15. Interlude
When he returned to the orphanage late at night, the boy frowned. Even though a chilling breeze was rushing in, the place was unusually warm.
The boy—or was it more precise to call him a young man?
His body was both supple and undaunting, while his obsidian eyes had a mature look.
His long black hair was tied up at his shoulders. His slightly yellowish skin—and above all, his narrow, single-lidded eyes exuded an Oriental beauty not often seen in Berg.
That was no surprise, as he had a unique serenity about him. He was the son of immigrants who had drifted to that downtown area from the East, and his friends called him Fei.
Clad in all black, he slid silently like a cautious animal as he climbed the stairs to the attic.
When he opened the shabby door, he saw that most of the orphans were sound asleep on the floor.
Amidst all this, one of his friends, who was still awake, called out in high spirits.
“Oh, welcome back, Big Bro Fei!”
A small boy with striking red hair and freckles laughed brightly while waving his hand.
His name was Theo.
Seeing the other orphans, including him, snuggled up in their mattresses, Fei was puzzled.
The mattress, filled to the brim with feathers, had never been seen before in that orphanage.
Sensing Fei’s wondering look, Theo proudly pointed to the mattress.
“Are you curious about this? They are used.”
While the explanation may be simple, the meaning wasn’t.
Seeing that Fei was silent, a chestnut-haired boy about five years younger than Theo explained in a soft tone.
“You see, starting tomorrow, a noblewoman will be living with us. To make it easier for her, we received a bunch of donations! Firewood, charcoal, and feather mattresses! That’s why, even though it’s early winter, we didn’t hesitate to light the fireplace today. Oh, I’m warming up Fei’s mattress right now!”
The young boy was called Johan. Despite being a younger brother figure in the orphanage, he was quite a strong-willed individual.
Towards his silent and menacing older brother, he didn’t hesitate to ask, “Can I use two of them until the morning?” While tilting his head.
However, when Fei wordlessly took one of the mattresses, Johan pouted.
“Tch.”
Fei quietly got ready for bed, but as the softness of the cotton brushed against his skin, he couldn’t help but stare at it.
The finest texture.
No wonder the orphans, who usually curled themselves up, slept without worry.
Theo, still bundled up in the mattress, spoke to him mischievously.
“You won’t expect this, Big Bro Fei. Guess who’s coming to our house tomorrow! She’s a gorgeous young lady whose fame has reached even the downtown area—The Rose Angel!”
“…”
“It seems that her life is in danger, so she decided to hide here until the heat dies down. You see, our house may be shabby, but it’s far away from the royal castle. Besides, the director is pretty tight-lipped, isn’t he? That’s one of the reasons why she chose this place.”
Theo, who enjoyed gathering information, seemed to be thrilled that the rumors originated from the other side.
“—But that’s not the main reason. Why did the angel come here? That’s because her half-brother is Big Bro Bel!”
“…What did you say?”
Fei, who had been silent until then, responded.
Having elicited the intended reaction, Theo nodded with satisfaction.
“I knew it. Big Bro Fei didn’t know. After all, you aren’t up-to-date with the rumors. Rose Angel, who is the talk of the street, is the same lady of the family that Big Bro Bel was adopted into. You heard that right. Big Bro Bel—our devilish angel—is now the younger brother of the Rose Angel! In fact, the one who delivered the mattresses today was none other than him!”
For a flower seller’s son, Bernardo had a lofty appearance, and his innocent beauty earned him the nickname ‘Downtown Angel’ from his peers.
However, despite his pretty face, he was known for his fierce and devious personality, along with his vicious attacks. Therefore, that nickname was always preceded with the words ‘most terrifying’ or ‘wicked.’
Bernardo lived in a brothel with his mother, and was good friends with the children at the nearby orphanage. Theo and Johan adored him, calling him ‘Big Bro Bel.’
Yet, it could be said that Fei was Bernardo’s closest friend.
Two years older than Bernardo, Fei was quiet and expressionless, but he was an excellent and formidable fighter.
Fei was the type who silently crushed his foes, whereas Bernardo was the type who shoved his opponents from behind with a smile.
Yet somehow, the two got along well, and even considered each other ‘comrade.’ Together, the two had been redrawing the power structure of the downtown area.
The boys at the orphanage began to admire the unfriendly Fei after he teamed up with Bernardo to beat up unpleasant adults.
Hence, Theo was secretly blaming Fei, who seemed to have completely forgotten about Bernardo the moment he left the downtown area, and made no attempt to follow in his footsteps.
“How could you not know that, Big Bro Fei? Since I last saw Big Bro Bel, he has become even cooler. He looks the part of a nobleman!”
While teasing Fei, Theo remembered Bernardo, who came over that afternoon.
The last time Theo saw him, which was half a year ago, Bernardo was good-looking, but his beauty had been further refined since then, and Theo was thrilled.
“The Rose Angel is called Lady Rosa, and Big Bro Bel will be staying here for a while to accompany her. I’m looking forward to that. Isn’t it awesome that Big Bro Bel just donated a ton of money and bedding to an orphanage that isn’t even his home? I bet he squeezed a lot of money out of those arrogant nobles for us.”
“That’s exactly what Big Bro Bel is good at, isn’t he?”
Johan calmly agreed.
The image of Bernardo, with his trademark wicked smile, ‘Angel Smile,’ ruthlessly extracting money from adults and prostitutes flashed across his mind.
Although Bernardo was small in stature, and was nowhere near as skilled as Fei in terms of fighting, acting docile was his forte, which in turn helped him garner sympathy and extract money from others.
Theo and the others, who would rather support the Downtown Hero than a noblewoman, suspected this:
“Maybe all that devotion to Lady Rosa is part of Big Bro Bel’s scheme. I mean, doesn’t he despise women? In reality, Lady Rosa is probably not that great, and Big Bro Bel is just manipulating the arrogant young lady who only has a good name to get money out of her.”
“I wonder what kind of person Lady Rosa is? I heard that as a thank-you for letting her stay, she’s going to teach us how to study. I’ll be disappointed if she turns out to be a self-indulgent, deluded woman.”
“Right? I know people who would let it get to their heads that they’re teaching an orphan how to read and write. Sure, we aren’t well off, but we grew up in the royal capital, so we know how to do those things! Ah, but it’ll be annoying if she’s the blindly earnest, old nun type. If anything, she should just be quiet and give us money!”
His tone was cheerful, yet his words were ruthless.
Although located in the downtown area, the orphanage was based within the royal capital. Occasionally, they would receive ‘loving blessings’ and ‘humble visitations’ from the aristocrats.
Towards the second-hand goods and smug smiles that were thrown their way on a whim, they had to kneel on all fours, showing their appreciation.
Having been orphans since they were old enough to understand, the three were accustomed to that kind of thing, but they also despised it more than anyone else.
Nothing frustrated them more than contempt disguised as goodwill.
“Oh, but Johan, you’re cunning and good at acting spoiled. You’re similar to Big Bro Bel in that regard. Just ignore the lesson and pretend to be spoiled. Who knows, you might get some allowance.”
Theo, who concluded that noblewomen were all the same underneath the surface, laughed maliciously.
“While Big Bro Fei isn’t as dignified as Big Bro Bel, he’s still good-looking! If you smile and whisper sweet nothings to her, you might become her attendant!? That would be awesome! Then maybe, we can meet Big Bro Bel—”
“—How stupid.”
Fei cut him off.
He laid down under the blanket and said matter-of-factly.
“I refuse to get along with aristocrats, be it with Rosa, or Bel, for that matter.”
His pronunciation was somewhat awkward, with a faint trace of a foreign language.
Still, there was no mistaking the coldness emanating from those words.
“Wait, not even with Big Bro Bel? No way, Big Bro Fei, you were such good friends—”
“—He’s changed.”
Theo and the others looked at each other. Fei spoke as if he knew what Bernardo had been like recently.
However, they couldn’t see Fei’s expression as he turned his back on them.
“He’s on the other side now. He despises us, exploits us, and doesn’t accept us. That woman has changed him.”
When the words ‘that woman’ escaped Fei’s mouth, the two of them could sense a chill that even the warm blanket couldn’t negate.
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