The day was over and it was time to sleep. “Are you done?” I asked.

Damian nodded, fidgeting with the wet towel in his hands. I could see his rosy cheeks through his mop of damp hair. He seemed to have a higher body temperature than other kids. I’d felt it while sleeping in the same bed with him last night. I wanted to poke his cheeks to see if they were as soft as they looked, but I had to resist the urge. It wasn’t like I could poke away at him just because I wanted to.

“Well, it feels good to bathe, right?”

“Yes...” He immediately nodded, making droplets of water fall from his hair.

He looks like a puppy that was caught in the rain. I tossed the towel I was holding over one shoulder and beckoned him over. “Come here.”

He was quick to come, as if he had been waiting for it. He even bowed his head for me when I lifted the towel. I smiled and gently dried his hair. “Well, all done.” I stroked his silky hair. It was a habit I’d formed drying the little kids’ hair.

The motion revealed his porcelain face, just like the last time. Rosy cheeks, clear blue eyes, and long eyelashes. His face was so pretty.

“It’s not good for my heart...”

I brushed his hair down over his face again. I’d considered cutting his long hair for him, but then I changed my mind. Seeing his beautiful face would be enough to make any noble want to adopt him, but I couldn’t let that happen. He had to be adopted by Duke Schuetz, not anyone else.

So hang in there, okay? I took a step away from him.

His eyes widened. They blinked from behind his black hair as if asking, “Have I done something wrong?” But I couldn’t explain that his face was too much of a danger.

“Bedtime.” I looked away and pointed at his bed. “That’s your bed. From now on, you’ll sleep there on your own.”

“Alone?”

“Yes. Why? Is there something bothering you?”

But he wouldn’t say. He bit his lip and glanced at me. Was there something he wanted to say? I was puzzled. But no words came. He even clenched his hands, but then he quietly went to his bed.

I got into my own bed and turned in his direction. “Damian?” He flinched when I called him. He still had his back to me. “Good night, and sweet dreams.”

He replied a few long seconds later, “Sweet dreams, Ellie.”

I had to put a hand over my mouth to suppress a yelp of joy. It was the first time he had ever said my name. I closed my eyes with a huge smile on my face. I felt like I was going to have a really good dream that night.

* * *

The director frowned as she opened her eyes. She had a ringing headache. She’d done nothing but sleep for two days after she visited the gambling house, but she still had a hangover.

She moaned and put a hand on her head. This headache is killing me. She cursed and got up with difficulty. It was bright, and there was a faint smell of food in the air. It had to be morning, early or late. The children would soon be bringing her breakfast, but she couldn’t just lie down again and wait. The hangover was too painful.

Standing on wobbly legs, she went to the kitchen and found some kids hard at work there. She was about to pass by, uninterested, but then she stopped. What is that slave doing here? She scowled.

She had been under pressure lately. It had been some years since the wars ended, and now the war orphans were getting too old. She had to make some nobles adopt them before it was too late. As if that wasn’t problem enough, she now had to be responsible for that slave as well. If only I’d won that game...!

She wouldn’t have lost if she’d been her normal self, but she’d drunk too much that day. Her opponent easily beat her, and she ended up owing him a huge debt. She was in despair, but then her opponent offered her a deal. If she’d keep a boy until he returned, he’d forgive her debt.

So she brought the boy back with her. She’d told the kids that he’d be staying with them from now on, but he’d be returned to his master soon enough. He was a slave, someone else’s property. But then why was that insignificant slave working in the kitchen with her children? If her creditor found out that his slave had been working for her, he might change his mind about her debt.

She stepped toward the boy.

“You troublemakers! Get in there, now!” somebody shouted.

“Let me go!”

“But we’ve done nothing wrong!”

Everyone in the kitchen, including the director, heard the yells and screams and turned to look. It was Malene, the director’s niece and a teacher at the orphanage, yelling at some kids she recognized as infamous troublemakers. They were getting too old to be adopted and were causing a lot of problems besides, a huge thorn in her side.

“Oh, Madam Director! Just in time!” Malene saw her and dragged the boys to her.

“What’s going on?”

“Our colleagues said these boys have been causing a lot of trouble lately. I think they need proper discipline, but they keep disobeying me. They even stole bread from the warehouse.”

“No! We didn’t steal anything!”

“That bread was given to us.”

“Quiet, all of you! It’s not like it’s the first time you’ve stolen!”

The atmosphere went tense in an instant, but this was a familiar sight to them all. The director clucked her tongue. “All this fuss over that? Malene, I’ll let you handle this.”

“Yes, Madam Director.”

“Wait!” Carsen desperately yelled. “That one, he was with us too!” He pointed at Damian. He knew he was going to be punished no matter what he said, so he decided to drag his enemy down with him. “He was with us, he just got out in time by himself!”

Everyone turned to Damian. Any other child would have been terrified of this accusation, but Damian just stood there. He was used to accusing glares.

“That one?” The director narrowed her eyes.

“No. Damian never went to the warehouse that night,” someone said.

It was Ellie. She hid Damian behind her and explained calmly, “He was sick, so he stayed in the dormitory with me.”

“What? Ellie! Why do you keep lying?”

“Please, Madam Director. Believe us!”

“You’re the one who sent us to the warehouse!”

The boys in Carsen’s gang were all speaking up to blame her, but she didn’t even bat an eye.

“Madam Director, you know how they’ve been tormenting the other kids,” Ellie reminded her, standing tall.

The director narrowed her eyes again. With her bright blonde hair and clear green eyes, the girl was eye-catchingly pretty, but she was never much interested in being adopted. Besides... She’s the daughter of that infamous thief. Her mother was caught stealing, and then she was hanged from the walls of the castle. The director had found the little girl staring at her mother’s dangling body and brought her to the orphanage because she was prettier even than most noble girls.

Getting her adopted was easy, just as expected. But when the nobles who adopted her found out about her mother, they immediately came back and demanded to return her, afraid of provoking the royal family. The director had no choice but to take her back.

“But why am I going back?”

“You really don’t know? It’s because of your wretched mother!”

On their way back to the orphanage, she’d lashed out at the little girl with harsh words. After that, Ellie shut her mouth and remained docile, until now.

And now she’s speaking up? What was this child up to? The director’s bleary eyes slowly scanned over her.