The Annex Children in Search of Fun
I sighed as I stepped back into the annex. What an outrageous child.
I yawned and scanned the interior. Carmela had gone out for a walk with permission and would be returning soon. Zia was in the middle of preparing dinner. Chloe was undoubtedly buried in a book, even if I didn’t bother opening her door to check. As for Epia and Serelda, they were right beside the annex, headbutting each other like bulls in a contest of raw strength.
I had no idea how their rivalry had escalated into such a brutish brawl, though I could guess it started with one of Epia’s provocations, as usual. I’d have to ask later. For now, it didn’t look like I needed to intervene, so I simply headed inside.
I sat at the table in the hall, poured myself a glass of clean water from the carafe, and drank while my mind drifted back to the boy from the main building who had left me utterly bewildered.
A proposal, of all things… How long has it been since I received one face-to-face?
As the eldest daughter of a prestigious noble house in a world full of privileged aristocrats, I had fielded my fair share of marriage proposals over the years. This was true even though my soul belonged to a healthy Korean man, even though I had trained like a madwoman from childhood in preparation for the future, and even though my behavior was so unfeminine that people called me a gorilla or a wolf-hunting dog.
Being the eldest daughter of House Parates meant I couldn’t avoid drawing the interest of men from other families. I also deliberately tarnished my image by thrashing Susan and those other trashy noble girls.
I remembered the time when I was fourteen, right after I had finished training as if I were an extension of the Silver Wolf Knights and had just met Master Cardia. Mother’s earnest wish had led to an unusually early debutante ball.
Back then, I knew nothing about such events. I simply thought, Oh, it’s just some kind of social debut. If it can’t be avoided, I suppose I’ll have to go through with it. I didn’t understand Mother’s true intentions until much later.
Ah, Mother… How worried she must have been about her daughter who insisted on growing up like a boy. She must have wanted to throw me into a place full of men before my head grew any thicker, hoping at least one would take the bait.
I resent that judgment of hers from back then.
Still, if I’m being completely honest… I never expected to receive that many proposals in a single evening.
There hadn’t been any other suitable nobleman to act as my escort, so my older brother accompanied me. I wasn’t nervous in the slightest. I had assumed the whole thing would be boring, but to my surprise, it was actually quite enjoyable until the latter half.
The dance I had practiced with my brother beforehand received a wonderful response. Wearing a dress turned out to be far more cumbersome than I anticipated. The dance itself wasn’t particularly fun, but I hated making mistakes in front of others, so I had practiced diligently.
That was how my debutante began. I entered the hall packed with distinguished guests. The butler announced my name. Countless eyes turned toward me, accompanied by whispers: “Oh, so that’s the eldest daughter of Count Parates?” and “She’s Lord Jirk’s younger sister!”
I made the rounds with my brother, greeting the families closest to House Parates first. Then came the dancing.
The moment I danced with my brother, the men swarmed us, each insisting I dance with him instead. A dozen of them rushing forward at once was incredibly irritating. Irritation won out over embarrassment, so I made a simple declaration.
“I will dance with whoever defeats me in arm wrestling.”
“Young lady, what exactly is arm wrestling?”
“Observe. You place your elbows like this… The one who forces the other’s arm down wins. It’s a test of strength.”
“Strength? How could we possibly compete against you, young lady…”
“If you’re scared or uninterested, then don’t bother. Come forward, one at a time.”
In the end, I didn’t break fourteen arms, but I did achieve an overwhelming victory. They were only boys between fourteen and seventeen years old. Those fragile humans who had never trained with sandbags in the mountains or rolled down hills stood no chance against me.
One by one. Swiftly and quietly. Not a single one from the first to the third lasted five seconds. The rest fared no better. Even the adults in the VIP seats eventually crept over to watch.
When the fourteenth boy collapsed, clutching his arm in pain, the gazes of those around me began to resemble the way our knights looked at me. Only then did I realize how thoroughly I had betrayed Mother’s expectations.
Even so, the feeling was incredibly refreshing.
At least, it had been. Until—
“Ah… this is love.”
“…Pardon?”
One boy, still clutching his arm and groaning in pain, had eyes that sparkled like stars.
“Lady Aren. Will you not promise a future with me?”
“No, with me, Lady Aren!”
“Your overwhelming strength has stolen my heart. This feeling is undoubtedly love!”
Even now, the memory made me grimace. I should have just broken all their arms. If I had known it would lead to this circus of proposals, I never would have suggested arm wrestling.
It felt as if I had become the protagonist of a romance fantasy novel. If not for the soul of a healthy Korean man inside me, perhaps it would have been flattering. Instead, it only made my head spin.
Startled and thoroughly displeased, I made vague excuses, danced with a few of them out of obligation, and somehow managed to survive the rest of the debutante. Afterward, rejecting the flood of letters became part of my daily routine. Occasionally some would visit in person, forcing me to rack my brain for polite ways to turn them down.
The real joke was that almost none of them actually gave up. I could only sigh.
After news spread of the commotion I caused at Susan’s tea party, the proposals lessened somewhat. But the truly persistent ones only grew more attached, which horrified me even more.
I never wanted to understand the suffering of popular romance fantasy heroines. And yet here I was, reminded of that exact feeling.
Gordon had the build of someone who would dominate a wrestling ring, yet he carried himself with a subtle, refined charm. His sudden proposal left me stunned, but after speaking with him, I saw him differently.
He didn’t act like a child who had been sold by his parents simply for eating too much, then worked mercilessly as a slave until arriving here. Children with such backgrounds usually fell into one of two categories: extremely passive, unable to voice their own opinions, or sharp and defensive like a cornered cat, constantly pushing others away.
Gordon belonged to neither. He had a uniquely mature presence.
“You speak like a well-educated child. That must have been a difficult environment. Where did you learn?”
When I openly brought up his past, Gordon lowered his head and answered.
“I learned speech while being beaten by my previous master. Hearing you say that, Director, I’m relieved to know I didn’t learn incorrectly.”
“I see. What happened to that master?”
“He disliked it when slaves spoke clumsily. He even made time to correct my pronunciation.”
I was curious what sort of person that master had been, but even taking that into account, Gordon seemed far more like an adult than a child. The main building had many precocious children, but he took the crown.
“…Think about the proposal again once you’ve grown. A person’s heart tends to change with age.”
“…Yes.”
If there had been even a hint of mischief in his eyes, I would have scolded him sternly. But his gaze was too sincere, so I spoke gently and sent him away.
Keon-a-je is coming up soon. Since Gordon said he would participate, he’ll probably take the individual championship…
Most of the events in Keon-a-je favored skill over luck. There were modern-inspired competitions like running, jump rope, tug-of-war, and wrestling, as well as ones I had created myself: wooden sword duels, obstacle courses, stone throwing, and slingshot shooting.
It used to be a simple affair with only running and wooden sword sparring. But after I properly settled into the orphanage, the event had grown dramatically.
I wanted to recreate the sports festivals from the orphanage I attended in my previous life. It seemed like it would be fun, and good for the children too.
Of course, such events weren’t common in orphanages in this world. But we had the manpower, the funds, and most importantly, I wanted to do it, so I had begun preparations long ago.
I only wanted the village residents to watch, but Susan somehow caught wind of it…
I had met with her several more times to discuss the dungeon conquest. When the topic of Keon-a-je came up, I casually mentioned we would be doing it this way this time. She immediately smelled profit.
She persuaded me by saying she would only notify a few nobles seeking children to adopt. There were many children in the orphanage, after all, and many had reached the proper age. Shouldn’t we give them a good opportunity?
She wasn’t wrong, and it wouldn’t harm the annex children, so I agreed to accept only a small number. The building wasn’t large enough to accommodate many nobles anyway.
The materials for the equipment should arrive soon. Since I’m handling it, it won’t take long. We have plenty of time.
I downed the rest of the water in my glass and stood up.
“Director!”
“—Ack! You startled me!”
As I lifted the paper containing Gordon’s past records, I saw her.
Carmela had been standing there for who knows how long, smiling brightly as she stared straight at me.
“Pfft. Director, what were you thinking about so deeply?”
“That’s my business… I’ve told you countless times, stop hiding your presence. It’s not the other children—it’s you. Of course I get startled.”
“Uwaaang!”
When I pressed my index finger firmly against her forehead, Carmela exaggeratedly opened her mouth and scrunched up her face.
“But the Director has such sharp senses. If I don’t do it at times like this, when can I ever surprise you?”
“That’s exactly what I don’t like, you little rascal.”
“Hehe.”
She laughed even while knowing it annoyed me. It was cute because there wasn’t a trace of malice, but it still sent a slight chill down my spine.
When Carmela truly decided to conceal her presence, even I couldn’t detect her unless I reinforced my senses with internal energy. This was an innate ability she had possessed since birth—the level of presence concealment that allowed her to assimilate with nature itself. In the original story, it had made her the greatest thief and assassin.
“Anyway, Director! I saw something interesting while passing by the main building!”
“You saying it’s interesting already makes me nervous…”
Sure enough, Carmela proceeded to tell me about the brawl between the main building’s class leaders and Gordon.
“That Gordon kid fights incredibly well! All the class leaders have strong tempers, but he nearly beat all four of them!”
From what she described, the class leaders had ultimately won. Three of them had pinned his limbs while Miranne climbed on top and kept scratching and hitting his face.
“Miranne really does have quite the temper…”
“Even then, Gordon wouldn’t give up. In the end they all got exhausted and collapsed! If the vice director hadn’t shown up, they would have settled it right there!”
Carmela remained visibly excited, saying she had watched an absolutely thrilling fight. While I felt relieved that Cassel had intervened, she immediately dropped a bombshell.
“Hey, Director! I thought of something I want to do!”
“…You know you can’t go around searching for evil people among the outsiders visiting the village, right?”
“Ugh, that’s not it! I’m really holding back properly!”
Carmela’s eyes curved into crescents as she pouted.
“They’re holding Keon-a-je at the main building soon! The event where they compete in all sorts of things and give prizes to the kids who do well!”
The annex children already knew what Keon-a-je was. They simply hadn’t seen it in person before, so they had never shown much interest.
“Right?”
“I want to participate too! It might be hard for Zia and Chloe, but I want to do it with Epia and Serelda!”
It seemed they had finally grown interested.