I could never have expected that those scoundrels would come here.
But when their nasty laughter reached me, growing louder and louder, my whole body tensed like a stretched string. The orphanage library was quite small, so in less than a minute they would find us. But I wasn't even going to wait for that moment.
I won't let anyone hurt my little villainess!
I resolutely stood up, intending to protect Erica and repel her bullies. No matter what happened, I was determined to drive those scoundrels out of here. Let them just try to stick their noses in here even one more time!
"Erica, wait a moment. I'll deal with them now!"
It's not to say that I was a great master of martial arts. But in childhood I had to grow up with an unruly younger brother, with whom we constantly had conflicts. So I do know at least something.
I had already started flexing my fists, preparing for the fact that a brawl would soon begin in this silent library.
But suddenly...
"...D-don't!"
Unexpectedly Erica said this and awkwardly pulled me by the sleeve.
This happened exactly at the moment when anger was increasingly overcoming me. I looked at her in bewilderment.
"What? What are you talking about?"
Erica sighed quietly and lowered her gaze.
"If they see me here, they won't just leave. A fight will start, and you won't be able to continue studying..."
I stared at her, stunned.
"That's why..." She faltered and added, "I don't want that."
For several moments I couldn't utter a word. I never expected that in such a situation she would think first of all about me. From this my heart painfully clenched.
"And besides..." the girl added terribly awkwardly, "I don't want you to stand up for me again. You always do that!"
I was speechless.
"But..."
"I said I don't want that!"
When Erica said this decisively, I froze for a moment, not knowing what to do.
Although my fists were still itching, I couldn't simply ignore her wish. So for some time I looked at her, and then sighed heavily.
"All right... Then hide here for now."
At my direction, Erica climbed under the table, where she couldn't be seen. I took my place, and this happened just in time. I had barely managed to sit down when the impudent conversations of the group of children were already very close. Until finally we were face to face.
When the three boys saw me, they instantly stopped laughing. The impudent smirks were wiped from their faces. It seemed they were in complete bewilderment at having met me here.
"Hazel..." one of them finally spoke uncertainly. "What are you doing here?"
I took a deep breath, trying with all my might to keep my patience.
I knew each of these children by name. The eldest, Mebius, was fourteen. The second, Yuta, was thirteen. And the youngest, David, was my age. In other words, all of them were older than Erica, who was only ten. And nevertheless this absolutely did not stop them from so shamelessly attacking one little child!
It was such a disgusting situation that I didn't even have words.
Besides, these children weren't even local bullies. No, in fact they were ordinary children, just like everyone else. They treated badly only Erica, who was the scapegoat in the orphanage. And because of this injustice it was becoming truly harder and harder for me to maintain self-control.
"And what are you doing here?" I calmly asked in return.
The boys exchanged bewildered glances.
"Ah, that..." Mebius scratched his cheek. "Nothing special. And have you by chance not seen anyone here?"
He looked around suspiciously.
"No, I haven't."
"So right now you're alone in the library?" he asked this question while continuing to turn his head from side to side.
"And do you see anyone else here?" I asked coldly.
"Ah... no, of course not!" he let out a nervous chuckle. "Sorry then."
I held a pause, waiting, but they still didn't move from the spot.
"Why don't you leave?" I asked irritably. "Do you need something else here?"
Mebius and his gang blinked in bewilderment.
"Ah, no, no... We were just passing by. We're leaving now!"
The boys, continuing to smile at me in bewilderment, cast a final glance over the library before finally leaving.
As soon as that happened, I exhaled.
And then, after waiting a little, I lightly knocked on the table.
"Erica, everything is all right now. They left, so you can come out."
Nevertheless, even after that the girl didn't come out immediately. I was surprised and carefully called her again:
"...Erica?"
But the girl lowered her head even lower, as if trying to hide her face in her knees.
"I..." her voice was uneven. "I despise myself."
"What? What are you talking about?"
"If I weren't so weak..." Erica faltered. "If I could fight back against them... You wouldn't have to stand up for me every time."
The girl finished the last words almost in a whisper, as if she was terribly ashamed. She didn't even want to look at me.
When I saw Erica in such a state, my soul involuntarily grew heavier and heavier. Erica blamed herself, but was it her fault? Even if she was the future villainess, right now she was merely a defenseless child. How could a child alone withstand such great hatred directed at him?
Nevertheless, since I wasn't in her situation, it was harder for me to understand her. But even so, I had to comfort her somehow.
After thinking a little, I gently placed my hand on her shoulder.
"That's not true. You should despise not yourself, but them!"
Erica finally raised her head and looked at me with slightly wet red eyes.
The wet red eyes were like beautiful shimmering rubies.
My heart involuntarily trembled at this sight.
Instead of a fierce villainess, before me now sat merely a cute, harmless child. And was it really true that this cute little girl would become cruel in a few years? Age can change a person beyond recognition, amazing!
Nevertheless I managed to pull myself together and continued:
"It's their actions that deserve contempt. And you haven't done anything bad. So you especially shouldn't blame yourself!"
It seemed to me that I was good at comforting people. I said a few more encouraging words to Erica and continued patting her on the shoulder.
The girl, sniffling, nevertheless climbed out from under the table.
"Hazel..." she spoke, lowering her gaze. "In this place you're the only one who thinks about me like that. And who is friends with me... Everyone else fears or despises me."
"That's not true," I objected. "Isn't Amalia also your friend? She is also always on your side!"
When I said this, the atmosphere eased a little. Erica even grumbled something with an angry face:
"My friend? But doesn't she also mock me?"
I smiled involuntarily. Soon after she was mentioned, Amalia herself arrived.
"Erica is already here? Great. Then let's begin the lesson."
In the end we never told Amalia about the recent incident, deciding to keep it as our little secret. As usual, we continued studying together for two hours, until it became too late.
Then Amalia was the first to get up from the table.
"Well, all right, it's already late, so let's disperse for today. We'll continue tomorrow."
Following her example, Erica and I also stood up.
Then Amalia smirked, deciding to tease the younger one a little:
"Erica, it's already quite dark now. You're not afraid of the dark, are you? Should we walk you to your room, or can you manage on your own?"
The girl flushed.
"Don't talk nonsense! I'll get there myself."
"Well, that's great then. Then Hazel and I are off."
Amalia and I were roommates, so we were going the same way. Erica even seemed to envy this a little, though I couldn't say for sure. In any case, the girl saw us off with a slightly angry and disappointed gaze.
In absolute silence, Amalia and I reached our room, which was located in the residential annex of the orphanage. After reaching the right floor, we had only a little left to go before the door of our shared room would appear.
But at that moment the female lead unexpectedly caught me by the arm.
Her blue eyes shone unusually brightly in the moonlight of the corridor.
"Hazel, we need to talk."