Flour cost 2,500 won per kilogram. A tray of eggs was around 8,000 won.

If we could have taken the flour and eggs from here, it would have been a huge help for our household. With a sense of disappointment, we trudged towards the school gate when suddenly, the boy from earlier called out to us from behind.

“Hey, you guys?”

“Yes…?”

“Can I see your hand for a second?”

My hand? Why so suddenly? Without a word, I placed my hand over his.

“No, not like that—I have something to give you.”

“Something to give…?”

“Yeah. Take this.”

The boy handed me an egg. Was he really giving me an egg without expecting anything in return?

As I was about to refuse politely, he spread his arms and spoke to me.

“Do you want to try throwing it at me?”

“Huh…?”

“If you want to get hit, you should know how to throw too.”

He had a point. But to throw an egg at someone? Could I really do that?

As I looked around nervously, I noticed that many students were watching me, as if silently cheering me on.

“Hmm…”

Well, why not? They’d already been hit plenty. One more egg wouldn’t change anything.

“Alright, here goes!”

I mimicked Levinas’s shout for courage, trying to ease my guilt.

*Tap*

I gently pressed the egg against the boy’s forehead. It cracked slightly, and the sticky white dripped down.

“Are… are you okay?”

I regretted it immediately. I had just attacked someone I’d never met before. I stepped back, trembling, but Levinas burst out laughing.

“Hehe, you cracked it on his head!”

“Haha, isn’t it fun?”

“Yeah!”

Levinas jumped up in excitement, and the surrounding students smiled at her joy.

“Did you have fun, Levinas?”

“Yes!”

I see. This is fun. Maybe I was the only one too worried about the violent aspect.

“There’s plenty of eggs and flour over there, so play with them like this, okay?”

“Can Levinas do it too?”

“Of course! The festival is for everyone to enjoy.”

“Wow!”

Levinas dashed off in the direction the boy pointed. The table was piled with flour and eggs, and it seemed wasteful to throw them just for fun.

“King! We need to gather the broken eggs!”

“Oh…!”

Where should we store them? I suddenly realized the water bottle strapped to my waist.

If we used both Levinas’s bottle and mine, we could collect plenty of eggs. Of course, we’d have to drink the corn water in the bottles first—it would be wasteful to just pour it out.

*Gulp, gulp*

Maybe because I wasn’t really thirsty, drinking half the bottle already felt torturous.

“Ugh…”

Corn water trickled down my chin. As I worried about how to finish the rest, I caught Saebyeok’s expressionless gaze.

“Saebyeok, can you drink the rest for me?”

“I’m not really thirsty—”

Before she could finish, I pressed the bottle to her lips. The thought of eggs made me impatient.

“Just drink half of it.”

“Okay…”

*Gulp, gulp*—Saebyeok tilted her head back and drank the water as I held the bottle.

“Ugh…”

Corn water dripped down her chin, just like it had for me moments before.

“Done.”

With one empty bottle secured, I started putting broken eggs, shells and all, into it. It was a wide-mouthed plastic bottle, so it was easy to do.

“We can collect flour and eggs like this—”

“Take this!”

Before I could finish explaining, Levinas dumped a handful of flour over Saebyeok’s head. Saebyeok’s dark hair turned white.

“…”

Saebyeok stood still, even as Levinas’s surprise attack covered her. She remained expressionless, her tail swishing back and forth.

“King! Levinas did it!”

“D-did what…?”

“Levinas purified the Dark King into the White King!”

“Uh… yeah…”

*Shake, shake*—Levinas kept sprinkling flour onto Saebyeok’s head until it formed a small pyramid. Even then, Saebyeok stood still, her face blank.

“She’s really good with kids.”

“Yeah, she’s so patient with their antics.”

The surrounding students chuckled as they watched us. Did they think Saebyeok was the oldest among us? Although she had a mature air, I was actually the oldest here.

“*Ahem*…”

I cleared my throat and stood directly in front of Saebyeok. I even stood on my tiptoes to look taller, but to my surprise, she was taller than me.

“I’m taller than Gyeoul.”

“Uh… yeah…”

What? We looked the same, so why was she taller? A strange disappointment made my ears and tail droop.

“I’m taller.”

Saebyeok’s tail wagged rapidly. Her face was still expressionless, but it seemed as if she was feeling proud.

It must be my imagination. Feeling competitive with a child over height was embarrassing. For now, I decided to just enjoy playing with the eggs and flour.

—

Hanyeoreum and Sophia were sitting on a park bench, talking. Their conversation was focused on Saebyeok, who had recently arrived.

“That child has been through so much.”

“Yes. I hope you’ll take good care of her, Sophia.”

“Of course… but there’s one thing that bothers me.”

Sophia’s tone was serious. Being someone who always made wise judgments, her words made Hanyeoreum swallow nervously.

“What is it…?”

“It’s strange that a child who suffered so much in that lab only talks about Gyeoul.”

“That’s…”

She was right. Saebyeok never complained about her own suffering. She spoke mostly about Gyeoul, as if nothing else mattered.

“She mentioned that Gyeoul was a created persona, yet insisted that Gyeoul was real.”

“Yes…”

“It’s contradictory. If she believed Gyeoul was truly real, there’d be no need to mention that she was created.”

Sophia had a point. By hiding that fact, Gyeoul could simply be accepted as real.

“Maybe she just needed to share the burden…?”

“No, it seems more like she’s trying to evoke guilt.”

“Guilt from me?”

“Yes, to make sure Gyeoul is loved even more.”

“Why would Saebyeok do that…?”

Hanyeoreum couldn’t understand it. Saebyeok had endured unspeakable experiments, which Hanyeoreum knew from records.

Why would someone like her set herself aside to ensure that Gyeoul was cherished? It defied common sense.

“Saebyeok said she sometimes saw the world through Gyeoul’s eyes, didn’t she?”

“Yes, occasionally.”

“Then she might have seen something that made her feel Gyeoul deserved more compassion than her own suffering.”

“What…?”

Was Gyeoul’s suffering so horrific that even Saebyeok felt she deserved everyone’s love? Is that why she wanted others to care for Gyeoul?

Hanyeoreum’s mouth fell open. The idea that Gyeoul’s life could be more hellish than she imagined was hard to process.

Saebyeok had said she made Gyeoul brave and resilient to survive, stronger in will than anyone else.

A child with such a strong will, yet living life as if it were nothing, must have faced something truly unimaginable. Hanyeoreum clenched her fist.

“Or…”

“Is there something else?”

“…No, let’s stop. It’s all speculation.”

*Tap, tap*—Sophia tapped her cane thoughtfully. The idea that Saebyeok’s story about Gyeoul being “created” was to trigger guilt could be a lie.

But if that were the case, then where did Gyeoul, who had taken over Saebyeok’s body, come from? Sophia recalled what she had heard from a human mentor a hundred years ago about “possessors.”

They said possessors fought for control over one body, and the original owner ultimately prevailed.

‘It’s a good thing our kids aren’t fighting.’

Did Saebyeok read Gyeoul’s past? Was it so tragic that even she felt Gyeoul needed all the love she could get?

*Sigh*—Sophia shook her head, realizing her thoughts were getting out of hand.

‘I’m starting to feel like an overprotective parent.’

But it was all out of love for Gyeoul. Smiling to herself, Sophia suddenly noticed a familiar scent.

She turned toward the source and saw the children in a shocking state.

“Oh.”

They were covered head-to-toe in flour and sticky substances. Gooey liquid dripped from Gyeoul’s hair to the ground.

“Oh dear.”

“Oh my.”

Just look at those silly faces. They must have had a lot of fun. Sophia couldn’t help but clutch her head in disbelief at their messy appearance.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep