CH 4.1

Pampered Little Angel (1)

Anna found Lucia to be very depressed on the way home, and guessed that it was probably because she gave the gold coin to the priest.

Ever since she was little, Lucia had shown extraordinary intelligence. She would use her cute appearance to act spoiled and ask for candy from her neighbors.

She could also take advantage of the boys’ fondness towards her to ostracize the girls who bullied her.

Because of her angelic appearance, everyone liked her and was willing to help her.

The more she was like this, the more Anna had to lead by example and not let this child go astray.

Even though she had made her mind up long ago, when she saw Lucia’s downhearted expression, Anna couldn’t stop feeling bad.

She had picked up the money and gave it to her. Lucia surely wanted to be praised, but she was still so strict towards her.

Although Anna felt that she wasn’t wrong, but looking at Lucia’s expression, she felt that the latter was too pitiful.

They happened to pass by a candy store by the road, so Anna brought Lucia in and begrudgingly bought a small pouch of candies.

Even such a small amount of candies cost three silver coins, was what Anna thought with a heartache. Still, she showed a stern look towards Lucia who was looking at her with puppy-eyes.

“In the future, if you find any money, you have to hand it over to the patrol officer, understand?”

“Understood.” Lucia replied in a low voice.

“This candy is your reward.” Anna took out a candy from the pouch and fed it to Lucia, who was waiting with her mouth wide open, “You have to remember that we can always earn more money, but a lost peace of mind cannot be recovered.”

“Un.” Lucia’s mouth was filled with the candy, and her pale and tender face was bulging as she smiled, “Thank you Mommy.”

When she smiled, it was as if the whole world smiled too.

Anna resisted the urge to pat Lucia’s head.

This child was really like an angel… except for her character.

After returning home, Anna put the small pouch of candies on top of the shelf and started preparing dinner.

Most regular people here only eat two meals a day.

Once in the morning before going to work, around eight to ten o’clock, and once more after work.

The nobles would add tea parties and other things between the two long meals, but ordinary people didn’t have this habit. It was already hard enough just to survive.

Athos was in uniform, patrolling his jurisdiction. In most ordinary people’s eyes, being a patrol officer was a decent job. It had a salary of one gold coin and thirty silver coins a month.

From this salary, fifty silver coins would be paid to the landlord, and the remaining eighty silver coins were used to pay for their family’s living expenses.

This was not enough, because soon Serancha’s Elementary School would start admission, and if Lucia passed the exam to go to school, there would be an additional expense.

Athos once had a crush on the big sister next door, and then watched his crush marry at the age of fourteen or fifteen, and become a mother of three by the age of twenty.

She was the same age as those ladies from decent families, but she was already feeling so old and numb.

The moment he knew that he had a younger sister, Athos was determined to let his younger sister live a decent life, and it was this matter that he used to persuade his parents to move from Aranthal.

Education is the first step to changing fate. Although Athos himself never went to school, he firmly believed in it.

Thinking of his cute, angel-like sister, Athos couldn’t help smiling.

Secretly calculating his savings and income, Athos ended his day’s patrol. On the way home, he suddenly saw a candy store next to him. Lucia’s pitiful and depressed look suddenly appeared in his mind.

Athos couldn’t help walking in and said to the owner, “Excuse me, I want to buy some candy.”

A few minutes later, Athos came out holding a small beautifully packaged box in his hand, with a wry smile on his face.

Just a small package of candy cost five silver coins.

This was more than a day’s wage for him, and if he converted it to bread, he could’ve bought twenty-five pieces of pure wheat bread…

Athos returned to Owl Street with an aching heart and saw his father at the intersection.

Yesterday, he took Ram to the nearby temple of Duma, the god of craftsmen. After giving a letter of introduction he got from Aranthal’s Duma temple, he got some short-term jobs.

“Dad, is the work going well?” Athos subconsciously stuffed the candies into his pocket.

“Of course,” Ram responded loudly, “What about you, brat?”

“Of course there’s no problem over here!”

The two returned home in a lively manner. Anna had prepared a table of delicious food, which was waiting for them. Lucia was lying on the table, her long golden hair almost wrapped around her.

In the dimly lit room, she was like a ray of light that had gone astray, a contrast from the darkness around her, a beauty that would stir the soul.

Athos couldn’t help but look at Lucia’s status screen again, and sure enough, he saw that sparkly level ten Divine Favor.

He had heard from Anna last night that Lucia didn’t believe in any gods at all, so which god’s favor was this?

That little lump got up when she heard the sounds and showed a happy smile, “Daddy, Brother, welcome home!”

She is so cute, Athos thought.

If he were a god, he would surely send all the good things in the world to Lucia.

If he were a noble, he would give Lucia the best clothes and the best jewelry.

Because her smile was worthy of all of those fine gifts.

But now, he could only give her a small bag of candies.