Outside the inn, there was a small commotion. Ethel was curious and walked outside to find a boy and an old man in a scuffle. Both of them were fighting in the middle of the street but somehow no one except for a few passersby cared.

She was planning on leaving quietly but the fight had escalated when the old man bumped into a passing carriage and startled the horses. The boy’s scrawny figure was panting for breath and the old man looked visibly knocked up.

Before the others could react, the driver of the carriage went to reprimand the old man but unfortunately he passed out. The boy took this chance to escape through the surprised crowd and bumped into Ethel.

“What the-”

“I’m sorry!” the boy yelled after escaping through the crowd.

A realization hit her when she felt the thin figure bump into her. She was sure of it, he was the boy she saved last night, but as for how he got into a fight with an old man was beyond him.

She traced the vitalis in the air and chased after the boy. There was a good chance that he came to her of his own accord. In order to find out, she had to chase and track him down or less she might never meet him after today.

With a lot of twists and turns, Ethel came upon the boy huddled over a small stack of crates in a cramped alleyway with the hood tightly covering his frail body.

“This boy sure runs fast,” she muttered before approaching the child.

“Boy.”

The boy looked up and surprise flashed in his eyes. He wanted to run but before he could Ethel had already grabbed the hood of his cloak. Without it, it only served to further highlight his malnourished body.

She frowned and reached into her satchel for a piece of bread and handed it to him. “I’m not going to kill you or anything. I saved you last night, if you can recall. As a sign of peace, eat this bread.”

The boy furrowed his brows. He looked at her waringly with a hint of hesitation, but the growl of his stomach betrayed his emotions as he turned red and begrudgingly took the bread and took a bite.

Seeing how cooperative he was being, Ethel gave a smile and let go of his cloak. “Full?”

The boy nodded and wiped the crumbs off his face. Looking at him more closely, if it wasn’t because he was malnourished, then he would be a promising youth with good looks.

However, for whatever reason that may be linked to poverty, he was deathly pallid with cracked lips and unkempt hair. He was not in any way dirty, but the clothes he wore looked rough and uncomfortable, like the cloth used to cover tables with.

This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

“My name is Ethel. And you are?”

“... Whyt.”

“I see…” What an unusual name. There was hardly anything remarkable about this boy. At most, he could be considered a person with above average skills. But then why was she drawn to him? Surely there was something to him that could be of use to her.

She crouched down to his eye-level and replied, “Then Whyt, could you tell me why you were being chased by those men late last night?”

Whyt looked hesitant. He disliked being pried for information. After living in the capital his entire life, he knew it wasn’t too far-fetched if this woman before him had ulterior motives. There was no reason for her to help him so whole heartedly without asking for anything in return.

So what did she want? Except for his intelligence, he had nothing to show for. He was smaller than children his age and had always been left out of the groups because of his desire to spend time alone.

Seeing his hesitant look, Ethel didn’t want to pry for more information and shrugged. “You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to. Let me tell you now, I saved you because I find you interesting. You look like the kind of person who likes to keep secrets.”

Whyt looked up and somehow her smile looked dazzling. Not the sort of light that a goddess would emit, but somewhat warm. Similar to the sunlight filtering the trees, she had an aura that could charm others into following her.

But he still couldn’t shake off the feeling of suspicion in his heart.

“Miss also looks like she’s one to keep secrets,” he muttered.

Ethel raised her brows and laughed. “Do I? Then I will tell you one of my secrets, just for fun. It’s up to you to believe it or not.”

Whyt nodded and gazed at her with expectancy.

She found this endearing and rubbed his head. “What I am and what I look are completely different things.”

He didn’t seem to get this and tilted his head in confusion, which met the laughter of Ethel once again.

“It’s okay if you don’t get it now. But if you like, then if you become friends with me you’ll know the truth sooner or later.”

Her secret was attractive. For some reason there was a voice in his head telling him that he won’t come to regret it, but his feelings right now were different with the assault he suffered from last night.

If he followed her, he was afraid that he’d be leaving the life he was used to. The woman before her looked no less a noble. And living in the capital, he saw no shortage of them. Many were people who knew how to hide their emotions in their sleeves, while rarely were there ever any of them who served the people.

It was the noble’s duty to work for his vassals, but the role had long been subverted to the current regime, where it was common for peasants and the like to work to the bone for the benefit of the rich and powerful.

The minimum wage was horrendous that it brought despair to the people, bringing poverty and violence with it.

“How will I know if I made the right decision?” Whyt asked suddenly. He wanted to know her thoughts.

Ethel looked deep in thought and crossed her arms.

“It’s simple really. You don’t.”

Whyt looked taken aback. But before he could utter a reply, Ethel continued her words.

“It is only in death that we count our regrets. Remember that.”