Part 4:
"Sinya, you will come to me on your own two feet."
Several days had already passed since Verdick uttered those words with such confidence and left. Fortunately, nothing had happened so far, and though she tried to convince herself that his words were nothing more than a bluff, she couldn’t stop the anxious feeling from creeping in. Nothing had happened yet, but what if Verdick was plotting some scheme?
"Sinya!"
Biting her lower lip against the anxiety surging through her, Sinya was startled when someone grabbed her shoulder and called her name loudly, causing her to drop the plate she had been drying. The plate crashed to the floor with a sharp shattering sound, sending shards flying everywhere.
"I’m sorry, I’ll clean it up right away…!"
Snapping out of her daze only after the accident, Sinya hurriedly crouched down and began picking up the broken pieces with her bare hands.
"Oh my, what if you cut yourself!"
Madame Ali rushed to stop her and helped her up, then lifted the hem of Sinya’s skirt to check if her legs were scratched. Fortunately, thanks to the long hem, there wasn’t a single scratch on her legs. But when she examined Sinya’s hands, she found small scrapes on her palms. Any relief that her legs were unharmed quickly faded. Madame Ali seated Sinya and found some ointment to hand to her.
"I’ll clean up the pieces, so put medicine on your hands first."
"No, I’ll clean—"
"Ahem!"
Intimidated by Madame Ali’s fierce gaze, Sinya slumped her shoulders, washed her wounded hands in the running cold water, and carefully applied the medicine. Fortunately, it didn’t seem like any shards were embedded in her palms. It stung a bit, but it was still tolerable.
"What are you thinking so deeply about? You couldn’t even hear me calling your name…."
It seemed Madame Ali had called her several times while Sinya was lost in thought. When there was no answer, she had eventually grabbed Sinya’s shoulder and shouted. The problem was that Sinya, deeply absorbed in her thoughts, had been jolted awake and reacted far too startled.
"I’m sorry…."
Whatever she said would have sounded like an excuse, so she simply apologized. Madame Ali didn’t press her any further. Instead, she changed the subject for Sinya, who was feeling excessively guilty.
"Look at the window, the cute little sparrows have gathered."
Outside the window, unwashed children with grime caked on their faces and rail-thin bodies had gathered, looking at Madame Ali and Sinya with expectant eyes. Madame Ali would often share simple bread with the poor children who couldn’t eat proper meals. So, before business began, during the time she prepared food, the children would line up in front of the shop like this.
"Sinya, would you go out and share some bread with the sparrows?"
As Madame Ali kindly spoke while sweeping up the dish shards with a broom, Sinya briskly moved to put the bread for the children into a basket. Before, Sinya had been frustratingly slow at everything, but now she adapted to all tasks quickly. Madame Ali hid her swell of pride at the sight.
Before leaving, Sinya apologized once more to Madame Ali. As soon as she stepped outside, she led the swarming children to a secluded alley beside the shop. It was the same alley where she had been assaulted by Verdick not long ago. If others saw her handing out bread for free, they might send children who weren’t even starving to take advantage of it. So, inevitably, she handed out bread in this secluded alley at this hour.
"Sinya, I want to eat this bread!"
"No way, you ate the sausage bread last time too!"
"Then I…"
"Kids, you mustn’t fight."
Sinya, who had been showing the children a warm smile all along, looked down at them with a stern face, and the children pouted with wilted expressions. Looking at them, Sinya barely held back a smile that had nearly slipped out and carefully examined each child.
Though she couldn’t remember all their names, she recognized every face. Sinya called over the most undersized child in the group, the one who always took the leftover bread after the others had chosen. When the child looked at her with a surprised face, Sinya smiled brightly and placed the sausage bread that the other children so coveted into the child’s hand.
"You always only took the leftovers, right?"
"….."
"You should eat something tasty for at least one day."
The child hesitated to put it in their mouth and looked around nervously, but after Sinya reassured them that it was okay, they finally took a big, full bite and chewed. The child’s puffed-out cheek was adorable, and when Sinya gave it a light poke, the child smiled shyly.
"Sinya, me too! Me too!"
"I gave up the tasty one last time too…"
The children grew jealous of Sinya’s affection toward the child and begged to be doted on too, so Sinya stroked each of their cheeks and patted the tops of their heads.
By the time she had handed out bread to the children and given each one attention, far more time had passed than usual.
"Kids, your parents must be waiting. Everyone should go home now."
The children scattered, bidding Sinya goodbye in their small voices. Sinya watched them disperse in all directions after leaving the alley, then picked up the empty basket and prepared to leave the alley herself.
"You seem to truly like children."
Only one step away from the main street, a stranger’s voice from behind stopped Sinya in her tracks. When she turned around, an unidentified man stood there with a black hood pulled deep over his face. How long had he been standing right behind her? A chill ran down her spine, for she hadn’t sensed another person’s presence at all.
"Please don’t be so frightened. I’m merely a passerby."
For a mere passerby, he looked awfully suspicious. Perhaps he was a spy sent by Verdick.
"The sight of you sharing bread with the children was truly beautiful."
…Though it was embarrassing to have suspected him, fortunately he seemed to be nothing more than a pathetic man trying to flirt. Swallowing a sigh of relief, Sinya replied curtly.
"It wasn’t even bread I bought."
"Even so, your sincerity in how you treated the children was evident."
"….."
"You seem to be a person overflowing with love."
What was he saying? And what was he trying to say? Staring at the only visible parts of the stranger’s face—his nose and lips—Sinya turned to ignore him.
"Is life not difficult for you?"
"…Who are you?"
"Rumors about you have already spread widely throughout the capital. Miss Sinya Criseis Clark."
No way, she had thought, but the man even knew her origins.
Just as the man said, rumors about Sinya had already spread widely throughout the capital, so it wasn’t difficult for anyone with a bit of wit to realize that Sinya was the woman from those rumors. However, what unnerved her was the feeling that he had known everything from the start and was approaching her deliberately.
"Please don’t be so guarded. I merely wish to propose a deal to you."
"A deal?"
"A child will be born on our side before long."
The man’s words were somewhat strange. It wasn’t his own child, nor the child of an acquaintance or family member—he had said a child would be born "on our side," as if speaking of some group.
"But a problem has arisen, and we cannot look after the child directly. We need someone to whom we can safely and reliably entrust the child…."
"I’m sorry, but if you’re looking for an orphanage or a wet nurse, I believe you’ve come to the wrong person."
"….."
"I don’t work at an orphanage, nor have I ever cared for a newborn baby, so I don’t qualify for either."
"….."
"If you’re finished speaking, I’ll be on my way."
When Sinya turned to leave without hesitation, a soft laugh was heard from behind. At the inexplicable mockery, Sinya turned back without bothering to hide her displeasure, and the man apologized.
"My apologies. The more I see you, the more you suit my tastes, I couldn’t help myself."
At this point, she began to think he might just be a madman.
"I had already anticipated that you would refuse."
"Then why did you bring it up with me?"
"Shouldn’t one offer a greeting in advance to the person who will one day care for a precious individual?"
At the man’s strange tone, speaking as though she had already accepted his proposal, Sinya could only let out a hollow laugh.
"I will come to find you again before long, and by then, you will come to accept this proposal."
"….."
"Then let us speak in more detail at that time."
Verdick, who had asserted that she would come to him on her own feet, came to mind, and her mood sank to the very bottom. She couldn’t spit at him as she had with Verdick, so she chose her words to retort and glared at the man with wide eyes.
"….."
But in the time it took Sinya to blink once, the man vanished.
"…Hey?"
She went deeper into the alley to look for him, but there was no trace of the man anywhere. He had appeared without a sound, and disappeared just as silently. Recalling that bizarre man, Sinya felt an inexplicable chill. It felt as though she had seen a ghost.
Unable to shake the eerie feeling, Sinya escaped the alley. Though it wasn’t completely dark yet, seeing the moon hanging pale and white in the sky, she realized she had wasted quite a lot of time.
'And to think I even broke a plate today…'
She couldn’t afford to be late for the shop’s business hours. By now, there were probably already about five tables of customers. Sinya walked the short distance quickly and opened the shop door, from which bright light spilled.
"Madame Ali, I’m sor—"
The moment she entered, Sinya tried to apologize to Madame Ali but couldn’t finish her sentence at the unexpected sight.
"….."
There wasn’t a single customer inside the shop. Not a single one.