‘Sylvia Atlante.’
Tev had heard many rumors about her.
It was impossible not to, given how much people talked about her.
The Atlante ducal family was popular not only among the nobles but also among the commoners.
To the common people, the Atlante ducal family was a symbol of respect and admiration.
The Iron-Blooded Duke, who held the highest position among the nobility, managed his great dukedom with remarkable ease and was widely regarded as having no shortcomings.
The beautiful duchess, who still enjoyed admiration despite her long absence at her villa.
Daniel Atlante, the eldest son who graduated top of the Central Academy and now working under the Arch mage Elam.
Kedrick Atlante, who resembled his father, Duke Atlante, the most and showed great talent in swordsmanship.
Lastly, Eileen Atlante, who had inherited her mother’s beauty as well as a gentle personality, earning her the nickname ‘Saintess.’
People praised the members of the Atlante ducal family and talked about them.
However, among the six family members, only one, Sylvia Atlante, was never mentioned.
Of course, Sylvia Atlante was, famous in her own right too––unlike her family––for being unattractive, fat, and giving a bad impression, just as if her negative personality had surfaced.
And that she was completely different from Lady Eileen, who occasionally visited the slums to do volunteer work.
Tev had also seen Eileen a few times.
Although he had only seen her from afar, she was different from any other women he had ever met.
Among the women he had encountered, even those with high social status were just merchants from the middle area of Fortrum Street.
Most of the women Tev met were commoners, particularly from the poor slums, and they all had exhausted appearances due to their hard labor.
Besides, they were too busy taking care of themselves to show any kindness to street children like Tev.
“There’s nothing for you here, so get lost!
Don’t steal!”
Even when Tev hadn’t done anything wrong, he was treated like a thief just because he was a street orphan, and every time he felt it was unfair.
Tev had never stolen anything; he would rather starve than resort to theft.
Even when his vision was blurred from three straight days of starvation, Tev would still choose to scavenge food from the streets and never resorted to stealing from others.
However, people didn’t care who Tev was or what vows he had made to himself.
They simply saw him as a street orphan and treated him with caution, disgust, and discomfort.
This was also the case for the merchants from the middle area of the street he occasionally met.
No, they were even worse.
“Where did that brat come from?
If there’s a dirty, lowlife thing like that in front of our shop, customers won’t come in!”
“Ugh.
Why is that filthy thing hanging around our shop early in the morning?
Hey, you, can’t you just scram?”
Even when he stood beside a store to escape the drizzling rain for a moment, the merchants tried their hardest to drive Tev away.
Most women Tev encountered had always acted like that.
‘They despise me, loathe me, and hate me.
They shudder at the thought of accidentally brushing against me.’
People avoided Tev like they would avoid filth on the streets.
Eileen, who had come to the slum to do volunteer work, stood out from any other women Tev had met in this regard.
She didn’t frown when she saw the dirty and miserable people in the slums.
She didn’t hesitate to touch them.
Even from afar, Tev could tell that Eileen ‘genuinely’ regarded that way.
On the other hand, Sylvia Atlante in the rumors was different.
They said she was like a witch, the complete opposite of Eileen Atlante, who was called a saintess.
Perhaps if she saw the children in the slums, she would have cursed at them with a grim face.
That was the wicked lady in the rumors.
‘But the rumors were wrong.’
The real Sylvia Atlante he met was utterly different.
First of all, she saved him from a scene of violence that everyone else had ignored.
She faced the intimidating members of the Black Scorpion gang, drove them away, and reached out to him, who was beaten up and in a pitiful state.
“Are you okay?”
At that time, she seemed like…
‘An angel.’
Tev blushed at the thought that had surfaced without realizing it.
‘An angel?
I’m not even a child!’
Shaking his head no, Tev still thought, ‘But if anyone had seen Sylvia Atlante at that time, no one would laugh at my words.’
Because she was more beautiful than any other person he had ever seen.
As the sunlight cascaded down on her face, her hair shone brilliantly as if sprinkled with gold dust.
Her bright blue eyes twinkled like a clear sky on a good day and the sea he had only heard about in stories.
However, there was one thing he didn’t like among her perfect appearance.
When her beautiful blue eyes looked at Tev, they contained strange emotions.
Having spent a long time––every moment he could remember––on the streets, Tev was perceptive.
He quickly realized if someone had good or bad intentions toward him after a brief conversation.
But Sylvia Atlante was an enigma to him.
‘She’s friendly, but at the same time, she’s cautious around me.’
When Sylvia Atlante looked at Tev, she would smile contentedly but then frown as if something bothered her.
At those moments, a glimpse of her apprehension toward Tev was visible deep within her eyes.
‘Why?
Is it because I’m a street orphan?
So she’s repulsed by me?’
But that thought didn’t quite sit right, given Sylvia’s behavior.
In the herb shop, she had touched Tev’s face without hesitation.
Tev remembered how her soft hand had touched his face as carefully as if it were fragile glass.
Although it was for treatment, if she was really repulsed by Tev being a street orphan, she would never have done that.
‘Then why?’
In truth, Tev’s worries would never be resolved.
Because Sylvia’s emotions Tev had sensed were an unconscious reaction she herself didn’t even know about.
Sylvia, who had memories of the future, knew that Tev had once treated her somewhat harshly.
That was why she unknowingly and reflexively revealed such emotions.
Although it was a subtle and barely perceptible emotional reaction that only the overly sensitive Tev could notice.
But Tev, who couldn’t even imagine that Sylvia might possess memories of the future, could only be puzzled by her mysterious attitude.
‘I don’t know why she acted that way, but…’
Now there was no turning back.
Regardless of the emotions Sylvia held toward him, Tev had already accepted her outstretched hand.
When she first took him in because he ‘looked just like the cat she used to have,’ he was baffled and even angry.
No other reasons, but just because he resembled a cat!
It was humiliating.
At least if it were like other girls who often said it was because he was ‘handsome,’ or like the thugs who thought he could ‘handle tough jobs well,’ it would have been better.
‘If it was just because I looked like a cat, it could have been someone else and not me.’
Tev was dissatisfied with that reason.
But Tev didn’t want to lose the sweet favor given to him for the first time over such trivial discontent.
Even if Sylvia Atlante was actually a bad person as rumored and brought Tev in simply to toy with him, that was fine.
‘She doesn’t seem like that kind of person, though…’
Still, it didn’t matter.
He had only known Sylvia Atlante for half a day.
There was still much he didn’t know about her, and he also had no idea how she felt about him.
But Tev made up his mind.
‘Whatever she wants, I’ll do it for her.’
She had saved Tev.
Not just from the Black Scorpion thugs but from a life in the slums where it wouldn’t have been surprising if he had died at any moment.
She had given him food he could never have imagined eating in his lifetime.
She had reached out to him without hesitation and treated his wounds as if he were someone precious to her.
Most importantly…
‘She gave me hope.’
Sylvia gave him hope that he no longer had to barely survive on the streets.
So, it didn’t matter.
Whether Sylvia acted on a whim or was trying to toy with him.
‘After all, if it weren’t Sylvia Atlante, I could have died today.
So…’
Tev calmly reached a conclusion.
‘From now on, my life belongs to her.’
***
“Is he eating well?”
“Yes, my lady.
He has already emptied ten plates, considering he’s been starving for days.
Phew.
How much more will he continue to indulge in his meals in the future?!
I think the food expenses will be huge,” Belle replied, furrowing her brows.
Her expression suggested she couldn’t believe so much food could fit into his small body.
‘Ten plates.
That’s really a lot.’
Still, I wasn’t as surprised as Belle.
‘Well, to grow up to two meters tall, he’ll need plenty of nutrients.’
Besides, he was in his growth spurt, wasn’t he?
Kids in their growth spurt would always feel hungry, no matter how much they ate.
‘Once his training begins, he’ll be eating much more than this to make up for his depleted stamina.’
I, of course, didn’t care how much Tev ate.
Rather, I wanted to feed him as much as possible if I could.
‘He needs to eat a lot to grow quickly!’
For me to be able to take Tev around as a guardian knight, it would be better for him to grow quickly, even if it meant him consuming all the food in a restaurant.
However, Belle felt differently.
She was already displeased with the amount of food he consumed, considering it a waste of resources.
Therefore, it was clear that Belle would be unable to keep her mouth shut later on when seeing the empty plates piled up in front of Tev.
In order to prevent such a future, I warned Belle.
“Let him eat as much as he wants.
Don’t scold him.”
“I will comply with your orders, my lady.”
Belle seemed puzzled as to why I would care so much about a street kid I brought in using the excuse of a cat I didn’t even raise.
‘That’s right.
No one will know.’
No one would know that in just five years, or even two years, this seemingly helpless street boy would become a knight renowned throughout the empire.
‘But I know.’
I felt excited for no reason.
It felt like having a winning lottery ticket.
Just by imagining when it would hit brought me happiness.
‘So this is the good part about knowing the future.’
I stretched out, thinking, ‘There were some hassles, but it was a fun trip.’
It was a fulfilling day.