CH 22
If he hadn’t taken out my wheelchair right away…

Perhaps I would have reached out to Winston as I always did with them, and Winston would have asked me what was going on.

‘Should I be relieved about this?’

Of course, I should be glad.

If I did, I would be embarrassed later when I found out about a wheelchair’s existence.

‘More than that… why didn’t they say anything about this?‘

I felt they had gone too far by not letting me know the existence of this wheelchair. When this unknown sense of betrayal shook me, I heard the sound of someone standing beside me and laughing. As I slowly looked up from my wheelchair, my eyes met Winston, who was laughing.

“Oh, I’m sorry. Were you held on the arms of the family until now?”

As expected, he didn’t become the secretary without reason. I don’t know if he read my expression or not, but at the correct question, I nodded my head.

“…yes.”

“I guess they must have wanted to cherish you because you’re small and fragile.”

At the words of Winston to comfort me, I nodded.

“But you don’t know yet how important is freedom for someone who can move alone. This Winston will provide you with that freedom.”

Winston said, pointing to himself in an exaggerated gesture. When I said I understood without refusing to accept the act of pride, Winston approached me.

“Alright, then. Excuse me, Miss.”

Then he held me in his arms.

‘He looked pretty fragile.’

Surprised by the unexpected appearance, he grinned as he hardened.

“It’s not that I am not strong; it’s because you are light to carry. If you’re this light, you can keep eating cocoa for dessert.”

“Ugh.”

Imagining the cocoa, which came out at every meal, I heard a disgusting sound coming from my mouth.

Winston carefully sat me in a wheelchair with a smile, saying I should have the courage and tell Master Ricarda about it.

“You can roll the wheels on the wheelchairs directly, but it’s powered by mana, so if you’re only good at these buttons, you’ll be able to move them easily.”

The green button moves forward, the red button stop, and the yellow button goes back again. And if I wanted to change the direction, I could press the purple button.

At the easy-to-understand explanation, I tried pressing the buttons. I tried to push it one by one to see if it was moving properly, and then I tried to leave by myself.

“Of course, you can move yourself, but I can’t let you go through the trouble of pushing a button.”

You said you’d give me freedom earlier.

“Would you please allow me to help you?”

His deft words dumbfounded me. He shrugged at my gaze.

“My mission today is to serve the young lady without any inconvenience.”

“That being said, If I go to the forest, I want to practice moving with my wheelchair.”

“If you want to, I shall do so.”

After reaching an agreement that each other wanted, we left the room. The rolling sound of the wheels slowly turned into a patched, grassy sound.

The scenery outside after a long time was bluish, perhaps because of Ricarda’s magic. The rising sun, a garden that was not cold even in winter, and colorful flowers and trees. Seeing all this made me feel more refreshed.

I took a deep breath and then inhaled the air outside after a long time.

There seemed to be nothing that could not be done in this place where the cold winter dare not to enter.

“The chill air is not far away, but they’re not also not too close .”

The wheelchair rolled around for about ten minutes.

The weather, which felt warm, became chilly beyond the bleakness, and I got goosebumps.

“It might be cold.”

When I covered the blanket that Winston handed me that he had prepared in advance, it became warm. As I became accustomed to the warmth of the dreamy blanket, I could see a small prison that looked narrow when an adult entered.

“Oh, no. He still hasn’t eaten.”

In front of the iron cage, the bowl containing the sandwich was neatly laid without any traces of touching it.

“Where is he?”

“Well, there he is. I couldn’t see him well because he was crouching in the corner of the cage.”

As I looked through Winston’s direction, a person appeared in the space filled with darkness. The head, clothes, and even his face were not seen because of darkness until I raised my head.

Then, a rumbling sound rang out in a quiet space. I don’t think it’s mine since I ate a while ago, and I don’t think Winston would starve.

“Even if he is so hungry, he didn’t touch it until the end. He must have been well trained.”

“Training?”

“I’m afraid he has been trained while being brainwashed. He’s probably going to follow only his master’s orders.”

The words that came out naturally were cruel.

“That’s why he didn’t touch the food like that even if his hypnosis was released.”

He’s starving like that, but he didn’t touch the food in front of him.

What I had experienced in the past at a nursery came to my mind.

Even though the food was overflowing in the restaurant, those bland meals that were particularly mine.

Those days I wanted to eat, but the beatings that came to me when I started to eat… Also, those days I started to starve naturally.

For some reason, I wanted to see him put food in his mouth.

“You know what? Can I go close and give it to him myself?”

“No, it’s dangerous.”

“But he must be hungry. Maybe he got scared because an adult gave him food.”

Winston was strongly against my deterrence, but he let me go as if he couldn’t help it.

“Then you can’t put your hands in the cage. You must watch him from outside.”

“Yes, I will do so.”

On the grassy dirt floor, the sound of wheels rolling echoed.

The sound made the boy who was the Male protagonist raise his head and make eye contact.

The black spot had returned to the white, but his reptile-like pupils remained the same.

Fortunately, his eyes looked a little better than yesterday.

No, was it because he was on guard?

The artificial feeling disappeared, but Winston started to be wary of him as he showed strong hostility to me.

I was worried about what to do in this tense situation.

‘I’m sure he won’t eat it if I just give it to him. But if I throw the food to him…’

He’s not an animal, and throwing food to eat is a bit…

It might make him feel worse.

‘Let’s think the other way around. If I was him, what would I do to eat in that situation?’

I’m hungry, but there are enemies in front of me.

But the food was also given by the enemy.

‘I don’t think I would eat it.’

I don’t think I would like to eat it either, so there was no way a well-trained child like him would eat it.

At least if they weren’t an enemy, I would have thought about eating it.

‘Oh, this is it.’

As people say, you can’t spit on a smiling face.*

It’s not starting friendly but slowly approaching him.

‘You’ve already been through the most desirable model.’

Recalling the image of my family trying to approach me slowly, I pulled out the blanket and carefully went down to the floor.

“Miss?”

“Wait a minute.”

I raised my hand to stop Winston’s worried voice. And I made eye contact with the child staring at me. I won’t be able to have any immediate favor with this child, but I won’t have to be hostile. All I have to do is think about what emotions I have and how I should behave like.

Leaning against the cold ground, I slowly approached the front of the cage. My movements directed the boy’s gaze toward me, and finally, our eyes met.

The moment his bizarre purple eyes and my golden eyes met, the boy loosened his shriveled arm.

In the act of showing interest, I brought the sandwich bowl next to me and lifted it.

“Why didn’t you eat this?”

“…..”

“Aren’t you hungry? It’s delicious.”

“…..”

“If you don’t eat properly, you can’t move or run.”

At my words, he flinched and rolled his eyes. His gaze reached the sandwich. As he showed interest, I put a sandwich plate inside of the iron cage.

“Here. It’ll be easy for you to eat because it’s inside.”

“…..”

“I just want you to enjoy this. It’s sad to be hungry.”

Flinch, the child’s body moved slightly.

Looking at the rolling eyes as if he was wondering whether to eat or not, I put the water next to him and recommended him again.

“If you feel thirsty, you can drink water with it.”

When the near-permit words ran out, the boy suddenly rushed in and began to eat the sandwich in a panic.

Winston came right next to me as I proudly looked at his moving mouth as if he wouldn’t spill any leftover.

“Miss, you said you wouldn’t put your hands inside the cage.”

“But I couldn’t help it.”

And he ate it. At my wink, he sighed helplessly. Then he hugged me and immediately put me in a wheelchair.

“Do you know how cold the ground is, for you to sit on that bare ground. Let’s go back, Miss.”

“Already?”

“You did a dangerous thing by putting your hand in a cage, so let’s go back. You promised, didn’t you?”

When he said, if I get in an accident, it would be a big deal, I looked sullen.

‘Anyway, I fed him.’

But I don’t want to be a liar.

Before I knew it, the guy who finished the sandwich and drank all the water was staring at me.

It’s a relief that there was less animosity towards me than a while ago, right?

I had no choice but to nod my head because Winston was so tough.

“Then, wait a minute before we go back.”

Before turning the wheelchair, I handed Winston the blanket that I covered.

“You know it’ll be cold if he stays there all the time. This blanket is warm, so give it to him.”

“…Miss, that’s too much.”

He shook his head as if he had lost. And even though I said that, his expression didn’t look bad.

When I saw him tucking the blanket into the cage, I looked satisfied.

“Because it’s cold there. You must cover yourself with it.”

“…..”

“I’ll bring you something more delicious next time I come. So…”

What should I say in this kind of situation?

I pondered and added a common saying.

“Don’t catch a cold. Don’t get in trouble until I come again, and can you please let me know your name next time?

“…..”

“I’ll tell you my name the next time I come, so let me know yours too.”

“…..”

“Well, bye. See you tomorrow.”

As if I should not be here anymore, the wheelchair quickly headed home. However, it was regrettable to go back like this, so we decided to spend more time in the warm garden.

A persistent gaze followed behind us as we drifted away.

When I turned around, the male protagonist was staring at us.

It was a gaze that I had no idea what he was thinking about.