I Wish You Well In Your Next Love, My Love

Next to the boy, the little girl’s eyes widened slightly, as though she recognized me too.

She was the young Awakener who had been selling the brooch at the market.

‘I told her to go to Melvers Temple, so why is she all the way out here?’

The girl hurriedly lowered her head. Her hair, which clearly hadn’t been washed in a long time, was tangled into a mess. I didn’t acknowledge her separately either and gave her a generous serving of stew.

But her younger brother was pressed tightly against her waist and tried to pass by without taking any, so I eventually said something.

“You should get some too.”

Realizing the situation, the girl lightly tapped her brother’s shoulder. He hadn’t even brought a food tray in the first place.

To get one, he would have to stand in the long line stretching behind them all over again.

The girl eventually let out a frustrated sigh.

“…We’ll share.”

If she had asked me for help, I would have gladly helped her, but the girl didn’t seem accustomed to asking adults for assistance.

“Alright.”

Thirty minutes later, the food distribution finally ended.

“Everyone worked hard volunteering today. Eat dinner and go to bed early!”

The trainees were busy taking generous portions of dinner for themselves.

I was about to take only one piece of bread, but after looking around, I filled my tray with food like the other trainees.

Chelsea turned around and widened her eyes as though wondering what had gotten into me.

“Working hard gives you an appetite too, doesn’t it?”

Chelsea laughed and said it was a menu she normally wouldn’t even glance at, but her eyes wouldn’t leave the food.

“Louize, let’s eat over here… Huh? Where are you going, Louize!”

After waving to Chelsea, I headed toward the place I had noticed earlier.

Clatter. When I set down the tray, the children standing before me looked up with startled eyes.

Only a few crumbs remained on their tray.

I pushed my tray toward them. One piece of bread was enough for me.

“Why didn’t you go to Melvers? I told you to.”

The thing I hated most was meddling in other people’s affairs. More than anyone, I knew how irresponsible it was to offer sympathy when I couldn’t take responsibility for someone until the end.

But this time, why couldn’t I simply walk past?

Only the girl’s eyes gleamed brightly in her dirt-streaked face.

They were filled with wariness, but more than that, she seemed intimidated.

“I’m Louize.”

“……”

“Aren’t you going to introduce yourself?”

“Marien. And this is Luca.”

Her voice seemed to sink into the ground, so I had to strain my ears to hear it.

“Marien. That’s a pretty name.”

While Marien merely gripped her spoon tightly, her younger brother Luca glanced around cautiously and began eating the food I had given them.

I tore off one end of the bread I was holding as well.

“I don’t have any money.”

Why was she suddenly talking about money?

My gaze slowly moved from the bread to Marien.

From the way she pressed down on each syllable, I could sense how much courage it had taken for her to say those words.

Was she asking me for money? Or did she think I would take something from her? I couldn’t understand what she wanted.

“They took all of it. So I couldn’t pay it back.”

Her hesitant eyes slowly began to fill with tears.

Only then did I understand what Marien meant.

When we had met at the market before, I had bought the brooch from Marien and given her money, telling her to pay the original owner. It seemed she meant that she still hadn’t been able to return it.

That was why she had looked startled and intimidated the moment she saw me.

But what mattered wasn’t whether she had paid it back.

“They took it? Who?”

“A human trafficking guild. Someone must have reported us. They took everything we had at the time.”

The shocking story left me frozen, unable to eat the bread I had torn off.

Slavery had been abolished long ago, so human trafficking? I couldn’t believe there were still lunatics doing such things.

Only then did I truly realize how easily children outside the protection of the law could be exposed to danger.

“Are you two alright? Were either of you hurt?”

I had tried not to become deeply involved in the children’s problems, but my voice grew louder in the end.

“…We’re fine.”

When I met them at the market, I shouldn’t have merely paid and left. I should have personally taken them to Melvers. I was greatly at fault for failing to imagine that something so terrible might happen.