Today, I had come to cast a powerful and stubborn paladin who pledged his loyalty to Melodia.

He was to be a knight protecting my father and me, our villainous family.

Just as Melodia had won his heart.

With my knowledge of the original work, it wouldn’t be difficult to win him over.

‘He will surely stand against me someday, and will be of help in stopping Axel.’

His powerful and destructive holy power was the polar opposite of Axel’s black magic. That’s why it was clear he would be of great help in stopping Axel.

‘Right now, without meeting Melodia, he would be hiding his abilities, unable to find a lord to whom he can pledge his loyalty.’

I cautiously decided to approach where he might be.

Entering the temple was expected to take a long time with my steps.

The maids with wide strides picked me up and in less than a minute, they set me down in the middle of the temple.

“Thank you, I’m happy, Cien!”

“It’s the honor of a lifetime!”

“You’re so soft, hehe. You need to put on muscle.”

The maids are too talkative! For a 4~5yearold, this is pretty cool.

“We need to go now.”

“Huh?”

“The holy temple… it’s incompatible with the Mirmode family, we can’t stay for long.”

“But we’ll find a way, so please go in for now!”

The maids’ eyes sparkled.

It’s the villainous family indeed. A hostile force against the temple.

I sighed inwardly and shook my head. A maid whispered in my ear, pressing the corner of her sleeve to my eye.

“… I’m worried, even if it’s just for a while! I wonder if our baby will be able to hold on here.”

Objectively, there wasn’t so much to cry about. I just needed to find one paladin. Anyhow, it felt like overprotection.

I waved my hand to drive the maids away. Then, I moved my short, plump legs busily and started to look around the inside of the temple, but soon faced a big problem.

‘I did rush in, but how do I find Paladin Ted now? I don’t know his face.’

The Senoa temple wasn’t large, so I might be able to find him soon. I went around the inside of the temple, puffing and panting.

The corridors of the temple were large but silent as there were no people to pray.

There were no adult priests to ask for directions, which was odd.

‘Ah, there’s someone there!’

I had expected that there would always be baby priests and nuns in the temple.

The expectation was accurate.

As soon as I passed the corridor and went near the stairs, I could see a group of young priests.

“What’s this?”

“Hello! I’m… uh…”

I was about to say the name of the paladin I came to find. Or I wanted to see the succession ceremony of the paladins that takes place every night.

Until they started scowling at me, I was filled with hope.

“Did you come to donate sacred gold? Give it to us first.”

I tilted my head.

I didn’t come to donate sacred gold. Anyway, what are these kids doing to a baby, I thought.

I was startled by the four young priests… no, bullies surrounding me without a gap.

‘Am I being mugged?’

I came to the temple to meet a paladin?

It was a bewildering situation. I looked around, but my view was blocked by them.

“Look at her clothes. Is she a noble? But she’s alone, so she must have been abandoned.”

“Heck, it’s true. There’s no maid.”

“What, she’s a beggar.”

“She doesn’t look like she has money to rip off, does she?”

I stiffened my body.

Being abandoned was a huge trauma for me. So, when I heard such a thing, my mind went blank for a few seconds.

‘I wasn’t abandoned. Dad said Cien is the most precious thing in the world.’

I wanted to retort impulsively.

But whether it was because of trauma, I found it hard to respond directly to the pouring malice. As I remained frozen in place, they spewed malicefilled words relentlessly.

“Is she a fool? She doesn’t answer even though she hears us.”
“Look at those chubby cheeks!”

“Gabrielle is going to get furious!”

Having escaped from my trauma, I barely regained my senses and thought.

‘It’s not chubby, it’s plump, you idiots!’

Chubby was a word used for baby pigs. I frowned and tightly clenched my plump fist.

‘I can’t stand such mean words!’

I thought about ignoring it, but that was impossible.

They even started personal attacks, such bad kids, they needed some discipline.

Like a grim detective from a scary mystery novel, I sternly addressed them.

“Hey kids.”

“What?”

The kids glared at me, squinting their eyes.

Children are not always innocent and pure. That was a fact of life I had come to realize.

I spat on the ground, my eyes wide open, leaning on my makeshift crutch.

I was about to spit out a swear word at them, just as I had done to my father, but I hesitated.

‘I don’t need to go as far as swearing.’

I smiled, my innocent eyes halfclosed like the fragmented sun.

“Quiet.”

“Wh, what?”

“I’m not a beggar. I’m looking for someone. So, move out of the way!”

The kids, seemingly at a loss for words, exchanged glances before glaring at me again. They were probably building their bond.