Chapter 32: Delia (Part 5)

I tried to sleep but I could barely do that as I heard Delia, crying behind me. She thinks that I'm asleep so she decided to release a bit of her sadness. She thought that her cries would go unheard just like every time, but her silent tears will never go unheard as long as I'm here.

I feel so close to her, as if I've known her for a long time. I've just met her for a day.

She is hiding a lot of pain in her heart. The death of everybody she loves has affected her so much that I think she doesn't care that much anymore for herself. The only thing stopping her from stabbing herself with a knife is her unborn child, at least that's what I think. I'm not an expert at the emotions of other people, I'm just a child.

We laid on the floor, with only a wide white fabric keeping us from getting cold. She had her back turned against me, and I was facing her, with but a sad frown on my face.

I touched her back, and her body jumped a little, then I said, "Please don't cry, Delia."

She turned around to face me while wiping her tears away with her hand, and said, "I-I was not crying, A-Auguste. Don't worry about me, and just go to sleep."

"You're hurting; I don't want to just leave you alone," I said while facing her.

She cupped my face with her hand as tears slowly came out from her eyes, "I-I don't want you to see me like this. Turn away, and tomorrow, I'll be the same Delia, just like every day." She said with so much sadness that I couldn't help but do as she said.

I turned away as her silent cries went past the wind, and only entered my ears. I ignored it and tried my hardest to sleep.

(The Next Day)

"Auguste, don't just drink the soup, you need veggies to fill your stomach, too." She said, trying to force me to eat vegetables.

I didn't want to eat them, too gross if you ask me.

I shook my head violently, and said, "No, I don't want to eat them!"

She pouted, then said, "If you don't eat them, then I'll be sad."

As she said yesterday night, she is still the same Delia I met on the waiting line of the entrance of the kingdom. But I could feel that she is a bit lost at the moment, not knowing what to do next. I tried to console her by trying to act like a child and making her forget all about the bad stuff she had experienced in her life.

Slowly, the hours passed and it is now afternoon. We didn't have much food because she couldn't scavenge in the forest today. The only way she could feed herself was through that, and if she doesn't scavenge tomorrow she'll starve.

"I'm sorry, Auguste if this is all I could offer. I know you're not used to this kind of food but please, just bear with me." She said sadly, as I looked at the meager food we had. A small bowl of vegetable soup, that's all.

I can't take this anymore and said as I stood up, "Delia, let's go to the marketplace. I'll be buying us food!"

She was taken by surprise when I said that, and said, "But the others will envy us… the people in the slums are ruthless when it comes to food and resources."

I just shook my head, and said, "Who cares about what they think? I'll buy you a good house in the kingdom to live in, maybe even buy a mansion in the noble district! You can't live like this, Delia. You deserve much more than this dump, and besides, the baby in your stomach won't like it when the both of you live in a house like this." I've grown quite fond of her, as you can see.

She hesitantly nodded, and said, "But if you do that… I won't be able to pay you back."

I slowly walked towards her while she was sitting on the ground, and pinched both sides of her cheeks as I said with a smile, "It's not about paying me back, it's about me, helping you."

She was stunned, and then felt embarrassed when I let go of her cheeks as a child just pinched her face.

A hero? I've never thought of myself like that. I am no hero; I'm just doing what I deem right. Even if there are others like her, they don't matter because I don't know them. I know Delia more than everyone in this world, and I've only spent a day with her. She is a bit of an airhead sometimes but I find that kind of sweet. She's not naïve, and yet naïve at the same time. She has seen a lot of things but she has yet to be broken by them. She is a strong woman but has been shot down time and time again by this world.

I want her to feel happiness, once more.

I got her out of the house and went straight to the marketplace on the wide road.

With the notes I stole from the guards yesterday, I went to buy 300 Kilograms of beef and pork in the nearby slaughterhouse for tonight's dinner. Though, strangely, the people in the slaughterhouse were acting a bit weird. They were looking at her with eyes that are full of reverence, yet a bit of sadness.

We managed to get a 10 percent discount, and the pork and beef only cost us a few platinum notes… Why is it so damn expensive to buy 600 kilograms of meat in this kingdom!? A kilo of meat usually costs around 2 Silver Notes, and a kilo here costs 20!

I had to give them around 30 Gold Bars, and now I only have 250. I need to start earning money soon, I'm running out of gold to sell. Maybe the gems I have in my storage ring could be the next replacement.

The workers in the slaughterhouse were shocked to see the meat disappear in thin air when I stored them in my storage ring. I don't care anymore about exposing myself, I'll do whatever the f*ck I want from now on!

Now that I have bought meat, I then bought spices next.

I bought, and bought, and bought, and bought until Delia told me to stop blowing my money on useless things like clothes for her or accessories. I stopped, but then I bought a medium-sized house near the noble district that cost me 200 Platinum Notes, which I just paid with a lot of gems like sapphire and ruby.

I almost had nothing worth selling anymore but everything I bought for her to feel happiness once again, felt great for me. I can always get more things to sell for notes but for Delia, I'll buy her anything.

But then, as we walked on the road, everybody around us lined up on the side of the road as a grand carriage entered the gates of the kingdom.

It was a beautiful carriage, and it kept on riding as the horses neighed at the people around them.

Then, it stopped in front of us as I heard a woman's voice say from the inside: "Stop the carriage, I have to talk with someone."