188 – The Story of How I First Met That Man -3-
Mikhail didn’t know anything about the world.
“What is that?”
“What? That statue?”
“Yeah. That.”
“It’s the emperor. The first emperor.”
He knew how to read, but he lacked basic knowledge and even thought that the Demon King lived in the Magic Tower.
I looked at Mikhail, who was looking at the statue of the first emperor and saying that he was an ugly old man.
‘It would be amazing if he met Olivia.’
At that time, I had briefly thought of introducing Mikhail to Olivia.
I wondered if I could repay her kindness by giving her a good blind date in return for the money she had given me.
Olivia might open her heart, and I thought she wouldn’t have to stress much at the academy later on.
However, after witnessing Mikhail, who had abandoned his status as a servant and attempted to defy the royal family, I decided to abandon my plan altogether.
It seemed as if Mikhail and the young lady would fight like dogs if they ever met.
“You’re so ugly.”
“Ugh…? You want to fight too? I’m a really good fighter!”
“No. If I fight you, I’ll become a bad person too.”
“Ugh!”
I didn’t need to see it to know how it would end.
In any case, Mikhail was clueless and easily impressed by trivial things. Unlike the tough image he portrayed in the novel, Mikhail was actually a delicate and timid child.
At first, he was wary of me like a wet cat, but as we spent more time together, Mikhail gradually began to brighten up.
Perhaps it was after I saved him from being swept away by the overflowing river during a sudden downpour, but Mikhail started to open up his world little by little.
He stopped rejecting my outstretched hand and slowly began to talk to me.
Instead of sitting alone and forlorn under the bridge, he would look at me with wide eyes and hide a shy smile.
Today, after finishing my begging, I came to look for Mikhail under the bridge.
“I’m here. The world’s most handsome beggar has come to visit you today.”
“Why are you here! Don’t come!”
“Why are you so grumpy? Are you upset because I came later than usual?”
“I’m not upset.”
“Liar.”
I chuckled and observed Mikhail’s reaction.
I scanned Mikhail’s body, checking for any injuries or harm that may have come to him while I was away, and smiled.
‘He seems to be okay today.’
After confirming Mikhail’s safety, I sat down next to him and began to unpack the box.
“I found a new box today. What do you think? It’s really soft, isn’t it? It might be good to use as a bed.”
“A box is just a box. You can’t call it a bed.”
“But you have so many boxes here.”
“Uh… Don’t look!”
I burst out laughing at the sight of the pile of boxes hidden like treasure in the corner of the pillar. It was funny to see someone who denied that ‘a box is just a box’ hoarding so many of them.
Mikhail hurriedly covered my eyes and said,
“…Don’t look!”
“I’ve already seen it.”
“Don’t look! Forget it, you idiot!”
A faint blush began to spread across Mikhail’s cheeks. He must have been embarrassed because I had caught him secretly collecting things despite saying that ‘boxes are useless.’ Even I would have found it hard to raise my head if I were in his shoes.
Mikhail suddenly stopped messing around and said to me,
“I didn’t collect them because I like collecting boxes. You like collecting them, so I collected them for you!”
“Oh, is that so?”
“Yes!”
“Then, when I leave, can I take them all with me?”
“Huh…?”
“Isn’t that right?”
Mikhail clenched his fists and looked at the boxes he had collected with a wistful expression.
I want to keep the box.
I didn’t want to give up my pride. Mikhail nodded with difficulty, looking like he was about to cry.
“Right…”
“hahahahaha! No, I won’t take it.”
I waved my hand at Mikhail’s sullen face.
I enjoyed teasing Mikhail.
Unlike the way he was in the novel, it was nice to see him flare up, and I seemed to enjoy it even more when he didn’t give in to his pride.
And it was nice to see Mikhail, who had grown enough to go around picking up boxes on his own.
Even so, he hadn’t left the space of the bridge, but I smiled a little and started to put the chocolate and bread I had in my pocket on the box, as I watched Mikhail gradually expanding his radius.
I smiled at Mikhail, who was looking at me with wide eyes.
“What are you doing, not coming?”
“Huh?”
“You have to eat too.”
Mikhail stood there blankly, bewildered.
We’ve eaten together more than once or twice, so why does he always look so surprised? I’ve never done anything bad, so I don’t know why Mikhail is so wary of me.
I wonder if it was because I ate in front of Mikhail, who said last time, ‘I won’t eat what you give me’, that it became poison. I tapped the side of the box with a small smile.
“Come on, hurry.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. It’s lonely eating alone.”
Mikhail, who approached me hesitantly, carefully reached out and handed me a cream bun.
I smiled slightly and nodded at Mikhail’s obvious gaze, watching me.
“Eat it.”
-Wow. Wow.
It wasn’t a long time, but there was one thing I definitely learned about Mikhail.
The fact that Mikhail likes cream buns.
Mikhail liked bread that was full of cream, not just bread with a little bit of cream in it.
“Eat it slowly, no one’s going to steal it. You’ll get fat.”
I opened the milk lid and handed it to Mikhail.
Mikhail said, his mouth full of bread.
“Oom oo oo!”
“What?”
“Oom oo oh!”
“What are you saying? Eat what’s in your mouth first. I can’t understand a word you’re saying.”
“Gulp… Gulp gulp. You eat too.”
“Me?”
I stroked my hungry stomach and said to Mikhail.
From Noble mtl dot com
“I’ve already eaten, so I’m full.”
“Really?”
“Yeah.”
Even I think I said it coolly.
Watching Mikhail’s expression, I carefully broached the subject. I told him that he would be more comfortable where I live than in this terrible place.
Even though I appear like this, I’m a successful flower beggar. I’m handsome, have a good personality, and I have a reliable boss.
On days like today when there are no people on the streets, I may have to go hungry, but most days, I live in abundance.
Unlike the orphans who starve to death.
I carefully said to Mikhail, handing him a chocolate bar.
“You’ll have plenty to eat where I live.”
“No.”
Mikhail answered resolutely. He could have pretended to think about it for my sake, but he didn’t hesitate at all.
“I don’t want to go with you.”
“Why not?”
Mikhail hugged his teddy bear tightly and said in a sullen voice.
“What if my mommy comes?”
“She won’t…”
I almost made a slip of the tongue.
I almost made the mistake of crushing Mikhail’s hope, just because I know the future. I didn’t want to put him through meaningless suffering when I knew the answer.
As the omniscient narrator who knows the future, I almost made a mistake. With a wry smile, I said,
“That’s too bad.”
“…”
“Just kidding… Take this.”
I took out a crumpled piece of paper and a pen from my pocket.
Mikhail looked at the paper in my hand with a question mark on his face, but I smiled and began to give Mikhail hope.
“Draw something on it.”
“What?”
“What do you mean, what? Your mother.”
“Our mommy?”
Mikhail’s eyes filled with tears at the word “mommy.” He opened his eyes wide as if he was about to cry.
“Don’t cry and draw!”
“Okay…”
“No!”
Mikhail seems to cry a lot.
After coaxing Mikhail for a long time, he finally drew a picture on the paper I gave him and handed it to me with a faint smile.
Drawn on the paper was a beautiful woman who resembled Mikhail.
I smiled slightly at the sight of the woman who must have been beautiful because of her good genes.
“She’s pretty.”
“Yes. Our mommy is very pretty.”
“Yes, she’s very pretty.”
Mikhail’s lips curled into a smile at the compliment about his mother.
I put the picture Mikhail drew in my pocket and said,
“I’ll tell you if I see someone who looks like your mother, so don’t worry and come out to the streets with me.”
I had to get him out of here in order to burden Mikhail with more debt, knowing the future of the novel.
And it’s not an environment where a child should live alone.
Mikhail looked up at me.
“Really?”
“Yeah.”
Mikhail thought for a long time, then shook his head.
“I don’t like it.”
“Ugh, why not!”
“Just. I want to see my mom first.”
“Oh… really.”
It took a long time.
It took a long time to open the door to Mikhail’s closed mind and get him out from under the bridge.
Of course, it was impossible to completely escape from under the bridge, but Mikhail slowly took my hand and started walking through the streets of the slum.
“Wowww…”
“How is it, my area?”
“It’s cool.”
“Doesn’t it look different?”
“No.”
“…”
Mikhail said he didn’t like begging, so he tried begging himself.
“Do it like me. ‘Oh, pretty lady.'”
“It doesn’t suit me.”
“That’s how you make money. You don’t have the looks to steal the hearts of older sisters like me, but I’ll let you do it…”
I felt the unfairness of the world as I looked at Mikhail’s begging bowl, which had earned twice as much as the money I had begged for in 5 hours.
– This punk?
He really was a great kid in many ways.
Mentally.
Physically.
He was a great kid.
That’s how we started to develop a relationship that could be called friends.
Yeah, friends.