Tail [Part 3]
I want to be of some help.
Hue wanted to repay this debt of gratitude. If the three siblings didn’t come to the slums at that time, his sworn big brother, Harold, might have long died from starvation. Then not even half of the slum children could have survived.
Now not only could they eat three meals a day until they were full, but they could even have snacks in between their meals. Even though clean clothes and soft beds were more than they could ask for, they were still given jobs and education. Hue felt that it was like a dream come true.
‘Until a few months ago, we had given up on everything and lived only because of the law of inertia while thinking that life was full of despair. It was Emma-sama who pulled us back on our feet until we were able to come this far.
No matter what kind of delicacies I have eaten, I will never forget the taste of oatmeal of that time… the homey taste of oatmeal boiled in milk and water, with salt as its only seasoning.’ Hue reminisced about how he used to live in the past.
“Don’t worry, Hue has been a great help. Knowing that Lady Joanna has something she wants in the treasure house already suffices. All we have to do next is to connect all the information together and make some conjectures, then the answer will reveal itself.”
Joshua pointed at his own head with a smile.
He already had a rough guess. What was left was to examine all the gathered information carefully and confirm if his conjecture was correct.
“What I still don’t understand is what makes Emma-sama so afraid of Lady Joanna… No matter how much I think about it, I always find myself in a dilemma trying to figure out what’s on her mind.”
It’s a sweet dilemma, though. The corners of Joshua’s mouth automatically turned upwards as he thought of Emma.
He couldn’t ever get the angel-like her out of his mind.
Joshua’s number 1 remained unchanged since that day when he was just 8 years old, from the moment he saw Emma’s smile.
“No, that’s creepy, I tell you…”
Hue shivered when he noticed the smile hanging on Joshua’s lips.
‘He’s definitely one of those people I must never make an enemy of.’ Growing up in the slums, Hue had keen senses about such things. He knew that the most dangerous people were perverts.
From the eyes of the onlookers, nothing had happened yet in this incident.
Joanna hadn’t met Emma in person yet.
Joanna wasn’t bullying Emma either.
Joanna hadn’t stolen anything.
So to speak, Emma catching a glimpse of Joanna was the only thing that had happened so far.
That was all that had happened, but…
With the way Joshua spoke, it was as if he had almost got the answer in his head.
“After Imperial Japan, the Empire is next… huh,” Joshua quietly muttered as he put his signature on the last document.
The large stacks of documents Hue saw when he arrived were now gone.
“Thanks for your hard work, Hue. I have the list of fabric dyes for Mr. Harold here, so I’d appreciate it if you could take this home with you. Also, there are some matters I want to look into after this. If the store employees ask about me, can you please tell them I’m in the stack room?”
“…You’re still working?”
It’s already nighttime. Isn’t it almost bedtime for children? Hue couldn’t help but be concerned.
“It will be my private time after this, you know? It’s precious time I can use for Emma-sama to my heart’s content.”
“Isn’t it a waste to pass such a blissful time with sleep?” Joshua happily replied to Hue and disappeared into the stack room.
♠♠♠
Author’s corner:
Serious: “Now! Strike hard while Sir Comedy is sleeping…”
Crisis: “Huh? What’s up with that merchant dude? Is he trying to remove my screen time?”
Comedy: “Ughn… I slept like a log— Ah!”
Serious: “!”
Crisis: “!”
Serious, Crisis, Comedy: “…Stay out, there’s a pervert.”
