Miss Margret leaned back into her seat after Shuren left her office. She placed her nail file back into her desk drawer after she was done using it and turned her attention back to the documents on her desk.

After a while, she let out a deep sigh.

‘I told them I don’t need any help. And yet…’

The documents contained information on the new employee who would be joining the orphanage tomorrow. When asked, Miss Margret said she was managing fine on her own and that introducing a new mother may make the environment awkward for the children, but it seemed her input was ignored.

She lifted the page with the employee’s profile up above her head, blocking the light coming from the bulb attached to the ceiling and looked up to it.

‘26 years old, married to a successful businessman and has a six-year-old daughter enrolled in the Academy. Why on earth would she volunteer to work here?’

If Miss Margret were to be completely honest, she would admit that she was jealous of this new employee’s stats. She was ten years younger, arguably better looking than she had been at the same age, and had a husband and child to boot. If Miss Margret had all that, she wouldn’t be working in the orphanage, that’s for sure.

‘Well, whatever. As long as she understands that I’m the head mother, we shouldn’t have any problems. It’s just…’

Miss Margret placed the piece of paper back on the desk and stood up, taking the opportunity to stretch. She then started pacing around the room.

‘The money. She’ll want a slice.’

That was her primary concern. As the head mother, and the only employee at the orphanage these past five years, she’s had complete control over the funds the orphanage received from the village. With a few adjustments on her part, she managed to reduce the operating costs to well below the amount the orphanage was given. And, of course, she had been pocketing the difference.

That was all good and well while she was the only one there, but any adult who spent a decent amount of time at the orphanage would discover what she had done. And there wasn’t a doubt in her mind that this new employee would want in on it.

‘She better not get too greedy.’

Miss Margret was willing to give away forty percent at most. Any more than that, and it would be benefiting the other party too much and she would pull the plug.

‘Let’s just wait until tomorrow. Perhaps she and I can become friends rather than enemies.’

A few hours passed and she looked out to the sunset through the window behind her desk. As the orange light blanketed the sky, the corners of her mouth raised.

‘It looks like there’s going to be one less mouth to feed today.’

***

‘It’s getting late.’

As the lighting in the forest grew warmer and dimmer, Shuren realised that he was pushed for time. If he didn’t make it back to the orphanage before curfew, he wouldn’t be getting any dinner today.

‘And that’s not the end of it.’

Miss Margret wasn’t such a lenient person. She wouldn’t stop at just one meal. He would miss dinner today, and also miss tomorrow’s meals as well. That was a fate most unpleasant, so Shuren got up from the ground and dusted himself off.

‘Better hurry.’

He started jogging out of the forest and had managed to make it halfway when he heard something. He stopped in his tracks and ducked for cover. Shuren wasn’t afraid that some wild beast would come and attack him. The forest didn’t have any. What he was fearful of was running into the wrong type of person out there. If he had such misfortune today, he would surely miss curfew.

Staying as silent as possible, hidden behind some bushes, Shuren waited for the people to pass. As they came closer, Shuren could see that it was two people, one carrying the other on their back, and soon enough, he could hear what they were saying.

“Can we do this again tomorrow, Brother? I want to see your concealed weapon techniques next.”

“Sorry, I can’t. I have an important mission tomorrow.”

“Aw. You always have missions. And all of them are important. Why don’t you ignore this one?”

“Ignore a mission? What do you think our father would say about that?”

“Uh… Maybe you’re right.”

“Speaking of, why don’t you ask him to take my place?”

“But you’re better at using concealed weapons than him. Can’t Dad take your place on your mission?”

“I’m afraid not.”

“Then when can you show me?”

“Not sure.”

“Argh!”

At this point, Shuren could clearly see the two people. One was a boy, who appeared to be in his early teenage years and on his back, was a boy who looked to be around the same age as Shuren.

The older one turned to the younger one whose head was above his shoulder. He happened to be looking in Shuren’s direction, and in reaction, Shuren’s body grew tense. But after a moment, he calmed himself down. It didn’t look like he had been spotted.

“Sorry, Ryoma. I don’t have much time.”

The younger one was silent for a moment.

“I know that. You do lots of important things for the village and you’re the pride of our family. Of House Nightfall. It only makes sense that you don’t have a lot of time to spend with me.”

“Sorry, Ryoma.”

The younger one smiled brightly.

“It’s okay. After all, I’m also proud to have a big brother like you.”

He kissed his brother’s cheek, and they both smiled.

At that moment, Shuren felt as if the world had stopped moving. He felt a warmth around his eyes and a pain in his chest. A pain he knew all too well. He didn’t know how many times he had felt this pain, but it certainly wasn’t few. He also didn’t know what to call what he was seeing, but he recognised it as that thing everyone else was allowed to have but he wasn’t.

Before he could dwell on it too long, his body was shaken by the sound of the voice of the older one.

“Those eyes. You must be Shuren, of House Rainfell.”

Hurrying to retreat, Shuren fell on his backside. When he looked back up to see where the other person was, he saw the same still image from a moment ago. Other than his proximity to the two boys, not a thing had changed.

‘Hm?’

Upon closer inspection, Shuren spotted one difference. The eyes of the older one had undergone some strange transformation. They resembled the night sky and Shuren could see stars floating above his irises.

Looking around, he noticed that he was the only thing moving in the whole forest as far as his eyes could see. He directed his gaze back to the eyes of the older one.

“My name is indeed Shuren, but I believe you may have mistaken me for someone else.” Shuren didn’t know what was happening, but he was spoken to so he responded. “It would be my honour for you to grace me with your name, Sir.”

“You can drop the formalities.”

Sure enough, Shuren didn’t see any change in the environment. Everything stayed perfectly still aside from himself and the stars in the older one’s eyes.

“I wouldn’t dare be discourteous.”

There was no response for a while and Shuren decided to stay silent until the other party spoke.

“Tell me. Do you hate the village?”

Shuren put on his smile.

“Of course not. It’s only because of the village that I have been able to survive for this long. To return kindness with enmity would be most unpardonable.”

“Well…”

The other party seemed to be taken aback.

“You don’t need to show me that fake smile of yours. And your lies are far too obvious.”

This time, it was Shuren’s turn to be taken aback.

“P-Pardon me, but I’m afraid I don’t understand.”

“Never mind then.”

Shuren bowed.

“Then, may I ask what business you have with me, Sir?”

“You’re hard to talk to.”

“I apologise for the inconvenience.”

Again, there was a brief silence.

“Just know this. The hatred you feel has been manufactured.”

Shuren’s eyebrows twitched.

“What do you mean?”

“Believe it or not, there are those out there who would treat you as their own.”

Shuren smiled bitterly and shook his head.

“There’s no one like that.”

“Your view is too narrow. But that’s hardly a fault of yours. Take this as advice from someone further along the path than you. There are all sorts of people in this world, and you’ve met but a handful.”

“It doesn’t matter how many I meet. They’re all the same. They all look at me with the same eyes.”

“Is that so? Then, have you met someone like me before? Someone with the same eyes as mine?”

“… I can’t say that I have.”

“Then, another piece of advice. Don’t close your heart off to others just yet. Otherwise, you’ll never see the eyes that will be your salvation.”

Shuren bowed.

“I’ll keep that in mind.”

At some point, his smile had disappeared. Eyes that bring salvation. He had a feeling he had seen them once before, but he couldn’t remember where.

“One last thing. Don’t trust anyone who promises to take you out of your circumstances. That is something you must achieve through your own efforts.”

The world around Shuren began to ripple and everything seemed to be getting sucked into those two starry eyes.

“Wait! Why are you telling me all of this?”

“Because I also had my smile taken from me.”

As if a veil had been lifted, the motionless world Shuren had just been in disappeared and everything came back to life. The only thing was, the two boys were nowhere to be seen.

‘Uh oh.’

Aside from things resuming their motion, the colours also changed, signifying that time had, in fact, not been frozen and all of what just happened had moved Shuren closer to curfew.

At this point, jogging was no longer sufficient, so Shuren ran as fast as he could, only hoping that his legs would be able to carry him past the threshold of the orphanage in time.

***

“Stop right there.”

Shuren was panting heavily, almost at the orphanage, when he heard a voice and found himself heading face-first to the ground.

‘Now, of all times.’

He picked himself up from the ground and turned a smiling face to the young man who had just made him fall. As he did, he found himself surrounded by the young man and four other people. Two young men and two young women.

“Is there anything I can help you fine ladies and gentlemen with?”

The one who had tripped him over used his thumb to point to a nearby alleyway.

Seeing what the other party was getting at, Shuren almost dropped his smile, but he caught himself.

“Apologies, but it’s quite close to curfew, so if we could postpone this for another time-”

He tried to speak, but before he could say much, he was pushed in the direction of the alley.

‘It looks like I’ve missed curfew…’

He took a deep breath and let out a sigh, then bowed and led the way into the alley.