When I Find You (2)
A monastery on a cold winter day.
The red-haired girl, who was able to reach this place with the help of an old blacksmith, discovered the pitiful sight in front of her.
“Madam Mother Superior! “Please open it!”
A woman knocking on the door of a monastery that was locked as tightly as a cold winter day.
“It’s Marcela! “Please open the door!”
Marcela’s voice was cracking, as was her disheveled black hair.
And behind her, the girls were shivering from the cold and anxiety.
Like Gemina, they were young prostitutes who were about to make their debut.
“……Marcella?”
The door that seemed to be firmly closed opens.
An old nun was looking at the uninvited guest who came late at night with uncomfortable eyes.
“What’s going on here this night…”
“Ah! Mother Superior!”
Marcella held onto the old nun as if she had found light in the darkness.
“Please take care of these children. “They are poor children.”
“What is this…”
The superior nun frowned as she saw Marcella asking her to take care of the children, not only because of her sudden visit.
This was not just a violation of etiquette, it was an act that went too far.
“I said something. “Go back!”
When I wondered what was going on, it seemed like something had happened in the back alley.
Otherwise, the woman who always smiles leisurely would not cry as urgently as she does now.
“Director! please!”
“This is not a place for just anyone!”
The superior nun expressed her displeasure when she saw the children standing behind Marcela.
Since they were children brought in by prostitutes, they must have been girls working in a dirty place.
This is one of the closest places to God.
We can’t contain such dirty children.
“No!”
There was a thigh hurriedly squeezed through the gap in the door that was hurriedly trying to close.
“These children are virgins. “These are the children the bishop was watching over!”
“…….”
Virgin prostitutes.
Contradictory beings created by the Bishop of Shoara, who abhors pedophilia.
The superior nun also knew those children well.
“Even so, I can’t accept it so suddenly…”
“Why not! “How much money have I devoted to this?”
Late night. An angry voice echoes in front of a quiet convent.
The nun was surprised to see Marcela, who had looked pitiful just a moment ago, but had suddenly changed.
“That money alone is enough to feed the kids here for 10 years! “Is what I’m asking that difficult?”
The nun was momentarily overwhelmed as she looked at Marcela, whose eyes had changed into those of a lioness trying to protect her cubs.
“Move!”
When the superior nun retreated at her desperate and resolute cry, Marcela opened the convent door wide and spoke to the girls behind her.
“Go in!”
“Madame.”
“What are you going to do Madam?”
“Just worry about you guys.”
Seeing the sobbing and hesitating girls, Marcella firmly grabbed their shoulders and pushed them into the convent.
“Let’s replace the overdue salary with this.”
One by one.
Children who enter the arms of God through the touch of a prostitute.
“Marcella….”
“Yes. great job.”
Marcella smiled as she held Gemina’s face, frozen by the cold wind, in her hands.
“You and I both did what we had to do. Guys usually don’t finish things well.”
When even the reluctant Jeminna was allowed into the convent, the head nun blocked the way, as if she could not give up on this much.
“You can’t.”
God’s embrace is wide, but getting there requires qualifications.
Marcella, a debaucherous prostitute, was a woman unworthy of entering the arms of God.
“…I didn’t want it anyway.”
Marcella stopped in front of the rules set by humans, not gods.
However, Marcella fulfilled her responsibility until the end, as she succeeded in safely sending the children in her arms to another nest.
“Please take care of me. “Everyone will do well.”
“…….”
The poor woman was helplessly left alone in the dark.
Someone’s greedy hand eventually reached this place.
There was a figure of Marcella being dragged through the gap in the door that was gradually closing.
Holding my hair in the darkness of a cold winter day.
“Marcel…la.”
That was the last sight of the outside world that Gemina saw.
※※※※
“Today, we will pray with our children here.”
“…The chapel is big and looks nice.”
Vlad kept looking around the convent under the guidance of the head nun.
I knew it was rude, but I was wondering if there might be a familiar redhead among the trainee nuns passing by.
“And there are people waiting to pray with the driver. Can I pray with them? “Grace is multiplied the more you share it.”
However, the girl he was looking for was nowhere to be seen, and only unexpected guests were waiting for Vlad.
‘…It was like this.’
For some reason, it seems that he had an ulterior motive behind delaying his visit to the convent.
Vlad was still a minor figure in the world of true nobles and knights, but he was also an attractive enough figure to those who were looking up from the bottom.
They probably tried to trick the nun in order to establish a relationship with Bayezid.
“…You will do that. It is an honour.”
“Thank you for your consideration.”
Although he didn’t like the idea of someone trying to use him, Vlad had no choice but to follow the lead nun.
‘You goth bastard.’
Vlad thought of Goth and sighed inwardly.
This is because he boasted that he had applied for a visit, but he did not actually say that he was planning to bring Gemina with him.
‘In the end, I have to do everything.’
Therefore, Vlad had no choice but to look as good as possible to the superior nun.
In order to suddenly ask for something that wasn’t planned, you’ll have to show at least a little bit of positivity.
“…….”
While listening to the superior nun explaining the history of the convent, Vlad absentmindedly touched the unadorned sword hanging at his waist.
For the sake of the girl who gave me this sword, I could bear this level of annoyance.
It was as if he had lived through the tears of this dark girl who had been with him all this time.
※※※※
A busier morning at the convent than usual.
It wasn’t the same as always, but Jemina just silently dipped her hand into the dishwashing container while looking at the scenery she had seen from time to time.
‘Looks like someone is coming today too.’
Sometimes there were days like this.
A day to pray together with people outside the country.
“That’s awesome! “You’re so handsome!”
“Blonde hair and blue eyes! “What kind of nobleman are you!”
Due to the nature of the convent, where news from the outside does not spread well, the rumor about the man who visited today was clearly stimulating the girls’ imagination.
“……”
But those stories were completely irrelevant to Jemina.
Having grown up in the back alleys, she knew the harsh reality better than anyone else here.
I didn’t want to waste time doing something like a fairy tale that girls dream of.
“Why are you still fussing? Everyone, get ready to go to the chapel!”
The trainee nuns quickly finish washing dishes following the shouts of the house supervisor who entered the kitchen.
However, in the area where Gemini was located, there was still a pile of dishes to wash.
This was the result of no one helping and even passing it on to others.
“…….”
Marcella’s children, who had come with Gemini, were paying attention to the head nun’s yelling.
However, just as Jemina gritted her teeth and endured, the children were also doing their best to survive in an unfamiliar place.
Even if it is an act of ignoring Gemina.
“You should finish all that.”
“……yes.”
Even as everyone was leaving according to the instructions of the head nun, Jemina stood alone in front of the dishwasher.
In the empty kitchen, all you can hear is the sound of splashing water.
Here, Jemina was extremely alone.
“…Now there’s no one to complain about having eczema.”
In a quiet kitchen with no one around, the girl quietly remembered someone.
For the girl, the only strength that could get her through the day was the image of Marcella who sacrificed herself for them and the last promise the boy left behind.
※※※※
A chapel where everyone gathered except for one person.
Here, filled with sunlight on a sunny afternoon, the girls were whispering and expressing their pounding hearts.
Rumored article. A possibility that Bayezid focuses on.
Someone who has all the qualities that girls in their prime would be interested in will come here.
“A special guest came today. He comes from the Bayezid family and is also vouched for by Priest Andrew.”
The girls were muttering, repeating the name that the superior nun had said.
Anyone who lives in the northern part of the County of Bayezid would not know the name Andrea.
No matter how much effort he made, he would not have been able to create the current situation with just his status as a squire.
The girls were nodding to each other, saying that there was indeed a good reason.
The man coming here now was a man who came with great pillars behind his back.
“Let’s pray.”
Everyone here bowed their heads as the head nun proceeded.
The girls let out silent screams once again at the sight of the blond man bowing his head in prayer.
Because the posture of prayer was so natural.
Just by looking at his posture, you could tell how faithful he was.
The girls’ hearts were racing at the sight of him not being an uncultured person who only pursues a sword.
‘…Quickly go in and stand!’
‘sorry.’
Jemina, who had finally finished washing the remaining dishes, quickly went to a corner and took a seat, noticing the nuns glaring at her.
‘……phew.’
Fortunately, it’s not too late.
Zemina breathed a sigh of relief, as a harsh reprimand awaited her if she was too late or absent for such an event.
But the girl probably didn’t know.
That the blonde man who was pretending to pray up there was constantly looking for him.
Also, I noticed that the redhead was the last one to come in here.
After the prayer.
After polite greetings and laughter,
When all that remains is networking with people under the guise of lunch.
‘huh?’
Jemina, who had just finished praying and raised her head, seemed to make eye contact with the blond man standing in front of the altar.
“……?”
And from the moment our eyes met, Jemina could not take her eyes off the man.
The gorgeous hair color naturally attracted people’s attention, but that wasn’t why Jemina stared at the blonde man.
Because it resembled someone he knew.
“…Tsk.”
Vlad, who was coming down the altar in step with the Mother Superior and the guests she had invited, began to frown as if he had discovered something unpleasant.
“Is there a problem?”
When Vlad clicked his tongue and showed signs of discomfort, the nun asked with a smile.
“…You’re too skinny. “Are you feeding your kids properly?”
“yes?”
The head nun was startled for a moment by the tone of voice that seemed as if he was criticizing her.
“huh?”
“No…”
Vlad uttered one word and walked down the altar alone.
The VIPs and girls who came here were taken aback by the man’s attitude, which was different from before and showed a lack of etiquette.
Jemina was like that too.
The feeling of embarrassment was a little different, though.
‘Huh?’
The sight of a blonde man coming closer and closer.
As her vision became clearer, Jemina became embarrassed by the feeling of someone in her memories approaching.
He was a person who should not and could not be here.
“……”
Vlad stood in front of the girl with a frown.
The eyes of everyone here were focused, but the boy didn’t care.
Who cares who sees it?
I came this far for this moment.
“……hey.”
Despite Vlad’s blunt call, Jemina only blinked her big eyes and didn’t even move.
He stood like that, as if he couldn’t accept the current situation.
‘It’s Vlad.’
Those words kept echoing in the girl’s head, but she couldn’t accept them in her heart.
‘Is it Vlad?’
Zemina was Vlad, but she didn’t know what to do when a man who didn’t look like Vlad was staring at her.
Shiny black cloak, expensive-looking black-gray leather armor.
And with his shiny blonde hair and handsomely plump face, he was clearly different from the skinny boy he had known.
‘I don’t think so.’
However, there was a fundamental reason why Gemina did not recognize Vlad.
The Vlad in Gemina’s mind was a boy, but the Vlad in front of her now had become a man.
Broader shoulders and taller height.
And that green one looking down at oneself…
“Here, they don’t even feed you properly and don’t let you wash your clothes.”
“huh?”
Jemina was taken aback when she saw the boy suddenly disappearing in front of her.
“……under. Mr. Lee.”
Vlad made a sound that I couldn’t tell if he was angry or upset, and was kneeling down on one knee and wiping away the dirt on the front of Gemina.
It was a dirty stain that Jemina was unable to wipe away.
“……what?”
“Did you know each other?”
Everyone here was shocked to see the promising knight whom Bayezid was paying attention to, kneeling in front of an ugly-looking girl.
In particular, the girls who had been tormenting Jemina for so long were unable to even breathe.
“Like Mojiri, what is this? Hey, aren’t you answering?”
“……huh!”
Only after feeling the boy’s warm caress did Jemina realize who the person in front of her was.
“Huh! Hee hee!”
Vlad frowned slightly as he looked at the girl with many tears gathering in her big eyes.
“…It’s a hassle, let’s go out today.”
Zemina stroked the head of Vlad, who was kneeling in front of her.
It wasn’t something I did consciously, but I felt like I had to do it.
Because I had to feel it.
The feel of it at your fingertips.
It was a little more shiny, but it had the same feel as the boy back then.
“Now let’s go home.”
“—-!”
She tried to hold back, but Vlad’s last words hit the girl hard in the chest.
“Huh-uh-!”
In front of everyone.
The red-haired girl had no choice but to shed tears that would not stop even if she tried to stop them.
Let’s go home.
A homeless girl was something I had never heard of before.
The outcast children of the back alleys who had no home, no parents, and nothing to eat, were each other’s home and parents.
The girl shed tears as she recalled that winter day when they wrapped each other in a blanket.
In the chapel where everyone was silent, only the girl’s cries were heard.
however.
No matter how loud it is.
For today, God will have no choice but to listen to the girl’s cries.
Because the girl was more grateful to God than any other priest in the world.
The boy who was showered with trash kept his promise.
It was a promise that he would definitely come back.
