“I see… I suppose I’ll be able to rest easy if you’re vouching for her, Captain. Well, Ms. Sellars. Please sign the necessary paperwork, and the girl will be yours.”

Once again, I signed Victoria Sellars on the documents.

Nonna circled the pond in the plaza, occasionally dipping her hands into the water. Mr. Asher and I sat on a nearby bench, watching her while we chatted.

“I’m so sorry for calling you here in the middle of work,” I said to him.

“Not at all. I have a relatively easy workload today. Plus, I have an obligation to the citizens of Ashbury. Still, why did you decide to take her in? You just met her yesterday.”

Nonna turned to look at us. I smiled and waved. Her face remained impassive as she gently waved back.

“I saw something in her eyes that said, ‘Help me!’ Maybe it was just my imagination. But long ago, there was a little girl with those same eyes, and she reminded me of her. The next thing I knew, I was saying your name. Thank you for coming on such short notice. I really appreciate you agreeing to be my guarantor.”

After a short pause, Mr. Asher replied, “To be honest with you, I felt guilty when I went back to my lodgings last night.”

“About what?”

“Because I knew you wouldn’t leave the girl to go out and get dinner. It was your first night in a new country, and I was worried you would go to bed with an empty stomach. I don’t know, but I just had a feeling that you wouldn’t order room service, either. I felt guilty over not treating you to some delicious food.”

I looked up at him in disbelief. His description was so accurate, it was as if he’d watched me. Like he could read my mind. No wonder he served as the captain of the Second Order of the knights, which was tasked with keeping peace in the capital.

“There’s no reason for you to feel guilty, Captain. I knew I shouldn’t go out and leave her, and I couldn’t bring myself to order room service. You’re entirely correct.” I smiled at him, trying my best to look friendly.

“I can’t help feeling guilty, though. Would you let me treat you to dinner tonight? I’d like to express my gratitude to you for helping to arrest that pickpocket and taking in the abandoned girl.”

He was so downright sincere, I had to chuckle despite myself. “Only if Nonna can come along!”

***

“Nonna, how about we find a place we can rent for the two of us? Somewhere with a kitchen, so I can cook for you.”

I was looking forward to hearing what kinds of foods she’d had so far, and what she enjoyed eating.

“Cook for me?”

“That’s right. I’m quite good at cooking! Starting today, you and I are family. And I want to make lots of yummy food for you. Oh—and you can call me Victoria from now on. Or Vicky, if you prefer.”

“Vicky.”

“That’s right, Nonna! Let’s go look for a place to rent today. Then tonight, we’re going to have dinner with the captain.”

“Okay.” Nonna was impassive, as usual.

Although I could be very expressive when needed at work, in my daily life, I also found it difficult to express my emotions. I had been raised to do the opposite.

“Nonna, let’s smile and laugh a lot together.”

“Laugh?”

“Yes! Just like this!”

I reached out and tickled Nonna’s side. At first, she was surprised, but before I knew it, she was doubled over laughing. For the first time, Nonna truly looked like an ordinary six-year-old girl. It was adorable.

“You’re so cute, Nonna. You have to be careful so that bad people don’t take you away. I’ll have to teach you how to protect yourself.”

“Protect myself?”

“That’s right. There are things you can do to keep yourself safe called self-defense. If something scary happens, sometimes it’s not enough to scream or cry. It’ll be good to know how to protect yourself.”

“Okay.”

“I’ll teach you little by little. But first, we need to find a place to live.”

“Yeah!”

The more cards you had to play in your arsenal, the better—even for children.

Me and Nonna went around to various letting agents and narrowed it down to two potential locations, then returned to the hotel. Even though I’d told everyone, “She’s very quiet,” many people turned me down on the basis that I had a child, despite those landlords having been children themselves once upon a time!

I silently cursed those landlords, hoping they’d step in dog poop every time they left the house.

“Nonna, I’m going to look at the two places we chose later tonight, so if you wake up and I’m not here, don’t worry and just wait for me to come back, okay?”

“I’ll go with you.”

“It’ll be very late at night, so I won’t be able to take a little girl with me.”

“……”

Nonna probably didn’t want to be left alone at night, but walking around with a six-year-old that late would be asking for trouble.

“Are you sure I can’t come?” Nonna asked me.

“There are bad people outside late at night. I can take care of them just fine on my own, but it would be difficult to fend them off if you were with me.”

“But I don’t want to stay home alone.”

Hmm. I suppose that shouldn’t be surprising; clearly, she’d been left home alone far too often. She was probably worried sick that I would abandon her as well.

“All right, then. But you must promise me that if I tell you to be quiet, you won’t make a sound, no matter what.”

“Okay.”

“And if I tell you to run, don’t worry about me. Just run as fast as you can and hide.”

“I can do that.”

“And if I tell you to scream, shout at the top of your lungs.”

“I can do that, too.”

“And if I tell you to stay still, don’t move a muscle.”

“Okay.”

I didn’t have the heart to tell Nonna to stay here alone after seeing the desperate look on her face. Plus, I was worried she’d get so anxious that she’d leave the room. Upon reflection, I figured I could deal with practically anything that might happen, even if she was with me. After all, I’d fled and fought while protecting people who were too scared to move before. In the worst-case scenario, I could put Nonna over my shoulder and make a break for it.

Now, I was well aware that ordinary folks didn’t often encounter people who wanted to harm them. In fact, I now counted myself among those ordinary folks.

“All right. Let’s take a nice, long nap before we go out for dinner with the captain.”

“Okay!”

That evening, the two of us got into bed facing each other while I patted Nonna’s back. She fell asleep surprisingly quickly. I slipped out of bed and quietly began my training. I’d gotten out of shape from restricting my food intake and exercising less in preparation of leaving the organization.

After I did some muscle work, I took a quick bath to clean off the sweat. I put on some makeup, changed into a dress I’d bought during my travels across Randall, and then woke up Nonna. She got up without a grumble or complaint, which seemed very unlike a child. But on second thought, she’d probably been raised in an environment where she hadn’t been allowed to act like a kid.

It took her a few minutes before she was fully awake.

“You look pretty, Vicky.”

“Thank you. Let’s get you changed, too.”

I helped her into the dress we’d bought on the way home from the guard post and combed her hair. Yes, she was adorable. Nonna picked up the blue ribbon. She had folded it up very carefully the previous day and set it on the bureau.

“Would you like to wear this?”

“Yes. I’ve never had a ribbon before.”

“……”

The happiness in her voice made this statement all the more heartbreaking. I wrapped the blue ribbon around her soft blond hair, then tied it into a bow atop her head. She looked like a little doll.

“The captain is a very lucky man to have dinner with such a beauty! What is your favorite food, Nonna?”

“Rolls.”

“…Okay. Let’s try to find even more foods you like. We can eat all kinds of delicious things together every day. I’ll cook for you.”

“I want to cook, too.”

“Sure! I’ll teach you. I’ll teach you everything I know, Nonna.”

“Thanks.”

“You’re very welcome. We’re going to have a lot of fun living together.”

This wasn’t bad; having a child was much more enjoyable than I’d thought it would be.

Just then, there was a knock at the door.

“Yes, who is it?”

“It’s me, Jeffrey Asher.”

“Coming!” I whispered over to Nonna, “Always remember to avoid opening the door right away when someone knocks, even if you’re expecting someone. If there’s a peephole, use it. If there isn’t, ask who’s there to make sure you recognize their voice. Don’t forget that, okay?”

“Okay.”

I opened the door and saw Mr. Asher standing there, wearing a suit in a shade of navy blue so deep that it was almost black. He was a head taller than me. Yeah, he’s definitely popular with the ladies, I thought once again. I didn’t know if he was already married or single, though. But I had Nonna to look after at this point, so I suppose it was no longer my concern.

“Good evening, Captain.”

“Well, don’t you two look beautiful! I think we’re going to have a wonderful dinner together.”