He barely managed to hold back the tears that threatened to fall at any moment.

Delphius carefully grasped the stem, as if afraid the flower might snap, and slowly lifted his head. As though waiting for that very moment, a gentle voice drifted toward him.

“Are you alright?”

“Ah, yes… thank you. Thank you for this.”

“I didn’t expect you’d like it this much. Would you like another?”

“No, it’s alright. This alone is more than enough.”

Without realizing it, Delphius let out a soft, unguarded smile. It was a smile he hadn’t worn in years, one that came freely, without restraint.

Perhaps it was because he had finally relaxed. Or perhaps it was the warmth of a kindness he hadn’t felt from an adult in so long.

But suddenly, Delphius felt a sharp, overwhelming hunger.

“Oh my.”

That hunger rose into a deep, resounding rumble—so loud it carried straight to the woman selling flowers.

Only then did Delphius clutch his stomach, but it was already too late to take back the sound that had escaped.

Heat rushed to his face in an instant. He could hardly believe he had shown something so embarrassing, something he had never even shown his parents, to a complete stranger.

Without thinking, he squeezed his eyes shut.

She had greeted him so warmly just moments ago, but still… as always, as everyone always did—he was certain she would laugh at him.

But the woman before him neither mocked him nor whispered behind his back.

She had been about to reach out, but upon noticing the dirt on her hands, she hesitated and merely fidgeted with her apron.

“Oh dear… I’ve already eaten the rice balls I brought, but… if you don’t mind, would you like this instead?”

What she held out was a single piece of hard bread.

It looked dry and unremarkable, yet it carried a sweetness richer than any confection.

For a moment, Delphius found his gaze drawn to her wrist. Though she was an adult, it was thin—so thin the bones showed through. Her clothes, too, were plainly worn. Anyone could tell she lived in poverty.

“…Is it really alright for me to eat this?”

He was just a hungry child she had happened to meet by the roadside. She could have simply told him to go home.

And yet, she was genuinely thinking it over.

Concern. Kindness.

All of it was so unfamiliar, so precious, that Delphius found himself unable to walk away.

“Of course. You can eat it all.”

With trembling hands, Delphius accepted the bread.

The moment he took a bite, the crumbs caught in his throat, and he began to cough.

“Cough—!”

“Oh dear, are you alright?”

The woman quickly patted his back. He coughed for what felt like ages, as though his insides might spill out, until at last he rubbed his tear-filled eyes—

—and realized his hands were empty.

“Ah…”

“Don’t worry about the bread you dropped. Is your throat alright? Does it hurt?”

Even after his repeated clumsiness, the woman continued to comfort him with the same gentle warmth.

She touched him without hesitation, when others would recoil at even the thought.

“At this rate, that won’t be enough to fill you… If it’s alright, would you like to come to my home and have something to eat?”

“…Is that really okay?”

“Of course.”

He wanted to cling to that warmth, even if only for a little longer.

Without thinking, Delphius nodded.

Following the direction she pointed, he would be heading far beyond the outskirts.

A narrow dirt path stretched ahead—an unfamiliar road he had never once taken.

No… even this alone already felt unfamiliar.

Everything was strange. Everything was new.

It felt as though he had become the protagonist of a story—setting out on an adventure into an unknown world from the pages of a book.

And yet, he wasn’t afraid.

At the very least, he was certain it would be better than returning home.

Delphius quietly followed behind the woman. He moved so hesitantly that he nearly tripped over stones more than once—but each time, she reached out and steadied him.

Her palm was rough, thick with calluses.

It reminded him of the very first nanny he had as a child.

As the scent of earth and grass grew stronger, a young girl leaned out from the window of a nearby house and waved her hand.

A small frame. Long hair.

For a fleeting moment, Ariella came to mind, and Delphius instinctively shrank back. The woman turned her head at once.

But she asked him nothing. She simply stroked his head lightly and gave his back a gentle, reassuring pat.

After a brief hesitation, he let himself be guided by her warmth, and as they reached the front of the house—what he had thought might be a fairy’s dwelling—the door suddenly flew open, and the girl came running out.

“Mom! You’re back!”

“Did you behave well, my dear?”

The two embraced tightly, as though it were something they did every single day.

Was it really that nice… to greet someone like that?

The girl’s legs dangled happily as she clung to the woman, as if her whole body was overflowing with joy.

It was a scene Delphius had never witnessed in Lukehardt.

Even Daniel, who was older than him, or little Timothy—he had never seen them show such open affection with their parents.

Yes… this was affection.

A deep, unmistakable affection—so clear that even Delphius could recognize it.

After savoring the joy of their reunion, the girl slowly stepped back onto the ground. Only then did she notice Delphius and tilt her head curiously.

“Who’s that?”

“He’s a guest joining us for dinner tonight.”

Ah… a guest.

Perhaps she was used to it, because she accepted it without hesitation, nodding before turning her gaze toward Delphius.

“Hi! I’m Leni. What about you?”

Faced with kindness from someone who wasn’t Ariella, Delphius stiffened completely.

The longer that unfamiliar warmth lingered, the tighter his breath seemed to become.

“Ah, Dad!”

The girl’s attention shifted the moment her father arrived. Just like she had done with her mother, she ran straight into his arms.

The man easily lifted her—far more effortlessly than the woman ever could—and rubbed his chin affectionately against her cheek.

“You’re back?”

“How was selling flowers today?”

“Well… about the same as always.”

The way they spoke to each other so naturally felt warm—like a family at peace.

The house had already seemed small from the outside, but stepping inside, it felt astonishingly cramped. The living room, kitchen, and receiving area were all combined into one space.

There really were places in this world smaller than his own room.

And more surprising still, that this was the largest room in the house.

“Eat quickly. You should head home while the sun’s still up. Your parents will worry.”

The bread he ate under the man’s large, pot-lid-sized hand was hard, and the soup he scooped up was thick and nearly tasteless.

But it was warm.

The soft clinking of dishes gathered close together sounded almost musical, and the table—filled with laughter and easy conversation—felt unbearably happy.

Delphius quietly watched it all, then lifted another spoonful of soup to his lips.

Though it had no real ingredients to speak of, it tasted incredibly good.

“Why do you keep avoiding my dad and me? Do you not like us?”

Just as he was getting ready to leave, Delphius flinched when Leni suddenly appeared at his side without a sound.

“It’s not like that.”

“Then what is it?”

Hesitating, Delphius slowly parted his lips.

“It’s just… I’m not very good at recognizing people. If I mistake you for someone else, it would be rude…”

It was something he had never confessed to anyone before.

And yet here he was, saying it to a child he had only met today—it almost felt absurd.

Maybe it was the warmth of the soup still lingering in his stomach, working some quiet kind of magic.

As he admitted the truth, a faint look of self-reproach crossed his face, and Leni tilted her head.

“Why would that be rude?”

“Mistaking someone for someone else is a big offense.”

“But everyone makes mistakes, don’t they?”

“It’s not just a mistake for me. Even people I see every day—I still get them wrong. I even got scolded for mistaking my mother once.”

“Really? Is your mother pretty?”

“…Yeah. She’s pretty. Very pretty. She always smells like luxurious flowers. And her nails are always neatly kept.”

“What? You do know her well!”

As if there were nothing wrong at all, Leni smacked his back. She was a head shorter than him, yet her hand stung enough to leave his back tingling.

“Then just use that to tell people apart! You don’t have to recognize someone by their face, right?”

“Ah…”

“Isn’t it true? Sometimes when I see someone wearing the same clothes and a headscarf as my mom, I can’t tell them apart either—so I recognize her by her scent! Or I just shout, ‘Mom!’”

“……”

“Can’t you do that too?”

He had never thought of it that way.

No one had ever told Delphius to look at anything other than faces—to memorize appearances, to distinguish people by how they looked.

Clothes. Hands. The way they walked.

Everyone had their own habits, their own mannerisms. As long as someone was alive, no two movements could ever be exactly the same.

“…I see. So that’s how it works.”

“Yep!”

With that realization, Delphius retraced his steps back along the path. It was still unfamiliar, and yet—it no longer felt foreign.

When he returned home, he was scolded harshly once again.

Amid the rough insults and biting words, there wasn’t a trace of concern for him.

Not even a fragment of the warmth he had felt in that small cottage was given to him.

And yet—

Delphius was no longer lonely.

He wasn’t alone anymore.

Because now, he had a goal.

One day, when he grew up, he would build a family as perfect and warm as that little cottage.

A few days later, using a visit to Ariella’s separate residence as an excuse, Delphius wandered the streets once more.

But the same floral scent from before was nowhere to be found.

Even when he walked down the narrow, winding path again, it was the same.

The faint warmth that had once filled that shabby house was long gone.

All the belongings remained—but the people had vanished without a trace.

Like a mirage, the woman and the child had simply disappeared.

He couldn’t clearly remember their faces.

But he remembered their warmth.

He soon forgot the child’s name as well—but the advice she had given him remained vividly etched in his mind.

Not just the face but the whole person. Their habits. Their mannerisms.

It wasn’t as if he couldn’t see eyes or mouths. If anything, because he couldn’t grasp an overall image, he was able to observe those fragments in even greater detail.

For example, the way someone’s gaze would subtly shift whenever they lied. Or how their lips would twist slightly when they were exaggerating.

Everyone had small habits they weren’t even aware of, and Delphius became keenly perceptive of them.

With that alone, Delphius surpassed Daniel and became the child who held the most business ventures within Lukehardt.

Of course, most of them were neither inherited nor taken.

They were enterprises he had built with his own hands.