After Maric left Tina with Olivia. He immediately went to work.

The work this time was much more normal than before, he would just distribute some food to the people who were near the church at this time.

Those people were the survivors of the war, some might have lost their siblings or parents and maybe their friends or lovers.

Everyone almost had the same face with all the gloom in their eyes.

However, of course hope is always there even in the most desperate situations.

Maric then grabbed a few boxes of food that were piled up with other children. Maric distributed each of the food while seeing a few small smiles in return from the people.

"May God bless you."

"May God bless you."

Sincere gratitude radiated from the people. They seemed happy with every little favor they got as they couldn't have gotten food from anyone else.

Here and in this situation, the crops could not be planted due to the winter and the raw food reserves had been completely depleted to send to the battlefield, all that was left for the townspeople was the pain wrapped around their stomachs.

So then, where did all the food in the church come from? The answer is very simple, this food is given by the nobles who still care about the people of this kingdom.

For at least the past year, there has been a lot of food aid to support the people who survived the war. Most of the aid came from rich nobles and merchants who believed in the gods, making the church near the border the last hope for those who still wanted to survive.

When he was done with what he had done, all of which was marked by the exhaustion of the foodstuffs he had distributed, he then walked back to the warehouse near the church to refill the small wooden box that was still empty.

This should have been heavy for Maric due to the small body he had, but since the groceries were quite light, he was still able to carry them.

Behind Maric's still burning spirit, a voice stopped him.

"I think the stock in the back warehouse is almost gone. You've worked hard, this should be enough for you."

"No, no priest. There are still people who don't get food, I have to take it and distribute it to them."

Hearing that, the priest in front of Maric smiled kindly, he had an expression as if he wanted to refuse but he couldn't do it.

"Really, good boy."

Hearing that, Maric commented in his mind.

'I can't accept that, I'm not as good a person as you think, priest. I'm just used to being associated with most of the charitable activities in the church, this is completely selfish.'

He couldn't deny, he couldn't accept, the moral impulse of his heart couldn't tell himself that he was a good person. He had certainly seen and then ignored some of the atrocities on the quiet city streets lately just because he didn't want to get into trouble.

Ignorance and indifference were also sins, Maric could believe that, but Maric couldn't do much because even he had enough trouble keeping himself and his sister out of harm's way. He preferred to avoid it.

Just as he was questioning his morals, the sound of leather shoe steps approached him and the priest.

Hearing the steps, the priest responded.

"Miss Noir. I really thank you for all your help, all the food you sent to this town means a lot to us."

"What are you saying, priest? I'm so happy to help, you don't need to thank me."

A beautiful woman in a fancy dress said that when she came to check on things. From what Maric knew, this woman was named Deana Sera Noir.

The noblewoman who always came with the rich merchants to give some charitable help, she was also the reason why Maric was able to meet Olivia.

Maric had never directly interacted with Miss Deana, he only knew the extent of what he had heard from Olivia, and Olivia was also not very close to Miss Deana.

Maric was also not very interested in dealing with the nobility. because of the habit of assessing the situation, he often paid attention to the people nearby. Maric's eyes then glanced at Miss Deana without her knowing.

But this time and perhaps because of their close proximity, Maric got some sort of reply. Miss Deana now noticed Maric's gaze.

The woman with some interest turned her head towards Maric, she wanted to ask him something.

"Oh my god, is there something stuck to my face?"

'...Ah... Looks like I made a mistake.'

Maric then shook his head, and while trembling with nervousness, he was looking for an excuse.

To interact with nobles, a slight mistake could bring danger to Maric. He didn't have any experience dealing with nobles, therefore, this time Maric was having a hard time coming up with a solution. Unless, an idea popped into his head.

But Maric still had to reply to Deana's words, so finally Maric tried to make a bet.

He then widened his eyes while opening his mouth to say. His cheeks flushed slightly.

"Miss, you are very beautiful...? Are you a Goddess or an angel?"

With the shame he had thrown into the abyss, Maric felt that this was still not enough. And because of that, he quickly swallowed his own saliva before opening his mouth.

"Miss, can you marry me?"

"Eh!"

As if distorted by time, the air around Maric had completely frozen. He also looked towards the nearby priest only to find that the priest was showing a troubled expression, from his frozen face, there was a kind of cold sweat coming out.

As Maric felt that he was only adding to the problem, the noblewoman then smiled kindly at Maric.

"Fufuf.... is so cute. That's very sweet. But too bad, son. I already have a husband."

'I don't care, I don't care. Who would care if you have a husband or not? I just want you to forget what you just saw and heard from me.'

Distraction tactic? More or less.

Aside from the uncomfortable feeling he had right now, at least Maric wouldn't be worried that a noble might hate him.

Maric then saw the priest beside him comment.

"Sorry Miss Noir, I'm sure Maric said that just because he was feeling lonely. He doesn't usually act like this, he's a smart and kind boy."

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'Well done priest, you've done me a favor. But look at this, I'm sure you're worried that the nobles might not come here anymore for charity. Don't worry, that won't happen, I'm just a child to you.'

Maric's eyes then turned to Miss Deana, the woman then smiled kindly while stroking Maric's head.

"I know..." she said.

The woman then squatted down so that she was level with Maric's face, Maric immediately showed a nervous reaction like a child who didn't know what was going to happen.

Actually, he could almost guess what the woman might say.

With a slow breath, a soft voice entered Maric's earhole.

"Lonely? Kid, is there anything I can do for you, you seem to be in trouble."

Hearing that, Maric's legs then trembled while closing his eyes, he also grabbed the noblewoman's hand with both of his tiny hands to then open his mouth and said.

"Miss-hm... Mrs. Noir, there are a lot of food ingredients in my house, if I don't trouble you, please help me bring the food here so that I can distribute it to everyone."

The noblewoman then turned to the surrounding knights, she nodded while replying to Maric's words.

"I'll come with you..."

.......

Strolling down the deserted hallway, Maric wore his usual innocent expression. He had nothing to worry about, even though Miss Deana brought a knight along with her husband, since he was still a child, there shouldn't be any kind of suspicion.

Even if somehow Miss Deana might tell him about what Maric had said not long ago to her husband. He, Maric had the answer to that question.

'If I'm not mistaken, that man's name is Franz Sera Noir, a Viscout of the kingdom. although he has a stiff and cold face, he is actually a person with a sincere heart, otherwise, how could he often go to the border town for charity work.'

While holding Miss Deana's hand, he nodded his head, he wanted to thank her if he could.

Honorable nobles like the Noir family, had provided comfort to the townspeople. This was the meaning of being human, a humanity to help their fellow man.

If the nobles had not taken the initiative for this charity, Maric could be sure that the entire city would have been filled with madness and all that was left was madness.

With a sweet smile, Miss Deana who was holding Maric's hand then looked around. Maric saw that and he felt a kind of turmoil.

"Maric? Do you really not have any friends? Friends your own age."

"I do, but these few years they don't want to be friends with me."

Maric's eyes then looked in the direction where Miss Deana felt uncomfortable.

There, the houses that were lined up very neatly were filled with children who bowed their heads. Their bodies were thin and devoid of nutrients as if their parents did not feed them.

Their clothes were so thin that it wouldn't be able to protect their tiny bodies. There was also an adult in shabby clothes looking at Maric and Miss Deana but then his face turned away.

After a while of passing through dirty houses with a gloomy atmosphere, Maric finally came to the front of his own house.

He let go of Miss Deana's grip and reached for the spare key from his pocket.

"There are some wooden boxes filled with food, it can last for at least six months, some meat and grain. I keep them around mom and dad's room."

The door to the house then opened. Soon, the three knights beside Miss Noir and Mr. Noir entered Maric's house.

Maric then continued his words.

"I also want to take the dolls and toys from my room to give to the children at the church-"

Maric immediately closed his mouth. He seemed hesitant about what to say next, but he knew that it was very important, so he then turned to look at the noble lady before he opened his mouth again.

" Please, Miss... this may be my selfish request, but don't tell anyone that all this food came from my house."

"Why?"

"Because I don't want to trouble the others. If the other children hear what I do, they might copy what I do, and I'm often afraid that they'll make mistakes that could threaten their lives."

'Actually, that's not possible. What I'm really afraid of is the fact that there's a lot of food in my house, which of course invites danger because I can't protect myself. It would be very safe if I could store all these raw food ingredients at the church so that they could process them, and most importantly, with the nobles visiting for charity, it would be a reasonable camouflage.'

An ordinary person would probably think that even if there was a lot of food in Maric's house, and when he gave it to the Church, it was ultimately believed to have come from the nobles.

Maric had thought that he would have to store all the food himself and his sister to survive until the war was over, but since he couldn't process it, it made everything he did useless.

And if she gave all this food to the church to cook, that would be a good solution, but she must not underestimate the eyes of the hungry. As soon as he gave away all the ingredients, people would probably think that there was plenty of food in Maric's house, and the wicked would come to him.

It was certain that Maric would soon see a god if that happened. He would surely die, not from hunger or cold but from being killed.

"No strings attached..."

Maric's ears twitched when he heard Miss Noir's comment.

He then looked around the clean and tidy house to find an empty wooden box. He then grabbed the wooden box and quickly went to the second floor to go to his room.

Behind Maric, in a beautiful dress, Miss Noir followed.

They then entered Maric's room, which contained seven bunk beds and a wooden table. Maric then grabbed some dolls from behind the mattresses to put them into the wooden box.

While watching what Maric was doing, the noblewoman looked around, she began to look curious and wanted to ask Maric a question.

"Do you have a brother?"

Maric then nodded to confirm.

"In that case, where did they go?"

Maric stopped moving the toys into the box and answered.

"My father and my eldest brother became knights, they went to the battlefield. I'm sure they're fighting now and they'll be back."

Maric then bowed his head as if he didn't want to say what he wanted to say next. But he had to say it.

"But there is one thing I am worried about. I'm afraid that when my father and brother return, they won't be able to find my second brother. My second brother- because of the winter that didn't stop until recently, he finally passed away last year."

Miss Deana who heard Maric now covered her mouth to hide the expression that might have changed, she deliberately did that so that Maric would not notice.

Slightly averting her eyes, Deana's eyes then fell on a small glove on a mattress, she then grabbed the glove.

Gloves that looked like they were made for a four year old child, some might be a little dusty and torn, but they looked well cared for. Deana turned around again, a bunk bed for seven children caught her eye.

Realizing what might have happened, Deana's eyes watered a little, but she also had to ask something to confirm.

"Maric, your name is Maric, right?"

Maric nodded his head. He then heard what Miss Deana who was currently holding back her tears wanted to ask.

"What about your mother?"

Before Maric could answer, he grabbed the tiny shoes from his sister's bed and began to speak.

"About a year ago, mom told me that she wanted to take me and my brother and sister to meet dad on the battlefield, she said he might miss us."

Before continuing, Maric fiddles with the tiny shoes in his hands and then places them into the wooden box. With a small voice and some hesitation, Maric continued.

"But I thought, if everyone goes to see dad, then who will clean the house? So I told my mom that me and my sister Tina should stay home. When I said that, my mother cried to me and apologized, and she left with my three brothers and sister who were younger than me. When my mother left, I wanted to ask her why she had brought a rope-"

As if in disbelief, Maric shook his head.

"-No, no. I'm sure if it was my mother, she would have come back here with my father and brother. The rope was probably used to warm my sister and brother when my mother took them to the forest, it was very cold that night, so it's very possible."

Unable to hold back her tears that were now coming out, Deana immediately hugged Maric tightly while stroking the boy's back.

It was the cry of a noblewoman who heard the true circumstances on the battlefield.

Deana's lips trembled and she kept repeating the same words every time.

"Forgive me... Forgive me... Forgive me... Forgive me... If only we nobles hadn't done anything stupid, this war might never have happened."

She cried, the noblewoman continued to cry.

Behind her back, Maric smiled slightly as if he had reached the point he had hoped for.

'Mental health is very important, just with that alone, I feel very helped. I'm starting to wonder what this noblewoman wants to do next, because of all this crying.'

From all her words.

Maric's only lie was about how he said all that as if he didn't realize what was really going on.

.......

The next morning, due to the icy cold, Tina who could hardly sleep finally woke up. What she saw now surprised her a little.

Maric over there, Tina's brother was usually not very excited in the morning, but he was now very excited while grabbing all of Tina's clothes and him into a leather suitcase.

Seeing that, Tina became confused.

"Brother..."

"Oh... are you awake?"

"....What do you want to do?"

Hearing that, Maric then closed the suitcase and stood up. With his small hand under his chin, Maric told what he knew.

"Well... I wanted to say congratulations to both of us before."

"Huh....?"

Tina was actually used to seeing Maric's behavior which was always difficult to guess, her brother had always been like that for a long time, and now, everything Maric said made Tina even more confused and she couldn't guess what Maric was thinking.

Soon, Maric grabbed both of Tina's hands to lead her out of the room. At that moment, Maric continued in a whisper.

"You are indeed a lucky girl, because you and I finally got our last and middle names."

Instantly, Tina's steps stopped, she heard something strange.

Tina's eyes then blinked. Behind the cracks in the door of the house, a warm sunlight shone on Maric's back, the snow and ice that should have been cold seemed to have melted because of a miracle.

Because of the light behind Maric's back, Tina then partially covered her vision with both hands.

The wind blew a little stronger than usual and the door of the house opened. There, Tina's eyes were now focused on a mature woman in a beautiful dress and a mature man like a nobleman.

As Tina's eyes could not follow what was happening, Maric opened his mouth and said something that Tina understood very well. It was a convenient saying, and even too convenient to be true.

"Like I always say. Sometimes a miracle happens around the church."

And after that, when Tina boarded the horse-drawn carriage, her name was now Tina Sera Noir.