For Mr. Balko’s heartfelt words, she truly didn’t know how to respond. Her lips parted slightly a few times, attempting to speak, but the words were swallowed back each time.
In the end, she simply bowed quietly to Balko.
Standing on the main street.
Even on a midsummer night, it was already pitch dark.
Compared to the noisy atmosphere from earlier, the main street now was peaceful and calm.
The moon quietly peeked out.
The street was gently bathed in moonlight and starlight.
As Finihiya was thinking about the children Maya had taken in, a sudden ruckus erupted from afar.
“Brat, stop right there.”
“Don’t make me catch you, you little bastard.”
“How dare you steal from me.”
Harsh curses and foul words kept spilling out from the mouth of a middle-aged man wearing a white tall hat, who seemed to be a pastry shop owner.
Not far ahead of the man, a small boy clutching a long baguette was running away in a panic.
The boy’s face was dirty, smeared with smudges like coal ash.
His clothes were made of coarse linen, worn for so long that there were several torn holes.
The two dashed past her side, disappearing deeper into the night.
Tilting her head, she glanced toward them.
After a moment, Finihiya withdrew her gaze.
A strong gust of wind swept past.
It lifted the hood covering Finihiya’s small head.
Her golden hair, silky and delicate as if born from moonlight, was blown wildly by the powerful wind.
She, too, was an orphan.
But far luckier than most children here.
Because she had been taken in by the church’s orphanage from a young age, she had hardly any painful memories.
Perhaps it was because of this special background that she could somewhat empathize with these children’s plight, and her mind always wandered to how she might help them.
Thinking this, Finihiya slowly lifted her face, her eyes gazing at the moon, tinged with melancholy.
After quietly reflecting for a while, she pushed away the dark, tangled emotions from her mind and lifted her small hand to pull her hood back over her head.
Come.
Shifting her steps slightly, she was about to find a carriage to return when the sharp sound of spinning wheels and the crisp clatter of hooves echoed from afar.
Just as she raised her eyes to look, a carriage suddenly stopped right in front of her.
The abruptness startled her, and she instinctively stepped back two paces.
However…
When she saw the familiar, irregular emblem on the carriage—the mark of the demon royal family—she quietly breathed a slight sigh of relief.
Besides Darlian, she was the only other person authorized to use that emblem on a carriage.
The carriage she brought from Saint Margaret, bearing the church’s cross emblem too prominently, had been stored deep inside the mansion.
Now, the carriages she used outside were all new ones provided by Darlian.
“Lady Finihiya.”
A fully armored demon soldier descended from the driver’s seat, standing upright with a stern posture, right hand clenched over his heart.
After formally saluting with military etiquette, he opened the carriage door.
“We were ordered by Lady Danila to escort Lady Finihiya back.”
Slightly bowing her body in return to the demon soldier before her, Finihiya stepped onto the wooden step on the ground and entered the carriage.
The soldier closed the door and resumed driving.
The black carriage, as if dispelling the darkness itself, headed straight toward the countryside mansion.
Finihiya sat upright inside the carriage, her slightly tilted gaze watching the scenery slip away outside the window.
The darkness of the night deepened, and the view outside gradually grew cold and desolate.
Why these demon soldiers knew so precisely where she was going suddenly made her recall the strange glances she’d felt upon leaving Danila earlier.
It seemed that from beginning to end, Danila had commanded these soldiers to protect her in secret.
When the carriage returned to the mansion, it was already eight in the evening.
From a distance, she saw Danila standing beside the statue at the entrance.
“Lady Finihiya.”
The moment the carriage smoothly stopped at the door, Danila’s voice came from outside. Finihiya turned her head to look out the window and returned a faint, gentle smile to Danila’s greeting.
The carriage door opened, and with Danila’s support, Finihiya stepped down. The small sack of flour she was carrying in her right hand was smoothly taken by Danila.
“What’s this?”
Seeing Danila inspecting the flour, she explained softly, “It’s wheat flour.”
“Then I’ll have someone put it in the kitchen. Is that alright, Lady Finihiya?”
“You haven’t had dinner yet, have you? I’ve already ordered it prepared. Please come to the dining room.”
“Alright~”
As they walked through the hallway toward the dining room, Danila suddenly asked in a flat tone,
“Did you have an unpleasant afternoon today, Lady Finihiya?”
“Eh?” The sudden question caused a flicker of surprise on her face. “No, I had a good time.”
“Is that so? But from the expression you had when you came back, you didn’t look very happy. Did something happen?”
Upon hearing this, Finihiya lowered her gaze slightly.
After a brief moment of thought, she shook her head gently.
“…Nothing.”
Regarding what happened in the slums, she hesitated but ultimately decided it wasn’t necessary to mention.
Just as she thought this, another matter came to mind, and a faint blush tinged her porcelain-like delicate cheeks, mixed with a hint of embarrassment and dryness.
After hesitating and struggling for a moment, she spoke quietly with an apology.
“Um… I’m sorry for coming back so late.”
She felt this was something she needed to apologize to Danila for, especially since it was now nearly nine at night.
If she didn’t admit her mistake openly, she worried Danila might forbid her from going out alone in the future.
Or perhaps she’d be assigned many people to accompany her whenever she went out.
Whether the first or the second, she was reluctant to accept either.
“You don’t need to apologize to me, Lady Finihiya.” Danila replied calmly. “This is your freedom. Lady Darlian has often reminded me not to overly restrict you.”
Freedom?
Hearing the word slip from Danila’s lips, a subtle flutter of joy rose deep within her heart.
“But I still hope that Lady Finihiya can return on time before six in the evening, or else we’ll worry.”
“Sorry.”
Perhaps because of Danila’s earlier words, Finihiya’s reply carried a lighter tone, as if one could hear her laughter at any moment.