“What’s your name?”
Karina asked the pickpocket child.
“……”
The child frowned and kept his mouth shut.
“Don’t you have a mouth? I’m asking what your name is.”
“……Rice bug.”
“What?”
Karina was surprised.
“Did your parents give you that name?”
“I don’t have parents.”
“Why?”
“Because I’m an orphan.”
The child answered irritably, as if she should have known that.
“Then who… gave you that name?”
“That’s just what they call me at the orphanage.”
“……”
The child who said this didn’t seem to have any particular emotion about it.
“Why did you steal the money pouch?”
“Because I was hungry. Why do you keep asking these things?”
Karina was rather flustered by the child’s words.
So she asked again.
“Was it true that you hadn’t eaten for four days?”
The child snorted at Karina’s words.
“Why? Are you going to buy me bread if it’s true?”
“This little brat.”
Mikhail ruffled the child’s hair with his hand at the child’s brazen attitude.
“Ah, it’s heavy!”
The child’s effort to shake off his hand while glaring up at him was in vain.
“What about your sick sibling?”
“……!”
The child’s body flinched when the word ‘sibling’ was mentioned.
‘So the sibling thing was true.’
She could tell immediately from the child’s reaction.
Karina, pondering what to do, crossed her arms.
Seeing this, the child suddenly rushed to explain.
“I stole the money pouch alone! It has nothing to do with my siblings!”
“Siblings?”
“Ah!”
The child bit his lip as if he had made a mistake.
It was something that could have been guessed from the moment he mentioned the orphanage anyway.
“You said orphanage earlier, right? So you’re talking about the siblings who are with you at the orphanage?”
“……”
The child was frozen with a pale face.
“If they’re sick, they need treatment. Didn’t the orphanage director take them to the hospital?”
“That bastard only thinks about money. He doesn’t care if we’re sick or starving to death!”
When the director was mentioned, the child didn’t hide his expression of disgust.
“So you were trying to steal money to take your sick sibling to the hospital?”
“……”
Though he didn’t answer, the child’s eyes were getting redder.
It was visible that he was trying not to cry, probably thinking about his sick sibling.
‘Hah, should I call this good or bad?’
Karina sighed.
“Lead the way.”
“What?”
The child was confused by Karina’s abrupt words.
“I said lead the way to the orphanage.”
“Why… why?”
The child’s eyes trembled anxiously.
He seemed to misunderstand that Karina wanted to go to the orphanage because of his pickpocketing.
The child suddenly knelt down.
“I’m sorry! I won’t do it again. Please forgive me just this once. Please?”
He begged earnestly, even rubbing his hands together.
‘You were acting so brazen earlier.’
It was proof of how much the child cared about his siblings.
“Get up. I’m not going to tell the orphanage director.”
“Then why……”
The child started to look around cautiously.
Originally, matters related to helping the poor in the North, charity work, and volunteer services should have been handled by the Grand Duchess.
But now, all of these tasks were being managed by Caroline, not Karina, who was the actual Grand Duchess.
‘I’ve been too complacent. There’s no way Caroline is handling those tasks properly.’
She hadn’t thought about this fact, being preoccupied with the matters right in front of her.
She felt guilty, thinking that she was partly to blame for the child’s unfair and unjust reality.
‘I don’t want to create work for myself, but I have no choice.’
“……Is this the place?”
“Yes.”
Karina stood in front of the orphanage that the child had nervously and hesitantly guided her to.
It was a completely different place from the orphanage she had imagined.
An orphanage surrounded by broken wooden fences here and there.
It was embarrassing to even call it a fence.
The wall, which probably used to be white, was dirty with water stains from melted ice and frost.
The main gate, which looked fine at first glance, was so old up close that it seemed like it would fall apart at any moment.
Several windows were already broken, with wooden boards placed over them and the remaining gaps filled with stones and mud as a temporary measure.
Judging by the haphazard appearance, it looked like it had been done by a child with clumsy skills rather than an adult.
“These days, do they call abandoned, dilapidated houses orphanages?”
Mikhail’s words were not an exaggeration; the orphanage showed no signs of management at all.
“How many of you live here together?”
“Including me, 15 people.”
“15 people?”
‘In a place like this?’
The orphanage building, judged by its exterior, looked so shabby that it would be cramped even for one family to live in.
“Is that possible?”
As Karina muttered in surprise, Mikhail responded.
“It’s only possible because they’re children. Just looking at it, proper food, clothing, and shelter seem impossible.”
Just then, as if sensing people outside, there was an unpleasant screeching sound that grated on the ears as the door opened.
A small child’s head peeked out through the slightly opened door.
“Oh, elder brother!”
The small child’s expression brightened upon seeing the pickpocket boy.
“Kids, come out. Elder brother is here!”
“Really?”
The old wooden door swung open wide, and children with scruffy appearances rushed out.
“Elder brother!”
“Elder brother, did you get something to eat?”
“We’re so hungry.”
Karina nodded to Mikhail.
On their way here, they had bought snacks like bread and cookies.
Of course, they didn’t know there would be so many children, so the amount wasn’t that much.
“If I had known there were this many children, I would have bought more.”
“I’ll go get some more.”
When Mikhail put down the food in front of the children, exclamations burst from their mouths.
“Wow.”
“It’s food!”
“Can we really eat this?”
Karina answered the children who were asking with shining eyes.
“Let’s go inside and eat first.”
The pickpocket boy gathered all the orphanage children in the largest room.
Even though it was called the largest room, once the children were seated and the food was spread out, there was no space left for Karina to sit.
The gathered children were busy stuffing food into their mouths.
“Eat slowly so you don’t choke.”
“Be careful with the cups so you don’t spill the juice.”
“Don’t fight, I’ll give you more.”
The pickpocket boy took care of his younger siblings in a way that didn’t match his age.
Meanwhile, Mikhail arrived with his arms full of more food.
“You came back quickly.”
“Well, this much is nothing.”
Mikhail showed a confident expression with a shrug.
Karina and Mikhail watched from a distance as the orphanage children ate.
As they continued to watch, they noticed that the pickpocket boy was so busy taking care of the younger children one by one that he hadn’t eaten anything himself.
“You eat too.”
Karina, who was standing outside the room watching, said.
“I’ll eat a little later.”
“Why not eat together now?”
As Karina looked at him with a puzzled expression, Mikhail, who was standing next to her, said as if he understood.
“You’re going to take care of your sick sibling, right?”
The boy nodded.
“……!”
Karina was a bit surprised.
Earlier he had just seemed like a sharp-tongued kid, but his adult-like behavior in taking care of his siblings at the orphanage was quite impressive.
“Your sibling?”
When Karina asked, the boy answered readily.
“In the next room.”
The place the boy guided Karina and Mikhail to was the smallest room in the orphanage.
A few wooden boards were added to the window to block the gaps.
Even so, it couldn’t completely block out the cold draft from outside.
The already small room looked even more cramped with various odds and ends piled up on one side.
‘Can people really live in a place like this?’
It was low and narrow, requiring adults to bend down to enter.
It seemed like it might have originally been used as a storage room.
In one corner of the room, on the floor covered with several layers of cloth, lay a small, young child.
Even though it was said to be several layers of cloth, it was so thin that it seemed meaningless to have laid it out.
Nevertheless, it looked like an attempt to somehow remove a bit of the coldness from the freezing floor.
“You keep a sick child in a place like this?”
Karina asked, frowning as she looked around the room.
“It wasn’t this bad when the previous director was here. He took really good care of us until he passed away last year due to a chronic illness.”
“The previous director? So the current director is a new person?”
“Yes. Everything got worse after the new director came. He probably sold all the usable things from the old orphanage for drinking money. When I went back to get them, there was hardly anything left.”
“I don’t know if you’re aware, but in the North, we’re implementing something called a poverty relief program. It’s a program to help those in difficult circumstances.”
She was about to ask if this orphanage was also included in that program.
She thought that with 15 children living here, there was no way they wouldn’t be receiving that support.
Sure enough.
“I know about that. The same person comes to the orphanage regularly at certain times.”
“Then……”
Karina’s expression brightened for a moment. But it returned to normal immediately with the boy’s next words.
“That person also changed to someone else when the new director came. And even if we receive support, none of it comes to us.”
“……”
“He’s selling off the things we have, so there’s no way he’d spend the money on us.”
The child pursed his lips in dissatisfaction and continued speaking.
“I think the new director wants to drive all the children out of the orphanage. Mitchel was also… Ah!”
The boy who was speaking paused for a moment, then told them that the sick child lying down was named Mitchel, and continued.
“Mitchel was almost kicked out of the orphanage completely. The director said it would be bad luck if he died in the orphanage, so he told him to leave.”
“What?”
Karina felt disgusted by the orphanage director she had never met.
“I said I would take care of his medicine and food myself, so he was barely allowed to stay.”
The boy’s voice was calm as he answered like that.
‘So that’s why he was pickpocketing.’
“……”
Karina couldn’t find the words to say.
“So you’ve been working hard to take care of your younger siblings?”
Mikhail, who had been listening beside her, smiled and patted the boy’s head.
“You’re a great elder brother.”
The boy’s ears turned bright red at those words.
“That… well, there’s no one else to do it……”
Unlike before, the boy didn’t struggle to push away Mikhail’s hand.
‘He’s really admirable.’
Seeing the child who was embarrassed but didn’t reject Mikhail’s touch, her feelings became complicated.
‘He’s still just a child too……’
Karina swallowed her bitterness.
Instead of comforting the child, Karina just looked around the space where the children were living once more.
Seeing Karina examining the room, Mikhail spoke up.
“Even a healthy person would catch pneumonia in a place like this.”
Mikhail was right.
The air was stale, and dust could be seen settled between the objects.
Looking around again, it was a place harmful to health.
“Huu.”
Karina let out a deep sigh.
‘I didn’t expect to have another task so soon.’
With an expression that said she had no choice, Karina called Mikhail.
“Mikhail. I think we need to go back to that tavern again. Tell them that in addition to what we requested earlier, there’s more work I’d like them to do.”
“Yes. I understand.”
Mikhail, who had nodded and answered well before leaving, returned quickly.
“You didn’t already go, did you?”
Mikhail chuckled at Karina’s question and answered.
“Not this time.”
“Then why? Did you forget something?”
“No, it’s not that……”
Mikhail scratched the back of his head and finally spoke.
“I felt uneasy leaving the Grand Duchess alone.”
“What?”
“Let’s just go together.”
“What is there to be uneasy about? I’m going to stay here with these children.”
“You could get into a dangerous situation while I’m gone, like before.”
Karina thought Mikhail’s worry was excessive.
It wasn’t like on the street earlier, and what danger could there be for her in an orphanage with only children?
“That won’t happen, so hurry and go.”
“Even if you say that, I can’t help feeling anxious.”
“I’m telling you it’s really fine. What could possibly happen in a place with only children?”
As she was trying to persuade Mikhail to go to the tavern…
“These rotten brats, leaving all the doors open. Hey! Stop whining about the cold and close the doors!”
A gruff voice shouting loudly was heard from outside the orphanage.
An Indifferent Woman is the One Men Desire the Most
One-line summary: The female lead is actually cold-hearted and extremely rational. She has stage-by-stage relationships and won’t two-time, but there will always be someone who secretly likes her.
This novel has the following triggers, so if you’re sensitive to these, please don’t read:
1. The female lead has had many relationships, but she treated each one seriously and broke up properly.
It’s just that the men unilaterally pestered her incessantly. For the female lead, when she doesn’t like someone anymore, she simply doesn’t like them.
(This applies to her relationships with Male Lead 1, 2, 3, and 4 as well, but she’s loyal in each 1-on-1 relationship!)
2. In this novel, Male Lead 2 and the female lead kiss in a car, and Male Lead 1 sees it and beats up Male Lead 2.
The female lead calls the police and sends both Male Lead 1 and 2 to the police station! Male Lead 1 begs the female lead not to break up with him.
3. Male Lead 1 has a gentle appearance but an obsessive personality.
Male Lead 2 has a delicate and soft appearance, slightly green tea-like (two-faced).
Male Lead 3 is a youthful college student and a smart person who has secretly liked the female lead for a long time.
Male Lead 4 is the female lead’s father’s special assistant, a business elite with deep, hidden thoughts.
4. At the beginning of this novel, the female lead has already broken up with Male Lead 1 (Chapter 4) and gotten back together with Male Lead 2 (ex-boyfriend).
5. Enter with caution if you have triggers!!!
