Lucilla, who came all the way to the Kaleita construction office for fear of starving, often had to go hungry. Because of not being able to work, being impolite, or being too demanding.

“For those working for Kaleita, you should have dignity! A girl like you shouldn’t do that!”

Lucilla is not overly demanding, but just an ordinary Perseta girl. If a free-thinking mentality, different from Kaleita, comes out, Martin will probably be shocked.

At such times, Eliza thought Martin wouldn’t be troubled. She thought he might fall into one of the two categories: either accept new knowledge or hate it. He probably fell into the latter.
Tap, tap, Eliza lightly knocked on the door, and when it didn’t open, she grabbed the doorknob.

“Lucilla?”

Why isn’t the child, who knows that Eliza comes around this time, coming out?

“Lucilla?”

There is a child in front of the door. Eliza heard it all with her sensitive ears. She grasped the doorknob with her small hand and opened it weakly.

“The door is locked.”

“Who locked it?”

“Master Martin… I made a mistake again today, and I insulted Kaleita, so…”

Nonsense. Eliza thought it was nonsense as soon as she heard that. The child employed here is from Perseta, not Kaleita. It’s absurd to talk about giving wages just for teaching and what nonsense.

Eliza quickly realized herself pulling a tool from her pocket and inserting it into the keyhole. Even unconsciously, if she does this, the result is almost certain.

“There you go.”

Eliza opened the door. Lucilla’s eyes were red. And her cheeks were red too. She got hit.

“I opened it. If Martin says anything, tell him I did it.”

Lucilla nodded silently. The child instinctively knew that Eliza was the only one here who would take her side.

Eliza was also responsible for Lucilla gaining a bit of weight, and she was the only one who could breathe in the tough construction office life.

“And, here, eat this.”

The child hesitated at the extended paper bag.

“Why? It’s a sandwich with two pieces of ham. I asked for it to be wrapped in soft white bread.”

Eliza said a little anxiously. Does she not want to eat it?

“It’s not that… I… I… got scolded for eating this… I said I stole it somewhere. The sandwich bag… I lied that I went out and stole it.”

“…So, Martin caught you with the bag, and he accused you of stealing or going out to steal like you did? Is that why you got scolded?”

Lucilla nodded, sniffling.

“Why didn’t you say I gave it to you?”

“I was afraid he would scold me…”

“Martin can’t scold you recklessly.”

“No, that’s…”

“Did you think I would scold you? Me?”

The child can’t even lift her head. She already knew that nameless kindness is always sweet and scary. Eliza had no idea how to comfort the child in such situations. So she just sat down next to the door.

“Then eat it all here now. I’ll take care of the bag.”

Tears filled her eyes as she looked up at her.

“I have no intention of scolding you.”

Since she knows that one piece of bread is desperately needed for a hungry child, and she knows it’s not her fault.

Eliza just sat there and waited for Lucilla to finally take out and open the bag.

Perhaps Martin will soon realize that she is taking care of Lucilla. He will say something to Eliza. Something like, “You shouldn’t do that,” or some mumbled words. Then maybe Eliza should just leave it alone at that time.
In the construction office, everyone watches each other. They scrutinized more strictly if anyone had embraced the ‘wrong,’ ‘impure,’ ‘vulgar’ Perseta ideology, especially after the incident involving Rustica Gennes.

Yes. Knowing something new doesn’t necessarily change everything. Eliza herself couldn’t predict how she would act next.

“A child being abused is a worrying existence.”

Mrs. Godoy, who received regular reports on Eliza Barcova’s daily life, murmured.

She also had a child at home. Of course, that child is Cabinet Blue, an efficient and adult Jane Tellot, the chief of the police department. But to Mrs. Godoy, she would forever be a ‘child.’

“I wonder how far that child will go.”

Eliza Barcova is a practical and clear-headed person. The person who hired her directly, Mrs. Godoy, knew her best for working without frills.

So, Mrs. Godoy didn’t place undue hope this time either. She was just curious. How far could it go?

“Young people these days lack romance.”

Mrs. Godoy liked romantic stories, but her niece said, ‘Aunt, young girls these days don’t watch that!’ Moreover, these days, she started working overtime on solving unsolved cases again, as if it were eating a meal. There really was no romance.

And she heard this trivial report while on her way to inform the Emperor. Eliza Barcova was relatively less important as a person to listen to sitting down, and Mrs. Godoy was too busy.

Cabinet Noir, the head of the Emperor’s special secret organization and information organization, quietly stood in front of the Emperor.

She also had to report. Amid various routine reports, the story Mrs. Godoy casually pulled out unexpectedly turned out to be very trivial.