Chapter 12

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Translator: Harry Potta

Chapter Title: Shy Kid Searching for Dad 110

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Tiye's eyes went wide as saucers.

Then, with a totally baffled look on her face, she stared at Jen.

"What's this?"

Jen's ear tips turned bright red.

Without a word in reply, he fumbled around and shoved the item she'd been holding right into her hands, then said,

"You don't know amber? It's a gem that comes from the coal mines."

"A gem?"

Tiye's expression grew even more perplexed.

For something called a gem, the object Jen was offering looked like just a colorful rock.

"But why are you giving a gem to Tiye?"

Jen clamped his mouth shut tight and let out a heavy sigh.

"Because you saved our village."

Tiye's eyes widened even more.

Jen's cheeks flushed beet red as he added,

"And you brought medicine so my face could get treated!"

Only then did Tiye's gaze shift to Jen's right cheek.

Jen still had gauze smeared with ointment plastered there.

It was the injury from when he'd been caught by one of Reginald's knights the day after the Agaveert Mercenary Corps arrived in the village.

As Tiye stared blankly at it, Jen hurried on,

"If it hadn't been for you, my mom and dad would've had to slave away in the coal mines every single day. That hurt my heart, so..."

"It hurt?"

"I would've kept doing bad stuff to try and help out somehow."

Suddenly, the memory flashed through her mind of Jen trying to steal Veil's necklace.

Back then, she'd wondered why a kid who didn't look much older than her would pull something so naughty.

"So that time you tried to steal from Veil oppa..."

Jen averted his eyes and mumbled in a tiny voice,

"...I know it was bad. But we had to sell stuff like that just to keep the family fed."

Jen nodded toward the gem he'd just placed in Tiye's hand.

"That gem? Grandpa gave it to me before he passed. Said he found it in the coal mine. I've been saving it only for if my family was right on the brink of starving..."

"..."

"The grown-ups say Adelin sis is lord now, so no more worries about going hungry."

"R-right..."

"So you take it."

Tiye found herself closing her mouth without thinking.

Then, after a long moment, she nodded hesitantly.

For some reason, feeling a little touched. She pulled the bag off her back and brought it around front.

And as she tucked the amber Jen had given her carefully deep into her inner pocket, she said,

"Thanks, Jen. Tiye's home might be poor, but I'll make good use of it..."

That was when it happened.

"But you— ahem! Do you have a boyfriend or anything?"

Tiye jerked her head up at the out-of-nowhere question.

Jen, looking embarrassed for some reason, was tapping his toes against the ground.

Tiye, who'd blanked out for a second, gaped open-mouthed.

'This is... a confession?'

Her heart started thumping wildly.

Suddenly, she remembered something from her days at Hanbit Kindergarten.

'Yiseo, um... Can I be your boyfriend?'

It was the day the quail class and flower class outdoor lessons happened to overlap.

That day, Tiye and her quail class friends had witnessed it.

By the slide, a flower class oppa confessing his feelings to the sister he liked!

'Take this ring too!'

That oppa had even handed over a full 1-carat diamond ring to the girl he liked.

That day, the quail class kids watched the whole thing in a daze, unable to look away.

The sister who'd gotten the confession seemed hesitant at first.

But soon enough, aware of all the eyes on her,

'Okay!'

She snatched up the ring with an embarrassed smile.

Sure, the ring was so big it didn't even fit her finger.

But for the quail class kids, it went down as a historic day.

Because that afternoon, the confessing oppa's parents showed up at the kindergarten!

'Sigh, we're so sorry, teacher. Our Hyunseo... No, actually. I'm too embarrassed to even know what to say...'

'Oh, no, it's fine, sir. These things happen now and then. At least the kids didn't lose it while messing around? Haha...'

Watching the teacher and parents have their serious talk, the quail class friends jumped to conclusions.

'Why'd Hyunseo oppa's dad come to kindergarten?'

'Dummy, you don't get it? Hyunseo bro's marrying Yiseo sis for real now.'

Of course, Tiye had been right there with them.

'Mom said marriage is super serious business. Like in the drama, the bureau chief's mom goes, eyes all like this, "Over my dead body will you kids get married!"'

'But not until she dies?'

'That's different from this.'

'Umm...'

What even were boy-girl things?

It felt like something only grown-ups could do, stirring up this weird taboo thrill in kids.

Which only made it spark even more curiosity in that mysterious unknown.

'And now a day like this has come for Tiye too...!'

Tiye gulped and looked up.

Jen was still blushing furiously, squirming and twisting his body.

"I just figured. If you don't have a boyfriend, I'm pretty tall and fast at running, so how about me...?"

But you couldn't make a big decision like that on feelings alone.

It was right when Tiye was about to hit Jen with some questions.

"Wh-wh-wh-what the heck is this little squirt saying?!"

Veil popped out of nowhere.

Veil stood there with his jaw on the floor, stammering away.

"How old are you? How old, and you're already yapping about boyfriends?"

Jen scrunched up his brows.

Rebellious fire lit up the kid's face in no time.

"...Six?"

"You even know what a boyfriend is?"

Jen stuck out his lower lip in a pout.

"Mister. You think I'd confess to her without knowing?"

To Veil, still gaping, Jen tacked on,

"Boyfriend-girlfriend means tying each other's shoelaces. Waiting to eat dinner together every night, boyfriend holding the door open."

Tiye gulped again.

He knew boy-girl stuff Tiye didn't.

Jen really did seem like a six-year-old.

'Maturity check, passed!'

With her mind made up, Tiye gave Veil's sleeve a little tug.

"Veil oppa."

Then she declared,

"Tiye's in the middle of a kids-only talk right now, so go wait over there, okay?"

Veil staggered on his feet.

But Tiye shoved past him, stepped forward, and put on her cheekiest face.

"So that thing you gave me earlier is instead of a 1-carat diamond ring?"

"Huh?"

"Confessions always come with a 1-carat diamond, right?"

Jen blinked wide-eyed, then nodded.

"Yeah. Pretty much."

"Gotcha. But Tiye's gotta head to the capital today. Jen, you up for long-distance?"

Truth be told, this was the real make-or-break question.

But "long-distance" made Jen's face scrunch up in confusion.

"Long-distance? What's that?"

Tiye stuck up one finger and launched into an eager explanation.

"Teacher Isoljae from quail class explained it. It's when your boyfriend's far away, so you only see each other sometimes."

"What? Sometimes?"

"Yep! If you're busy, maybe once every three months!"

Jen's face fell dark. He asked hesitantly,

"So we couldn't eat dinner together every day...?"

"Kinda?"

Shocked to the core, Jen stared vacantly at the dirt.

Then he looked up at Tiye, his face full of utter dismay.

"If it's like that, I don't think I can be your boyfriend... What now? Sorry."

Tiye blinked.

But she flashed a bright smile, like she'd seen it coming.

"No prob!"

Jen, who'd been all mopey, stared at her.

"You're not bummed?"

Tiye slung her bag firmly back over her shoulder and shot back,

"Nah. Tiye got her heart ready for this when she became a mercenary."

"Heart ready?"

"Yep. Job comes with no time to hang out with a boyfriend. That's just how it is, right?"

"Y-yeah..."

Jen's eyes glittered with this weird mix of awe.

He added right away, like he was genuinely bummed,

"For real sad. If I got to be your boyfriend, I could've held doors open every day."

Tiye waved it off cool as ever.

"Can't be helped, y'know? Reality over regrets! Jen'll find someone even better."

She nodded at her bag.

"Thanks for the gem! Next time you visit, we'll play then!"

"Yeah..."

You had to know when to cut ties that weren't meant to be.

Shoving aside the lingering pang, Tiye turned away feeling oddly empty.

But she froze right in her tracks.

In front of the carriage.

The troupe members were staring at her, stiff as statues.

Among them were Lukarion and wide-eyed Ppu Ppu.