The Baby Raising A Devil - Chapter 160
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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 160
‘Hmm, what should I give him as a gift?’
I pondered with a very serious expression as I left the cake shop.
“Hey. Adr… what are you doing?”
I turned my head to ask what he wanted, and my eyes widened.
Adrian was collecting candles with cake cream on them.
“…Why?”
Even after that, he had a face that said ‘what’s the problem,’ so I shook my head back and forth.
‘I’d better choose the gift myself.’
The one hundred percent pure Prince, who was celebrating his birthday with a friend for the first time, would be happy even if I handed him stones from the roadside.
Adrian carefully wrapped the candles in a handkerchief, put them in his pouch, and then followed me.
“Is there somewhere you want to go?”
When I asked, Adrian nodded.
“Places like this bakery.”
“Places like this bakery… Places where commoners go?”
“Yeah, I’d like somewhere only you know about.”
He seemed to quite like the commoner experience.
‘Then, let’s see… where should we go.’
Rubbing my chin as I pondered, I asked Adrian.
“Would it be okay if it’s not an ordinary course?”
“What kind of course?”
“For example, something like experiencing the dreams of beggar children in this area.”
He probably didn’t expect the word ‘beggar’ to come up, as Adrian’s pupils narrowed slightly. However, when I lit up with excitement, he smiled faintly and nodded.
I grinned and said “Great.”
“I’ll give you the full course, Your Highness.”
Adrian’s lips curved into a gentle arc.
I first headed to a fabric shop near the cake shop.
The shop clerk didn’t get up even when the wind chime jingled, and just sat with their chin propped up on the counter.
Adrian asked me.
“Are you going to buy cloth?”
“No, a cloak.”
“But this isn’t a tailor shop.”
“They sew leftover scrap cloth together to make cloaks and sell them. So they’re incredibly cheap, but warm and pretty.”
During my beggar days, I can’t tell you how much I wanted to have one of these scrap cloaks.
When I went to where the cloaks were hanging, Adrian stood there blankly and asked.
“…Pretty?”
Well, it might look like rags to Your Highness. Even though Empress Yvonne treated Adrian poorly in the Imperial Palace, she always dressed him in fancy clothes to make him look respectable in others’ eyes.
“If you wear just this one thing in winter, how envious the kids in this neighborhood would be!”
The children living under the underpass nearby, who had no guardians and were poor and sick, were too busy trying to fill their stomachs to afford buying clothes.
They mainly wore clothes discarded by the orphanage, and while shirts and pants could be solved that way, overcoats were the problem.
Overcoats made with goose down, rabbit fur, or thick cloth were expensive, so even when torn, they would mend and wear them, pass them down to younger siblings, and remove the fur to transfer to other coats.
Finding a discarded overcoat was a lucky day.
‘Even if you found one, whether you could actually wear it was another problem.’
Commoners’ tailor shops bought goose down, rabbit fur, and buttons. So on days when they couldn’t find food, they would pull out the fur to sell, remove buttons to sell, and end up with nothing to wear in winter.
‘Strong kids would also steal them.’
So a child wearing such a scrap cloak in winter was lucky.
‘Back then, this looked more precious than Sharon’s clothes…’
I touched the scrap cloak and became lost in memories.
“It may look like this, but it’s warm. And if you search well, you might find a pretty cloak. The cloaks here are made as a hobby by the fabric shop owner, and sometimes when he gets passionate, he makes pretty cloaks too.”
“Like this?”
Adrian picked up a pink cloak made by patching pastel-toned cloth together that ‘could be called a gradient if you really insisted.’
“Right! …Ah.”
As I was exclaiming happily but then trailed off and clenched my fist, Adrian looked at me.
“…Leblaine.”
“…”
“Leblaine?”
I touched the pink cloak and furrowed my brow.
‘It’s that child’s cloak.’
“Look, Leblaine. Isn’t it pretty?”
“Wow! Wooow─! Where did you get something like this? It’s pretty.”
“I saved up money since summer without Max knowing and bought it.”
“It’s pretty. Really pretty. You look like a princess!”
“How foolish I must have looked.”
“Should we buy this one?”
Adrian asked. I shook my head.
“…No.”
The fact that this was still here meant that child might stop by this fabric shop.
“Let’s go with something else. Ah, how about this six-button cloak?”
“Try it on.”
“But this is the prettiest one here. Don’t you want to wear it too?”
“It’s better if you wear the prettiest one.”
What a kind child. When I put on the cloak and even pulled down the hat, Adrian nodded.
“Cute.”
“Really? Then I’ll take this one and…”
That’s when it happened.
Jingle─
The wind chime rang and the cheerful voices of children could be heard.
“I brought the money. Give me my cloak!”
A girl who looked about ten years old with bright ivory-colored hair held out money to the counter, and the shop clerk counted the coins one by one before nodding.
The children quickly approached the area where the scrap cloaks were hanging.
“Where did you get 5 francs?”
“If you use your head, there’s nothing you can’t get.”
“Did you steal money without Max knowing?”
“Max is just a big idiot. Even though he’s only older than us, he takes most of the money we get from begging. I just took what should have been my share in the first place.”
“What if he finds out you stole money and kicks us out?”
“Tree, you’re a coward.”
“But without Max, the kids from other gangs will make our lives miserable.”
“So what if they do. My father will come to get me soon. When that happens, I’ll say goodbye to this damn underpass.”
“If he hasn’t come for you even though you’re ten years old, it means he doesn’t even know you exist. Give up, Emeline.”
“Shut up.”
I froze and gripped the edge of my cloak tightly.
“Leblaine, Leblaine! Where did you go? A Dubbled carriage passed by a little while ago. Do you think Lord Henri was in it too? Ah… Oh right! I saved your share of bread.”
Gentle and kind Tree.
“Leblaine, you idiot! Do you even know where that place is before following? There’s a reason why I tell you not to do things you shouldn’t do! How stupid!”
Emeline, who seemed snooty but was smart.
‘…They’re my friends.’
“Look, the clothes I had my eye on…”
Emeline looked at the pink cloak that was still in Adrian’s hands.
Even then, I was still frozen, and Emeline pouted her lips.
“I’ve had my eye on that since last month.”
When Adrian didn’t respond, the girl frowned and approached us.
“Didn’t you hear me? I said I reserved that outfit first.”
Tree’s cheeks turned red as she glanced at Adrian and tried to stop her, saying “E-Emeline…”
“He looks like a noble young master, so if you talk like that…”
“Are you stupid? Why would a noble young master come to a place like this? He’s probably just a servant from a noble house.”
“Would a servant wear such nice clothes?”
“Servants from great noble houses do. Even third-class butlers wear decent clothes. You wouldn’t know, Tree.”
Emeline snorted and held out her hand.
“Give it to me. It’s mine.”
Adrian furrowed his brow. When he moved his lips as if to say something, I grabbed his sleeve tightly.
“….”
‘Please.’
Seeing my pale face, Adrian hung the pink cloak on a clothing rack.
Emeline quickly picked up the cloak, and Adrian headed to the counter while supporting me by holding my shoulder.
The shop clerk who saw us said while twirling her hair around her finger.
“10 francs.”
“….”
When Adrian stared intently at the clerk, she shrugged and crossed her arms.
“That’s not made from fabric scraps, so it’s expensive. It has six buttons attached, and though the cloth is rough, it came from Dubbled Territory….”
Adrian placed down a 1,000 franc silver coin.
He hesitated for a moment, probably because he didn’t have money in 10 franc denominations.
In neighborhoods like this, you rarely see 1,000 franc coins, especially silver ones. Commoners usually use 1 franc banknotes.
The shop clerk, who had looked bored until now, widened her eyes.
“W-wait, I don’t have enough change… P-please wait!”
“Keep the change.”
“Huh, what?!”
Adrian took me outside without another word.
Having been frozen after meeting friends from my previous life, I grabbed him as soon as we left the store.
“You should get your change.”
What a waste!
“We should go back and ask for it….”
“You didn’t want to stay in that fabric shop.”
“….”
“Are you okay now?”
“…Yeah.”
“Then that’s all that matters.”
Adrian gently patted my head.
‘Being with Adrian puts my mind at ease.’
I smiled and grabbed his sleeve.
“Thank you.”
“Let’s go. Is there somewhere you want to visit?”
“Then let’s go to the general store….”
Just as we were about to leave the front of the fabric shop.
“Hey there!”
Emeline’s voice reached us again. Wearing the pink cloak, she frantically ran down the short stairs of the fabric shop and held out her hand to Adrian.
“Take this.”
990 francs. It was the change.
When Adrian furrowed his brow, Emeline grabbed his wrist and pressed the bundle of bills into his hand.
“It’s too much to waste.”
Then she tucked her hair behind her ear, cleared her throat with a cough, and glanced up at the air.
“I’m Emeline.”
“….”
“Emeline Lisdever. I live in this neighborhood. Since you gave up your cloak this time, if it’s okay with you, I’ll repay you next time. …Hey, when someone tells you their name, you should tell them yours too.”
“I’ve never been curious about your name.”
“What?”
“Get lost.”
It was a chilling voice I was hearing for the first time.
I opened my eyes wide in surprise, and Emeline stammered with a reddened face.
“Wh-what kind of way is that to talk…!”
That’s when it happened.
“Find the Young Lady!”
“Search every nook and cranny!”
…It’s our house’s knights!
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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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