A normal adult would smile at those types of thoughts that any child would have, but Sienna, who knew how the cruelty that lay behind the glittering illusion of the Imperial Family, could not easily smile.

Im sure she wouldnt actually get employed at the Imperial Palace, right? Since May is a smart girl, I should ask Jane if she can be used for work at the corporation.

Knowing or not knowing her mind, May began to delve into her own fantasy of the palace with an increasingly excited voice, Of course, its hard for a kid like me to work at the palace. Ive heard before that the headmistress who works in the palace only picks smart, pretty people for the jobs there. A child like me whos not very attractive would

Sienna swept the strands of Mays hair back, and the girls sweet, young face was revealed.

What do you mean unattractive?! You have such beautiful eyes. Id never seen such beautiful, shining eyes like these in my entire life.

But my eyes are yellow. Thats a strange color.

No. Your eyes are as beautiful as a jewel called pumpkin.

May tilted her head to the word as if she had never heard it before and asked if it was an expensive gem.

Well, a pumpkin this size can buy several carriages.

May rubbed her face against Siennas skirt out of embarrassment for the compliment, and Sienna patted her hair as she did.

Older brother! Robin!

Kevin rushed into the temple. That was not one of the days Kevin was working.

Whats up, Kevin?

Robin ran to Kevin and asked what was going on, and Kevin tried to explain something while breathing hard. Sienna watched Kevin questioningly and then ran to him with her face filled with worry because the childs cheeks were covered in blood.

Kevin! Are you hurt?!

Huff, huff Theres a man dying over there, not me.

A man is dying? Where?

Sienna and Robin followed Kevin. Kevin, barely breathing, shifted his feet and explained the situation after catching his breath.

As usual, Kevin was walking around the alleys as soon as the sun came up. Since he had been working at the temple for some time now, he didnt have to go hungry, but he couldnt just play.

When he didnt work, he would go all around in search of leftover coins, or in search of things to sell. Sometimes, if he was lucky, he would find and pick up discarded iron or bird feathers and take them to the blacksmiths shop in exchange for food or copper coins.

Kevin went into a deserted alleyway because the crowded boulevard often created clashes with the children from other areas. The older brothers would fight and win against those guys, but not Kevin. In fact, Kevin didnt even like to fight.

The alleys werent as quiet that day since there were many people out.

Move out the way!

After the shout from behind him, Kevins back hit the wall. When the man passed him by like that, Kevin saw that the mans condition did not look good at a glance.

The man was tottering along, clutching his bleeding side. Judging by how he was looking around back and forth, he seemed to be searching for a place to hide. Kevin instinctively pointed in a direction before he could even determine whether the person was good or bad.

Come this way.

Kevin pulled at the door that was nearby. At first glance, it looked to be a locked door, but it would open when you pulled the groove at the bottom of it.

It was a secret place that the restaurant had used during the smuggling crackdown. The crackdown had taken place during the bad years, so it wasnt in use now.

Thank you, kid.

The man hid behind the door. There was a trail of blood on the floor, so Kevin kicked and rubbed his foot against the dirt floor to cover the tracks.

When the bloodstains were wiped out, a suspicious group of people came running into the alleyway. They emitted a cold presence. It felt similar to the presence from the old folks in the alley that Robin told him never to get close to.

In that place, there were older sisters that would sometimes give them very tasty, sweet snacks. Because of this, many other children would go there to beg, but Robin never let them go. He said it was a very dangerous place.

Even in Kevins eyes, it was a place that spread an ominous aura, like a sharp knife, always giving him goosebumps. The expression on the old mens faces as they stood there was scary, so he could never get close to that alley. Now, standing right before Kevins eyes, were people that gave off that same aura as the old men in the alley.

Hey! Did you see anyone strange around here?

What? No. Nobody usually comes here

He ignored Kevins words, seemingly not believing the boy, and ordered his men to search the area.

Hey, kid. If youre lying, we wont let you be.

His blunt threat made Kevin hiccup. Kevin shuddered, hoping they wouldnt find the bleeding mans hiding place. Luckily, they passed the door.

Sir, I dont think hes in this alley.

OK. Lets go!

When the group of people walked out of the alley, Kevin sank onto the ground, his legs weak. He felt as if he had put his foot on the edge of death.

After a moments time, the child came to and opened the door with the man behind it. The man was sitting there with his back against the wall.

Older brother, are you all right?

He didnt answer Kevins question, so Kevin suddenly became frightened. Was he dead? The child used his finger to touch the tip of the mans nose. He was breathing.

Soon after, he rushed to the temple with the idea of asking for help.

After following Kevin, Sienna was surprised to find out that such a shady alleyway was right next to the temple. The alley connected directly to the temple.

Sienna knew the man who lay unconscious behind the door. His eyes were closed and his golden hair was covered with muddy water and blood, but he was fully recognizable.

Carl

At the sight of him bleeding, Sienna felt as if her breath was going to cease. Carl, whom she had known to always be strong and healthy except for when Bluebell was killed, was in a shocking state for her.

It was easy to see from his old wounds that he had been on the battlefield since he was a child, and that he had been on the edge of dying multiple times, but it was her first time seeing his bleeding figure like that.

Why is it that you are here right now like this?

Sienna felt like she was in a nightmare at that moment. She was simply staring at Carls pale face, so Robin shouted at her, Miss Sienna! Get a hold of yourself. Weve got to move quickly.

Having managed to come back to her senses because of Robins shout, she helped Robin pick him up. Fortunately, the temple was not far away.

Robin told Kevin, Kevin! You go into the temple and tell the children to clean the table up. Were going to have to put this guy on top of it.

Yes!

Sienna shouted to Kevin as he ran to the temple, Kevin! Tell them to boil some water, too.

Yes!

Kevin disappeared with quick steps, and Sienna followed Robin while erasing the trail of Carls bloodstains on the floor.

Do you know him? You sounded like you were calling his name earlier. Robin asked.

Only

Yes, I know him. Though he doesnt know me very well.

I should have told Kevin to call a doctor.

We cant! We were told that there were people looking for him. If they know hes hurt, theyll start by looking for doctors and apothecaries first.

Thats right. So, how do we treat him? I think the wound is pretty bad.

Sienna was also worried about that. What was fortunate was that the alley was connected to the temples backdoor, allowing Carl to be moved away from peoples eyes in secrecy.

She opened the backdoor of the temple and entered the dining room with Robin, who was carrying Carl. There were three children waiting.

Robin evaluated the situation with finesse and sent the children away, asking them to finish repairing the temple chairs. It seemed he didnt want to show them a different part of himself. When Robin tried to follow the children out, Sienna stopped him.

Stay here until you get clean clothes. Your back is covered in blood, she told Robin while wiping the blood off of Kevins cheek and passing him a note.