NOVEL NEXT chapter 4
4 – Episode 4
The old man extends his hand to me, who is stingy.
I took the hand and followed the old man.
I walked for about 5 minutes and entered a building.
“Old man, what is this little boy?”
“This is the child brought by the master.
You’ll find out soon, so take care of it and wash it.
I’ll be back in about 3 or 4 hours, so you just have to wash it clean until then.”
“Okay!”
The butler said that and started walking somewhere.
Maybe something to do.
The maid asked by the butler took me to her bathroom and brought her colleague.
Soon after that, about five or six people come to me and start bathing me.
First of all, one side took on the role of taking me to the bathroom and washing my body by spraying it with water.
The other half filled the bathtub with water, boiled the water, and adjusted the temperature. When I looked at my naked body, I must have been disturbed for a moment.
It goes beyond saying that the whole body is dirty, because the black things hardened and stuck to the skin.
I thought about walking to the stream for a few hours to wash my body, but I couldn’t wash because the weather was still bad.
And then there were other things.
“Uh.. Should I put it in the bathtub and warm it up?”
“Shouldn’t you take off the skin first before entering the bathtub?”
“All the dark parts on the outside of the body are hardened like that, but they come off after some time.”
“That is also true.”
As if the story was over, the women put me in the bathtub and started putting unknown soaps into the bathtub.
Greasy oil, soap that foams up, and hair that doesn’t foam no matter how many times you lather it.
I had to change the water several times even though I was washing myself in the bathtub.
“How did the person who was with you let the child get to this point?”
“That’s right.”
“Boss, please raise your arm for a moment.”
Every time the water touched my body, I was kicked by passers-by and hit by a policeman.
Because I’ve gotten used to being patient.
Even if they say this, they will do their own thing and not care about the dirty children in the slums.
The man who said he would move her children to another place with a better environment was a gangster who was trafficking in human trafficking. Sent.
With faces disfigured, some missing an eye and even an arm missing.
After that, the children did not wash their faces.
There were also children who took them because they said they looked clean.
Because the body is still the body, the skin and bones are in contact with each other, and there was no corner of the body that was perfectly fine, probably because they lived so hard in the orphanage.
Although it was a bit sad to see him rubbing it hard with a towel, thinking that the black bruised part had been removed after just peeling off the grime.
I couldn’t imagine an adult beating a child to this extent.
“Emma, is this a bruise?”
“How did the bruises get so big?
Maybe it’s because the black stain has peeled off, try rubbing harder!”
“I don’t think so…?”
Well, even if they are maids, maids in a large mansion like this are probably the best among commoners.
People who would have grown up with enough education without ever experiencing poverty.
You’ve never seen a person with black bruises all over their body.
Especially if it’s a child.
No matter how much they washed it, it wouldn’t come off, so I gave up trying to wipe the bruises and started wiping my body with a towel.
I think it took about 4 hours.
In the meantime, the untidy hair was cut and every nook and cranny of the body was washed to smell.
Then, to see if there were clothes that fit me, or if I always have clothes of all sizes, I put on a white shirt and moderately neat looking pants.
I was not used to the feeling of being squeezed even though it fit my body strangely, so I twisted my body slightly and turned around.
From the top to the pants, even the socks feel so soft that it makes me feel awkward and crazy.
Since I came here, my clothes have been rough and dirty pieces of cloth.
Anyway, I dressed neatly and waited for a few minutes before the butler who brought me here came back.
“Well, the person has changed completely.”
After saying that, he glanced at his wrist.
Judging from the fact that he is wearing a watch, the butler must be making good money.
No, I’ll make good money.
He’s like a secretary.
“It’s dinnertime soon, so the timing seems just right.
I’ll take you to dinner.”
He took me by the wrist and took me somewhere, but suddenly he stopped.
“Boss. You may be embarrassed to be brought here suddenly, but you will live as a noble from now on.
Not a proper noble, though.”
“……?”
Why are you saying this?
I can’t figure out why the story of the nobility suddenly appears.
“So straighten your back and don’t be servile.
Look straight ahead and do not look at the floor.
From now on, you will be living in the Breslau family mansion, not a shack in the slums.”
Saying that, the old man held out his hand.
Looking at me with mixed eyes with a bit of sympathy.
I took that hand and walked.
“Elderly.”
“You can call me butler, not the elder.”
“Thank you.”
“I have to teach you how to show gratitude, but this time I also thank you for listening to me.”
I thought he was a very picky old man.
Is it an illusion if I felt like they were cheering me on a little?
.
.
.
.
.
The old man took me out of the annex.
And after passing the garden, the path where the saplings are neatly arranged along the roadside, and the stairs in front of the mansion where glowing birds are twisting their bodies here and there in their cages, the large door of the main building blocks the way.
As the butler took my hand and walked forward, the door started to open on its own.
Looking through the gap between the openings, women in maid uniforms were opening the door.
While whining about how heavy the door is.
“Come this way.”
Inadvertently following the red carpet on the floor, the old man walked to the right and said so.
The house must be so big.
It’s inevitable when 20 people live close together in a place less than 10 pyeong.
“I’m not going to tell you to set up some manners after meeting the master.
But remember at least three things.
Don’t spit out vulgar words like a back alley nerd.
You need to be humble before your master, but don’t be too servile, as beggars in the street beg.”
At that moment, I shuddered.
Because it gave me the feeling of seeing right through me.
“And the young master, hmm.. It’s hard to say, but.
He is not very welcome in this family.
Especially to the original owner’s children.
I can’t stop them even if they harass you.
So hold on as long as you can.”
“It would be much easier to get hit while eating healthy food than to get hit while eating rotten bread on the street.”
At that, the old man gave a slightly lonely smile and then he took my hand.
And he started taking me somewhere.
Perhaps it’s taking them to dinner.
“Positive, good.
I’ll take you to dinner.
Ah, if I had to add one more thing, it would be better if you answered every time.
No matter who the opponent is.”
The butler took me into the dining room.
A mouth-watering, delicious smell begins to waft from your mouth.
The woman who brought me to sit in it is holding a knife and fork, slicing her steak.
And she doesn’t know why, the girl with a pouty face put down the fork she was holding and is glaring at me.
I feel a little pressure in the atmosphere.
“Butler, is this child mine?”
“Yes, master. The madam brought it, so I’m sure.”
“Yes, you are my child.
Sit down, let’s get some food.”
He points to an empty seat and says.
I bowed my head once and went to an empty seat and sat down.
Then the maids approach me with plates of food.
“Where did you say you’ve been living?”
“I was living in an orphanage in a slum.”
“You must have suffered a lot, right?
I’ll take it from now on, so stay at this house.”
At that, the girl sitting in front of me frowned, slapped the fork on her table, and got down from her chair.
It didn’t sound as loud as I thought, but the child looked at me like he was angry and left the room.
He may be angry, but the middle-aged doesn’t seem to care.
“Hmm, it looks like you don’t like it.”
The middle-aged man raised the corner of his mouth slightly and said that.
“I brought in a suitable kid for a substitute, but he doesn’t seem to like it.”
“I can’t help but like it.”
Answers a woman at a horse in middle age.
“Now, even if you come and bring me to my family.”
After that, the woman stops her meal and starts to leave the room.
After all this, what do you mean to eat?
It’s been a long time since I’ve eaten proper food, so the taste was good, but the feeling that I’m going to get sick doesn’t get any better.
“Butler, when the child is finished eating, send him to my room.”
At that, the old man nodded her head and went out into the hallway.
Middle-aged people also put down their food and leave the table.
I didn’t know what to say, so I ate my meal as slowly as possible.
It was so delicious that I felt like I had a little tear in my right eye, embarrassingly.