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Translator: penny
Chapter: 9
Chapter Title: What on Earth Did My Parents Say?
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It was futile.
The contract stamped with my seal was nothing more than a worthless scrap of paper.
The vault confirmation I'd trusted and gazed at so fondly had been forged from the start.
The payments for all the medicines I'd handed over to the merchant surely hadn't come back properly either. They'd probably pocketed every bit of money I'd saved up until now.
In the end, all that remained in my hands was a cheap green stone masquerading as genuine and a battered magic tool.
I couldn't even muster a thought about what to do next.
All I could manage was to suppress the sensation of my insides melting away.
Gritting my teeth, I ran back toward the orphanage.
Even amid the agony of blisters bursting and flesh tearing from my feet, I didn't stop. If anything, the pain propelled me onward even faster.
By the time I reached the orphanage, my socks were drenched in blood.
Yet I felt no pain whatsoever, so I flung open the door without hesitation and headed straight for the director's office.
"Hey! You until n—"
Eddy, whom I bumped into by chance, clamped his mouth shut the instant he saw my face. Annie, standing beside him, stared at me with wide, trembling eyes.
I ignored them both and shoved open the director's office door with all my might.
The director, seated at her desk, looked up with a scowl.
"Such rudeness, Bella. What do you think you're doing?"
Her eyes flew wide upon seeing my face.
"It was you, Director."
I knew I needed to stay calm right now, but I could no longer hold back the emotions roiling deep in my chest.
"What are you saying I did?"
"That merchant. This was all your scheme."
I'd simply thought it was good luck.
That my products had caught the merchant's eye by chance, and he'd approached me first.
But no.
From the very moment that merchant showed up, everything had been a carefully laid plan.
"You look like you've been scammed."
It was all started by someone's intent. Just one person who coveted my money and waited patiently for my downfall.
And that person was now eyeing me with a composed expression, as if she knew nothing at all.
"Then he's given you the most vital lesson any merchant can learn."
The director propped her chin on her hand, a venomous smile curling her lips as she regarded me.
"Never trust people lightly. Congratulations, Bella. You've taken your first step into adulthood."
Her mocking tone stabbed into my heart like an awl.
"Why are you tormenting me like this?"
My voice, thick with fury, barely came out.
Evidently taking delight in my state, the director's smile grew even more repulsive.
"If only you'd accepted my offer, none of this would have happened. This is the consequence of your own greed."
The director rose slowly from her chair and walked toward the safe in the corner of the room.
Her hand settled on the safe. Moments later, the clunk of metal gears engaging echoed as the door swung open.
Inside gleamed jewels and gold coins, alongside stacks of documents.
Each item looked precious and costly, but something else seized my gaze.
A familiar money pouch, mingled with tarnished silver and copper coins—the funds I'd asked the merchant to store in the safe.
"Give me my money back."
"Why would this be yours? I received it as a gift from someone."
"Give me back my money!"
Clenching my fists, I unleashed my pent-up rage in a shout.
The director gazed down at me with icy eyes.
"Sigh... Bella."
My body refused to calm. No matter how I tried to steady myself, the surging emotions defied control.
I'd sensed it vaguely since reincarnating.
No matter my efforts, my mind inevitably bowed to this child's body.
That was why I struggled to regulate my feelings. My tear-streaked face now was proof enough.
Being swindled was infuriating and unjust. Losing my hard-earned savings, too.
But overshadowing it all was the bitter sting of my utter powerlessness.
Slap—!
A sharp sting bloomed across my face, snapping my head aside.
Before I could cradle my throbbing cheek, her palm whistled from the other side.
Slap—!
My body, unable to endure the second blow, rolled across the floor.
"Bella, you should be grateful to me."
"..."
"Even with your insolence, I'm still offering you a chance."
She retrieved a few sheets of paper and a pen from the safe, then approached with impassive eyes.
"I'll give you that pathetic little pouch—and the bank vault you craved so badly."
She let one document flutter from her grasp. It landed at my feet with a rustle.
The paper bore a bold guardian's signature authorizing my vault ownership.
"And I'll formalize that contract you made with the merchant."
She dropped another sheet. It listed every clause from our prior agreement, verbatim.
The guardian signature line there also bore the director's name.
"You'll reclaim every coin you were owed, and the contract will proceed flawlessly. Word is, your wares are gaining traction in the empire."
I stared blankly at the two documents before me.
All I'd yearned for, handed over with mere strokes of her pen.
The papers seemed to whisper: without her, I was nothing but a helpless orphan.
"The orphanage takes just eighty percent. Generous terms, wouldn't you say?"
She flashed two fingers with a gentle smile.
"...Why?"
I couldn't comprehend it.
All I wanted was to enroll in the academy. Just to scrape together the tuition.
Why did everything I touched twist into this nightmare?
"Bella, just sign here. No need to fret."
Her fingertip tapped the final document.
Another contract, stark and simple—bearing only my name and hers.
"One of the rare contracts you can sign at your age."
"Personal protection contract...?"
I murmured, gazing numbly at the page.
It stipulated that until I married and bore a child, I'd entrust my entire person to the director.
My current status tied me to this orphanage, making her the natural proxy guardian.
But signing this would make her my true legal guardian.
"You asked why I'm going to such lengths?"
I met the director's gaze.
I'd always seen only loathing there.
But now, I glimpsed something worse.
A cloying, unspeakable revulsion coiled serpent-like in her eyes.
"I thought a diligent slave like you would be useful. Haven't met a child quite so devoted. You'll aid my life immensely."
She reached out languidly, as if to pat my head.
My body recoiled on instinct. I scrambled back, away from her.
Irked by my retreat, her face twisted as she advanced.
Without pause, she reared back her foot and slammed it into my torso.
"Ugh...!"
A cry clawed up my throat. Pain engulfed me as I crumpled to the floor.
The director unleashed a barrage of kicks on my prone form, unhesitating.
"Can't you see what a golden opportunity this is? Don't you appreciate my generosity?"
I bit my lip raw to stifle my groans. I refused to let her see me suffer.
"That's why your parents dumped a stubborn brat like you on the street, isn't it?"
Her kicks showed no sign of stopping.
Against an adult woman's full might, my frail child's body offered no resistance. All I could do was endure.
Only after thoroughly trampling me did she step back, seemingly sated.
She scooped up the fallen pen and thrust it toward me.
"Your last chance. The only path to a human life."
My body throbbed everywhere. The ceaseless pain clouded my mind.
Vision dimming by degrees. In that haze, one thought surfaced:
'...Should I kill her?'
I had a dream.
A dream unfulfilled in my powerless past life—one I yearned to chase in this one.
But the dream I'd clung to through all my endurance no longer took shape in my thoughts.
I simply felt it would be bliss if this vile woman died.
I didn't care about repercussions. Right now, I craved only this newborn dream.
"Sign it. Then you'll enjoy so many privileges."
But the price: until marriage, a life bound under her thumb.
I might never break free, not a single step, my whole life.
Yes. Better dead than that.
As she said, maybe I was incapable.
A frail orphan, shackled by birth, powerless to escape.
But even I—even dedicating my life—could kill the woman before me.
"Sign it, Bella."
She nodded meekly. A smile finally graced the director's lips.
"Hand me the pen."
The director obliged for once. A sharp-tipped pen soon filled my grasp.
This would do it.
"From now on, I'll obey you completely, Director."
The director's eyes widened in astonishment.
"Never dreamed I'd see you so compliant."
"Like you said... entrusting my life to you feels easiest."
"Hohoho! Exactly! Behave, and I'll toss you the occasional bonus."
"But... one small favor?"
"Favor?"
Even that irked her; her eyes narrowed.
But seeing what I did next, bewilderment washed over her face.
I rose on tiptoe before her, arms flung wide.
"Just once... could you hug me?"
"...What?"
"I want to feel affection from the one taking charge of me, even once."
The director knew full well I despised human touch.
This was uncharted territory for me. Perhaps that's why a faint flush colored her cheeks.
"Bella! Adorable! You can play cute like this! Yes, with you under me long-term, this much is natural! Come here!"
The director opened her arms and closed in.
The instant her skin met mine, disgust would revolt my body.
Given my phobia, I'd black out in under a minute. But that was plenty.
She knelt to my level. Her arms encircled me slowly.
Unblinking, I fixed on her neck. Slender woman's throat. I hunted the faint line amid pulsing veins.
The moment it appeared, I clenched the pen and lunged for her neck.
Or tried to.
Until an unseen force locked my body rigid midway.
"Pleasing."
That was when it happened.
A voice sounded from behind my frozen form.
Imperious yet exquisitely refined.
So abrupt. Not mine, not the director's—a voice unheard before.
Stunned, the director and I blinked and whispered:
"What—who are you?"
As I turned toward the intruder, matching her quaver—
Something seized my nape. My world lurched upward.
Hoisted airborne, I dropped the pen.
Legs and arms dangled limply. Then my body twirled once midair.
Vision inverted. And there—crimson irises, blood-soaked.
Those eyes met mine. Terror iced my veins.
She was a woman.
Terrifying enough to quake my soul, yet nobly captivating, impossible to look away.
Beauty near perfection—scarcely human.
"It's you?"
She regarded me steadily.
Her blazing gaze promised to consume me whole.
Utterly frigid, devoid of warmth—I was speechless.
"But..."
Her scarlet lips parted.
That melodic timbre flowed forth again.
"What kid is this skinny?"