Chapter 8 part 1: I Raised the Villains Preciously

Previously in Chapter 7…

“I don’t like being dirty.”

Hannah was nervous at the sudden confession.

Again, is he trying to blame the incident?

“People said I was dirty.”

The story from Ian’s lips was not resentment.

It was a story about his wounded trauma.

“The impurity that stuck between the clean things. I hated dirty things since I didn’t even know what that truly meant.”

(Editor note: If you have a better idea to fix this fellow readers please comment and help me.)

Hannah listened carefully to Ian’s story with silent vigor.

“I wanted to be clean. I repeatedly washed my body or wiped my hands because I didn’t want to be dirty. But I found out that the dirt they were talking about wasn’t my hands, feet, or my face.”

Ian was an abandoned child of the Imperial Family.

Born from the belly of a lowly Courtesan, he was a disgrace to the imperial family.

A ghost from the Imperial Palace that clearly exists, but wasn’t acknowledged.

That was Ian.

“I thought if I’d drain all my blood, then I would finally be clean.”

“Ian—”

“I know, it doesn’t work. But even after learning that, this obsession doesn’t go away.”

Ian was entrusting Hannah with a story that he had never disclosed with anyone.

Hannah raised her hand to comfort Ian, then paused.

Can he be comforted by her own touch?

“Actually, I don’t hate Teacher.”

“—I know.”

“I hope you don’t hate me.”

“I don’t hate you.”

“Teacher, even though I’m dirty— I hope you don’t hate me.”

“You’re not dirty, Ian.”

Hannah’s hand touched Ian’s white gloves.

“You’re never dirty or ugly.”

As Hannah gazed into Ian’s eyes, they shone with honesty.

“You’re the most precious person in the world.”

It is cruel that no one can love themselves.

“Teacher will make sure you feel that.”

More precious than anyone else.

Ian bowed his head and glistening tears fell down his face.

Hannah had to hold back her tears by biting her lip with her teeth.

How can such a tender and hurt soul become a villain?

“We all love you.”

Ian couldn’t raise his head until the porridge he brought cooled off.

Even when Hannah’s hand touched Ian’s trembling shoulders, Ian no longer became tense or pulled away.

*******

Having been sick for a few days now, Hannah was once again, lying in bed.

“Hm hm~”

As she was reading a world-class parenting book, she put sliced cucumbers on her face one by one.

After suffering from a fever, her face became noticeably dry.

Cucumber, which grew well in the nursery, has a lot of moisture and is well-adhesive.

Hannah turned over and focused on the contents of the book.

“Well, maybe it’s because he wants attention that he’s doing something bad on purpose.”

She was studying diligently by underlining helpful materials and notes.

Knock knock.

When she heard the knock, Hannah hurriedly put the book under the blanket and lied down in a straight posture.

She pulled the blanket up to her chest and opened her mouth.

“Come in.”

Hannah purposely relaxed her voice and said.

That’s because the children couldn’t have knocked like that.

If it was them, first they will open the door, jump in, and then say, “Teacher! We’re here!” and then create a mess of the room.

“I heard you have a cold.”

“Priest Jason?”

It was Jason.

His face showed signs of, ‘I’ve supported the children so they won’t get sick at all, but how are you the one who is suffering from a cold?’

“Well, it’s just a light cold. I’m just getting better.”

“…..That’s good.”

Hannah noticed a package of medicine in Jason’s hand and asked, “Is that medicine?”

“Yes, if you heat it up, you’ll have a speedy recovery.”

Jason put the package of medicine on the table, and Hannah glanced at the package suspiciously.

“By the way, what is that on your face?”

Oops.

Only then did Hannah think of the cucumber slices that she had forgotten because it stuck to her skin.

“Ah…. This is… Homemade medicine to relieve the fever on the face..”

A doubtful expression crossed Jason’s face.

‘It removes the heat from your face and provides moisture to the skin, while you can eat the remaining cucumbers. It’s killing two birds with one stone’, thought Hannah.

“I’ll give you some if you need it. I’ve cut a lot.”

Thanks to having a smaller face than she originally thought, there were many leftover cucumbers.

Hannah held out the bowl of cucumbers, and Jason took a step back.

In fact, even after entering Hannah’s room, he was still not approaching anywhere past the table next to the door.

His worries were needless, she wasn’t contagious.

Although, Hannah admired his cautiousness.

“That’s alright.”

Hannah pouted at Jason’s firm refusal.

She didn’t even want to give it to him anyway.

“It is said that next week the Central Temple will be visiting.”

“Visiting?”

“They’re coming to give an assessment of the premises, and provide guidance on things that are lacking.”

In other words, it meant that the Nursery should be groomed so that they could see it well and that the children were on their best behaviour.

“Yes. I understand.”

Anyway, it was not difficult for children to shine if they were wearing clean clothes.

These days, the children were growing well while eating nutritious food, which made them shine.

“Then get well soon.”

“Thank you.”

Jason left the room with the answer of the soulless Hannah.

She took out a cucumber in a big bowl and chewed it.

“Who cares about the Priests visiting from the Central Temple? They’re just a bunch of rotten people.”

As a matter of fact, she was not looking forward to the Temple visit. It’s not like they were anything special.

“Hmm. It’s time for lunch to end.”

Hannah jumped off the bed with a more relaxed body.

She wanted to give snacks to the children who were eating with the Temple’s diet due to her absence.