it, the children must have seen when I used my ability on Yulid. They clearly misunderstood me.

Yulid sneered.

“To the children, you’re no different from me, right?”

“……”

When I frowned deeply, Yulid smiled slightly, his mood seemingly improved.

Well, you must be pleased we’re both being treated like trash.

I put the snack basket down next to the mountain of gold coins. Still, the children didn’t touch anything.

‘If we leave, they’ll probably eat then. I should just check on the sick child and go.’

That’s when it happened.

“…Cough! Hack, hack!”

A girl in the corner suddenly started coughing violently and vomited. It was the girl who had been suffering from high fever yesterday.

Alarmed, I quickly approached and placed my hand on her forehead. Her body was still burning with fever.

“Wait, didn’t she take fever medicine yesterday?”

“They might have given her the wrong medicine.”

“What?”

“Small medical supplies are often mixed together. Few people bother to examine medicines carefully for these children.”

“Those d*mn bastards!”

I swallowed my anger since the children were listening.

“…Where are the medicines kept?”

“Warehouse number 3.”

I got up immediately upon hearing this. Yulid stood with his hands in his pockets as I strode away.

Why is he just standing there! Before leaving, I gave him clear instructions.

“I’ll go get the medicine. Please look after that child in the meantime!”

“What? You want me to clean up vomit?”

“Of course!”

“You’ve got some nerve… Hey, Lady Offensa!”

I ignored his shouts and ran off.

I was confident he would at least try to care for the child, even if he wasn’t good at it. In “Marino,” he had taken care of a sick child he first met.

Even when that child grew up and became his enemy, Yulid tried to persuade him with money rather than k*lling him.

‘That was at a point when the rebels had the upper hand. Everyone thought the resistance would lose.’

Yulid mocked the child who rejected his offer, calling him stupid.

He inflicted a fatal wound on the child but left without k*lling him. Later, he would be defeated by that child due to a seizure caused by insects.

That child was, of course, Noah.

And Yulid never understood why Noah rejected him.

‘I wonder how it will go this time.’

※※※

Suddenly left in charge of a child, Yulid was bewildered.

Shifting his gaze, he saw the pitiful child dripping fluids from her eyes and mouth.

When their eyes met, the child flinched and retreated further into the corner. With each movement, vomit dripped onto the floor.

“Hic, sob… bleurgh.”

“…Haah. This is maddening.”

For the first time in a very long while, he had no idea what to do.

Though he had a child of his own, Yulid had never even been close to a child, let alone cared for one.

‘Do I really need to dirty my hands with this?’

“You lot. Clean that up.”

At Yulid’s chin gesture, a slightly older boy came forward.

The boy watched Yulid cautiously, visibly trembling. Still, he found a rag and somehow began wiping the vomit, but…

“…ugh, bleurgh.”

His stomach turned from the smell, and new vomit piled on the floor. The pale boy, thinking he might be killed, began crying and apologizing.

This triggered the other children to start sobbing too.

“Hic, uuugh.”

“Waaaah…”

Yulid squeezed his eyes shut.

‘I’m an idiot. I’m such an idiot.’

“Move aside.”

Yulid quickly grabbed the rag and wiped the messy floor.

He tried his best, folding the small rag this way and that, but due to the sheer amount of mess, some got on his hands.

“……”

A foul smell emanated from the gloves he was wearing.

For a moment, murderous intent surged within him, but hearing the children’s sniffling, he let out a deep sigh.

Composing himself, he removed the gloves from his hands.

I’ll have to throw these away, he thought, using the gloves to wipe the child’s mouth. She needed to wash her face.

“Tsk. Where’s the rationed water?”

“O-over there…”

“Any other blankets?”

“Th-there…”

“Not enough water.”

“There’s more in that corner…”

Each time the children pointed, Yulid moved quickly and busily.

The more he did so, the fear in the children’s eyes gradually, very slowly, began to fade.

It was from that moment that the untouched snacks and gold coins started to disappear little by little.