Chapter 39

In the dimly lit room.

"…Lord Julius?"

"Yes, Lord Julius. Mama is going to marry him soon."

When asked by a girl around five years old, Laila nodded with a smile.

The children, who had been locked in the dark room, called Laila "Mama" and clung to her tightly. Laila had been telling them about herself to try to cheer them up.

"What kind of person is Lord Julius?"

"He's very strong, handsome, and wonderful."

"Do you like Lord Julius, Mama?"

The one who asked was a boy around seven years old, the oldest among the five.

Seeing his thin, twig-like limbs, Laila couldn't help but think of Julius when she first met him. Julius had been suffering from an excess of magic, just like these children.

When asked if she liked Julius, Laila nodded without hesitation.

"Yes, I like him very much."

The children, who were interested in Laila, asked her various questions, but Laila's responses were always brief.

These children had probably been locked up here for a long time. There was no guarantee that they would be able to leave, so Laila had to be careful with her words.

(I've been thrown in here for about three hours...)

While singing a folk song from the Kingdom of Rendia at the children's request, Laila was organizing her thoughts.

Following Helka's instructions, which were based on her suspicion of a letter from Laila's father, Laila had hidden in the distillation room. However, a deafening explosion sounded, and intruders in black robes easily broke into the room and dragged Laila out of her hiding place.

The intruders broke the window and took her away, but just before they flew off with her, Laila heard Helka's voice calling her name in the corridor outside the distillation room.

Helka must be safe. If the barrier Julius set up was broken, Julius, being a powerful mage, would have noticed immediately. If Laila's kidnapping was the goal, he would have to escape quickly.

But Laila, who was not a mage, and the children, who didn't even know their own names, had no idea where they were. All they could do was pray that the excellent mage Julius would quickly locate them and come to their rescue.

(But... something feels really wrong.)

Breaking the barrier so dramatically, defeating Helka, and leaving a trail of destruction would naturally make it easier to locate them.

If Julius noticed immediately and came to their rescue without any issues—was that really the right thing to do? Laila began to feel uneasy.

(I could be a decoy. If they're trying to lure Lord Julius by taking me, who is easier to kidnap... )

—It might be the right thing for Laila to be abandoned.

Thinking this, Laila couldn't help but groan, and she coughed in the middle of her song. The children looked up at her worriedly.

"Mama, what's wrong?"

"Does it hurt? Is Mama in pain and can't get better?"

"No, I'm fine. Mama is okay—"

Just then, the sound of the iron bars clanging echoed. The children flinched, and Laila, kneeling to shield them, turned towards the door as it slowly opened.

"Here's your food. We don't want you to die, so eat it."

The door opened just a crack, and a burlap sack was thrown in. It landed with a thud on the floor, and the children swarmed around it.

"Food, food!"

"Mama, food!"

"Y-Yes..."

The children swarmed the bag, but it didn't seem to contain enough food for five children and one adult. The sound was too light.

When the children turned the bag upside down, what came out was—

(...Leaves and rotten wood?)

To Laila, it looked more like withered vegetables, which were far from being "food." The children sorted them out and glanced at Laila.

Seeing the confusion in their five pairs of eyes, Laila shook her head with a smile.

"I'm fine, so just share it among yourselves."

"...Okay."

The children, torn between their hunger and guilt over whether to share the food with the larger adult Laila, seemed relieved and started eating the withered vegetables.

There was no need for them to feel guilty.

Laila had eaten lunch and still had room in her stomach. With water, she could last another half day.

Even such vegetables were precious to the children.

If they kept eating only such things, they might become vegetable haters—

(What?)

Laila blinked.

The image of Julius smiling on the warm living room sofa flashed in her mind.

—So that's how it is, and a pain shot through Laila's chest.

These children were not just similar in constitution to Julius.

They were—literally—"Julius from fifteen years ago."

In the dimly lit room, it was hard to tell the passage of time.

Laila was only allowed to leave the room to use the bathroom. Fortunately or unfortunately, there were women among the black-robed group, and she was watched by one of them.

(If a man had seen me, I would have been socially dead...)

Returning to the room after feeling utterly drained from using the bathroom, Laila soon heard an irritated voice.

"...A diplomatic delegation? Hey, our plan went wrong! What do we do now!"

"In that case, we have no choice but to release the 'weapon' and make it look like an accident!"

Right after the shouting, the door was violently opened. The children, who had been dozing off, jumped up and clung to Laila for help.

"Mama, Mamaaa...!"

"...What's going on?"

When Laila, who was being clung to by the children, asked calmly, the men who had burst in looked at her with a mix of surprise and admiration.

"...You really are a magic absorber, aren't you?"

"That mage married an incredible talent."

The "mage" they were referring to was probably Julius, but Laila wasn't his wife yet. She didn't feel the need to correct them and just glared silently. One of the men walked in and started examining the children one by one.

Unable to bear the scrutinizing gaze, the children huddled together and trembled.

Please, don't choose me.

Ignore me.

It felt like she could hear their silent screams—

"...Alright, this one will do."

"No! "

The one grabbed like a kitten was a boy around six years old. He seemed to be the most responsible among the five, taking care of the youngest.

"Help! Mama, Mama!"

The boy shouted, and the children who weren't chosen trembled as they watched him.

Laila's heart screamed in pain.

...Laila didn't know what the right thing to do was.

But—

"...Wait!"

"...What?"

At the moment the door was about to close, Laila stood up.

Even if she didn't know the right thing to do, she wanted to do what she thought she should do now.

(...If I leave this child behind, I will surely regret it.)