Yurina could not hide her excitement as she looked at the boy in front of her .

His bright blonde hair was in knots, and his pure white skin wasn’t washed properly . However, something which was considered even rarer in the capital came into view .

There .

‘Red eyes’

Unless you’re an albino, one cannot simply have such red eyes as brilliant as rubies .

Even in this world where there are more hair and eye color than Earth, red eyes don’t normally appear .

People who don’t know anything about it believe that those with such red eyes are cursed, but these red eyes are actually proof that they were blessed by the Goddess .

There is no mistaking those red eyes . This child will surely become one of the greatest mages in the Empire in the future .

In order to find this child who lives in an orphanage in the capital, she wandered around the orphanage and it’s surrounding areas for the past half year .

She was beginning to worry about winter coming soon, but finally!

‘I guess the Goddess is on my side . ’

In the original story, Marquis De Flon came to the orphanage during winter for a relief work, and that’s where he discovered him . Well, that’s not going to happen anymore .

‘I’ll definitely bring this child with me today . ’

She had been waiting far too long to do so .

“Come with me . ”

Her nanny standing behind her went white as sheet as soon as she heard Yurina’s calm words .

“My Lady, you cannot do that . ”

“Come with me . ”

Yurina ignored her nanny’s words and reached out to him .

“I will protect you . If you come with me, you won’t get hungry anymore and you won’t have to worry about dying in the cold . ”

“Why?”

The child crouched down and gave her a wary look .

“I don’t believe in charity . What the hell are you planning to do with me? Use me as a plaything?”[1]

“Huh?”

Yurina was rendered speechless as she clasped on one of the buttons on her chest .

“There are aristocrats who like kids that looks like me . I’ve seen a lot of them just like you . ”

She looked at his appearance objectively .

‘Of course he’s handsome . ’

About 8 years from now,  after having graduated from the academy and formally introduced to society, he will have an extraordinary look that will captivate both men and women of all ages .

Even now, Yurina thinks that this child, even while wearing tattered clothes, has looks better than those noblemen of his age in the capital .

However, those are words that a normal child, who is the same as Yurina, shouldn’t say . Yurina was aware that he was 2 years older than herself and she understands why he would say such a thing .

“Who do you think you’re talking to?! My Lady, don’t bother with him . Let’s leave!”

Yurina raised her hand slightly to stop her nanny who was about to grab her and take her back to the carriage .

“You’re right . There is no such thing as charity in this world .  I am not going to sugarcoat my words or say that I am purely doing you a favor because I pity you . But let me assure you that I don’t have any impure intentions like what you are thinking . No matter how much older you are, what do you mean by ‘plaything’ and saying it to young lady like me nonetheless? Do you even know what that means?”

There was no answer from the child . Judging from the way he’s mumbling, he probably picked it up from his surroundings and said it thoughtlessly .

She commends his brazenness towards her, but then again, she doesn’t know whether she should be angry or not . Yurina shook her head with her arms crossed .

“If you continue to say groundless things like that thoughtlessly, you might just end up dying in a ditch somewhere . You should know who you are dealing with . You should know who I am . ”

Yurina’s tranquil voice made it hard to distinguish whether she was persuading him, or threatening him . The child just shrugged in return .

“Then why?”

“I want to invest in you . ”

“Invest?”

“Yes, invest . ”

Yurina closed her eyes for a moment, remembering the things that will happen in the future .

“If you continue to stay here, you won’t be able to survive the coming winter . The winter this year will be especially harsh . ”

Half of it was true and the other half was a lie . This winter will indeed be so harsh that it will be considered one of the worst recorded in history .

However, this child won’t die . In the original story, he will be taken in with great hospitality by De Flon and be treated by him .

Even so, she needs to deceive him since her life depends on it .

“So come with me . I will sponsor for you under the name of Carthia . What do you think? It’s much better than dying, isn’t it?”

“What’s up you? Why do you keep looking at me like that?”

“It’s your red eyes . You may not know it, but it is a symbol of those blessed by the Goddess . Historically, a person who is born with such eyes is said to be gifted in magic . There was a even a man named William, who was recorded to be known as a great wizard who possessed red eyes . ”

This was a fact that many people don’t know . The truth is, those red eyes that are said to be the symbol of the Goddess in the story will later be revealed after he displays his exceptional gift in magic . And right now, it was still a fact that is barely known .

Yurina simply knows this truth because she had already read this in the novel .

“So what do you want from me?”

A child who can talk back . She liked it .

“I want you to remember what I’ve done for you today . And later when I’m in danger, you have to save me just like how I saved you today . ”

“What if I don’t want to?”

“Well, I can’t help it if you really don’t want to . ”

“Can I really do that?”

Yurina may appear to be 10 years old, but her inner-self is already 22 years old . She wouldn’t force this little boy to stay by her side .