I never thought I would be so weak.

‘Now I realized it, from the moment I first entered the forest, it felt ominous.’

I felt short of breath after a few steps.

I couldn’t even feel the mana from my body properly, so it felt like I was going to collapse if I even used magic here.

“Sister, water! Water!”

Diana, with her strong stamina, ran around, pointing her finger at the lake as my vision whirled.

After arriving at the destination, I wanted to lie down and rest immediately, but I endured collapsing with mental strength and drank water by the lakeside.

Then I carefully gathered my clean hands and brought them to Diana’s lips.

“Come on, Dana. Drink some water.”

As she came, Diana took a gulp of water and drank as she was thirsty.

I asked Diana, who had drunk water in abundance, to sit on the soft lawn by the lake.

“Stay here while I do the laundry.”

“Yes! I’ll stay here!”

Diana, who nodded kindly, mimicked with her little hands, whether she saw the other children pulling grass and playing house in the orphanage yard.

Smiling at the sight, I took a deep breath.

Drinking plenty of cool water and breathing in the fresh air of the forest made me feel like I was going to live somehow.

Then I stared solemnly at Diana’s dress and began to wash thoroughly.

After a while, the laundry was almost finished, and finally, to remove the moisture from the cloth, I twisted it as hard as I could to squeeze and drain it, and then I heard a burst of giggling laughter.

Perhaps tired of playing alone, the droplets splashed on Diana’s face, who was standing beside me.

Embarrassed by the reaction, as I squeezed the dress a few more times, I could not help but laugh.

It was when I smiled following the innocence of the child. A sound suddenly reached my ears.

“Shh, Dana,”

As I put a finger to her lips and whispered, the clever child followed along, and put a finger to my lips.

“Shh…”

At that, I patted her head and slowly gazed in the direction of the sound.

“Good job, Dana.”

☪

“Haa!”

‘I knew it!!’

As expected, Jack was the owner of that shout.

I had no idea that Jack had been training since he was this young because I wasn’t close with him in the past.

I quietly watched Jack, hiding behind a tree, practicing wielding a sword with a branch in his hand.

It would be rare to see the training of one of the three great knights of the Empire in the future.

‘Even though he may not have been properly educated, he’s an honest child without bad habits.’

Since he’s still young, and there’s no one to guide him, his posture was likely crooked, but Jack remained sternly in the right posture.

With this combination of grit and talent, will he become a Sword Master I’m the future? I was deeply impressed.

After all, being born with mana in the first place was a blessing.

Mana was the basic requirement for expressing ‘Auror’ as well as magic.

I heard that the aristocrats, especially the more prestigious and high-ranking aristocrats, had more mana in their bodies than the commoners. Come to think of it, Jack and I were born with unusual talents.

“Whew”

Then Jack stopped moving and sighed seemingly annoyed.

Flickering, I grabbed Diana’s shoulder and leaned close behind the tree.

I’m confident that Jack, who’s still young and unable to handle mana properly, would never find out because my talents are optimized for hiding.

☪

‘Is that hiding? You’re not an idiot. Hiding your body and you think that’s all?’

Jack, turning his head slightly, was speechless.

The hem of their dress, which they couldn’t hide from the tree, fluttered as if it had been washed in a nearby lake.

Jack sighed and spoke to Lia, as she looked foolish.

“I can see everything you’re hiding, so come out.”

“…Did you know I was there?”

When Lia crept out from the tree at his words and asked in a startled voice, Jack made a grimace.

Yesterday she was so determined that she surprised people, and today she’s as foolish as usual.

‘So, how are you going to live in this harsh world from now on?’

“I knew it from the beginning.”

“Ugh! I’m, I’m sorry.”

“…”

Even the same appearance of being surprised while covering her mouth with her hands looked silly.

Jack sighed again and suddenly frowned at Lia’s little hand.

Lia was a girl, and she’s two years younger than him, so it’s no wonder that her hands are small, but…

‘Even if she’s small, it’s too small.’

Jack thought, staring at her little hands.

Once again, among the children in the orphanage, Lia was the skinniest and the smallest.

Even if she eats well, the food wasn’t enough, and she’s kind enough to give out food like a fool.

“Why did you give everything to that little girl again today?”

When Jack asked in a snarky tone, Diana’s eyes, who was standing next to me, widened and blinked.