Pride and Sanctimony - Chapter 20

Chapter 20

*

* * *

*

Valentia headed off towards the nearby police station. The guards of the capital were responsible for many things, one of which was the protection and registration of missing children.

With the child’s hand in her grip, Valentia approached the guard.

[Guard] “What happened?”

The guard’s voice was extremely insincere. He even frowned and glared at Goldie. He didn’t seem to like the presence of a dog, but the animal was well behaved, so he couldn’t exactly say anything.

[Valentia] “This child lost his mother. Have there been any recent reports of missing children?”

[Guard] “There’s been none.”

[Valentia] “Then is it alright if we wait here for a while? She may come here looking for him.”

No missing children had been reported yet, but she politely asked if they could wait instead. It was entirely possible she was still out there looking for him and might end up here to find him.

[Guard] “Yes, go sit over there. But make sure the kid doesn’t cry. Make a fuss and I’ll kick you right out.”

Valentia looked down, checking on the child’s condition. Just as she thought, the boy was a little frightened by how taciturn and tactless the guard was being, so she went to the furthest possible corner of the room before sitting down.

Most of the guards at the station were not friendly towards the general populace. Children were especially scared of their unkind behavior.

And so Valentia decided to chat with the boy. Just to make him feel a little more relaxed.

[Valentia] “Come to think of it, I never asked you for your name.”

[Seo] “Ah, it’s Seo!”

[Valentia] “Really? That’s a wonderful name. Who gave it to you?”

[Seo] “My dad did! What’s your name?”

[Valentia] “My name is Valentia. My mom gave me this name.”

[Seo] “Your name is really pretty too, sis.”

[Valentia] “Is that so? Thank you.”

She also really liked her name. To her, it was like a precious gift her mother left behind for her.

Just then, the bell hanging above the door of the station rang out as it swung open. In walked Lexus, carrying in his arms a large box with a ribbon tied to it.

Surprised, Valentia gestured to the box.

[Valentia] “What did you buy so much of?”

But Lexus skillfully hid any embarrassment.

[Lexus] “I got candy.”

Lexus held out the beautifully packaged box of candy to the boy, who took it with a clear glimmer of excitement in his eyes. It was so big that the kid could easily hide behind it.

What is all of this? Did he steal the entire store?

[Valentia] “Now you say thank you, Seo.”

[Seo] “Thank you, brother.”

[Lexus] “Ah, right……”

Lexus accepted the boy’s thanks with the most awkward voice she had ever heard before. It was very unexpected.

He didn’t frown or anything like that, so she didn’t think he hated children. It just felt very awkward. Like the situation was one that was unfamiliar to him, so he didn’t really know what to do.

[Valentia] “Thank you for doing me this favor.”

[Lexus] “…..It’s nothing.”

Watching the scene for a while, the guard from before stood up from his seat and approached them. Seeing him get closer, Valentia felt nervous. He told them to be quiet, but maybe he thought they were being too loud now?

[Guard] “Excuse me, Prince……”

The guard hesitated and opened his mouth when Lexus put a finger against his lips and shushed him.

That was when the guard realized his suspicions were correct, and wasn’t quite sure what to do. Namely about the fact that he had shown the woman accompanying the Prince abject disrespect. Thinking about it sent goosebumps down his spin.

Then—

The door of the station opened up with that same jingling sound. A woman in worn clothing and a tired expression came in, and Seo immediately shouted out to her—crying, Mom! The woman looked up, running up like she was about to collapse.

[Mother] “Oh, Seo! Do you know how much I was looking for you? I told you to stay behind me no matter what!”

The woman spanked Seo’s butt with such strength, it made a sound loud enough to tell anyone listening that it probably hurt.

[Valentia] “That’s enough. I’m sure Seo knows he’s done wrong by now.”

[Mother] “Who are you?”

[Guard] “This is the woman who cared for your son and brought him here.”

The guard spoke as kindly as possible. 

Now that he knew he’d made the mistake of slighting one of the Prince’s party members, he had no choice but to do so. He had to be seen in a better light now.

[Mother] “This woman? Th, thank you. Thank you so much. I was terrified thinking something might’ve happened.”

[Valentia] “I only did what I was supposed to. He was very shocked, so please comfort him.”

Valentia spoke in a quiet voice, thinking Seo might be scolded again.

[Mother] “I will do that. Thank you so much. And what is this?”

[Valentia] “He was separated from you in front of the candy store since he was craving candy. This is a gift for him.”

[Mother] “No, I’m already in your debt since you found him. We cannot accept this.”

[Valentia] “Please, give it to Seo. I don’t really like sweets, so if he cannot take them, then they’ll only end up being thrown away. Right, Lexus?”

[Lexus] “Huh? Oh, yeah. I don’t like sweets, either.”

Lexus replied very awkwardly. He was acting so differently from before, like a broken toy in contrast to his usual self, which was always brimming with confidence.

But what was even stranger than that was that she didn’t hate his clumsy self. Rather than his showmanship or bravado, acting like he knew everything all the time, she liked this much better.

[Mother] “But….”

The woman looked between the two of them like she didn’t know what to do.

[Valentia] “It’s really okay. Please, return home safely.”

[Mother] “Thank you. Thank you so very much.”

[Seo] “Bye, sis. Bye, brother. Bye, Goldie.”

Seo waved wildly as he left the guard station, and like he’d been paying attention to things very carefully, Goldie broke his longtime silence and let out a bark.

[Guard] “Ma’am. May I speak to you for a moment?”

The guard called out Valentia, who just nodded, feeling a sinking suspicion that she knew what he wanted.

But Lexus felt a strange and unusual air, and blocked her off.

[Lexus] “You can talk here.”

[Guard] “Ah, well that’s, I…..”

The guard stammered.

[Valentia] “I think he has something he needs to say, so I will speak with him privately. Lexus, you can remain here.”

[Lexus] “Alright.”

He looked displeased, but when Valentia spoke up, he nodded calmly.

The guard took Valentia to a small room off to the side of the front desk. Judging from the appearance of the place, it seemed to be an interrogation room.

[Valentia] “Speak.”

[Guard] “Is that really His Highness, the Imperial Prince?”

[Valentia] “Yes, that’s right.”

[Guard] “Then, I, I apologize for being rude. Please speak well of me to the Prince.”

The guard apologized, bowing at the waist. 

The sight was enough to make Valentia feel a tinge of bitterness, but she didn’t say anything. She already knew that this world was not beautiful or fair enough to treat people the same.

[Valentia] “You don’t need to do this. There is nothing to tell the Prince.”

[Guard] “Honestly?”

[Valentia] “Yes. I am not close enough to him to tell him such a thing, nor is he the sort of person who would take such a shameful action against you. Your request is an insult to the Prince.”

This time, the face of the guard turned blue. Now he was realizing he had unintentionally insulted the Prince. And if his intentions were to be misrepresented, then he could easily be charged with the slander against the Imperial family.

[Guard] “Th, that wasn’t my intention!”

[Valentia] “I know. Straighten out your back. Though I think it would be good if you could speak a little more kindly the next time a lost child comes. That’s just a personal wish of mine.”

[Guard] “Yes, of course. Do not worry. I will also try to inform the other stationed guards.”

Apparently her words sounded like a threat to this man, so Valentia decided not to say anything further.

[Valentia] “May I leave now?”

[Guard] “Yes, ma’am. I look forward to your kind cooperation.”

Valentia was sent off by the guard, leaving the station alongside Lexus. As they were walking together and the hustle and bustle of the ordeal faded, Valentia suddenly remembered something.

[Valentia] “Why did you buy so many candies?”

[Lexus] “I just asked for the biggest set they had. I didn’t think it would be that big either, but it was too late to ask for a smaller one, so…….”

Lexus replied with a slight frown on his face. Was it just her imagination, or did it seem like he was frowning just to hide how embarrassed and shy he was?

[Lexus] “But do you really hate candy?”

[Valentia] “I don’t hate it. Why do you ask?”

[Lexus] “I bought a lot, so they ended up giving me a bonus.”

In the palm of Lexus’ hand was some candy, kept in a pretty wrapped bag, and he held it out to Valentia. She looked down at it for a moment, hesitating for a second until she eventually took it from him.

This man was giving her this without putting much thought behind it, but it was right then that Valentia realized something—gifts like candies and cookies were something best given to a child, and it was something she’d never received before. Not even as a young girl.

She didn’t want this man to know that fact about her, but as she accepted the candy from him, her hand was trembling.

[Valentia] “Thank you. I will enjoy it.”

[Lexus] “By the way, you were really good at looking after him.”

[Valentia] “Did it look that way?”

Valentia tilted her head.

[Lexus] “Well, you did such a good job comforting him that he stopped crying immediately. Do you like kids?”

[Valentia] “I don’t mind them. Do you dislike them?”

[Lexus] “It’s not that I dislike them. I’m just uninterested.”

[Valentia] “Why is that?”

[Lexus] “Too many women have come to me claiming they were pregnant with my child.”

That was something she could confirm with her own ears, remembering what she heard back then. He seemed like a really bad person at the time, but now that she had spent some time with him, it really felt like she was being completely possessed by something.

Or to be exact, she was being entranced by this man, but it wasn’t as though she was feeling any kind of emotion. What she was feeling right now, if anything, was probably gratitude. Everything else was just a coincidence.

[Valentia] “That sort of thing happens because you play around with women.”

[Lexus] “But it’s still not my kid, so I get angry no matter how many times I have to sit through that kind of thing.”

[Valentia] “What makes you so certain it isn’t yours?”

[Lexus] “There’s a reason for it.”

There was definitely more to the story, but she was not close enough to him to ask him any kind of pressing questions. It would not be polite.

[Valentia] “I see. Oh, right, the price of the candy…..”

[Lexus] “I ran an errand for you, so I won’t charge you for it.”

[Valentia] “What? That doesn’t make any sense.”

[Lexus] “That’s how I calculate things.”

The moment that boy went off with his mother and was no longer around, this man immediately went back to his usual smooth-talking ways. But, strangely enough, she didn’t hate that kind of smoothness right now.

[Valentia] “Very well. I will accept it with gratitude.”

[Lexus] “Thanks.”

[Valentia] “…Thanks?”

[Lexus] “For letting this one go. I thought you’d be more strict about it.”

If she had been, she’d be ignoring Lexus’ consideration. She was grateful towards Lexus right now, and so she didn’t want to be so cold in response to his consideration. And that was exactly what Lexus wanted.

Right when Valentia was about to respond—

Thump—

A carriage zipped past them roughly, splashing up the stagnant water left on the street up into the air.

Valentia was walking on the side away from the street, so she only got a little bit of water on her. But Lexus received the worst of it, standing on the side along the path of the street, completely covered with muddy water.

Of course, Goldie was drenched as well. His finely kept cream colored coat was completely filthy again. Hating the feeling, Goldie shook the water off his body.

And all that muddy water was flung directly at Valentia.

[Valentia] “. . .”

[Lexus] “. . .”

The two of them stood there, entirely soaked, looking at each other without saying a word.

* * *