CH 3

“Mary, are you really crazy?”

“No?”

Finally I turned 9. And still, my only best friend in the orphanage was Leo.

The Grand Duke would come to find me soon, so I was already preparing to part ways with Leo. At first, he wondered why I was doing this again, but Leo noticed my seriousness, so I was still trying to meet him later.

I was going to live quietly and go to the Grand Duchy. After all I was Mary, the person everyone whispered as being an inconvenience because of the amount of time and money the Grand Duke spent to find her who was kidnapped.

After Mary went around making a mess, she was openly referred to as the troublemaker young-ae*.

(* = Young-ae is someone who is the daughter of a rich and powerful person)

So, I figured I should live quietly since my money could be cut in half for doing something weird for no reason.

Until Peppy, the youngest child in the orphanage, died of ‘starvation’.

As I buried Peppy behind the orphanage, I promised myself.

‘Let’s rob the director’s safe.’

When I told Leo about my plan, he asked if I was that crazy.

“You have to live, Leo.”

“I’ve known for a long time, Mary, you tend to be too obsessed with life.”

“Isn’t that obvious? All the premise of my plan is that I must be alive.”

In his previous life he died while struggling to live, but he couldn’t die in vain again.

And…… To be honest, the children in the orphanage were very pitiful.

At the age where they grow up, they always ate food that seemed to have no nutritious value, and lived neglected like this. It was clearly abuse.

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Initially, the money in the director’s back pocket was the children’s money.

In the name of the descendant of the righteous Hong Gildong…… I will not forgive the director.

The plan was simple. The director, who usually does not leave the orphanage, would go to the village every Friday evening to relieve stress and return only on Saturday afternoon.

We will use that time to steal money and distribute money to children.

“It’s crazy……”

Leo, who was three years older than me, muttered like that, but always gave in according to my wishes.

Originally, we could go to Brian’s side and live a little more comfortable life, but how were we supposed to live this lonely life together?

The light brown eyes were filled with concern for me. Taking a deep breath, stroking my hair, I thought that Leo might be better than Mary’s older brothers.

To leave a child like this and go back to a family that hates me.

“It’s okay.”

“What’s okay?”

“I will take full responsibility.”

“You say you’re going to be responsible for every little thing every day.”

But it’s always been like that……

After my grandmother passed away and I lived in my aunt’s house, I was always my own guardian. It was the same at Brandon Orphanage, when I reincarnated as Mary.

And when I go to the Grand Duke’s family, I know that this mindset will continue.

The people there won’t be interested in me.

I can live quietly in moderation and enjoy my life by receiving my share of the inheritance with business funds.

Leo…… Then I will definitely find you and make you the vice president.

“Don’t look at me like that because It makes me feel bad, cat eyes.”

“Okay.”

I’ll just have to make him the manager, not the vice president.

Mountain nights get dark faster than you think.

As expected, the director gave us oat porridge for dinner and went down to the village.

An orphanage without a director was completely lawless for children. There was a constant roar of shouts along with the sound of running.

“Mary, how are you? Would you like to play a game?”

“Brian, I’d love to, but is your nose okay from the last time? You even had a nosebleed.”

Just like today, on a big day, Brian picks fights like that.

Being the daughter of the Grand Duke, I was far superior to other children in terms of physical strength and intellect.

Archduke Conler was a family that had been blessed by demons since ancient times. At the time when humans and monsters coexist, he was also the chief contributor of the Britina Empire, which was founded after established order.

And in the process, the son of the first Duke of Conler married a demon princess, so the family was blessed by the demons…… They had an unbelievable founding legend.

‘It’s a blessing from the demons. What an irony.’

Since it is a blessing from the demon tribe, that blessing did not come down as a blessing for other generations.

Some kind of penalty or something.

‘What was the penalty……’

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The main content of the book was the love story between the second prince and Astina, so the story of Grand Duke Conler was not covered in detail.

It only briefly establish the family of the second male lead and the villainess.

I don’t know what exactly the penalty was, but in any case, Grand Duke Conler, who received the blood of demons, was superior to normal humans in magic and stamina.

His energy was so great that even his employees said they could not breathe in front of Conler’s direct lineage.

‘But these kids breathe too well in front of me……’

Was the legend just a legend?

It’s like a monogamous myth…… It’s also because people of different races got married and had children.

“Let’s go before it’s too late, Mary.”

“Okay.”

Leo patted my shoulder and said. I calmed myself down and nodded my head.

Me and Leo headed to the principal’s office at a quick pace, pretending nothing was wrong among the children running around.

The director was neglectful, but because he morbidly hated children invading his space, not even a mouse flew in front of the director’s office.

Even that Brian didn’t come down this hallway.

I’ve only seen it once. How the director beats a child who went against his will.

“Whooo……”

“Are you okay?”

I grabbed the doorknob and hesitated for a moment, then Leo asked with concern.

If I looked into those light brown eyes I felt like my heart would weaken, so I nodded without looking at Leo.

And I thought of Peppy.

She had whispered that she wanted to be adopted by good parents like Astina.

‘Who would come to this orphanage in the middle of the mountain to adopt?’

Astina was guaranteed because she was the main character.

With a trembling heart, I turned the doorknob. However, the door did not open, probably because the director had locked it as he left.

“He locked the door and left.”

“What do we do?”

At Leo’s question, I took a bobby pin out of my pocket. Fortunately, it was an ornament that girls in an orphanage could have. I straightened the pin and put it into the keyhole.

“What are you doing?”

“Opening the door.”

When I was living with my grandmother, the toilet was outside, and the door was broken at that time, so I used to open it like this.

I recalled the memory of that time and rattled the bobby pin for a while, and the door opened with a rattling sound.

“It’s open!”

Leo and I looked at each other and shouted at the same time.

“Mary, you are amazing. Where did you learn this talent?”

“Isn’t this all wisdom that comes from age?”

“I am three years older than you.”

“You ate in vain.”

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I shrugged as I said, and Leo raised his fist as if he wanted to give me a hit. Of course, I stuck out my tongue without losing.

‘Honestly, considering my past life, I lived for 18 more years.’

By the way, the director’s room I saw for the first time was very cozy.

We were locked up in a strange, damp room and were all alone in that kind of place.

“It’s really great.”

“Wow, this blanket is really warm. I wish we could have covered Peppy with it while she was cold.”

Me and Leo grumbled as we searched the director’s office. Then I found a pocket under the desk.

A pocket the size of Leo’s face was full of gold coins.

“This…… These are gold coins that should have been used for us.”

“I have to give five of these to the children.”

In case the children later left the orphanage and had to start anew, they had to have a certain amount of money.

Would the director take care of that?

If we are lucky and don’t get caught, I thought I’d keep coming and stealing gold coins little by little.

“Come on, let’s grab it and go.”

“There are rats.”

As we were about to go out with gold coins, the director stood in front of us with a creepy smile.

My heart was pounding like crazy.

No matter how strong I was and fought better than other kids, the director was an adult male with a good physique.

But how…… Why was the director back?

“I raised thieves……”

“Master, what did I say? They were both suspicious!”

Brian appeared from behind the director. It seems that guy secretly overheard our plans, and went to the director and told the story.

‘Take care of your share……’

I clenched my teeth and knelt down on the floor. No matter how much I thought of it…… Leo and I couldn’t win.

“I asked him to steal it! Leo didn’t do anything wrong.”

“Mary!”

“Leo, get out of here!”

“The thieves have the same kind of friendship.”

The director came to me with a smirk and tried to take the gold coin from my hand. I tried fighting against it, but the strong force of the director made me lose grip of the pocket and flew towards the wall.

“I told you to listen carefully!”

Oh, it really hurts. My body that hit the wall felt like it was roaring.

I instinctively curled up like a fetus. Leo’s cries became faint as if they could be heard from afar.

‘The next life will be different……’

Was I supposed to die in an orphanage like this?

I was still the daughter of a Grand Duke…… To die without even going to the castle of that good archduke.

There wasn’t that much time left until the Duke came to find Mary……

It was then.

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Thump thump, the sound of someone’s footsteps echoed in the hallway.

As if trying to figure out the authenticity of the sound, the director’s beating towards me also stopped.

Through the blurry vision, people rushed in and grabbed the director’s arm as if to capture him.

Suddenly, I felt someone hugging my fallen body.

“It’s light.”

‘It’s warm……’

“Open your eyes. So that…… I can make sure you are my daughter.”

‘Daughter?’

At that word, my eyes widened. Black eyes like mine were dark as if they contained the night sky I used to look up at when I was lonely. And as soon as I looked into those eyes, I noticed.

That this warm warmth was my father.

“Dad……”

“……”

“Why would you come…… now?”

And I fainted.