A child hugging a chocolate box arrived at a small stationery store, cheeks flushed from running.

“Sales are definitely better towards the end of the year!”

“Indeed.”

“You really worked hard today!”

“You too, boss. See you tomorrow.”

As the woman exited the store after greeting the owner, the child hurriedly hugged her.

“Mom!”

“Oh, Daniel!”

The child’s mother was more startled than pleased to see her son who had come to meet her.

Coming alone on this night road!

The kidnapping of poor common children in Dover was a frequent occurrence.

There were endless gruesome stories about selling kidnapped children to factories in other cities for money, or shipping them off to be sold as slaves in foreign countries.

Moreover, she was in debt. What if those men had discovered the child was alone!

The woman, her face pale at the chilling thought, shouted.

“Hey! Didn’t Mom tell you it’s dangerous!”

“But it’s boring being alone.”

“Mom’s going home soon, couldn’t you wait a little longer! What if you met bad people!”

“I’m quick, so I definitely won’t get caught?”

“Please, Daniel!”

She crouched down and grabbed Daniel’s shoulders. Her stern gaze wouldn’t leave the child’s face.

As Daniel lowered his head and avoided her gaze, she said.

“Promise Mom. Please say you’ll listen to Mom well!”

“Okay……”

Daniel replied listlessly. Seeing him like this made her heart ache again.

She felt sorry for the child too. How could she not? She felt so sorry she could hardly breathe for leaving such a young child alone all day, and for not being able to buy him a proper coat in this cold weather.

But there are things in the world that can’t be helped. Just like how she hasn’t been able to escape this situation until now, there are really things that can’t be helped…

“Haa……”

A miserable feeling choked her throat. She tried hard to lift her trembling eyelids to speak to the child.

‘Mom’s sorry for getting angry too.’

But those short words wouldn’t come out. She was worried that her apology might make Daniel take her sincere advice lightly.

After opening and closing her mouth several times, the woman belatedly realized that the child was holding something.

‘What is it?’

It was dark around, and the child was hugging it tightly, so she couldn’t see well. Could it be a discarded newspaper some gentleman had thrown away?

“Daniel. What’s that?”

“Th-that is……”

The startled child trailed off and curled up more. The woman, her gaze sharpening, forcibly took the box from the child’s body.

“Ah!”

The child desperately reached for the box, but it was useless.

It was clearly an expensive box. Though she didn’t know what was inside, the packaging alone exuded luxury, so it must contain something expensive.

‘How did this child… Surely not?’

Her face instantly reddened at the scenario that automatically came to mind, and she scolded the child.

“Where did you get this?”

Daniel’s eyes, scared and hurt, filled with tears.

Still, the woman had no intention of letting it go.

“Tell me right now!”

The child, finally shedding tears, answered.

“E-earlier, some lady gave it to me!”

“What? Where are you trying to lie to Mom! Tell the truth!”

“I-it’s true!”

The child hurriedly turned his head. Could the person who had given him the chocolate be around here? If that kind lady were here, she would defend him from his angry mother and clear up the misunderstanding.

As Daniel stamped his feet anxiously, a small miracle occurred. He spotted Deborah standing with Zen a block away.

“That person gave it to me!”

Daniel urgently pointed at Deborah with his short finger.

“You really!”

The woman didn’t believe the child’s words, but instinctively followed his gesture with her gaze. Then her eyes, which had been as sharp as needles, changed to look as innocent as a girl gazing at snowflakes.

“……”

Her breath stopped. She couldn’t hear any sound. She just kept asking herself. Is it really you? Really……

The woman’s hands trembled. She wanted to run to Deborah right now, but her legs wouldn’t move.

Deborah didn’t wait for her and got into the car. The woman became more anxious.

At that moment, the store owner, who had been pretending not to see the whole scene and finally couldn’t bear it anymore, came out and said.

“Oh come on! Stop grabbing the child! It’s breaking my heart to watch.”

In that brief moment when the woman turned to look at the store owner, the car started to move.

“Ah!”

The woman stared intently at the departing car with eyes that looked like they might cry at any moment. The owner carefully asked, finding her behavior strange.

“What’s wrong, Sage?”

Sage couldn’t answer. This emotion, hidden tightly for 10 years, couldn’t be expressed in a short sentence.

5th Avenue, not far from the bustling area where Hailes Department Store is located.

This place was lined with shops frequented mainly by wealthy men.

Those unfamiliar might think of ‘Lorred’, a tailor shop boasting over decades of tradition, as the representative of this street, but anyone who knows business is aware. The fact is, ‘Chelsea’s Club’ is the true symbol of this street.

Chelsea’s Club. A men-only membership club still too young to speak of history and tradition.

Always fragrant with whiskey and cigars, where elegant self-praise and vulgar jokes coexist, this place was established by the grandson of the great noble Duke Delta along with his noble friends.

As such, the members here were mostly young aristocratic sons who had not yet received titles and a few young bourgeoisie.

Chelsea’s Club’s reputation was remarkable in many ways.

Older gentlemen would manage their sons’ steps to prevent them from frequenting this vulgar place where commoners and nobles mingle and chatter, while young men fresh out of university would say that becoming a member of this club was their dream.

Despite such contrasting evaluations, the influence of Chelsea’s Club was undeniable. It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that the latest trends among young gentlemen were led by this place.

As a result, young people couldn’t help but aspire to this club where they could gain both connections and prestige.

If you were to ask what the most interesting topic at this great Chelsea’s Club was these days, it would be a man named ‘Zen Baker’.

“I heard Zen Baker appeared at the department store today with some woman.”

When Eric, one of the three occupying the best table at Chelsea’s Club, spoke, John quickly replied.

“What? A woman? From which family?”

“I don’t know about that. They say she was quite pretty, but dressed modestly.”

“Hmm, then she’s neither a lady from somewhere nor an actress. Is he just playing around with a maid?”

John chuckled, putting a cigar in his mouth, and said.

“It didn’t seem like that, but I guess you can’t really know a person’s true nature just from one conversation?”

“Are you immediately assuming he’s playing around with a maid?”

As Eric asked with a sneer, John shrugged.

“Well, didn’t you say her clothes were modest? And playing around with maids is a fairly common occurrence, isn’t it? Right?”

John looked at Derek, who was swirling his whiskey glass, and said slyly.

Derek immediately blushed and replied gruffly.

“Don’t touch a sore spot! The place where Father hit me then still hurts.”

“That’s why I said you were stupid to get caught? You’re far from being able to play like this big brother.”

John lit his cigar. In the dim space where only the lighting glowed softly, smoke filled with mockery spread.

“Anyway, Zen Baker doesn’t have an official woman, right?”

When John asked, Eric frowned and said.

“Why are you so curious about the spot next to Zen Baker?”

“I was thinking of using the parasite in our house who only spends money.”

“Doesn’t your younger sister have a fiancé?”

“Zen Baker’s fortune is much larger than a family that just runs a few clothing factories, right? Ah, of course, he’s much better looking too.”

John said, his face wrinkling like the gradually burning cigar.

“Speaking of which, damn. Isn’t that face a fraud? When I stood next to Zen Baker, everyone only looked at that man, I tell you.”

“If you’re that envious, why weren’t you born like that?”

“If that had been possible, I would have been born that way.”

At that moment, Derek, who had been sipping his whiskey, hummed as if singing a tune.

“But what can we do? Your sister takes after you. Would Zen Baker even give her a glance? It’s not like you can give her a hefty dowry either. These days, the Viscount Powell family’s circumstances……”

“You bastard!”

John glared at Derek, the cigar in his mouth about to fall out. He was ready to grab him by the collar at any moment.

As they, the core members of this club, created a fierce atmosphere, all other members unanimously kept their mouths shut.

Eric sighed and waved his hand.

“Enough. Let’s not cause a fuss over useless things.”

“Damn it!”

John roughly put out his cigar. Derek also shrugged, indicating that he hadn’t intended to cause such a commotion.

Eric, letting out a bitter sigh, pulled his whiskey glass towards him and said.

“To go back to the initial topic, I wanted to talk about Zen Baker arriving in a car.”

“Well, he can afford to ride in a car, can’t he? We have them too. We just don’t use them much.”

“But that man rode in and appeared. The world is paying attention to that man.”

Even a mere scarf worn on that handsome man’s body gets attention. The reason they’ve been babbling about the modestly dressed woman just now is because the man next to her was Zen Baker, isn’t it?