Chapter 74: Dream [2]

“Couldn’t we visit later?”

Noah complained.

Nina wanted to visit the market today, so Soi had suggested the three of them go together.

As for Nina’s insistence, she wanted to buy some candies for Soi that she had seen the other noble kids eat.

And Soi, being himself, didn’t refuse the request—or more accurately, the threat—from the little girl.

Soi didn’t reply to Noah’s grumbling, as it was an everyday thing for him.

Noah would always complain from time to time about any random thing.

His mood swings had no logic.

Soi remembered that one time when Noah simply refused to bathe for an entire week.

The reason being…

Water wasn’t blue?!

Now the logic behind that statement was still a mystery to this day.

“There!”

Soi was brought out of his thoughts by Nina’s adorable voice as she pointed at a stall on the right side of the street.

Well, calling it a stall would have been an understatement, as it was something closer to a shop.

“Uh, Nina…”

Soi hesitated while looking at the stall. He didn’t want to upset the girl, but seeing the line of young nobles before the shop made him think twice.

When Nina had informed him about the candies, Soi had taken it as some sort of food that was in demand, but he never imagined it to be exclusive to this stall.

“Nina, let’s go somewhere else, okay? The line here is long; you will tire your legs out.”

Soi tried to convince Nina, but…

“B-Brother?”

Her puppy eyes made Soi change his decision.

Glancing at Noah once, who now had a serious look on his face, Soi made his way to the stall.

They waited for nearly thirty minutes before being able to place their orders.

As the stall owner was preparing the candies for them, a young noble pushed Nina aside, who was standing behind Soi.

“Aah!”

Nina fell on her knees.

“Nina!”

Seeing her, both Soi and Noah rushed towards her to make sure she was fine.

As Nina looked at them, her eyes grew moist.

Noah made her stand, dusting the clothes at the same time.

“Oyy! What was that for?”

Soi asked, looking at the noble.

“Huh. You have a sharp tongue for filth.”

The young noble, who appeared to be around twelve years of age, barked at Soi.

“They need to be taught a lesson to know their places.”

The kids beside the noble, supposedly his friends, backed him up as they moved toward Soi.

Soi knew it would have been a bad choice to confront them, but seeing Nina suffering due to their arrogance angered him.

He stepped forward, but before speaking, his eyes grew darker.

The guards accompanying the nobles stepped in between.

“Bring that girl over here,” the young noble ordered his guards.

Nodding their heads, they pushed Soi aside and grabbed Nina by her hands.

“Stop, you bastards!”

Noah tried to resist, but the guards quickly overwhelmed him.

One of them grabbed Noah by his head and slammed him into the ground, stopping him from doing anything foolish before the young lord.

While the other guard dragged Nina, not caring for her condition.

“We will report you! Stop this instant.”

Soi tried to protest but was stopped with a punch to his core.

“Cough…”

Blood spilled from his mouth, but his eyes never left Nina.

“Stop, please…”

He pleaded, but words without power were meaningless.

“L-Leave me. Go away!”

Nina protested, her eyes welling up as the guard dropped her before the young lord.

“Oh! Look at this pretty face. She will grow to become a fine woman.”

The young lord laughed in amusement, with the other kids joining him.

“Bro… Should we just take her?”

“Yeah. My cottage is free at the moment.”

“Hehhe… Why refuse a free slave?”

One of the kids licked his lips in excitement.

Seeing their exchange, anger boiled in Noah’s mind… but he was powerless to resist.

“Aaghhh!”

As Noah tried to lift himself, the guard slammed him into the ground again.

“Hey, look here.”

The young lord lifted Nina’s face by her chin.

As Nina looked up to meet his gaze—

Slap!

“Nina!”

“Nina!”

Both Soi and Noah shouted at the same time.

A deep red mark appeared on her right cheek.

“You see… I love equality!”

Slap!

The young lord slapped the other cheek to even out the hand marks that literally glowed on her previously bright skin.

More tears spilled from Nina’s eyes.

“Sorry… Hic… It hurts… Sniff.”

Nina whimpered under the stinging pain on both sides of her face.

The young noble kid kept observing her for a few moments, and—

Slap!

Slap!

“Heehhaaha!”

Slap!

Slap!

One after the other, his hand moved in rhythmic motions, slapping the little girl’s face until it became a shade of blue from the accumulated injuries.

Nina’s eyes had swollen up under the rapid slaps that hit her left and right.

The noble then grabbed her by her hair and—

Bam!

Slammed her face into his knee.

“Stop!”

Noah’s shouts were drowned by the chuckles from all the noble kids present at the scene.

Blood began to flow from Nina’s nose, her head dropping…

Thud!

Her body then dropped to the ground.

“Huh? I hadn’t even begun the show.”

The young lord shoved his boot onto Nina’s face, which was parallel to the ground.

“Oyy! Wake up.”

He repeatedly stamped her head, but…

No response.

Nina didn’t move an inch.

“Tsk. Filthy commoners… Can’t even last a second.”

The young lord had a disappointed look on his face.

One of the guards who stood nearby approached the girl to wake her up. He knew his lord’s tendencies… and attracting trouble was his everyday habit.

Not wanting these commoners to suffer more, he moved his hand toward the girl, who he felt had fallen unconscious from the strike.

“Huh?!”

The guard froze as his hand lingered on the girl’s neck, checking for her pulse.

“What? Let’s go. And—”

“Master… S-She’s dead.”

The guard interrupted the young lord’s words.

“…”

“…”

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