Chapter 02
Leponya roughly climbed up by stepping on a box and looked at the face reflected in the mirror.
Five years old.
It was exactly the same as when she had lived in the orphanage.
The silver, half-curly hair that used to stick out in every direction whenever it rained, forcing her to press it down with her palms.
The red eyes that people said looked like blood, making them unpleasant to look at.
Even her skinny limbs, like bare branches from barely eating even one proper meal a day, were the same.
“Whad happened.”
Ah. This damn five-year-old tongue.
Unless she put force into her words, her tongue loosened on its own and even her pronunciation became unclear.
Leponya buried her face in her tiny palms and tried to figure out the cause.
Through the gaps between her fingers, she noticed a faint trace of pink liquid remaining inside a small potion bottle rolling across the floor.
“…A shrinking potion.”
Frowning, Leponya grabbed the empty bottle.
“This isn’t a shrinking potion.”
Putting strength into her tongue, she muttered with proper pronunciation.
“I definitely bought two blue potions back then.”
The potions she had purchased had definitely been blue. Leponya shook the empty bottle with the faint pink residue inside.
“Someone switched the potion.”
Startled by her own muttering, Leponya hurriedly looked around. A cold sweat ran down her spine.
Goosebumps spread across her body.
“No one knows about this house.”
She had secretly purchased this house under the identity of a fake commoner man. There was no way anyone should know about it.
‘If this had been poison…’
She would have drunk it without suspicion and died instantly.
As soon as that thought crossed her mind, Leponya jumped up and searched the entire cabin thoroughly. She checked every possible hiding place, but fortunately, no one was hiding inside.
“Calm down.”
First, she needed to calm her tongue.
‘It wasn’t the Pope.’
If it had been the Pope’s doing, he wouldn’t have left behind a potion that made her younger. He would have left actual poison.
‘Then was it my siblings?’
Crossing her short legs, Leponya sat on a chair.
The Pope liked Leponya because she was an exceptional student. That was why, even when she failed missions, he spared her instead of killing her.
His affection was power itself.
It was only natural for her siblings to be jealous of Leponya, who was a thorn in their side, and plan to kill or kidnap her.
“Haah.”
If her siblings found out that Leponya had become a five-year-old child, they would dance with joy.
So no matter what, she had to hide her current condition.
“Maybe I’ll return to normal after a day.”
Leponya bit her plump, soft red lips adorably.
“For now…”
She clenched both fists dramatically.
“I need to change clothes firsht.”
Five-year-old Leponya hopped down from the chair and toddled away.
“I’m doomed.”
It wasn’t changing back.
And this broken tongue still wouldn’t work properly.
“I’m completly doomed.”
Her body wasn’t changing back either.
“How long am I going to stay five years old?!”
Filled with hope, she had spent several days eating and living inside the cabin while observing the situation, but there was still no sign of her body returning to normal.
Even though the wound on the back of her hand had healed completely, her body remained the same.
On top of that, perhaps because her sickly childhood condition was perfectly reflected, this body became breathless after running just a little, and there was no strength in her arms and legs.
Even the small clothes she scavenged and wore loosely hung off her.
She couldn’t even peel apples because her hands lacked the strength to properly hold a knife, so she had no choice but to bite into them with the skin still on.
There were advantages—her stamina recovered quickly after just a little sleep, and she got full after eating only a small amount, reducing food costs—but things couldn’t continue like this.
“I can’t do missionsh like this.”
Her original plan had been to drink the shrinking potion, confirm the heirloom, and then get employed as a maid at the Krytan Ducal Estate.
She planned to pretend to work as a maid, steal the heirloom, and run away…
‘But with the body of a five-year-old, I won’t even make it past the entrance of the Krytan Ducal Estate.’
Who would hire a five-year-old as a maid?
Leponya rested her forehead against her tiny hand.
‘If only I could drink a nullification potion.’
The problem was that nullification potions were incredibly expensive.
Even the shrinking potion had only been purchased by scraping together her entire life savings.
And a nullification potion cost three times more than a shrinking potion. In this body, she couldn’t even work, so there was no way to earn money.
‘Since I don’t even know exactly what potion I drank, I shouldn’t recklessly take another one.’
Leponya bit her lip.
“Just let me find out who did this.”
Knock knock.
At that moment, someone knocked on the door.
Was there anyone who would come to this cabin?
‘Could it be the person who switched the potion?’
Maybe they had come to check the results after swapping the potion.
‘It probably isn’t my siblings, though.’
If it were her siblings, they wouldn’t have knocked—they would have thrown a sword first.
Leponya slowly walked toward the front door.
“Who is it?”
Ah. This tongue, seriously.
Rolling her tongue and putting force into it, Leponya asked again.
“Who is it?”
“Hmm. I came because I wanted to ask something. Are there no adults here?”
A polite voice came from beyond the door.
‘Adults?’
Well, she should open the door first.
Tilting her head, Leponya cautiously opened it.
Beyond the door stood the neighbor lady she had encountered while scavenging clothes and a knight.
Maybe because she had to look up at them from a child’s perspective, her shoulders instinctively shrank.
“…Who?”
Leponya asked while darting her eyes around.
“Hello.”
The knight greeted her gently with a wave. At the same time, his sharp gaze briefly swept through the inside of the house.
Leponya narrowed her eyes suspiciously and slightly closed the door. The knight quickly withdrew his gaze and crouched to meet her eye level with a bright smile.
“Are there no other adults inside?”
“Why?”
“Did they perhaps go out?”
Leponya shook her head.
‘He’s checking whether I’m hiding a wanted criminal or fugitive inside.’
Having once been chased by the capital’s security forces, Leponya immediately understood the knight’s intentions.
Whenever a criminal escaped, the guards would check every house to see if anyone was hiding them.
‘Not a chance.’
Smiling brightly like a child, Leponya shook her head.
“I live here alone.”
At her confident answer, the knight and the neighbor exchanged awkward glances.
“You can come in and check if you want. There’s really no one else besides me.”
Leponya lifted her chin and confidently opened the door wide.
“What about your parents?”
“They’re gone.”
“Where did they go?”
“They were never there to begin with. I never had them. They abandoned me.”
“Do you have any guardians who visit? Relatives or nearby adults?”
“Nope. It’s always just been me here.”
The more she answered, the more pity filled their eyes.
“See? I told you it looked like a child was living here alone. I was right, wasn’t I?”
…Huh?
“Yes. It seems so.”
Wait, what?
They reported this because they thought a child was living alone?
‘Don’t tell me… they’re talking about me?’
Leponya’s eyes trembled.
“This house seems to have been empty for a long time. …I think the child moved in alone because it was vacant.”
No, the owner who left the house empty for so long was me.
“Thank you for reporting this. We’ll place this child under protection. …Child, it’s dangerous for you to live here alone. A bad person could come, and if you became sick, there’d be no one to help you.”
Something was going very wrong.
“…But I’m fine?”
“You may seem fine right now, but you’re not. You’re still a child, and you need a guardian.”
Leponya frowned. Back when she had truly needed protection, no one had ever reached out to help her. So why now?
“You’re meddling.”
Leponya refused firmly. Of course, it didn’t work.
“Come here. I’ll take you somewhere safe.”
“Where is the child going?”
Ignoring Leponya, the lady and the knight continued talking to each other.
“For now, we’ll take her to an orphanage and confirm her identity and parents. I’ll personally keep an eye on things, so don’t worry.”
Leponya suddenly lifted her head.
What did he just say?
An orphanage?
“They say there’s a nearby orphanage with excellent facilities. The director is known to be a good person.”
Right now, they were sending her to an orphanage?
Back into that hell… again?
“I—”
At the pitifully trembling child’s voice, both adults looked down at her.
“I’m not going.”
“Oh dear, she must be frightened. Child, it’s okay. This knight is trying to take you somewhere warm, where there are lots of friends.”
No. How could that place possibly be warm?
“I’m not going. Don’t touch me.”
“Were you startled? It’s okay. It’s alright.”
Smiling gently, the knight reached out toward the frightened Leponya. She tried to dodge quickly, but it wasn’t easy to escape a knight’s hand with the body of a five-year-old.
“Let go! Put me down! I don’t need thish!”
Leponya punched the knight with her fists and struggled with all her strength, but he didn’t budge at all. After thanking the neighbor lady, the knight began walking away while carrying the resisting Leponya in his arms.
“You must have been lonely living alone, right? There will be lots of friends there, plenty of food, and you’ll stay warm.”
“Put me down. I said I’m not going! This is kidnapping!”
“It’s okay. We’re really trying to help you.”
“I hate that place!”
That place… that hell.
As memories of what she had suffered at five years old resurfaced, she desperately struggled.
Leponya fought with all her might to escape the knight’s arms. But his grip was so solid that it was nearly impossible.
‘I’m in the body of a five-year-old right now.’
With a five-year-old’s body, she couldn’t escape a fully trained knight.
‘If I scream here, will anyone help me?’
Leponya tightly bit her small lip.
No.
No one would help her.
People were surprisingly uninterested in the affairs of others.
If there had been someone willing to help…
Then when the real five-year-old her had run away from the orphanage crying for help—
When she had been beaten in the poorhouse while screaming for someone to save her—
Someone would have stepped in.
Maybe it would be better to just go to the orphanage for now… and escape again later…
“What is all this commotion?”
Just as she was making plans to escape the orphanage, a shadow fell over her head, followed by an indifferent voice.
