After locking the woman and stealing all the account books of the orphanage with ease, she walked towards the attic efficiently.
Glad that she had paid good attention to the gore scene where the owner of the orphanage would kill the young boy and then take all the account books and burn the whole orphanage with the woman and kids still inside, she even remembered how many steps it would take to reach the attic.
The place was darker than she had thought. When she had read there was not a single ray of light, she had thought about it as her room in the night but now.. It looked no less than a scary room with ghosts lurking around.
The howl of winds was scaring her to no end. She held her dress tightly as she walked with the candle but it soon extinguished and she jumped on her place as if she heard whispers in her ears.
"Who is there? I asked who was there!" she shouted only to get another howl in return, mocking her naivety when she rubbed her chest to assure herself and then started walking again.
Out of instinct, she found the door and opened it. The opened window of his room finally helped her in recognizing the figure of a child in the dark.
The boy shrunk further when she walked closer as if he was afraid that she would beat him too.
"Are you Alec?" she asked as she could not see his face when he shook his head with fear but then nodded hesitantly when she crouched down on the ground and touched his head.
He flinched but stopped when he realized the consequences of it.
"You do not have to worry, I will not hurt you." She assured the scared child though she did not know how her pat was stiff and lacked any warmth he could lean on,
"Your father had sent me to save you and bring you to him."
The boy finally reacted to the name of his father. She remembered how he was never able to meet his father and that was the start of the revenge story.
Had she finally reached the start of the novel and now she was going to change it?
"Your father has been looking for you for years. And finally, I have found you. I am sorry for being late, Alec. but we need to hurry or the man would return.'' She tried her best to convince the child who finally nodded and moved closer to her.
He must have felt her sincerity, she smirked when the boy spoke,
"You do not need to lie so much. I do not care even if you are taking me to kill me!"
"..........." she blinked as she looked at the young boy in her arms. He would be around five years yet he was saying such words with such calmness.
The author was really cruel to the child.
"Eh! Kiddo! Why will I lie to you? Do I look like a villain to you? Or does my face match any antagonist from that crazy drama series?" she flicked his forehead slightly as she held him and already started walking toward the exit.
She had stolen time since Mr Gullimore would be busy looking for her in the bar but she was not sure how much time she was left with.
The boy did not understand a word she had spoken but he had already given hopes for being saved.
Father! Ha! He never had a father. The girl might not know but he was an orphan with no parents. Even if she had taken the name of his mother, it would have been a lie.
But he still leaned on her as her body was warm and her hands were soft. Even if she was a terrible actor and he knew that she did not care about him, her body felt oddly warm and he felt attached to that warmth. It might be because he had never received a gentle touch all his life.
He soon felt his eyes getting heavier when he leaned on her when he felt her petting his head again. He smiled as he closed his eyes.
Mary looked around. Now that they were out of the orphanage, she did not know where to go.
She knew the description of the palace but the road was not described from the orphanage, so she had no idea about the direction.
Though she had taken a few gold coins from the orphanage after burning the empty part of it, she did not find any carriage even when she had walked a few lanes away.
The child looks so thin! She could not imagine him being this heavy she took short breaths and paused while leaning on the tree when she heard the commotion.
"The orphanage was robbed. A woman with the clothes of the slave not only stole all the money but she even stole a child from the orphanage!" someone shouted and she flinched.
She did not get the time to change her clothes and now she was regretting it. Soon, they are going to find her.
She ran towards the narrow lane hoping it would be empty but many turned their heads to look at her as soon as she entered and she paused.
"Hey! She is wearing the clothes of a slave and she had a child in her arms!"
"Catch her! She is the kidnapper and thief!"