Chapter 40: Right of choice
As far as I remember from the original plot of "Trembling Hearts 2," Lionel Ferder really did suffer terrible treatment as a child. Until the age of fourteen, he continued to live in a brothel like no one else, with no say in anything. As the illegitimate son of a prostitute and an unknown brothel client, his situation was terrible in itself.
His own mother considered him nothing more than a burden and did not care for him at all. For this reason, in order not to be kicked out and to have at least a roof over his head and food to eat, the boy had to work hard from childhood, doing the dirtiest work in the brothel.
Most often, his duties consisted of cleaning the rooms where the prostitutes received their clients. And in the end, another such cleaning ended in a rather loud incident.
After the boy refused to confess to what he had done several times, the owner was furious.
"Fine..." he said, "If you still refuse to confess, I will make you pay for your crime with your life!"
At that moment, the man raised his hand to strike little Lionel.
And just then, I realized why I was here. At the moment when time in this world stopped, a window with answer options appeared in front of me.
(Intervene.)
(Continue watching.)
Well... actually, choosing an answer wasn’t that difficult.
Although watching a child being beaten was not the most pleasant sight, in the end, it was just a character in a game. Besides, I had long ago vowed to myself that I would try not to get involved with the main characters in this game, so as not to accidentally bring trouble upon myself.
I admit that so far I haven’t been very successful... But again, it was mostly the game’s fault, not mine! So when I was given this choice, I definitely wasn’t going to hesitate. After all, I wasn’t the type to follow the principle of "if the barn is on fire, let the house burn too." So...
(Continue watching.)
After I made my choice, the scene in front of me suddenly flickered like a phone screen when it glitches.
But since it didn’t last long, I decided that everything was fine. However...
"Answer me! Where is our client’s precious pink jade that you stole?"
"I don’t know... I really didn’t take anything..."
"What? Why am I hearing the same thing again...?"
"Of course! Keep telling me fairy tales! Weren’t you the last one to enter that room, and then our client’s treasure disappeared?"
"Sir, I was just cleaning that room... I really didn’t take anything..."
"Oh, you! Are you still lying?!"
"Fine... If you still refuse to confess, I’ll make you pay for your crime with your life!"
After the scene that just happened repeated itself exactly in front of me, I saw the same answer options again.
What? What the hell does this mean?
Maybe the game is glitching?
I should try again...
So, I chose the second option again — just to watch what was happening. However...
"Answer me! Where is our client’s precious pink jade that you stole?"
This damn scene repeated itself over and over again. Finally, after seeing the same thing for the fourth time, my patience snapped.
"Oh, this damn game. You could have just told me from the beginning that I don’t really have a ’choice’!"
Although I didn’t want to do it at all, this time I had to choose the first option.
"Wait!"
I took a step forward.
After my voice suddenly echoed throughout the first floor of the brothel, the owner stopped before he could hit the boy.
Noticing me, he was surprised and seemed to recognize me immediately.
"Lady Weinstein, what brings you here?" the owner asked in surprise.
"I was just passing by."
"You haven’t been here in so long that I thought you had forgotten about us," he smiled awkwardly.
Ahem... That was definitely the last thing I wanted to hear from the owner of such an establishment. Nevertheless.
I moved even closer and stood in front of Lionel, blocking him with my body.
"Mr. Wright... What exactly did this boy do that you were going to hit him?" I inquired.
The owner looked surprised that I asked him that, but nevertheless cleared his throat and replied:
"Lady, don’t pay any attention to him, he’s just a dirty little thief. Even though we provide him with a roof over his head by allowing him to live here, he dared to be ungrateful and even dared to steal from our customer! So I was just about to teach him a lesson."
"I see... In that case, can you tell me what exactly was stolen?"
"Oh, it was a precious pink jade."
I paused for a moment.
"In that case... can I pay for it?"
"What, excuse me?"
The moment I unexpectedly made that suggestion, the indignation inside me reached its peak.
"No, seriously, game, what are you doing?!"
I admit that since I managed to enlist the support of Duke Dickens, my financial situation has improved significantly compared to the past. And yet... I still wasn’t ready to throw money around so easily!
After all, instead of spending money on this useless stone, I could at least buy Ruby a bunch of sweets and toys. But instead...
"If I just pay for this stone, there won’t be any more problems, right?"
The moment these words escaped my lips against my will, my heart ached like that of a real miser.
"Are you really... willing to do that?" The owner stared at me in surprise.
Of course, he had heard about Lady Weinstein’s so-called "generosity" before, but he would never have thought that it would manifest itself in such a situation. In the past, when visiting similar establishments, Grace Weinstein was as generous with alcohol as she was with the lovers who spent time with her. Simply put, this woman threw money around left and right for her own entertainment.
But who would have thought that such a woman would suddenly decide to do charity work for some useless, homeless child?
"Don’t get me wrong," I said, "I just felt sorry for this child. The thing is, my niece is about the same age, so lately I’ve become particularly sentimental about such things..."
After blinking several times, the owner soon sighed enthusiastically.
"Oh, of course, I understand!" he exclaimed.
"In that case, this will be enough, won’t it?"
Although at that moment I resisted with all my might and tried to stop my hand, it still reached for my wallet and took out a thick envelope with money.
Damn... My heart really can’t take this.
"Of course! I am extremely grateful to you, Lady Weinstein!"
As I handed him the envelope with a hand trembling with indignation, the man eagerly rushed to take it. The next moment, he turned to Lionel, who had been kneeling all this time.
"Hey, you!" he said rudely, "Thank the lady immediately for her kindness and for condescending to someone like you!"
"...Thank you, ma’am."
The boy thanked me quietly, continuing to look at the floor.
"No need. Get up quickly."
When I reached out and helped him up from his knees, the boy, whose face was so beautiful that he looked more like a girl, stared intently at me.
"Lady, what do I owe you for this?"
By this point, the satisfied brothel owner and other witnesses to this spectacle had already left us. So at that moment, we were alone.
"Nothing. I just wanted to help you."
"Really?"
"Yes."
"In that case... I am very grateful to you, lady."
After these words, the twelve-year-old boy standing in front of me suddenly took my hand and kissed the back of it.
I was even a little taken aback by this unexpected gesture on his part.
"I will do everything I can to please the lady, as a token of my gratitude for your kindness," the boy said quietly, looking at me strangely.
"...Well, I would be very happy if you would let go of my hand now..."
Although such behavior was definitely not typical for a normal child, Lionel’s current behavior could be explained by the conditions in which the boy had grown up until that moment. Born in a brothel, he obviously could not claim a normal childhood from the very beginning.
In addition, Lionel had an impressive appearance that always attracted attention. Thus, he was already accustomed to some visitors looking at him as if he were a strange toy, and sometimes even allowing themselves to behave inappropriately towards him.
But... damn, I definitely felt uncomfortable in this situation. Perhaps little Lionel Ferder just misunderstood me a little...
I was about to tell him that I really didn’t need any "thanks" for what I had done. However...
At that moment, standing with my back to the front door, I suddenly heard a voice behind me:
"Lady Weinstein?"
I choked with surprise.
"Serpens?!"
Standing on the threshold of the brothel was a person I certainly did not expect to see here at that moment.
"Lady, excuse me, but what exactly are you doing here?"