TOPWL 172

“Yeah, revenge is your right. Your anger isn’t something that money can erase.”

The child blinked, eyes wide—as if he hadn’t expected anyone to take his side. His cheek was flushed red. It was a mark from when he was hit for resisting Pavron. Yudit knelt on one knee and gently touched the child’s cheek. But even that made the child flinch in pain, and Yudit pulled back. It stung like saltwater poured over raw skin deep inside his chest.

“I’m sorry. I was the one who recommended him as a teacher. I didn’t investigate properly, and I let him hurt you. I’m truly sorry.”

Yudit bowed his head in apology. The three children stared wordlessly at him.

“You can resent me. You can even hit me if you want. I just hope this doesn’t leave a wound too deep inside you.”

Instead of answering, the children wrapped their arms around him. Their warmth swirled through his heart.

One after another, they began to cry. Their sorrowful weeping brought tears to Yudit’s own eyes.

He understood how unbearable it felt when no one tended to your pain. Yudit hugged them tightly, closing his eyes.

He felt he didn’t deserve to cry—but the tears rolled down his cheeks anyway, unbidden.

“I just… I just hope nothing like this ever happens again. I’m okay, because I’m the older brother… but I don’t want my little brother to suffer like I did.”

After sobbing for a long time, Luka finally spoke in a hoarse voice. Yudit met Luka’s gaze and answered:

“I promise. I’ll do my best to build a world where bad people are punished, and good people are rewarded.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. Really.”

“Promise?”

“I promise.”

One after another, the children held out their pinkies, and Yudit ended up linking fingers with all three.

As their little thumbs pressed against his, he thought: of all the promises he’d made in life, few felt as weighty as this one.

That evening, as the sun dipped below the horizon, Yudit headed home with the children.

Luka had been staying at Khalid’s estate, and when the other children heard that, they begged to stay too.

Yudit, knowing their situations, sought the guardians’ permission and took all of them to the estate.

There, they were treated to seafood-rich salad, piles of white bread, creamy stew brimming with vegetables, and a parade of cakes, tarts, and rice pudding—specially prepared by the chef upon hearing children would be coming.

The endless magic-like flow of food made their bellies round and full.

And after feeding them so well, it was time for baths.

Six attendants scrubbed and polished the three children.

Their stiff hair turned smooth like silk, their skin lightened by two tones.

Thanks to the dramatic transformation, they endured the two-hour bath happily.

Soaking in warm water made them drowsy in no time.

At their request, Yudit joyfully read fairy tales to them in the guest room.

But perhaps the stories were too entertaining—rather than getting sleepier, the children grew more wide-eyed as time passed.

In the end, Yudit fell asleep before he could finish the fourth book.

“Teacher Sun?”

“Is he sleeping?”

The children stared quietly at the deeply sleeping Yudit.

“So what happened to the hero?”

“….”

One child, curious about the ending, asked Yudit in vain.

When he didn’t respond, the child reached out to tug at his clothes—but Luka stopped him in time.

“Let’s just ask him to read it tomorrow.”

“Will we be able to come back tomorrow?”

“If we beg, maybe?”

“Let’s whine until he gives in.”

“Yeah! I want to live here forever.”

Unaware of the three kids whispering conspiratorially, Yudit continued to sleep soundly in dreamland.

One of the more bored children started braiding his hair.

“Hey, earlier… Teacher cried.”

“I saw it too.”

Another child agreed, joining in on the braiding.

“Grown-ups cry too, huh.”

“But someone told me Teacher Sun is actually a prince. That he’ll be emperor someday.”

“I heard that too. But they said emperors have no blood or tears. I guess princes are different.”

“Or maybe he’s just one of the weaker princes.”

Luka, now part of the braiding team, said this seriously.

“Then we’ll have to protect him, right?”

“Us? How?”

After thinking for a moment, one child rummaged through a drawer.

From the sewing kit inside, they pulled out a small pair of scissors, smiling proudly.

Then, stretching the blades wide, the child declared:

“Hold still, Teacher Sun.”

***

Yudit awoke feeling refreshed. It felt like he’d had his deepest sleep in ages. And yet, even though he was awake, it still felt like he was dreaming.

“…Khalid?”

Khalid was standing right in front of him. And half-naked at that. Yudit blinked in flustered surprise. He reached out to touch Khalid’s cheek, suddenly pale, but the texture was unmistakably Khalid’s. He flicked Khalid’s eyelashes with his thumb, tugged a bit of his hair, and was about to brush his eyebrows when Khalid suddenly pulled him into a tight hug.

“…!”

Startled, Yudit flailed in Khalid’s arms, and Khalid burst into laughter. That boyish, mischievous smile made Yudit’s heart pound helplessly.

“Khalid? Is it really you?”

“Yeah. Who else would be holding you in their arms like this?”

“…Of course it’s only you. When did you get here?”

“Dawn. I was going to sleep somewhere else so I wouldn’t wake you, but when I heard you were sleeping so cutely in my bed, how could I resist?”

Yudit’s earlobes turned red at Khalid’s words. Khalid’s bedroom was the place where his scent and pheromones were strongest. No wonder Yudit often came to sleep there on nights when he couldn’t rest—he always felt at ease in that space.

“You should’ve woken me.”

“I knew you fell asleep after midnight. How could I? And when I got into bed and you clung to me, I thought you were awake for a second—but I guess not.”

“I don’t remember that. I really did that?”

“You did. It made things a bit difficult for me.”

Yudit cleared his throat, understanding Khalid’s implication.

“If you want… we still can.”

Khalid spread his arms wide. Shirtless, wearing only a pair of pants, he was impossibly seductive. Yudit couldn’t take his eyes off Khalid’s broad chest. Noticing how thirsty Yudit was for him, Khalid approached with an alluring smile. As he began rubbing suggestively against him, Yudit’s head went dizzy.

He wanted to surrender to Khalid’s temptation, but the brightness outside the window tugged at his conscience.

Resolute, Yudit grabbed Khalid’s wrists and climbed on top of him. Khalid blinked up in surprise at Yudit’s sudden dominance. Yudit kissed his forehead and whispered:

“I really want to say yes, but I’m already running a bit late, so I think it’ll be hard.”

As if he’d expected it, Khalid let out a sigh.

“My prince is always busier than I am.”

Yudit gave a sheepish smile at Khalid’s sulky tone.

“I’ll come home early tonight to make it up to you.”

“Promise?”

“Yes.”

He realized he’d been making a lot of promises lately.

Yudit got up and began untying his robe to wash up. Sprawled out lazily on the bed, Khalid said,

“By the way, there’s something I hadn’t seen before.”

“What is it?”

“That thing around your neck.”

When Yudit removed his robe, the necklace around his neck was revealed.

“Oh, this? It was a gift.”

“From a guy?”

“From the kids.”

Khalid looked curious.

“Thread? It’s got a lot of colors…”

Touching the necklace, his expression turned odd.

“It’s hair.”

The triangular wooden piece had around ten grooves carved into it, each braided with strands of various hair colors.

“It’s a charm for good fortune. They say the blessing grows stronger when many people’s hair is mixed in. Mine’s in there too.”

Yudit hadn’t even realized some of his platinum hair had been cut—but there it was, clearly woven in.

The fact that his danger sense hadn’t triggered even while the kids snipped his hair left him slightly disappointed in himself.

The necklace, made not only from Luka and the two other children but also from strands gathered from the rest of the class, was colorful and charming—far more beautiful than one might expect from children.

The wooden base, he’d heard, was made by a carpentry student at the vocational school.

“I’m kind of jealous,” Khalid murmured, fiddling with the necklace.

“They’re just kids.”

“I know how much they adore you. At this rate, I’m going to have serious rivals in a few years.”

“That’s ridiculous.”

“Whether it’s ridiculous or not, we’ll see when the time comes.”

Yudit thought for a moment about himself and Khalid, a few years from now.

“Well… by then, we might have kids of our own, and they probably won’t care about someone like me anymore.”

At that, Khalid went quiet. His expression was almost dazed, and Yudit chuckled at the look on his face.