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The old couple felt very sorry that they had thrown away all of Edrick’s mother’s belongings that were left behind.
But Edrick didn’t give up.
‘It might be here somewhere.’
He anxiously wandered through the small house.
More than half of the paint was peeling off from the wall where the crutches were always used to be hung. The place next to the dining table was so messy to even call it a kitchen—.
However, no matter how hard he looked, he couldn’t find it.
‘There’s no need to look around anymore—’
He bit his lips dejectedly. But suddenly, there was a commotion outside.
Then he heard a familiar voice.
‘—The village chief?’
Somehow, he had a bad feeling about this.
Perhaps reading his Master’s mind, Rovel immediately headed out without further instruction.
He saw familiar faces in the front garden. And it was such a small space that it was embarrassing to even call it a garden.
There was the young man who used to bully him and the chief who used to make trouble for his mother.
Their faces brightened when they saw him.
But he still remembered the look on their faces that used to look at him like a bug crawling on the floor every time they saw him.
“Crutches! I, I know where the crutches are! We kept it for you!”
They used to cover their noses declaring that Edrick and his mother smelled like rotten garbage.
After all, they are still the ones who kept his crutches—.
He was angry at their shamelessness, but Edrick swallowed his anger and hurriedly asked.
“Where are my crutches?”
“T, that’s— I kept it in the storage room. But since it’s such an expensive item, I can’t take it out—”
The father and son pair eyed his clothes with greedy eyes. They looked very disgusting.
Edrick realized what they were up to. However, he could not respond rashly.
And he didn’t have any money to himself even though he was wearing these luxurious clothes.
The father and son’s humble attitude subtly changed as they noticed something strange.
But the other party was still the illegitimate child of a noble family.
If they stick to it, they were sure they could greatly benefit from this situation.
Soon, the old man continued in a polite manner.
“It’s not a big storage fee. If it’s about 10 gold—”
It was unbelievable.
Even though he didn’t know much, he still understood that 10 gold coins are no small amount. At the very least, it was worth more than the house they lived in.
The silence dragged on and the knights became doubtful. They started wondering why they were dragging their time like this.
Edric gritted his teeth in frustration. He wanted to ask for the crutches right away, but there was nothing he could do.
Because he really didn’t have any money.
‘But— I can borrow the money from the knights around me—.’
At that moment, Rovel, who was silently watching from the side, spoke.
“Bring them.”
“—Yes?”
“If the things you brought are pleasing to the Young Master, I will reward you handsomely.”
Rovel winked and an older servant came forward holding a heavy-looking leather bag.
When the bag was opened, they saw a lot of glinting gold coins inside.
The drunken village chief stopped breathing for a moment at the brilliance and soon came to his senses.
“What are you still doing here! Go and bring the crutches!”
The drunkard pushed his son’s back and urged him to go. The son hurriedly left.
Edrick still couldn’t get his head around the situation even though he saw it happening right in front of him.
‘Where the hell is that—’
However, it was not even ten minutes when the son returned.
As expected, they were talking nonsense about taking it out from the storage. The son returned carrying a bundle wrapped up with a cloth.
When it unfolded, Edrick immediately recognized the items.
In an instant, everything seemed to slow down.
“….”
He could clearly see that they were his crutches.
A name was curved on the old crutches and they bore traces of use with a few bumps here and there.
Edrick. His mother had engraved it for him.
Although he didn’t know how to read and write properly, he knew as much as his name and his mother’s name.
But he couldn’t order them to bring it over immediately. That money had belonged to Rovel, so he didn’t deserve it.
He stared intently as Rovel brought the crutches to him.
Rovel handled them delicately as if they were something precious and then carefully presented them to Edrick.
However, even when they were right in front of him, he did not take them immediately.
“Young Master.”
He was taken aback by the call and saw Rovel smiling at him reassuringly.
Edrick looked anxiously at Rovel and then the crutches. But slowly, he took the crutches.
He realized how much he had missed them only after receiving them. They were what he had been looking for. He hugged them tightly against him as if afraid that someone might take them from him again.
Rovel watched him in silence and then turned to the father and son.
“Is there anything else left?”
“—No.”
Edrick answered.
It was because they couldn’t afford anything else.
These crutches were a present from his mother for his birthday. His mother bought them for him with the money she got from cutting off her hair. She had grown that hair for over ten years.
His mother always used to giggle like a young girl, saying that his father liked her long, fine hair.
But it was cut off for her son in the end.
Remembering that time, his eyes turned red.
He held his crutches even more tightly against himself while his face crumpled in grief.
The village chief, who was watching the situation, asked with a look of satisfaction.
“Can we take the money now?”
“—You said my house was a pile of garbage.”
Edrick said in a trembling voice.
And lifted his watery eyes and looked at them.
“You said my crutches were trash— you insulted my mother for selling trash— and now you want to take a reward?”
“Oh, how dare we do that to such precious people! The Young Master must have misunderstood.”
The village chief defended himself like a person who had been wronged.
At his words, Edrick bit his lip in frustration.
There was nothing he could do. He was powerless in the past and he was powerless now.
At that moment, Rovel abruptly picked up the bag and lifted it up and down with a frown as if weighing the contents.
Is he going to retract the reward now? The face of the father and son soon turned pale.
However, breaking their expectation, Rovel turned his back on them. He walked to the end of the narrow garden.
And stopped in front of the wooden manure bin.
Everyone looked at him curiously. Then they couldn’t do anything but watch as Rovel upended the bag and poured the gold coins directly into the bin.
In an instant, buzzing noise and a foul smell spread throughout the garden.
“Ah, no!!”
The village chief cried out and came running.
But it was already too late.
Rovel had already thrown away all the gold coins and was only holding an empty bag.
“What the hell are you doing?!”
“I didn’t say that I would even give you a bag.”
Contrary to the gentle smile on his face, there was a subtle chill in his eyes.
The village chief didn’t dare say anything even though his face was red with anger. That person was only a servant but he was still a servant of a high-ranking aristocrat. So he could not be treated lightly.
Besides, the knights were watching the situation.
If he made one mistake, he could get in trouble for insulting a nobleman.
The village chief had to endure it even when his body started trembling in anger.
Rovel watched the village chief trying to restrain himself. And then met his green eyes, which were full of bewilderment.
Edrick didn’t say anything, but Rovel nodded as if he knew, saying, “Ah, yes.”
“Our Young Master commands us to be generous. Of course, you don’t need to be thankful—”
By the time he finished speaking, Rovel also threw his bag into the bin.
“Take all of this as it is.”
It was an insincere move as if throwing dirty garbage into the trash can.
*****
In the original, Edrick’s crutches were only mentioned briefly. But they did not appear.
This was because the drunk chief, who was expecting a big reward, was angered when there was no news of Edrick after a long time and he threw them away.
The Crown Prince tried to find it. But it was already too late.
That was why I saved them.
“He hasn’t let go of those crutches for a moment.”
Isn’t it normal after only having them back?
“Right now, he’s sleeping in that state, probably because he’s very tired. I’m not sure if anyone can take them from him today.”
Rimson Hyung gave me detailed information about the situation.
It would not be an exaggeration to say that he could look into the insides of his clients’ minds when he was a mercenary.
“Thank you, Hyung. I’ll arrange a place with Renee Noona soon.”
Rimson Hyung narrowed his eyes at me making an expression like ‘Where did you get that!’
Just by looking at his expression, it was obvious what he wanted to ask, so I answered him first.
“I didn’t steal the money. The Duchess gave them to me. It was a reward for taking good care of the Young Master.”
“—Did you keep your share?”
“What do you think?”
I stirred the soup bowl with a spoon and jokingly answered back. Then, I saw him frowning again imagining who knows what.
I tried to smooth out the wrinkles, but his serious expression remained the same.
To lighten the mood, I spoke in a brighter voice.
“Still, Hyung. There are things in the world more important than money.”
It was having a healthy body.
Without health, no matter how much money you have, you can’t spend it.
When I think of it like that, it was not a waste to spend it on Edrick, who could help me get better.
And it was a bag of money anyway, so who cares?
“On the contrary, things like that are too much for me right now.”
I finished scooping up the soup.
So I didn’t hear Hyung’s last words.
“You punk— Is love— more important than money to you now?”