13. Christopher's Destination\nā\nLet me give you a spoiler.\nĀ \nChristopher was actually on his way to see his own mother at this time.\nā\nWhen he was a child, he was taken in by a distant relative and happened to hear the news of his mother. He was told that her mother was dead.\nā\nHe sneaks out of the house and finds the house where his mother lives. There, he sees her. He sees his mother living happily with her new family.\nĀ \nThe scene was so painful that I couldn't watch it.\nā\nHe told me that his parents abandoned him, but as of today, he still doesn't know that.\nĀ \nHis mother is dead, that's what he has been told.\nĀ \nIt was a gentle lie.\nĀ \nI'm sure he was going to tell me when the time was right.\nĀ \nIn fact, I had been told the same thing as Christopher, but your brother seemed to know the truth.\nĀ \nI guess that's why he was eagerly trying to get to know Christopher.\nā\nThe fact that he had been separated from his mother at a very young age and that the reason was because she had abandoned him. My parents decided to hide it from me.\nĀ \nThey chose not to let me accept the fact.\nĀ \nThey are smart people. I think they understood the disadvantages of hiding the truth and made that choice after weighing the advantages and disadvantages.\nĀ \nThis time, it just happened to be on the wrong side. It was just a downward swing. It's no one's fault.\nĀ \nChristopher has found out the truth. The truth is that his mother is still alive.\nĀ \nAnd the worst part is that it's revealed by a third party.\nā\nAfter this, he witnesses the fact that he was abandoned. It's a cruel reality.\nĀ \nAt the age of nine, he loses all confidence in himself and is unable to trust anyone.\nā\nThis is probably the real reason why he could not adjust to his "distant relative's house".\nĀ \nIt's not that there is anything wrong with his family, but he himself is unable to open up to anyone. He can't fit in with anyone.\nā\nHis repeated pranks in the game would be a kind of testing behavior.\nĀ \nHe was playing a prank to see if the other person's goodwill toward him was genuine, to see if it would not change.\nā\nBut still, I think. It's hard to imagine that you can keep in contact with that brother and not be bonded to him.\nĀ \nI can't help but wonder if there was some big force at work.\nĀ \nFor example, in order to make the protagonist the first one to offer his undying love to Christopher.\nĀ \nI wonder if there was some kind of mechanism at work in the world of this otome game.\nā\n"Lizzie, over there!"\nā\nAs we approached a street lined with small houses, far from the city center, my brother called out with his back to me.\nĀ \nAt first we were running together, but it was faster for me to run with him on my back, so we ended up like this.\nĀ \nEven at the age of fifteen, he still had a seductive glutinous body, but he was well aware of the fact that I was not afraid of him, having spent many hours with him in daily practice, so he did not object.\nā\nAs I stared into the darkness, I saw a small figure of a boy running towards me, whimpering.\nĀ \n"Christopher!"\nĀ \nHis brother called out his name. The boy, Christopher, looked up, but he didn't look right.\nĀ \nHe had a look of fear on his face, as if he was being chased by something.\nā\nI put down my brother on my back and brought him into a nearby alley.\nā\nI then headed in the direction of Christopher's run, trying to keep him out of sight.\nĀ \nAs we passed each other, I covered his mouth with my palm and pulled him into the bushes.\nā\nThe ability to disappear was a byproduct of learning chivalry and proper posture.\nĀ \nMy footsteps no longer made noise, and I learned how to avoid making noise with my movements. Thanks to my ability to move my body in a lean manner, I am able to lose unnecessary strength and act as if I am blending into the air.\nĀ \nI gave up thinking about whether or not this was a good thing in terms of chivalry.\nā\nAfter a few seconds of hiding my breath in the bushes, I hear wild footsteps.\nā\n"Where'd he go? Shit!"\nĀ \n"I'm pretty sure they came this way, find them!"\nā\nSeveral men's voices. Almost shouting.\nĀ \nThey were almost shouting, and from the way they were dressed, they looked like street thugs.\nĀ \nChristopher looks up at me with tears in his eyes, and I put the index finger of my free hand to my lips and make a "see" gesture.\nĀ \nHe looked frightened, but nodded slightly.\nā\nI watched as the men ran off, and Christopher and I left the bushes.\nĀ \nHe had become very quiet and I pulled him by the hand to join his brother who had stumbled out of the alley.\nā\n"Lizzie! Christopher! Oh, thank God."\nā\nHe said in a whisper, probably wary of the men who had just arrived.\nā\n"I think they're still close by. Christopher, did you do something to get tangled up with those thugs?\nĀ \n"No, that would be kidnappers."\nā\n"Kidnappers?"\nā\nI ruminate on my brother's words.\nĀ \nIf that's the case, Christopher would have been a perfect patsy.\nā\nI'm not sure what the kidnapper is doing with the child.\nĀ \nThis world is not yet developed enough to provide organ transplants.\nĀ \nOtherwise, "saints" would not be so popular.\nā\nI tried to think of a way to get money from the kidnapped children, but the only way I could think of was to hold them hostage and demand a ransom if they were the children of noble families, or sell them to people with a "hobby" if they were good looking.\nĀ \nA nobleman's daughter would be recognizable by her appearance, but normally she wouldn't be wandering around here without an escort.\nĀ \nOn the other hand, it takes a certain amount of time and effort to sort out the good-looking items.\nĀ \nI wondered if they were making any money at all.\nā\nā\n***\nā\nā\nā\nā