The boy of unknown origins [1]

For as long as she could remember, Bella had always lived inside a ragged tent with a muddy flooring. You could say that the nation where she was born in was not her motherland, but rather the slums of that nation, which she resides.

After her mother died, whilst giving birth to her, her always looked after her, and paid utmost attention to her upbringing. Although most people would blame the child for their partner's death, Bella's dad was different.

Rather, it was both her parents who were different from the norm. Even after being kicked down by the people around them, they didn't crumble down. Their kindness, and generosity made their family a lot of friends within the slums. And because of that, even though the girl named Bella was someone with a very beautiful face, with dirt blonde hair, brown eyes, and fair skin, the children around her forgot their jealousy in gratitude.

Bella was surrounded by people she loved, and who in return, loved her. Of course, in spite of that, there was always someone whom you'd always end up hating. Such was the same for the boy named Der, who was of similar age to Bella.

Bella always hated Der's guts. His arrogance, lack of courtesy, indecency, and the way he treated people, especially people who were weak, were all the foundations of her wrath. Raised by a kind, and well-natured parent will, in most cases, make children more uptight, and Bella was no different. Hence, she couldn't tolerate someone like Der.

She always tried to protect the children who were victims of Der and his group's bullying, and as a result, she, too, was hated by Der. She was even called names by the group of boys. They couldn't really do much to her, since she was basically loved by the people around her, who were a lot in number. Even if they were to attack her when no one was there to witness, when Bella returned, she'd eventually tell everyone everything, and if she doesn't return, that's even worse! Der's group would be the prime suspects, and would be beaten down by the combined group of adults and children. That's why, they usually wouldn't go anywhere near Bella.

By the time Bella reached the age of ten, the food prices shot up, and so did the price for other things, as a result, many people had to go unfed. Apparently, there was a war going on in the nation, and that's why things turned out to be that way.

Whilst most people were only angry about them not getting enough food, Bella tried to investigate this a bit more. What she came to know was that the neighbouring nation, which was a nomadic one, had attacked their nation, in order to conquer it. The reason being harsh floods, and tsunamis in their lands, making most of the inhabitants migrate to neighbouring nations. Bella was a bit sad about it, but she feigned indifference. After all, the royal had never cared about the outskirts of the nation. Even after twenty, or so years, the slum people suffered in deprivation. There were times when some wealthy noble from the capital came to the slums, and took away a few good looking young women as slaves, and the royal family always kept quiet regarding the matter. Bella was always hidden by the people around her, so the nobles couldn't turn her into a slave, like the other unlucky maidens.

A year and a half later, the prices of the goods came down a bit, to the point where it was at least affordable for most people. Of course, there were still many people who starved, but it was better than how it was a year and a half before.

The royal family lost the war, and was eradicated, with the exception of the prince, who, as the unreliable sources say, had ran away. Bella was actually a bit hopeful towards the new rulers, but they utterly betrayed her hopes. After just half a year, the situation of the slums had become worse. Many people were traded off, and some women even got assaulted by the soldiers of the victors of the war in front of their families.

Unlike with case of Der, she couldn't raise her voice against the soldiers, and nobles, so she quietly endured seeing her loved ones getting wronged one after another. It had turned to the point, where she wished for the old rulers to come back, for the prince to come back, and defeat the new rulers every night before sleeping. This kept on going for about a month, until she woke up by the sound of some laughter. The laughter of young boys, filled with malice. She recognized the source of laughter—it was Der and his group.

She got out of her tent, only to find the boys kicking a young boy of small stature. She was furious. Not only were there people actively torturing the slums' people, this group of bastards were still picking on the weak. She quickly went to the ground of boys and shouted at them.

"Hey, what's wrong with you?! Seriously, do you bastards get aroused from doing such shit everytime?! Don't you see how much the boy is in pain?! Get away from him this instant!" She was so furious that her usual demeanor was nowhere to be seen, and vulgar words came out of her mouths instead.

"Oh hey, look , it's the sissy—"

"I SAID SCARM!"

Her sudden outburst startled the boys, and even brought forth the attention of the surrounding people, who began to look at them. The looks of the people mad ethe boys back down.

"Tsk, fuckin' bitch! Let's stop wastin' our time..." Der said as he kicked as pebble on the ground. Bella hurried to the boy, who was being kicked before.

"Oh my God, are you alright?!" she asked in worry, and offered him a hand to get up.

The boy who basically had his face on the ground, clutching his sides in pain, slowly reached out to the hand, grabbed it, and got up. Patting away the dust from his ragged clothes, he looked at the Bella, and said, "...Yes, I am fine."

For a few seconds, Bella didn't say anything, and kept staring at the boy's face. He looked extremely handsome, to the point, where it was ridiculous. She, too had a beautiful face, one that far outshined that of the other girls in the slum, but the boy in front of her, was someone who far outshined her in her terms of natural beauty. If he had been of her age, she'd probably have fallen for him, but his small stature, and tone of voice, made him endearing instead, like an innocent looking younger brother.

"...Hello?" the boy tilted his head after seeing the girl in daze. Realising that she took to long to respond, Bella flinched, and smiled bitterly.

"..Yes, sorry. I am glad you're alright, though you should still get treated....By the way, what's your name?"

The boy was about to reply immediately, but his turned his face away for a bit, placed his hand on his face, and let out a cough. Unbeknownst to Bella, the was actually buying time before relying to her question.

After coughing, he turned his face towards Bella, and said replied to her question, with a soft smile.

"....My name is.....Kile."